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#1 Feb 17 2008 at 9:20 PM Rating: Good
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Howdy

My friend just recently purchased an emachine with vista OS. It was a floor model so he got it for a good price, but there is no backup vista disc. I've done the best that I can, but I think the best option will be to restore factory settings due to its many trials/firedog adds, not to mention a store id I don't know how to remove. Is it possible to restore the settings without a vista disc?

Many Thanks

~B
#2 Feb 17 2008 at 9:37 PM Rating: Good
I too bought an e-machines vista floor model from circuit city back in April(I think)

Most new computers do NOT come with recovery disks. At elast none of the one's I have bought since 2004 have come with them(that's 3 computers)

The computer should have the backup files stored on it. You pretty much have to create your own restore discs. I think it's lame, honestly. Odds are most people don't create a restore disc when they should - and when they need it; they won't have access to it. lulz

Anyways, my advice isn't that great. I'm decent at computer stuff. I wouldn't be able to do tech support, but if I have a problem I'm able to solve it without the aid of tech support if I work at it a bit.
#3 Feb 17 2008 at 9:43 PM Rating: Good
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Himmelskralle, Eater of Souls wrote:
The computer should have the backup files stored on it. You pretty much have to create your own restore discs.


That's what I thought. I noticed the "Create a system restore CD" wizard. I was going to create one, restart, then boot from CD. I was hoping this would allow me to restore factory settings.
Thanks for confirming.
#4 Feb 17 2008 at 11:48 PM Rating: Excellent
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The keycode on the back of the PC is your vista license. Assuming you have that, it is 100% legal for you to find someone who has a working Vista DVD (any version), burn a copy of that DVD, then reinstall using the Key on the back of the PC. The disk itself does not have copy protection and you are legally allowed to make a backup copy if there are no copy protection measures in place. Unlike XP there is not a seperate OEM disk version, so any vista disk will do.
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#5 Feb 18 2008 at 6:52 AM Rating: Good
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Dread Lörd Kaolian wrote:
The keycode on the back of the PC is your vista license. Assuming you have that, it is 100% legal for you to find someone who has a working Vista DVD (any version), burn a copy of that DVD, then reinstall using the Key on the back of the PC.


So I need an actual copy of Vista or is a restore disk an acceptable substitue?
I should have the keay code as eveything was purchased legitimatly (I am not near the PC or I would look).
#6 Feb 18 2008 at 8:36 AM Rating: Good
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You can download the setup files legally:

http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/01/60316070-3318705--NOA/msvista/pub/Vista_WIM/i386/boot.wim
http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/01/60316070-3318705--NOA/msvista/pub/Vista_WIM/i386/install.wim
http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/01/60316070-3318705--NOA/msvista/pub/X13-49120/X13-49120.exe

Put them in the same directory and run the .exe. Alternately you could image a bootable Vista DVD with them, although I'm not sure why you would bother.

Edit: While we're on the subject, Vista's terrible, but I imagine shelling out $100 or whatever XP still retails for is out of the question, so good luck.





Edited, Feb 18th 2008 11:42am by Smasharoo
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#7 Feb 18 2008 at 11:59 AM Rating: Good
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Smasharoo wrote:
Alternately you could image a bootable Vista DVD with them, although I'm not sure why you would bother.

Edited, Feb 18th 2008 11:42am by Smasharoo


Actually, due to the lack of internet connecton right now, I'm having to download those files on my pc, burn them to disk, then run the cd on the emachine.

Would it be possible to use a flash drive with those three fles on it instead of a CD?

Thanks
~B
#8 Feb 18 2008 at 12:15 PM Rating: Good
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Would it be possible to use a flash drive with those three fles on it instead of a CD?


Yes, just move them to the other PC's HDD, put them in the same directory, and run the EXE. Make sure you have the activation key ready.
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Disclaimer:

To make a long story short, I don't take any responsibility for anything I post here. It's not news, it's not truth, it's not serious. It's parody. It's satire. It's bitter. It's angsty. Your mother's a *****. You like to jack off dogs. That's right, you heard me. You like to grab that dog by the bone and rub it like a ski pole. Your dad? Gay. Your priest? Straight. **** off and let me post. It's not true, it's all in good fun. Now go away.

