It would be best at this point if someone who was familiar with Emachines'
system recovery software could work on your computer directly.
Your computer would have originally had the System Recovery software built
into it on that small harddrive partition. The system recovery partition and
contents are something that Emachines created, it is not a part of Vista.
You also had an option to create some recovery discs, which are for use in
case the built in restore partition or your harddrive becomes unusable.
These are not the same as a normal Vista installation disc so the normal
Microsoft OS installation instructions don't apply. There are pretty much
only 2 ways to properly reinstall the system and the extras back onto the
computer from the system recovery partition. If the computer is still able
to run the original Windows installation then there should be a menu item to
start the system recovery from Windows. The other way is to press the [F11]
key(or possibly the [R] key) while you boot the computer. This should start
up the system recovery process directly. You might have to make a few
choices or entries while the installation is running but the process should
basically be automatic and when it is done the computer should be set up the
same as it came out of the factory. Since you never tried the above and
went straight to running the OS disc the system recovery partition might not
be usable any more. The only way to know is to try [F11] while booting up
the computer and see if the recovery process starts.
A Vista.Old folder is just a storage place for your originally installed
Vista OS and files. It isn't a working copy of Vista. It is created when
Vista is being installed while an existing OS is already on the harddrive.
Nothing inside that folder will or should be able to run. Except for you
copying out some files you might need from there (documents, pictures,
emails etc.) its only other use would be for Vista to roll back to the
previous installation. I doubt that would be possible anymore because you
already reinstalled Vista twice.
I'm not quite sure what you meant by Vista New... if it is a Vista.New
folder then treat it the same as the Vista.Old folder. Your actual working
version of Vista will be in the Windows folder and all the programs that you
can use are in Program Files.
If there aren't any files in the Vista.Old and Vista.New folders that you
need to save you can delete the folders. To do that you'll need to have your
currently logged on User account "take ownership" of the folder and all its
contents. Windows use of the word ownership has nothing to do with you being
the owner of the computer, its about which "user" or "administrator" account
has access rights to those particular files. The user account you had
originally no longer exists, even if you are using the same user name to log
on with, so you have to tell Vista that you are now taking over ownership of
those folders. Your current user account may need to have administrator
privileges to make the ownership changes. The way to go about taking
ownership is this:
Click on Computer, then select the drive that the Vista.old folder is in.
Right click on Vista.old, select Properties from the menu and then go to the
Security tab. Next click on the Advanced button and when the next section
pops up select the Owner tab. Click on the Edit button, give permission to
continue. The next section is the one you need.. click on your current user
name in the box labeled "Change owner to" and then also put a check mark in
the tick box down below that says " Replace owner on sub containers and
objects." Next click Apply and Okay, plus Okay 2 more times to finish. You
should now have full access to the .Old folder and be able to delete the
contents and the folder itself.
The programs you installed yourself should be listed in the All Programs
menu. If they don't show up there they might not have installed properly but
Windows doesn't typically hide user installed programs. The usual default
installation location for the programs is in the Program Files folder. Some
programs install into the root folder of your system drive (the one Vista is
installed on) but programs would not randomly install into a Vista.old or
Vista.new folder. Whatever is in those folders are old, non-functional
copies of programs that used to be installed.
"silver hair" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:49A332C6-4279-4C62-91A7-(E-Mail Removed)...
> thank you
> the computer is a
> Refurbished Emachine Gateway
> Model W3609
> RC 101 4220R707 1695
> all Factory Pre installed
> windows mail
> internet explorer 7
> windows media player 11
> came with one(1) Disc
> Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic 32 Bit. Operating System Disc
> This OS Disc does not have Drivers an applications I made them
> this OSdisc shows a Warning:
> This process erases all data and files from the hard drive.
> (Recovery ? dont know about that)
> I tried to follow the Instruction given by eMachine Technical Support
> by Email
> thy say its a Medialess System all Software and drivers are
> on hard drive partition. Its very complicated for me.
> but I messed up big, I ve got now two (2) Vista, Old and New
> I have installed 2 times
> when I install appl. I cant find them, like you say there probly hidden
> I need to study a lot more I 'm trying to learn somthing here.
