Member Avatar for SantaPotato

I bought my PC from Acer. It had Vista pre-installed. It came with no CD or anything else. I ended up uninstalling most of the Acer bloatware anyway.

But now I want to reformat my HD and install Vista afresh. What do I do?

(PS- I heard Vista users get a free Windows 7 upgrade. Do I need a CD for that?)

Thanks for reading. :)

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by makavelli

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Short summary and a practical plan that fills gaps in the replies from , , and .

First, confirm the exact Vista edition on the machine (Control Panel > System). The reinstall media must match the edition on the COA sticker (Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate). If the sticker is missing or faded, extract the product key from the running Windows before you wipe the drive (tools such as Belarc Advisor or NirSoft ProduKey will read the key). Note: many OEM installs use SLP/BIOS activation, so the COA key printed on the sticker can behave differently from the key used on the running system.

Before formatting, make a full backup and a driver set export. Create a disk image or clone (Macrium Reflect, Clonezilla, or your HDD maker's tool) so you can restore if anything goes wrong. Export drivers with a tool like Double Driver or DriverBackup to avoid hunting for drivers later.

If you lack recovery discs or have deleted the recovery partition, options are:

  • Use the OEM recovery utility if the partition is still present (many Acer models include an eRecovery option accessible from Windows or via a boot hotkey on startup).
  • If the recovery partition is gone, obtain matching Vista installation media (OEM or retail) and use your product key/COA. If you cannot get OEM media, replacement recovery DVDs can sometimes be ordered from the manufacturer for a fee; keep proof of ownership handy.

About Windows 7: the promotional free-upgrade windows were limited and do not cover older purchases by default. Any Win7 upgrade you obtain will still need installation media and a valid license. Final checklist before you wipe: confirm edition and capture product key, image/clone the disk, export drivers, secure matching install media or vendor recovery media, then proceed.

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Member Avatar for cguan_77

check out this link..

Member Avatar for vmanes

(PS- I heard Vista users get a free Windows 7 upgrade. Do I need a CD for that?)
Thanks for reading. :)

You probably heard from someone who doesn't know what they're talking about. With the recent announcement of a 22 Oct release of Win7, there will be a period of time (start of which is yet to be announced) where NEW purchases of Vista PCs will entitle the owner to an upgrade to Win7. But no free upgrade for older purchases.

Member Avatar for pam101

When you bought your PC you should have made your own recovery disks for your operating system. You don't get CD's with Vista. you might want to check the software programs and see if you still have the 'create recovery disk' program and hope you can make them. it is supposed to be a one time only option.

Member Avatar for makavelli

1st: call acer and ask for the DVD's
I called gateway and they sent me 3DVD's in a week

http://us.acer.com/acer-v2/contact_us.do;jsessionid=D436F9F6F0037D7784ADA45B4C49CD3A.public_a_us004?LanguageISOCtxParam=en&ctx2.c2att1=25&CountryISOCtxParam=US&ctx1g.c2att92=453&ctx1.att21k=1&CRC=3529792491

next:

buy a seagate or maxtor drive and use the clone software to make an exact copy of your current drive once you have it the way you want. I do this every few weeks, it takes 33minutes to clone a 320GB drive. I just keep fliping it when I play around w/ software.

good luck

~Carmine

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