Help!

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Spike88

If I don't have a Vista disk(my girlfriend doesn't know where she put it) what should I do?

Get a new girlfriend. :rotfl: Buy a new OS. Not much else you can do.

[Thomen]

Originally Posted by Spike88

If I don't have a Vista disk(my girlfriend doesn't know where she put it) what should I do?

Get a new one from dell. Tell em you lost yours and they will probably send you a new one for a relative small fee. It will come without key, though

[CaptainHaplo]

If its a dell - there is a sticker on the outside of it with the key for the OS - so he should have the key already on the box.

Just a note - always make sure if you have a cd - make sure you write down the key and file it away just in case. I usually write it ON the cd in perm marker as well as in an electronic document and a hard copy on file.

Also - for those that want to "roll back" to a previous operating system - remember than if you own a valid license for Windows Vista - it also licenses you for use of a singular "lesser" OS instead if you want. So you could own a vista license, never owned xp - but you are legally entitled to install xp INSTEAD of (but NOT in addition to) Vista on the single pc. It won't give you a install key - but if you install a lesser os instead - and keep your vista license handy - your legal. That means it covers w95 all the way up. However, for the "flavored" os's - the license only covers the equivilant - meaning wista home only allows xp home edition, not pro. It allows w2k pro but not server or advanced server.

People complain about microsoft - but they at least gave you rights to roll back under license.

[Thomen]

Originally Posted by CaptainHaplo

If its a dell - there is a sticker on the outside of it with the key for the OS - so he should have the key already on the box.

Yep.. I assumed that the sticker is still there. hehe

Also, Dell might ask for a Service Ticket number if they replace the disk. Said number can be found
a.) on another sticker on the box
or
b.) on a sticker in side the box.. usually somewhere on the mobo
or
3.) it should be listened in your Bios.

[She-Wolf]

You can also use such utils as SIW, from http://www.gtopala.com/ which is a free, legal and popular little tool to unhash the PID in the registry so you can write it down for future ref when you re-install, however, you will need to install using an OEM disk, preferably Dell, so that you can activate the OS once fully installed, a retail disk will probably not be accepted.

[Spike88]

If I were to get an Upgrade disk, and put this hard drive in, would I be able to reformat? Considering the upgrade is 100$ cheaper than the normal version.

[She-Wolf]

Upgrades usually require there to be a current operating system in place, though I think that there is a work around by which you can do a clean install on a reformatted disk by following a particular procedure, both for Vista and XP. Someone else might confirm that

[Spike88]

Originally Posted by She-Wolf

Upgrades usually require there to be a current operating system in place, though I think that there is a work around by which you can do a clean install on a reformatted disk by following a particular procedure, both for Vista and XP. Someone else might confirm that

But if I were to move this hard drive over with vista, and upgrade to a Home premium and delete everything else wouldn't that work? I know it worked with XP, whenever my parents work computers or our old computer which ran XP needed to be reformatted for whatever reason, it'd let us do so with the upgrade disk. Wait, whats the difference between a clean install and reformatting?

[CaptainHaplo]

Reformatting makes it a clean install.