"Rob Nicholson" <rob.nicholson@nospam_informed-direct.com> wrote in message 
news:Xbadnb-IDKWijB3ZnZ2dnUVZ8tKdnZ2d@bt.com...
>> You bought and paid for a laptop with XP Pro, all that 'vaporware' which 
>> came pre-installed on it is what paid Toshiba to sell you the laptop with 
>> XP Pro.  The 'Recovery CD' will either return your laptop to the 
>> 'Out-of-box' state, or allow you to re-install chosen vaporware.
>
> Of course, I was unable to read the terms and conditions before ordering 
> so haven't a clue what the legal point of view is concerning 
> re-installation of the software. If this is Toshiba's stance, i.e. no way 
> of getting plain vanilla Win XP Pro back on there, then they've probably 
> lost further sales. The Dell CD puts Win XP Pro back on there, usually 
> with most of the drivers but not 3rd party software.
>
>> Of course purchasing your own copy of XP Pro will set you back $100 - 
>> $150, but it will give you a cleaner machine.  My plan of action has 
>> always been
>
> That's a possibility but leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.
Why do you have to double-pay for XP? Use the same license key from the 
sticker (usuualy in the backof the macbine) or on the current running 
system.