Phoenix first ware recovery pro 2004

Has anybody heard or used the above-named software? I recently bought my daughter , a new laptop computer . it's a refurbished averatech here is the link.
http://www.refurbdepot.com/productde...roduct_ID=3844. The edition of this software that came installed on her computer is somewhat disabled , it is a trial version . it gives you the opportunity to register online , but each time I've tried to register online . No web page comes up. This disabled version will not allow you full backups to CDs or to a separate partition on your hard drive. It does partition the hard drive and backs up files to that partition. Windows does not see that partition , and I suppose that means they feel it's safe. I called their technical support line and was told that not providing backup CDs is the new standard , and I was warranted , should I have any trouble.I can see that if something really goes wrong with this computer . it will have to be sent in, so that they can reinstall Windows

I went ahead and bought the software , but it won't let me install it until I uninstall the currently running version. The full version allows backups to iso files. I guess I'm chicken . everything is running well . I don't have a backup disk of windows that would be legal to put on this computer unless I shell out the dollars for it. It has a sticker with a number on the back . so there must be software that would be legal to put on this computer . I just don't have it.

any suggestions would be appreciated . I suppose it is not that big a deal if in the future I have to buy another edition of windows . in order fix this computer , but it doesn't seem right. :)

Can't say that I've ever heard of it. If it were me, I'd get all mission-critical data backed up to some external device before trying it out.

Unfortunately, it is quite common for some OEM's to ship new equipment without any physical media for restoring the OS, which is bull in my opinion, which is also why I would never purchase from these vendors.

You don't need to purchase an OS, you did that already. But unfortunately, you must rely on the manufacturer to reload it if needed.

If you get a fresh restore from the manufacturer maybe it may be wise to invest in some sort of drive imaging program so you can make a complete backup of your computer just in case of software failure or hardware failure. I think Norton Ghost will allow you to make something close to a restore CD/DVD set that can be used to restore. I use Ghost 8, but haven't really tried version 9 or 10.