> (my first one 320 $)can go on internet now, Downloaded antivirus program.
> the one I had saved is installed on Old Vista
> Got 2 Vista
> if I could delete or remove one of them, that would reduce the
> complication
> I dont know if I have deleted the partition or not
> thanks
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> confused
>
>
> "RalfG" wrote:
>
>> It might help to know the story of this computer.. i.e.. is it an
>> off-the-shelf name brand or what, model number etc.. Just from names
>> given
>> to the harddrives it seems that Windows Vista should be installed on your
>> D:
>> drive, never mind the small size of your C: drive. Even without the
>> Program
>> Files and Users folders my Vista Windows folder takes up over 10GB, way
>> too
>> large for the space you want to squeeze it into. Usually a small drive or
>> partition like your 8.36GB on an OEM computer indicates that the
>> partition
>> is reserved for the manufacturer' system recovery software. If so you
>> should
>> never use that drive for anything. The recovery software itself may be
>> hidden so that the user cannot accidentally damage it. It would include
>> the
>> factory installed operating system plus whatever additional software was
>> bundled with it.
>>
>> Vista doesn't have to go onto C: drive, it can be installed on any drive
>> letter. I once had it installed on V: drive, currently something else,
>> because C: is occupied by XP and D: (6.74GB) is my XP system recovery
>> drive.
>> If you are installing from a set of System Recovery discs and it INSISTS
>> on
>> installing only to C: drive then what I would do is temporarily rename C:
>> to
>> E:, then rename D: to C: . I'd rename the E: drive again to D:, just in
>> case. Then I'd install Vista on the renamed C: drive with 103GB.
>>
>> "silver hair" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:5C76C7C3-D29E-46E2-9708-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > thank you all
>> > Hard Disk Drives (2)
>> > Local Disk (C
and Windows (D
>> > the others are removables
>> > Windows D shows 72.0 GB free of 103 GB
>> > I used Disk cleanup I deleted many things including hibernation
>> > I am back up on C to 407 MB free 8.36 GB
>> > howerver the indicator strip shows red an allmost full
>> > Theres seems to be a rollback option where can I find that ??
>> > I saved my antivirus programm it needs the extention MSVCR71.dll
>> > I will try to install that still have to figuere out how
>> > thanks again
>> >
>> > --
>> > confused
>> >
>> >
>> > "Jon" wrote:
>> >
>> >>
>> >> You could get it down to about 6.5 gb with a couple of basic tweaks,
>> >> which
>> >> would leave you a couple of gb for applications, given those specs.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> One would be to disable hibernation which takes up space equal to your
>> >> RAM.
>> >> For that run Disk Cleanup and select the hibernation file cleaner
>> >> option.
>> >>
>> >> Two would be to reduce the size of your page file to say something
>> >> like
>> >> 500
>> >> mb - the default is usually much higher. You do that via
>> >>
>> >> Right-click 'computer' > Properties > Advanced System Settings >
>> >> Settings
>> >> (under performance) > Advanced > Change
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Jon
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "silver hair" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> >> news:7D3D4F16-D7A3-44EA-9987-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> >> > hi
>> >> > Emachine
>> >> > Factory Preinstall
>> >> > Vista home basic 32 bit
>> >> > it came w/ Operating System Disc.
>> >> > I have made Driver and Application disc
>> >> > trying to restore to Factory Install condition
>> >> > after many, many atempts I finaly managed to boot from Disc
>> >> > and reinstall Vista
>> >> > and fill up my Disk Space
>> >> > now I have NO Space to Install
>> >> > Updates
>> >> > Drivers and Applications
>> >> > and other Programms
>> >> > not even for a Antivirus Program
>> >> > Dont' even know way I can come here
>> >> > Disc cleanup does not touch that part to make space
>> >> > Format Disk dont' seemed to be an option without damage to Disc
>> >> > is there an other way to make Space?
>> >> > yes I am a dummy ok
>> >> > anybody has an aesy answer I can follow?
>> >> > thank you
>> >> > its been a mega project for me
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>>