Judging by the reaction to my recent Weblog item, HP’s hard drive-based recovery system remains as unpopular as it was when HP introduced it a few years ago. For many readers, not providing a Windows recovery CD seems like a penny-wise but pound-foolish decision. "HP saves a few dollars this way, but it’s costing them in the long run," wrote one reader. "Think of all the extra support calls they have to handle from users who don’t understand why they don’t have a recovery CD. Plus there’s the fact that anyone who had to beg HP to send them the CDs will never buy from them again."
While some readers said they were able to get recovery CDs from HP with little trouble, many others said it was a difficult experience. "After your original story, I made it a misson to get recovery CDs for an HP Pavillion owned by a family member," wrote another reader. "HP's support was very uncooperative. They finally condescended to sell me the recovery CDs after I informed them that they could do so now, or wait until the hard drive failed, and then explain to my attorney why they shouldn't pay for loss productivity. Sure enough, about two years later, the hard drive hiccupped. With the use of the CDs I was able to recover the system. Based on this policy, I have always steered individuals away from purchasing HP/Compaq."
Several readers argued that the real problem is how Microsoft makes it difficult for major OEMs to offer their customers a full-fledged Windows CD. "This is more of an issue with Microsoft than it is HP," wrote one reader. "Recovery disks are encouraged as a way to discourage piracy. The problem with that philosophy is that NOTHING I've seen discourages piracy."
A few readers noted that CD-less recovery systems are also now the rule on some newer Sony laptop models. "The no-CD problem is not limited to HP-Compaq," one reader reported. "With a brand new and expensive Sony Vaio notebook, (there were) no CDs. You have to go onto their web site, find your exact model, and BUY the recovery CDs. Or try to use their built-in recovery CD maker to burn your own, except it didn't work (as it) couldn't find the partition. Even worse, individual third-party apps are NOT available unless you do a full recovery. So when the DVD viewer didn't work, the choices were to wipe out & restore the entire system, or buy the DVD viewer elsewhere. Even Sony tech support cannot get you the app. Another company saving pennies and losing future sales."
1:23:34 PM 
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