HP A1709N and vista
Hi, on my HP A1709N, Windows vista seems to take a long time to do anything. I would like to restore the computer back to factory settings, but the restore DVDs were lost by my sister (This was her old PC before she got a MacBook!) in 2008, and I am unable to create another set. also, this machine only has 1 GB of RAM installed, and I'm not sure if there is data that still needs to get backed up before the restore. any suggestions on what my next step is? thanks!
Comments
Simple answer upgrade the RAM if the cash is available. Find out what it takes and it's max by doing a check up on HP/Compaq's website.
Another simple answer, look through the files and see if there is anything that should be backed up.
Then use Vista's own back up tools to back up your files to the external drive. Also image the internal hard drive using readily available free tools (dd on a Linux live CD, EaseUS Disk Copy, clonezilla,etc, etc.) to have available in case there were any files you missed. You can mount an image as a regular hard drive and then access it to recover your files if you need to.
Otherwise, follow Lupin's suggestion to download the Vista install media and use the COA key on the laptop to install. You'll get 30 days if it doesn't work and in that time, you could buy another key and apply it.
I would suggest though, that if you wind up having to buy something, buy Windows 7. If your laptop runs Vista, it'll run 7 better. I've ran 7 on 1 GB before, it's not great but it works better than Vista does on the same specs.
Whatever method you choose for reinstalling the operating system, take an image of the hard drive after you get everything installed and configured so that you can always roll back if problems arise in the future.
That's what the COA key is... it's the product key printed on a sticker on the laptop somewhere. Typically.
Whether that be an officially pressed disc or a downloaded version of said disc from the internet. As long as you choose the correct version which the COA is for, which it prints in the name on the sticker above the code, and enter that during or after setup it should register. IF it says ring them up as it failed validation, ring them up, it's all automated, and usually you just go through a few menus and then it'll give you a new code which will register the version as a fully valid copy.
However like BlueSun has said if you have to buy a key get Windows7 it runs just fine on any Vista capable machine, hell it works fine even on older P4 systems.
That way you can move along with installing XP, and then decide which files are worth copying over partitions later. It's what I do sometimes if I need to reformat something (i.e. server) but keep the data handy and not have to run it through a USB drive, or the network, etc. I mean you could still run Vista or Win7 on it, but you'd probably want 2-4GB of RAM in that case. XP runs quite well with 1GB, assuming you don't install too many programs that run as services, etc.