did you see this on the Gateway website?
[ Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I identify my System Restoration CD?
A: For Desktop Computers:
For newer desktop computers, you would have received the following three or four CDs.

* Operating System CD: This CD has a blue label, and contains the Microsoft® Windows® operating system software.
* Gateway Drivers CD: This CD has a red label, and contains the original drivers and software for your Gateway hardware.
* Gateway Applications CD: This CD has a yellow label, and contains backup media for the computer software.
Note: Depending on the version number of your Applications CD, you may have received either one or two discs. If you received two discs, each CD is individually labeled as either Disc 1 of 2 or Disc 2 of 2.

For older desktop computers, you would have received either a System Restoration CD or a System Restoration Kit.

System Restoration CDs versions 5.0 - 12.6 contains a partial backup of system software, hardware drivers, and the Windows® 9x restoration program on a single CD.

The System Restoration Kits began shipping with version 12.7. For System Restoration Kit version numbers 12.7 - 13.2, the kit contained two CDs.
* System Restoration CD: This CD contains drivers, Web updates, and the system recovery process.
* Application Restoration CD: This CD contains most of the software applications.

For System Restoration Kit version numbers 13.3 - 17.2, the kit contained three CDs.
* Disc 1 - System Restoration CD: This CD contains the original drivers and software for your Gateway hardware.
* Disc 2 - Operating System CD: This CD contains the Microsoft® Windows® operating system software.
* Disc 3 - Application Restoration CD: This CD contains backup media for the computer software.

For Portable Computers:
The Portable System Restoration Kit began shipping with version 5.0. For Portable System Restoration Kit version numbers 5.0 - 6.1, the kit contained two CDs.

* Portable System Restoration CD: This CD contains drivers, Web updates, and the system recovery process.
* Application Restoration CD: This CD contains most of the software applications.

For Portable System Restoration Kit version numbers 6.2 - later, the kit contains three CDs.
* Disc 1 - Portable System Restoration CD: This CD contains the original drivers and software for your Gateway hardware.
* Disc 2 - Operating System CD: This CD contains the Microsoft® Windows® operating system software.
* Disc 3 - Application Restoration CD: This CD contains backup media for the computer software.

For Gateway Profile™ Computers:
For a Gateway Profile 1.8, you would have received a single Profile Restoration CD.
For a Gateway Profile 2, you would have received two CDs:
* The Recovery CD (Disk 1) is used if the computer needs to be returned to the original downloaded image as it came from the factory.
* The Software Backup CD (Disk 2) contains backup copies of the programs and device drivers that are pre-installed on the computer.
For a Gateway Profile 3, you would have received a single System Restoration Kit CD.

Q: What is on a System Restoration CD?
A: The System Restoration CD (SRCD) contains backup copies of the hardware drivers and some of the Gateway-supplied software applications that were installed on your computer when it originally shipped from Gateway. These CDs were included in the packaging when you received your computer from Gateway.

Q: What if I need a replacement CD for my computer?

A: Depending on the availability of the System Restoration CD you need, Gateway may be able to provide backup media for your computer. This may be at a cost according to your warranty status. Use the following address to contact Gateway about the availability of System Restoration CDs.

https://support.gateway.com/support/...ct_tech2.shtml

Q: What if I need a few drivers for my computer?
A: You can download drivers from the Gateway Driver Download Center using your system serial number search or browse our site for product specific drivers.] http://support.gateway.com/s/SOFTWAR...3215faq8.shtml

http://search.support.gateway.com/ip...0All%20Support
http://support.gateway.com/support/customer_care.asp

I've found when calling - if you can't understand the person that answers just hang up and redial - most likely someone else will get that new call.

Yeah, I went there...identifying the disk would not be a problem if they'd actually given me disks back when I bought the computer.

My hard drive is partitioned, and the "disks" are stored on the hard drive. Problem is, if I use the "disks" that are stored on the hard drive, my computer will overwrite the information that's stored there, and if the fix doesnt fix it, I'm pretty much screwed.

I dont know if I can copy the information from that part of the hard drive so that I'd still have the original information. I'm not even going to go into that folder on that part of the hard drive for the fear that I'm going to screw it up even worse.

I think my boyfriend can fix it, but he lives in another city, and cant get here till this weekend (maybe?) so I have to tiptoe around the error message.

Good thing I still have my laptop. I'm just going to ignore the desktop computer, and leave it alone for a few days.

My laptop has it's own issues, but I dont think it's got as many problems as the desktop has.

I have a free version of McAfee that our ISP provides to us. I already used it to scan the computer, and it found nothing.

The computer was defragged and cleaned up a few weeks ago by my boyfriend. It was running ok after that.

It seems like computers last about 3 years for me and then they go belly up. I've had this desktop computer since 2005...so it's probably right on schedule.

My laptop has just been doing weird bizzare stuff too. But it's not insisting I put a non-existant disk into my cd drive so that it can change registry information. I'm just hoping that my boyfriend is off work tonight. I might actually see if we can get him to connect to my desktop computer and then he might be able to actually look into the computer to fix it.

I'm going to suggest this to him if he logs onto skype tonight to chat.

erin, i do disk clean up daily and defrag atleast once a week. i use internet explorer. i also open it up and clean out files and history.

i also run spybot search and destroy, ad-aware and avg anti spyware before logging off each night. these are free downloads.

you might want to double check. sometimes utilty programs miss "junk" that slow you down.

Please use AVG..the virus software and the spyware...they are both free and my AVG has caught stuff that norton/mcafee didn't Well.. it's just an idea

I did a bunch of antivirus scans and spyware scans on my computers last night. All they found were a bunch of suspicious looking cookies.

My boyfriend helped me with a work-around and the computer seems to be going fine for me right now.


I talked with my dad last night. He's got an iMac, and he keeps going to the Apple store and Best Buy to drool over the 24in screen iMac's. (the one he has is the 20in)

I asked him if he's serious about getting the new one someday, and he says he wants to get the new one eventually, just doesnt think he can afford it for another few months.

So, I put in my request to take his iMac when he gets his new one. I think he's going to let me have it. Then I can get my MooPu (Gateway) computer a good tune up, and I'll hook it up to my tv so that I can use it like a Tivo when my Tivo crashes. (Moo is a media center computer)

Yeah, I am seriously considering going over to the Dark Side (MacIntosh)