#9 Feb 18 2008 at 12:20 PM Rating: Good
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Smasharoo wrote:

Yes, just move them to the other PC's HDD, put them in the same directory, and run the EXE. Make sure you have the activation key ready.


By activation key, do you mean the numbers on the back of the CPU tower?

Thank you for all your help.

~B
#10 Feb 18 2008 at 12:52 PM Rating: Good
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By activation key, do you mean the numbers on the back of the CPU tower?


I'd assume so. I haven't bought a premade PC with a preinstalled OS in about ten years, but there used to be a crazy hologramed 4 color MS sticker with the activation key on it. It shouldn't be too hard to find.

____________________________
Disclaimer:

To make a long story short, I don't take any responsibility for anything I post here. It's not news, it's not truth, it's not serious. It's parody. It's satire. It's bitter. It's angsty. Your mother's a *****. You like to jack off dogs. That's right, you heard me. You like to grab that dog by the bone and rub it like a ski pole. Your dad? Gay. Your priest? Straight. **** off and let me post. It's not true, it's all in good fun. Now go away.

#11 Feb 18 2008 at 1:01 PM Rating: Good
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261 posts
Green arrow for you sir

Thanks
#12 Feb 19 2008 at 11:06 AM Rating: Decent
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Dread Lörd Kaolian wrote:
The keycode on the back of the PC is your vista license. Assuming you have that, it is 100% legal for you to find someone who has a working Vista DVD (any version), burn a copy of that DVD, then reinstall using the Key on the back of the PC. The disk itself does not have copy protection and you are legally allowed to make a backup copy if there are no copy protection measures in place. Unlike XP there is not a seperate OEM disk version, so any vista disk will do.


This would be true for any commercially purchased Vista DVD. However back-up CD's/DVD's that are created on a computer like this with the separate backup partition can sometimes only be used on the machine that created them.
#13 Feb 20 2008 at 9:11 AM Rating: Good
I had a lot of battles with Microsft over this with XP, because the version of windows that came on my HP tower burned some bad install disks to begin with, so I had to bum a friend's XP disk and use my own code.

Every time I reformatted, I had this conversation with Microsoft's Indian call center:

Me: I'm having trouble activating windows.
M$: Did you use the XP disks that came with your computer?
Me: No. My computer didn't come with any disks.
M$: Ok, so what disks did you use?
Me: Burned DVDs.
M$: Wait, are those . . . pirated?
Me: If you have a problem with burned XP disks, you need to take it up with your damn OEM manufacturers that force you to burn a backup from your computer.
M$: (giving up already because they will lose this argument) Ok, ok, I'll activate your Windows. There, you should be good to go.

If they fixed this issue with Vista, then maybe they actually did something right for once.

We'll find out the first time I try to reformat my box :)
#14 Feb 20 2008 at 1:53 PM Rating: Default
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Me: I'm having trouble activating windows.
M$: Did you use the XP disks that came with your computer?
Me: No. My computer didn't come with any disks.
M$: Ok, so what disks did you use?
Me: Burned DVDs.
M$: Wait, are those . . . pirated?
Me: If you have a problem with burned XP disks, you need to take it up with your damn OEM manufacturers that force you to burn a backup from your computer.
M$: (giving up already because they will lose this argument) Ok, ok, I'll activate your Windows. There, you should be good to go.

If they fixed this issue with Vista, then maybe they actually did something right for once.


Wouldn't it have been easier to just use a cracked copy? What you did was equally illegal, but had the added benefit of wasting a massive amount of time.

____________________________
Disclaimer:

To make a long story short, I don't take any responsibility for anything I post here. It's not news, it's not truth, it's not serious. It's parody. It's satire. It's bitter. It's angsty. Your mother's a *****. You like to jack off dogs. That's right, you heard me. You like to grab that dog by the bone and rub it like a ski pole. Your dad? Gay. Your priest? Straight. **** off and let me post. It's not true, it's all in good fun. Now go away.

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