Windows Vista Installer

[Kangdang]

Anyone has a copy? My laptop is in a coma with corrupted registry and needs the installer. Just realised when I bought it its pre-installed and no disc :-( Now everything's not backed up for a while, hope someone can help!! Tried some online suggested solutions but didn't work.

 

[ykgoh]

You can download the required files from Digital River and make your own installation DVD.

Method 1 (ImgBurn): http://www.raymond.cc/blog/how-to-burn-downloaded-windows-vista-to-dvd/
Method 2 (WBICreator): http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/301852-vista-iso-download-create-installation-dvd-usb.html

Takes time and efforts to download and make the ISO image though. But completely free and you can always reuse your self-burnt Vista DVD if you ever need to reinstall again.

Btw, this is completely legal if you have the product key printed on the sticker underneath your laptop.

 

[Kangdang]

Thanks ykgoh!

I just looked under my laptop and the key for my Vista is nearly faded as my laptop is quite some years old!! My sister has a dell laptop with Vista but somehow the installer only works on a dell machine.

So is there any other way or I can easily bring to a shop where they might have the installation disc?

You can download the required files from Digital River and make your own installation DVD.

Method 1 (ImgBurn): http://www.raymond.cc/blog/how-to-burn-downloaded-windows-vista-to-dvd/
Method 2 (WBICreator): Vista ISO - Download and Create Installation DVD or USB

Takes time and efforts to download and make the ISO image though. But completely free and you can always reuse your self-burnt Vista DVD if you ever need to reinstall again.

Btw, this is completely legal if you have the product key printed on the sticker underneath your laptop.

 

[ceecookie]

You can download the required files from Digital River and make your own installation DVD.

Method 1 (ImgBurn): http://www.raymond.cc/blog/how-to-burn-downloaded-windows-vista-to-dvd/
Method 2 (WBICreator): Vista ISO - Download and Create Installation DVD or USB

Takes time and efforts to download and make the ISO image though. But completely free and you can always reuse your self-burnt Vista DVD if you ever need to reinstall again.

Btw, this is completely legal if you have the product key printed on the sticker underneath your laptop.

Thanks ykgoh!

I just looked under my laptop and the key for my Vista is nearly faded as my laptop is quite some years old!! My sister has a dell laptop with Vista but somehow the installer only works on a dell machine.

So is there any other way or I can easily bring to a shop where they might have the installation disc?

Retail Windows Vista installation will not activate using an OEM key found on laptops. Reason is that the particular Vista OS preinstalled on branded laptops come with a special "key" that microsoft server recognise to allow activation using the product key on the COA. This is why the Dell copy wont work either. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Locked_Pre-installation

There are some workarounds to allow activation but they borderline on piracy so I wont mention them. I'll advice installing the retail Vista, then using phone activation and explaining to the CSO your situation and providing them the product key found on the COA. If you can boot your system up, use JellyBeanFinder to retrieve your windows product key https://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

The shops will not have the OEM OS for you, only your laptop manufacturer has..i think they'll try to do the workarounds instead.

 

[Kangdang]

Hi ceecookie,

Thanks for the reply. Mmm the problem is I cant see the product key clearly anymore. Now i cant really boot up my machine, it shows an error "0xc000014c", i can only see the black screen or press f8 or something into bio set up...

Retail Windows Vista installation will not activate using an OEM key found on laptops. Reason is that the particular Vista OS preinstalled on branded laptops come with a special "key" that microsoft server recognise to allow activation using the product key on the COA. This is why the Dell copy wont work either. System Locked Pre-installation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There are some workarounds to allow activation but they borderline on piracy so I wont mention them. I'll advice installing the retail Vista, then using phone activation and explaining to the CSO your situation and providing them the product key found on the COA. If you can boot your system up, use JellyBeanFinder to retrieve your windows product key https://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/

The shops will not have the OEM OS for you, only your laptop manufacturer has..i think they'll try to do the workarounds instead.

 

[ceecookie]

Hi ceecookie,

Thanks for the reply. Mmm the problem is I cant see the product key clearly anymore. Now i cant really boot up my machine, it shows an error "0xc000014c", i can only see the black screen or press f8 or something into bio set up...

Ah that kinda sucks. If all attempts to boot into desktop fails, Im afraid the only option is to purchase another copy of Windows Vista/7, about $100 or so.

 

[haoKRR]

Hi ceecookie,

Thanks for the reply. Mmm the problem is I cant see the product key clearly anymore. Now i cant really boot up my machine, it shows an error "0xc000014c", i can only see the black screen or press f8 or something into bio set up...

get a windows 7 if u really cant see the key.
btw, may i know what happened to it before this appears?

 

[ykgoh]

Hi ceecookie,

Thanks for the reply. Mmm the problem is I cant see the product key clearly anymore. Now i cant really boot up my machine, it shows an error "0xc000014c", i can only see the black screen or press f8 or something into bio set up...

Phase 1: Documents, Files and Data Recovery/Backup

If you're techie enough to navigate around with Linux, use a bootable Linux Live DVD for data recovery/backup first. Mount your NTFS Vista drive partitions and copy out your documents and files if possible to a USB drive.

