Reinstalling Vista

[Darol Wester]

I ran across a pc that is so messed up that I just want to reinstall the OS and it is Vista. I've done this before but it's been quite a while, so I thought I'd better check here to be safe. They have the system disk and drivers. Here's one explanation I found online. Is this what I'm wanting to do?

http://www.theeldergeek.com/vista/vista_clean_installation.htm

 

[Nick]

As long as you have the OEM disk, and Generator Keys you Have a shot ..

A fix that works on one Machine might not work on another ..

If you can't do it , Just post back and i will get it working again without the issues ..

Good Luck..

 

[Darol Wester]

OK. Having a shot doesn't set well with me on someone else's machine. I've worked on this thing over the years and they always seem to do something after I leave that messes it up again. It gets ungodly slow and something you try to bring up now, it'll come up hours or days later??? I've ran MWB and Avast which does speed it up a bit, but not to where it should be. I'm all ears Nick.

It's a Dell with Windows Vista.

Guess this should have been posted in Intensive Care???

 

[Floorist]

I have an old Dell with Vista. Bought it new. Vista was a very slow system from the factory. It will never be as fast as W7 or XP. You may be trying to do something that cannot be done.

 

[Darol Wester]

You may be right Floorist. I never seen how this thing ran when it was new. It just might be doing the best it can.

Can you install Win 7 on a Vista pc?

 

[Nick]

You may be right Floorist. I never seen how this thing ran when it was new. It just might be doing the best it can.

Can you install Win 7 on a Vista pc?

Yes if you have the OEM disk . You might need to upgrade hardware depending on the build of your confuser ..

 

[Darol Wester]

I do have the reinstallation DVD that came with my pc. It's Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64 bit. Sounds like a good fix to me. What will I have to adjust to make this work?

I also have a copy of Win 7 Pro that includes Service Pack 1 also 64 bit.

 

[Nick]

You may be right Floorist. I never seen how this thing ran when it was new. It just might be doing the best it can.

Can you install Win 7 on a Vista pc?

Yes if you have the OEM disk . You might need to upgrade hardware depending on the build of your confuser ..

 

[Nick]

STEP 1.
Please download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool and save it to your Desktop.https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct..._64_bit.html&usg=AOvVaw0cqQgsD6K6OiuL_g-jm5mR

Note: You need to run the version compatibale with your system. If you are not sure which version applies to your system download both of them and try to run them. Only one of them will run on your system, that will be the right version.

Double-click to run it. When the tool opens click Yes to disclaimer.
Press Scan button.
It will make a log (FRST.txt) in the same directory the tool is run. Please copy and paste it to your reply.
The first time the tool is run, it makes also another log (Addition.txt).
STEP 2.
Start new topic in our Malware Removal forum and provide following logs:

FRST.txt
Addition.txt
Make sure all logs are pasted not attached. Attached logs won't be reviewed.

DO NOT make any other changes to your computer (like installing programs,using other cleaning tools, etc.), until it's officially declared clean!!!

 

[Nick]

I do have the reinstallation DVD that came with my pc. It's Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64 bit. Sounds like a good fix to me. What will I have to adjust to make this work?

I also have a copy of Win 7 Pro that includes Service Pack 1 also 64 bit.

Do you have the Product ID Numbers for it ?

 

[Darol Wester]

I do have the product key for Win 7 Pro.

 

[Nick]

Shouldn't have to adjust much of anything. A real installation disk will scan the machine first and tell you if it's OK or not, then it will go ahead and run the install.

You will have to download SP 2 &3 from MS ..

 

[Darol Wester]

So it will deal with the Vista that's on it also during the install? Does it get rid of it?

 

[Nick]

It's been a while, but if I recall it will ask you if you want to overwrite it or move a copy of the core files to a separate directory.

 

[Darol Wester]

OK. Got it installed alright, but when trying to install SP2, it tells me there's not enough space for the install. Can I install another/bigger memory strip to resolve this Nick?

 

[Nick]

Go to Start/Run and type diskmgmt.msc and press enter. In the Disk Management window, in the lower pane, is the drive where C: is installed have Unallocated Space to the right of C: Or is there another partition? Include a Screenshot of Disk Management window..

Memory is not the answer .. You need more hard drive space on C: ..

 

[Darol Wester]

Here's what I found. Seems to be plenty of free space if I'm reading this right???

 

[Nick]

I'm thinking you must have somehow skipped the step of showing another windows install and allowing you to delete and do a fresh install , which is what should have been done .
Sometimes windows dell provide extra tools and utility that may disrupt the system , if that is the case , just
get a boot disk like ubuntu , and run a live* one and do the "gparted " thing and get the drive ready for a clean install .
I just mentioned that way , but there are numerous ways , even in dos to do this .
You can boot back up with the windows* disc and do a delete and then install , that step You must have been missed .!!!
Another issue , some dell is set up with to many primarys , like i mentioned before , tool , sytem utilities , etc :
THAT is why some who try to do a dual boot with linux , will not work , because of the 4 primary rules which* are being used!!!
Remember the rule , partitions = Only 4 primary's or three primarys plus an extended one !!!
Dell and other manufacturers had hidden ones .
This was one of the main complaints when i had someone try a duel boot system , they had to delete at least one of
the ones like tools , or recover or utilities , I think the manufactors did that on purpose to stop dual booting to a good system and maybe liking it ??
******* Either way i may have gave you too much info , but remember the hard drive manufacturer also* had utilities to
also help prepare your hard drive for a new install . When you miss the windows way ..
forgot to mention , if your install was a dell disc , it could react that one after seeing a previous dell OS ..

 

[Nick]

There should be a way to get to an MS DoS prompt with the install disk. If so, you can run the old fdisk then format. That will obliterate everything on your HD, - factory clean. Then you can run the install disk.

All the old methods of cleaning and installing Windows are gone completely from my mind, comes with age I guess. Create a bootable CD/DVD with the old MS DoS commands, should be able to find them on line - save what you want/need off the drive and start over. Used to be so easy...

Just looked at your screen shot - you have 132GB free - SP2 must be pretty large..

 

[Darol Wester]

Well, I got it working to a point, but it has all the bad issues Vista had. Incredibly slow and freezing screens constantly. Could there be a component issue or maybe a virus of some sort that's causing this? It's impossible to accomplish anything. I'm about ready to test float this thing.