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[jack68]

Can anyone assist with my computer problem.  I'll try and give as much info as possible.  I had a packard bell mx37 which i gave to my mum.  She has a chap look at it and he has now installed an illegal copy of windows 7.  I know vista isn't everyones cup of tea but it came with the computer and hence isn't an illegal copy.  I have tried everything to get the computer back to the factory state and nothing seems to be working.  I know there are several people on here who know about these things so if anyone can assist i would be eternally grateful.  Feel free to pm or just add to the thread. 

Jack :-/

[Welung666]

Do you have the original discs that came with it?

[jack68]

As per new computers they don't come with any discs now.  I have the vista pass code on the rear and thats about it.

[Richard P]

Borrow a Vista disk from somebody and install using the serial number from the back of your computer.
Any Vista disk that you can get hold of will do, it need not be the same version as the one that you originaly had on the computer.

Richard.

[KW]

I had a packard bell

My deepest commiserations

She has a chap look at it and he has now installed an illegal copy of windows 7.  I know vista isn't everyones cup of tea but it came with the computer and hence isn't an illegal copy.  I have tried everything to get the computer back to the factory state and nothing seems to be working.  I know there are several people on here who know about these things so if anyone can assist i would be eternally grateful.  Feel free to pm or just add to the thread.

If your "chap" deleted all partions on the hard drive (which he more than likely did), then all the factory recovery information is now gone.

I can quite happily provide you with a copy of Vista (although please believe me when I say that was flawed from day one), although you will need to let me know what version of Vista you originally had (eg, Home, Premium, etc) in order for your PID to work with the installation disc.

Please note that "any" Vista installation disc will not work, you need the right version (Home, Premium, etc) and as it is a scrapyard bell then it will have to be OEM (which I can sort out for you).

[StuPot100]

Just go and reboot to factory settings or go to beginning of restore point

[KW]

Just go and reboot to factory settings or go to beginning of restore point

The OP has already stated that factory restore no longer works, and that's more than likely because the restore partition was removed when 7 was installed.

[Mr Skrunts]

Just go and reboot to factory settings or go to beginning of restore point

If your "chap" deleted all partions on the hard drive (which he more than likely did), then all the factory recovery information is now gone.

Not possible if the guy has done what KW mentioned.

[Richard P]

Any OEM disk will work. These OEM disks contains all versions of Vista in that bit version (ie, 32-bit or 64-bit). It is the product key that determine what version of Vista the disk will install. An OEM version gives you ALL flavours of Vista, it's the key that determines what you get.

On the other hand if you have a Manufacturer's disk (ie Dell) it only lets you install the version that they sold you, and it usually includes drivers for your particular machine.

Richard.

[KW]

Any OEM disk will work.

No it won't.

These OEM disks contains all versions of Vista in that bit version (ie, 32-bit or 64-bit).

Not all of them do, in fact I have yet to see an OEM installation disc that offers anything other than what the computer shipped with.

[Richard P]

I resolve problems like this on a daily basis and I use the same OEM Vista disk every time. I have yet to have an installation fail.

Richard.

[KW]

I resolve problems like this on a daily basis and I use the same OEM Vista disk every time. I have yet to have an installation fail.

Richard.

At this point I'd say your OEM installation disc is not what the public gets.
If Joe Public is going to get an installation/recovery disc, then it is tied to the manufacturer of the hardware (eg, my son's Toshiba installation disc will refuse point blank to install on anything other than a Toshiba machine).

[Richard P]

What Joe public gets depends on what Joe public bought. If Joe public was daft enough to buy a dell or any other branded computer he or she will have received an installation / recovery disk (if they received any disk at all). However if Joe public bought his or her computer from a company like mine, he or she will probably have received an OEM disk. I repeat my earlier post:

Any OEM disk will work. These OEM disks contains all versions of Vista in that bit version (ie, 32-bit or 64-bit). It is the product key that determine what version of Vista the disk will install. An OEM version gives you ALL flavours of Vista, it's the key that determines what you get.

On the other hand if you have a Manufacturer's disk (ie Dell) it only lets you install the version that they sold you, and it usually includes drivers for your particular machine.

Richard.

[KW]

What Joe public gets depends on what Joe public bought. If Joe public was daft enough to buy a dell or any other branded computer he or she will have received an installation / recovery disk (if they received any disk at all). However if Joe public bought his or her computer from a company like mine, he or she will probably have received an OEM disk. I repeat my earlier post:

Any OEM disk will work. These OEM disks contains all versions of Vista in that bit version (ie, 32-bit or 64-bit). It is the product key that determine what version of Vista the disk will install. An OEM version gives you ALL flavours of Vista, it's the key that determines what you get.

On the other hand if you have a Manufacturer's disk (ie Dell) it only lets you install the version that they sold you, and it usually includes drivers for your particular machine.

Richard.

Please feel free to enlighten me (and the rest of us) as to what company will "probably" provide an installation disc that contains ALL variants of Vista (or any version of Windows come to that).

[Richard P]

My company, RP Computer Services, provided an OEM disk which contained all versions of Vista, it is the product key that determines what version of Vista the disk will install.

Richard.