See: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...backup-files-from-your-dead-windows-computer/

Phase 2: Windows Product Key Recovery

Next copy out those files in C:\Windows\System32\config in your laptop. Bring the files to another working Windows computer, and use the Nirsoft ProduKey utility to extract your original OEM product key on your laptop. You don't have to recycle for a product key from another machine (which borders on piracy anyway) or source for an unused product key. The step-by-step tutorial below will show you how to do it.

See: http://www.howtogeek.com/64600/how-to-recover-windows-and-software-keys-from-a-broken-computer/

Phase 3: Windows Recovery/Re-installation

Once your data is safe, you can reinstall Windows Vista on a clean slate or use a Windows recovery partition image to restore the system with no fear.

 

[commach]

Hi ceecookie,

Thanks for the reply. Mmm the problem is I cant see the product key clearly anymore. Now i cant really boot up my machine, it shows an error "0xc000014c", i can only see the black screen or press f8 or something into bio set up...

There is one way to recover the "lost"CD key via load hive using regedit, please be cautious with what the mouse click when working with regedit, any unintentional double click on any file with .reg will result in force add/update of the corresponding registry key regardless of whether or not you want it to be.

Remove the HDD from the laptop and connect it to a working desktop machine, bootup the machine as usual. When you are in the desktop, go to start>run then type regedit, right click on the regedit (at the top of the searched result) then select "runs as administrator".

In the registry console, click Load Hive then point it to the laptop's HDD %system% a.k.a. C:\Windows. Run Keyfinder to retrieve the "lost" key.

 

[Kangdang]

Hi again ceecookie,

I dont intend to buy one as this laptop is pretty old and I will get a new one soon. Just wanna backup my files or use as a backup machine if possible.

Ah that kinda sucks. If all attempts to boot into desktop fails, Im afraid the only option is to purchase another copy of Windows Vista/7, about $100 or so.

 

[Kangdang]

Hi haoKRR,

I also like to know what happened! I didnt do much before but I think I did some cleaning with the system tools some time before it happened! Wonder if that would have caused it. I normally put it to sleep after use but it just didnt wake up this time

get a windows 7 if u really cant see the key.
btw, may i know what happened to it before this appears?

 

[Kangdang]

Hi ykgoh.

Thanks, sounds like what I need but not a very technical savvy person,I can follow some instructions online but coming to Linux I dont really have an idea.

My main concern is to replace that corrupted registry file to boot up into desktop. If getting the product key inorder to get a copy of Vista is the only way, I might ring up the manufacturer to see if they have a record.

Phase 1: Documents, Files and Data Recovery/Backup

If you're techie enough to navigate around with Linux, use a bootable Linux Live DVD for data recovery/backup first. Mount your NTFS Vista drive partitions and copy out your documents and files if possible to a USB drive.

See: Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer

Phase 2: Windows Product Key Recovery

Next copy out those files in C:\Windows\System32\config in your laptop. Bring the files to another working Windows computer, and use the Nirsoft ProduKey utility to extract your original OEM product key on your laptop. You don't have to recycle for a product key from another machine (which borders on piracy anyway) or source for an unused product key. The step-by-step tutorial below will show you how to do it.

See: How to Recover Windows and Software Keys from a Broken Computer

Phase 3: Windows Recovery/Re-installation

Once your data is safe, you can reinstall Windows Vista on a clean slate or use a Windows recovery partition image to restore the system with no fear.

 

[Kangdang]

Hi commach,

Remove hdd ahhh... Dont know how

There is one way to recover the "lost"CD key via load hive using regedit, please be cautious with what the mouse click when working with regedit, any unintentional double click on any file with .reg will result in force add/update of the corresponding registry key regardless of whether or not you want it to be.

Remove the HDD from the laptop and connect it to a working desktop machine, bootup the machine as usual. When you are in the desktop, go to start>run then type regedit, right click on the regedit (at the top of the searched result) then select "runs as administrator".

In the registry console, click Load Hive then point it to the laptop's HDD %system% a.k.a. C:\Windows. Run Keyfinder to retrieve the "lost" key.

 

[ykgoh]

Hi ykgoh.

Thanks, sounds like what I need but not a very technical savvy person,I can follow some instructions online but coming to Linux I dont really have an idea.

My main concern is to replace that corrupted registry file to boot up into desktop. If getting the product key inorder to get a copy of Vista is the only way, I might ring up the manufacturer to see if they have a record.

The easiest (and may not be successful) way is to have a bootable Vista DVD that you can put in your optical drive and try to boot. Then use the installer to fix or do an automated system repair. I heard this method works for some people without having to reinstall Windows. It will just replace those corrupted system files and things. And this is something you can try without too much technical fiddlings.

See: How To Perform a Startup Repair in Windows Vista

However, the problem may be more serious than software corruption. In the event that it is a hardware failure e.g. hard disk crash, then data recovery using more complex and sophisticated methods will be required. This may involved using Linux, or opening up the laptop and physically removing the hard disk drive to connect to another working computer for recovery.

It'll be good if you have techie friends who can do it for you for free. I foresee if you approach commercial IT repair service, they would charge you at least $50 at the minimum for the troubleshooting, and possibly more.

 

[Rock-kun]

Retail Windows Vista installation will not activate using an OEM key found on laptops.

It will.

Tried and tested on 2 Acer notebooks.

 

[Kangdang]

Rock-kun,

Do you have a copy I can borrow!? Please.

It will.

Tried and tested on 2 Acer notebooks.