Regarding Dual Boot + Warranty

I was just wondering if anyone has sent in their notebook for service with a dual boot setup...vista/xp...vista/linux...etc. While reading a Dual booting tut, it mentioned that the readers should first find out if their laptop manufacturer will void their warranty as a result of dual booting.

From Asus website: "the notebook is purchased with a recovery CD (depending on territory) and a driver CD, ASUS will guarantee that the OS (operating system) in the recovery CD is able to install successfully onto that notebook with all hardware functioning. However, the warranty will be void if the user attempts to install other third-party software onto the notebook. Please note that the bundled recovery CD is covered by copyright and uses the same ID as your notebook. As a result, if it is lost, damaged or destroyed by any means, ASUS will be unable to replace it with a new piece or sell you a new one."

I know the emphasis here is about drivers..but I would like to know for sure

 

Due to the fact the HD can be easily formatted, it won't void the warranty. And that's taking it to the extreme. No matter what is on your HD, it will not void your warranty since it won't have an effect on the notebook hardware itself. They said that on their website, probably referring to overclocking.

 

Well, ASUS's recovery DVD's they provide with new laptops do not have the ability to recovery a overwritten/damaged MBR. So if you dual boot and overwrite the MBR with GRUB, then you'll be stuck with GRUB unless you downlaod/purchase a Windows Vista repair disk, which will ruin your Windows OS if you ever uninstall the linux partition, or try to recover it again.

Does anyone know whether or not, if you download the Windows Repair CD with the bootrec.exe file to fix the MBR and fix it; if there will be problems with the OEM license validation process afterwards or possibly in the future?

I have a Vista Anytime Upgrade DVD which has the repair environment with the FixMBR command option, but it is 32 bit and my Vista is 64 bit, so it won't let me use it. Is the MBR for Vista based on 32 or 64 bit platforms, or is this just an inconvenient roadblock?

Is ASUS still responsible for fixing your MBR if you ruin it? I don't see why they shouldn't, since it is necessary to run the OS they way it was when it was factory default. Anyone know?

 

Uh... are you sure about this? I believe I wiped out my HDD clean, including MBR, when I got it and reinstalled from the ODDs. It worked... I can't be sure I did a FDISK/MBR though... was a long time ago, maybe I didn't do it.

 

All winxp/vista install disks all have MBR and FDISK Fix. This will reset your MBR to windows likings. Google MBR reset or similar and you will see its pretty easy.

 

Let me clear up my previous statment: You will not be stuck with grub and a ruined Linux partition as long as everything goes correctly. What I meant is that the ASUS RECOVERY DVD does not have the Windows Recovery environment, necessary to clean/fix your MBR. All retail Windows DVD installation discs do, and so do the Anytime upgrade discs. The OS Recovery DVD from ASUS, does not. It is possible it does have this option in the OS itself, but that would be kinda useless if you can't boot into the OS. As far as I found online, and talking with the ASUS tech. support reps., there is no recovery environment in the OEM editions.

For anyone with the same problem, I had to download the right cd here, and use it before I could boot into my RECOVERED OS: http://neosmart.net/blog/2008/windows-vista-recovery-disc-download/

(Thanks to the creator and members of the G1S Wiki for mentioning it)

ASUS said they would mail me a disc that was capable of wiping out the whole drive, including the MBR; however, I needed to request this additional disc. I'll keep you posted on what it is I actually get, and if it has the ability to do this, I'm still waiting on the disc... Meanwhile my machine is working like new.

 

i have a dual boot system (XP/ubuntu) and have sent it to repair centre with no problems at all. They replaced my CD tray. They disabled my finger print scanner, but i reactivated it when i got it back

 

mcurran: Ah, well when I mess up my MBR I just use FreeDOS, issue FDISK/MBR, and let the recovery disks take it from there.

 

Thanks E.B.E., but I'm good now. Never used FreeDOS, but I did try my 98SE disk and did a FDISK /MBR and it didn't help, it did however do it's task and remove grub, which corrected it for all other purposes. It didn't help me though, probably just because my OS is x64, and not x32. I do know the repair disk worked and it was /FixMBR and /FixBoot that got my necessary configuration ready.