Tripredacus

I've never heard of that either. But all the OEMs mentioned are high volume ones and cater to the retail market. I would imagine it is just plain easier for them to create a singular product (say Thinkpad model whatever) for the retail market and it can only be purchased with a Windows OS on it. In a retail setting there would be no reason for say Best Buy to carry model with OS and without and let the customer pick which they want. There shouldn't be a reason why you couldn't get said Thinkpad directly from Lenovo without an OS... but I think what it is that all their products are mass produced in an assembly line. They all get Windows and all the same stuff. Then Lenovo already had paid for the COA on each. They go right from the factory to the warehouse waiting to be purchased. So it makes sense to me in a mass produced case like that, why the OS would be mandatory. While some mentioned OEMs can do a BTO those are probably in the majority compared to whatever else they are selling.

Going to the IP address of the website only shows a placeholder page.

Validating is the user group that a new member enters. After they respond to the invitation email with that hash that is sent, they get moved into the Members group. Basically, anyone in Validating group hasn't replied to the email yet.

Just to warn you, if your company is using a residential plan, running a server is probably against the TOS. They should look into getting one of the lower tier business packages. The increase in price per month usually includes a static IP, ability to run a server and priority service (vs what residential lines get) in case of outage or other interruption.

Run memtest. Burn the iso to a disc and boot off the disc. (choose the free download button) http://www.memtest86.com/ Alternatively, see if your system is any (ken) stabler when using just one stick of RAM over the other. Sorry for nothing special, but if your PC locks up in the BIOS its not too many things. Its usually easier to test memory first.

What version of Windows? What driver version (as shown in Device Manager) for your video card?

Another possibility is that the computer is a formerly from some company.

Sysprep does not remove any user profiles. It disables the Administrator account. If you create a user account in Audit Mode (for example) and the sysprep /OOBE, you'll create your new account, etc. But if you choose to log out of Windows, the other account will be available for you to select. OOBE will always request to create a user account, as that is what it is designed to do. If you don't want to create a user account, you'll have to research on how to do the customizations and then create the new user account using an XML file, and use the CopyProfile function. What are the "settings" you made? It is possible they can be done with the XML as well.

I believe it is likely because Intel peicemeals their hardware components out to ODMs (like Asus, MSI, custom shops) to build boards with their individual components (video, nic, chipset, etc) but all the nVidia and ATI boards I've seen usually contain everything together.

I can't say why it worked on your other PC but there are circumstances where it would. However, most INF files contain instructions on copying files to their destinations but I don't see that in this one. It is failing because it is expecting the files to be present (from the copy) but aren't so it gives the error. So try this: copy the xbcdrc.sys to c:\windows\system32\drivers install the INF again

I've not used the Acronis software, but I wonder how many Primary partitions are on your disk now. You should have had 3 with Windows 7 (but not all OEMs do it the same way) and then 1 with Windows 8. If the Acronis software is not smart enough, it may have tried making a 5th or who knows what. It would really be helpful if you had the ability to boot into WinPE or some other thing so we could have you check the disk and BCD settings out. You can try this... take out the HDD, then go into the BIOS. Set the boot order to have Optical drive, then HDD, then whatever. Save and exit. Then when it can't boot you can turn it off. Put in your CD and the HDD back in, turn it on and see if it will boot off the CD that way.

Is there any better information logged in Event Viewer? You can also look at the Windows Update Log, but beware it might be a large file. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902093

Making that a Windows desktop is an even older project. I had tried one back on my old Windows 98.... not necessarily the one here: http://www.stardock.com/stardock/articles/yearinskinning2002.html Potentially one offered by Windowblinds... but it was far too "alien" to use as a permanent replacement, although it probably wouldn't have been terrible had I not been using a 15" monitor back then.

We should all be so lucky.

Also, since I don't think it is mentioned... PATA cables have a maximum length of 18 inches (457 mm) but you can actually get longer ones. Make sure that your PATA cable is the appropriate length as well.

I think the system will boot if you use the 4 pin in the 8 pin CPU power connector, but I am certain it has 8 pins for a reason. I do this often during testing, but never on a live production system. I would still recommend that the correct power supply is acquired, unless someone else has knowledge that such isn't required.

Dumb noobie question. How can you tell? Cheers and Regards Disk Management should have a mention of GPT, otherwise you can tell with Diskpart if so inclined. As far as UEFI boot, it would be a setting in the BIOS, usually on the Boot page.

This was brought up earlier. Even Windows 95 to XP has a "how to use movie" when it booted. Well in that "welcome" screen that would appear you could find out how to use Windows.

System Builder version of NAV 2013 works using /QR switch. NORTON ANTIVIRUS 2013 12MO 1U SYS BLDR CTO [EN]

Are you using an 80 pin IDE cable or a 40?

Having a UEFI BIOS and using UEFI boot are two different things. Most UEFI boards now support a legacy booting method. If you are using UEFI boot, then your Primary HDD would be in GPT mode. Is it?

So originally your PC was Windows 7 (OEM) with recovery partition? Then you installed Windows 8 I presume by shrinking a partition?