Hellooooo. The old PC that my neighb had and which I replaced for him a few months back (still going very strong, phew...) - is running Vista. As I hate throwing stuff away and from sheer curiosity, I am going to wipe the machine (to clear away his old files) and install Win 7 to see how it behaves. I have upgraded the RAM to its MAX amount! 2GB... From 1.5GB. Man, it's gonna flyyyyyyyyy... (I first stupidly bought 4GB - 2 sticks of 2GB each) but the mobo wouldn't handle it.) I have also purchased Win7 for the princely sum of £2.78 (bona-fide code, and a download link). OOokkkkaaaayyy, the machine has a legit copy of Office 2003 on it that I don't want to lose (no back-up disc), so my Q is - if I carry oot a Factory restore, will Office also be wiped or will it be reinstalled from a 'ghost' like the Vista? Ta muchly.
I'd say in all likelihood office would be lost if you reset back to factory image. Pretty sure there are tools out there to extract the office key, write it down, download an un messed with copy and then install using the recovered key from the current system.
Thank you. That's as I suspected. I have Jellybean (or whatever it's called) on my own PC I think. Cheers.
Quick google search came up with... http://www.lazesoft.com/lazesoft-windows-key-finder.html Looks like it'll do job of recovering the key.
Cool - I have both keys now - Vista and Office. What I can't find now is - factory restore... I rebooted into F8 for advanced booting options as directed by every website. However, no Factory Restore option, or 'Repair' or nuffink. Screenshot below. What do I chose?
Factory restore ain't an option there. Its not supported by windows as such, but provided by the PC manufacturer via either an image on a separate partition or network download.
You need to create a bootable cd or flash drive containing with windows 7, enter the system bios, enable booting from USB or CD as applicable. The system will the start the windows 7 setup, select advanced install otherwise it will try to "upgrade" the existing vista install, when the disc options appear delete all the partitions to completely clear the drive - this will do a fresh install of windows 7. You'll need to sort out drivers etc but as its an old system there is a good chance windows 7 will use / find its own, a little hint about using windows update.. You'll probably need to download the "windows update agent" before checking for updates otherwise it seems to hang due the large number needed on a fresh install.
Cheers, Bodge - yes, I've since realised that it simply ain't there. Tsk. Thanks, Gluggs - I'm a bit apprehensive in trying summat I am not already familiar with, 'cos previous attempts at doing 'stuff' got me ion to all sorts of bovver... I've yet to check out the format of the Win 7 download - I'm guessing this might have a bearing on the success of what you suggest? I'm tempted to simply manually delete all the guy's files and unwanted programs, use summat like CCleaner to securely over-wipe the blank partitions and then chust install 7 and let it sort itself out with Vista. Anyhoo, I'll see. Many thanks
haven't done that kind of thing for many a year. but it should be possible to format the hard disk and install a new windows os? i can remember doing formats and reinstalls hundreds of times, as various problems arose.
I always start from scratch...that way you know what's installed and don't still have a load of bloatware on your hard drive.
Agree, start from scratch. Restoring the PC can be done from a manufacturers disc, which i guess you dont have or from the manufacturers software already on the machine. If the drive has never been wiped it 'may' (not Teresa!) be on there but older machines usually came with a restore disc. If you have a 'proper' Win 7 Disc and a legit product key then you can put it in, boot from it and go through the process of updating from crappy Vista. It will give you an option to wipe the drive before install. I usually delete all partitions and go from there. If the Product key is not legit then you will not be able to 'activate' windows. Keep us posted
Does not do all of teh MS applications though. Windows, Office - parts only, Project ... but not Visio. Running Belarc Advisor give that one too. Belarc also provides a lot more information so maybe worth running.
Sometimes, i have used a key finder and it has brought up the wrong key! It didnt match what was on the sticker on the case! I knew it was wrong because i had installed the OS and used and activated the key!
Thanks everyone. I believe the Win 7 code to be legit (I suspect removed from defunct equipment) so I hope I'll be given the install option of 'wiping' the old as Kools says. If not, too bad. I'll still get rid of all the current files and unused progs before doing this, so at least i know that's been zapped. Cheers - I'll update with how it goes
DA, i used to use Office 2003 but for the last few years i have used Apache Open Office. It is completely free: https://www.openoffice.org/
Thanks Kools and JJ. I want to keep MS Office on the machine mainly as it's already on there and is 'recognised' by most folk as the one to go for. I'll be selling the system of for a few bob so anything like this will help. I've used OpenOffice myself and - yes - it's pretty much just like MS!