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REINSTALLING VISTA PROBLEMS
ok ladies and gentleman heres the situation
i needed to get windows xp put on my laptop for work related issues, im now trying to reinstall vista i tried the ctrl f-11 keys and no luck. my computer did NOT come with the reinstall software but i found a friend who has a dell and theres did. so i borrowed their install cd and put in in my machine and no luck this is the problem im getting ill explain it step by step:
i insert the install cd i hit f12 to boot from cd/dvd
i hit any key to boot the cd
the install screen displays and i hit install now agree to terms i choose my partition and click next
everything goes smooth until the very last step "completing install" the computer freezes but doesnt if that makes sense. i get the three little thinking dots and i still have play with the mouse but the status bar doesnt move an inch. and it stays like that for a while then the screen goes completly blank but the mouse is still visiable and im able to move it still.
someone brought up the point that the install cd might be "assigend" to that other persons computer and thats why im getting these problems. ive never had a problem like this before ive always put the cd in and boom let the reformatting begin. if anyone has any idea what is going on please please help me out i would really appericiate it.
thanks in advance!!!
- That's a widely held misconception that a DVD is assigned to a certain key. That isn't true. When you buy Windows you buy the license for a partiuclar version and not a DVD. Otherswise the license would be invalid as soon as the DVD was scratched or damaged in any other way. No, all you need is the same edition (Basic, Home Premium, Business or Ultimate).From what the original poster mentioned, it did accept the key and continued to install. It looks like there are other problems.Did you completely reformat you harddisk? I once attempted to reinstall XP and it didn't work until I deleted a tiny partition that Dell had intalled for Dell software. You can use a free software called Gnome Partition editor to get this done.
Message Edited by santos99 on 12-28-2007 01:55 AM
Message Edited by santos99 on 12-28-2007 01:55 AM - yea i didnt think that rumor was tru your buying the key not the dvd like you said. i deleted all partitions created a new one and formatted it then hit the "next" button and the same problem as before. FREEZE im gonna try it again tonight one last time and if that doesnt work im throwing it at someone. thanks for all your feedback
- LOL. I know, that can be frustrating!Did you try deleting and repartioning with The Gnome Partition editor I mentioned? If I recall correctly I had to do this twice before it worked for me.Also, did you also format with the partition manager? It you did, it might be better to just add a new partition and let windows do the formatting.
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discostu668
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Posted December 28th, 2007 04:00
you can always contact dell and (i think) ask for a copy of all the software that was installed on your computer when you bought it. if it came with vista (if i am understanding correctly), it seems odd to me that the OS DVD would not have been included when you received the computer in the first place.