Re: Reinstall

The product key will be tied to an OEM copy and, in return, to your PC. The product key is not going to work on another copy of Vista.

It is annoying when the PC manufacturer installs all this 'rubbish' which he assures the user that he/she will need. Personally, when I buy a new PC the first thing I do is remove the operating system and install a full retail copy. The retail copy of the operating system allows me to install it on any machine (so long as I abide by the EULA (End User Licence Agreement); whereas an OEM installed by the PC manufacturer is rather limiting.

Perhaps the easiest option would be to 'uninstall' all the software you don't want (If any Norton software is installed I suggest you Google for the Norton Removal Tool in order to remove I, rather than relying upon Norton's own uninstall program)) Once you have removed everything, open Internet Options in Control panel and delete all browsing history, then do a complete virus check of your system, followed by a complete defragmentation and then 'image' the drive using something like Acronis True Image (this I the application I use) and either image to a second hard drive or a set of DVD's


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--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

"Zach J." <Zach J.@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:9546F033-7A6D-4ACF-82FC-548E8517EFB8@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hello!

I have a similar question, if this topic is still alive.
I have just purchased a new laptop with Vista Home Premium installed. Of
course, no system disk, only recovery. But! I'd like to reinstall Vista
without some of its components ("nlite" it) to gain more performance.
As i have a legal product key, can i e.g. barrow a Vista disk from someone
else, nlite it, and install with my own product key?
If not, is there any other way to do this kind of reinstall without paying
for another Vista (which of course i'd like to skip...)?

Thanks,
Zach


"John Barnett MVP" wrote:

When you purchased the PC you should have had either a recovery DVD or here
should be a recovery partition on the hard drive which will allow you to
re-install Vista. If there is no recovery partition on the hard drive (check
your PC manual for help on how to re-install the operating system from a
recovery partition) and you have not received any recovery DVD then contact
the PC manufacturer to see if they can provide you with a recovery DVD.

--
--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
Windows - Shell/User

Web: http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
Web: http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..

"Ellen" <Ellen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:00F3F631-C55C-4C19-A6DF-EC071CBBC308@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>i own a PC where Windows Vista was originally installed on it, but the >XP
>OS
> was installed over it. I want to reinstall Vista.
> The issue is that when i purchased the machine in never received a > systems
> disk so all i have is the product key sticker that's located underneath
> the
> PC it's self.
>
> How can i go about reinstalling the Vista OS without purchasing a whole
> new
> one?


.

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