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Backlund60 · 03-16-2011, 07:50 PM

My sisters laptop needs reformatting, has a virus, but she never made the recovery discs. The desktop computer is the same type, (Vista 32 Bit), will using those recovery discs work on the laptop?

burn_this_city · 03-16-2011, 08:05 PM

Its probably better to get a fresh copy of windows vista.

OBCT · 03-16-2011, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Its probably better to get a fresh copy of windows 7.

While you're at it, why not?

Backlund60 · 03-16-2011, 08:14 PM

Don't think that's happening lol. Uni-student, and she doesn't have a job.

burn_this_city · 03-16-2011, 08:19 PM

Borrow a vista disk off someone and use the key on the bottom of the laptop.

Backlund60 · 03-16-2011, 08:23 PM

I have one, just want to make sure the PC version works for the laptop. ^

burn_this_city · 03-16-2011, 08:24 PM

Oh yeah for sure, but if its a recovery disk it might have a bunch of other crap on it that doesnt work on the laptop.

Rathji · 03-16-2011, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Backlund60

My sisters laptop needs reformatting, has a virus, but she never made the recovery discs. The desktop computer is the same type, (Vista 32 Bit), will using those recovery discs work on the laptop?

A 'recovery disc' won't help you, but an OEM copy of the same version of Vista will certainly help you. You might be able to get away with a premium or ultimate version, because I am reasonably sure Vista included the ability to install "lesser versions", but that might be something that was restricted to Volume License or Retail versions (which you do not have).

edit: Just a note - When I say same version, I mean it needs to be either 32 bit/64 bit and the same Home Basic/Home Premium/etc as well, unless the version you have will let you install a lesser version.

Backlund60 · 03-16-2011, 08:30 PM

They're both bit 32 and home premium.

Rathji · 03-16-2011, 09:16 PM

Then you should be good.

Iceman90 · 03-16-2011, 10:45 PM

You could always reformat the machine and use the Ubuntu OS.

Hack&Lube · 03-16-2011, 11:29 PM

what machine is it? are you sure there isn't a recovery partition on the drive? most laptops and netbooks made in the past few years have this.

it's basically the recovery disk built into the system that you have to press a key at start up to boot from.

Backlund60 · 03-16-2011, 11:37 PM

Toshiba Satellite L500. If I press L2 to view boot menu, nothing about recovering is shown/mentioned.

So the recovery discs do not work, says it is not compatible with this PC. Would upgrading to windows 7 work?

Hack&Lube · 03-17-2011, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Backlund60

Toshiba Satellite L500. If I press L2 to view boot menu, nothing about recovering is shown/mentioned.

To access the Toshiba recovery partition, power off the laptop. Hold down the 0 (zero) key and turn the laptop on. Keep holding down the zero key until the TOSHIBA logo appears, where you should start tapping the zero key repeatedly. Stop if the unit beeps or when the TOSHIBA logo disappears. The screen should flash ** HDD RECOVERY MODE ** for a split second, then load the Toshiba recovery program right from the hard drive

Choose Restore Original Factory Image.

Press 1 to restore your hard disk drive to its original factory default. A confirmation message will appear, indicating that all data will be overwritten and lost during the restore process. Be sure to back up all important files before proceeding.

Click Yes to begin restoration, A message will appear once the operation is finished, indicating that the HDD has been restored.

Press any key to restart the computer.

Backlund60 · 03-17-2011, 01:38 AM

That didn't work but I got it, you need to spam F8. :P