CF29 MK1 Recovery CD

Ok, here is the deal...

My hard drive is dying (bad sectors and it is getting worse). I know I am on borrowed time and need to toss in a new HD. After browsing this forum, I have decided I will invest in a 7200rpm Hitachi Travelstar. My problem... I don't have the recovery CD or an XP install disk. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am working as a computer lecturer on a cruise ship for the summer. It is difficult to find anything computer-related in port. If I am lucky to find something, it is god awful expensive. So... I am forced to order stuff online and wait a week or two for it to reach me on the ship.

1. Does anyone know where I can get a recovery CD for the CF29 MK1?

2. If I manage to get my hands on retail XP install CD somehow, will the OEM COA work?

I know where to find the drivers, and have since downloaded all the necessary drivers onto a CD. Anyone have any suggestions (or better yet a CD)?

 

no the oem coa will not work on a retail copy. atleast not as far as i know because ive tried dell coas on a retail disk and it wouldnt work.

keep an eye on ebay for a recovery cd.

 

You'll need another OEM XP in order for the COA on the bottom of the Toughbook to work. SETUPP.INI defines whether your copy of XP is Volume License, Retail, OEM, etc. ( http://www.thetechguide.com/howto/setuppini.html).

Past the OEM COA, there's also the OEMBIOS way of activation - loading up the proper OEMBIOS files into your install disc will automatically activate Windows just like an OEM recovery disk. But you need a legit OEM recovery disk to begin with.

I used nLite and modification of my (legit) retail XP disc to make a no-bloatware install for my IBM Thinkpad. The IBM recovery discs is just an image of their standard install.

 

Actually, I'm pretty sure it will. I installed XP on my laptop using the install disk that came w/ my desktop computer at home and the serial on the OEM COA sticker also on the desktop, and as far as I know, it's not a violation of of EULA or anything... That said, a regular XP CD should be able to use your OEM COA serial.

 

Dell is kind of weird like that. I've never had a problem with Panny COAs working with retail XP.

 

Well, the license used on the you desktop OEM disc is not the same as the COA sticker. They use a volume install key that's tied to the OEMBIOS file - XP checks the BIOS of the system and if it returns true to the OEMBIOS, then it activates XP without going through the Internet/phone.

IF the system BIOS doesn't match the OEMBIOS information, then Windows will display the license key entry screen and force you to activate over the Internet/phone.

While it looks like it's two licenses, it's only one.

 

Check your PM... I have an immediate solution for you

 

I could use a solution as well

 

I just had this problem.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=165879&page=2

I had a Volume Licensed disc (Stolen from my workplace... Legitimate copy none the less) and a Valid COA on the side of my Girlfriend's Dell desktop...

I'll be doing the same to my Toughbook with the COA sticker on the bottom of it.

Check my last post:

If this is the price of legitimate software, no wonder people pirate it. (This is my first time actually attempting to register XP legitimately.)

 

If you have a valid XP Pro COA on the bottom of your laptop you can use a regular Win XP disk to install XP Pro... I do it all the time. As far as I know you can't use a Dell install disk as it will come up and say, "Wrong model" or something like that. You aren't doing anything wrong as the COA is what governs your OS... Not the disk itself. The difference in the recovery CD and the regular XP disk is that you will have to load all the drivers yourself with a regular disk. The recovery disks install all these automatically.

Hope this clears everything up.

 

One thing to remember though is this: Their are a lot of different CD's!!

1) OEM CD (XP Pro/XP Home) No Service packs, SP1, OR SP2 (NOT SP2A!!!)

2) OEM CD for XP PRO with SP2A!!!! This bit me in the ass at my old job once. Microsoft RAN OUT OF SERIAL NUMBERS FOR OEM XP PRO. this sticker is the newest kind shown here: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/content.aspx?pg=coa THIRD STICKER DOWN. Meaning that if you have a XP PRO OEM SP2 CD, this WILL NOT WORK WITH THIS NEW STICKER

3) Full version CD for full versions bought at the store. You can tell that you are using this CD because when it asks you to put in your product code then the example shown on the screen will have a YELLOW background.

4) Full version UPGRADE CD - same as full version, but it just says "Upgrade" on it

5) Tablet PC - All the tablet PC is is XP Pro. YOU CAN USE AN XP PRO OEM CD to install tablet PC. Depending on what key you type in will determine if it will be Tablet PC OS, which in return will determine if the system will ask you for CD 2 for the Tablet PC functions (at which time you would have to insert that second CD).

6) Media Center PC - All the Media Center PC is is XP Pro. YOU CAN USE AN XP PRO OEM CD to install Media Center. Depending on what key you type in will determine if it will be Media Center OS, which in return will determine if the system will ask you for CD 2 for the Media Center functions (at which time you would have to insert that second CD).

7) XP Pro Corporate - Most of you know this CD because the corporate hacked copy that floats around the introwebs key starts with FCKFW-something something something... this hacked version sux however (many issues w/ crashing). However the legit XP Pro corporate works great.

Hope this clears up some confusion.

 

U have been PM'ed as well!

 

Someone told me that there are three different types of keys, Volume License, OEM, and Retail and that the CD's are encoded to the specific key.

 

see my post 2 above yours... and yes their is also a corporate version disc... i forgot to mention that, prolly cuz noone usually uses that.

 

JB... Excellent point! I forgot about that. Yes... For a CF-28 you should go for an XP CD with Svc Pk 1 and for a CF-29 I'd go with Svc Pk 2... Though I think I've installed Svc Pk 1&2 on the 28. I have yet to have a COA not take. I have run into the case where you have to call in to get the COA reset. In that case you click on the "generate key" key and then call Redmond toll free with the number provided. They will gve you a new key string to type in to reactivate your COA.

 

Can Panasonic tell what OEM CD key went with what laptop? The COA sticker n the bottom of my Toughbook wasn't as tough as the laptop itself.

 

Not by number. The closest Panny can get is looking at the version on the sticker or on the model serial number. The serial tells what version since each model only had a limited number of OS options.

 

I just did a reinstallation on my Mk II with new recovery discs from Heartland ($29.95 ) and it didn't even ask for the key. Took all of about 20 minutes and all drivers/software/etc is loaded and working. Well worth the money if you have other stuff to order (Hmm, CF-30 handle and stylus ) I purchased a used recovery disc set for a CF-28 MKII, but they are too scratched to use. Trying to contact the seller for my money back...

fstik

 

That's real good info about the recovery discs from Heartland. It seems like a lot of folks have a need for recovery discs for our Toughbooks.

 

I had considered making ISO images of the recovery disks and then letting Modly (if he is interested and has the server space/bandwidth) post them on his site. What would be really cool is if we could get a collection of recovery disks for each model and have them available. Or I would be willing to collect them from anyone who has them and make copies as needed for the members. (No newbies until they have a certain amount of posts or rep power, don't want to make it an asset for the Ebayers...)

Just a thought...

fstik

 

Excellent! Yes... I was about to say that the recovery disks do not ask for the COA... It "knows" that your laptop came with a valid XP COA so there is no need to ask for it.

Fstik... Try this... Try copying the scratched CDs and then try to install. I do this on CDs from time to time after I use them a bunch. I have done this to many, many XP disks over the years. I reformat my stuff so many times and as I rebuild... I carry the COA to the new machine. Somewhere I still have all my original XP Pro CDs.

Anyway... It's worth a try.

Rick

 

I have a source of virtually unlimited OEM COA's. I'll just stick to the key changing process and collect another COA when I need it.

 

Yep, tried that. Didn't work. I tried to get rid of some of the scratches with my cd/dvd polisher thingamajig and was able to get the first disk (1 of 4) to go through. The second one would fail (even the copy) so I couldn't even check the 3rd and 4th. I might try for a new cd polisher/scratch remover and see if I can salvage the disks. I will post results.

fstik

 

Toothpaste. I use it to buff scratched plastic headlight and taillight assemblies on cars.

Wrap the end of a drill in an old t-shirt, or flannel if you have it and buff liberally.



Start with the kind that feels really gritty. You can actually feel the abrasives in it when you chew. It's also usually very pastey and white or at least opaque.

Move on to the stripey kind for less abrasive material.

Progress up to a gel that's semi-clear for the least abrasives.

Finally a light coating of hot parafin wax and a light misting of mineral oil.

 

"Finally a light coating of hot parafin wax and a light misting of mineral oil."

Sounds like Jarhead getting ready for a hot date!

 

1-try software like:CDCheck 3.1: http://www.softwarepatch.com/software/cd-recovery.html
2-online storage 50GB free : http://www.adrive.com/ ,upload your ISO then make the folder share and send the file link only by PM to "nonEbay-ers"

 

I'm in the same boat with a CF-29/XP Pro COA in need of a fresh OS load. What/Where is Heartland???

 

www.heartlandsi.com

They have pretty good prices on some parts but do nail you for shipping if you only need one item. $20 - $30 for shipping for ground/next day shipping.

If you have a generic XP disk you can load XP on your CF-29... I've done it it a BUNCH of times.

PM me for info!

 

Anybody willing to send me a link to a Mk2 recovery CD image? My CF-29 is on its way!

If not, I will try the heartland route, although since I am in the military stationed overseas, I may have to do without for awhile...

Thanks!!

 

im too going to have to wait for my recovery cd,but luckily i managed to get a copy of xp pro with service pack 3 from the shop but i had to use the key on the base of the laptop to register,well i will when microsoft sorts out it,s server,meanwhile i have a reminder telling me how many days left to register this copy.

 

displacedtexan... We can't swap copywritten images around here. You may be able to find a set on ebay or maybe someone here can help you out.

 

I have a CF29(CTP) MK1 that needs to have the OS changed back to windows. The recovery disk I have are not for a MK1 but a MK5. Anyone able to help? All the OEM disk I have here are XP not 2K.

Thanks,

Chris

 

The OEM xp that you have is good enough to run the machine. You just need to download and Install all the drivers for MK1 after OS installed. Check the FAQ above and you will find the link for the download site. Good Luck

ohlip

 

The restore stops and says model not supported. Any thoughts?

 

If you have an OEM XP Pro CD (not hard to get), then just use that with the 25 digit COA that is on the bottom of your Toughbok. If you don't have a legit COA, then technically even with a restore CD, that is illegal.

 

I am not suprised that is says model not supported
Your mk-5 restore disk is for a mk-5, not a mk-1
Even on the panasonic driver download site, the files will only unextract on the supported model
If you need a cf-29 mk-1 restore disk place a WTB post in the
ToughBook Buy Sell and Trade Forum


Alex