Dummy for neighbor; now he needs help

G

Guest

A few months ago my neighbor got a new computer that has factory installed
Vista on it.

Up front ... I know little to nothing about Vista. I use XP; and plan to do
so as long as I can.

Back to my neighbor. Immediately upon him telling me of his purchase, I
advised him then, and several more times during the next few days, to be sure
and check to see if it required him to do a Recovery Disk creation ... much
like mine did about a year ago, with XP, when I bought it.

Well, it now turns out that my advice was correct; but was not listened to.

Today he comes over complaining about a bunch of trouble he is having. In
asking, it was determined that he has installed other programs, and something
he says was updates from Vista. But ... NO ... creation of disks. Boy, am I
++ssed ... to say the least.

I offered, like a dummy, to take a look at it to see if I can get it to work
for him. Claims he cannot get his emails for one thing. In preparation to
do this tomorrow, I asked, and looked in his bag of booklets and disks.
Turns out he only has a dvd from Vista in plastic pouch entitled Windows
Anytime Upgrade .... which I presume may be connected with his earlier
comment about 'upgrade download'.

In a word ....... he knows absolutely nothing about computers ...... and on
top of that, ignored several admonishments to do the recovery creation.

Now, in looking thru his booklets, I see there is an option to restore using
the hard disk version. Now my questions.

1. Is there anyway to create an unadultered version of the Recovery Disks
that do not have all the other 'junque' he has installed; drivers and all?
I'm presuming not.

2. If not, and if I do a recovery for him from the hard disk version, that
will void his ... I'm presuming ... expenditure to MSN for the online upgrade
process. (Like I said, I am not versed in Vista at all.) Or is there an
upgrade process like in XP where you sign in and download files that get
installed.

3. If not for #2, then is there a fee to get the upgrades downloaded again,
and what would it be .... and can it be saved to hard drive rather than
installed immediately? I ask this because ..... no doubt ..... he will be
bothering me later on; and it would be nice to have it available to
re-install.

Any advise would be appreciated.
Chuck
 
C

Carey Frisch [MVP]

All major PC manufacturer's who preinstall Windows Vista
have a recovery method. Visit the support web site of the
manufacturer of the PC for information.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

----------------------------------------------------------------------

A few months ago my neighbor got a new computer that has factory installed
Vista on it.

Up front ... I know little to nothing about Vista. I use XP; and plan to do
so as long as I can.

Back to my neighbor. Immediately upon him telling me of his purchase, I
advised him then, and several more times during the next few days, to be sure
and check to see if it required him to do a Recovery Disk creation ... much
like mine did about a year ago, with XP, when I bought it.

Well, it now turns out that my advice was correct; but was not listened to.

Today he comes over complaining about a bunch of trouble he is having. In
asking, it was determined that he has installed other programs, and something
he says was updates from Vista. But ... NO ... creation of disks. Boy, am I
++ssed ... to say the least.

I offered, like a dummy, to take a look at it to see if I can get it to work
for him. Claims he cannot get his emails for one thing. In preparation to
do this tomorrow, I asked, and looked in his bag of booklets and disks.
Turns out he only has a dvd from Vista in plastic pouch entitled Windows
Anytime Upgrade .... which I presume may be connected with his earlier
comment about 'upgrade download'.

In a word ....... he knows absolutely nothing about computers ...... and on
top of that, ignored several admonishments to do the recovery creation.

Now, in looking thru his booklets, I see there is an option to restore using
the hard disk version. Now my questions.

1. Is there anyway to create an unadultered version of the Recovery Disks
that do not have all the other 'junque' he has installed; drivers and all?
I'm presuming not.

2. If not, and if I do a recovery for him from the hard disk version, that
will void his ... I'm presuming ... expenditure to MSN for the online upgrade
process. (Like I said, I am not versed in Vista at all.) Or is there an
upgrade process like in XP where you sign in and download files that get
installed.

3. If not for #2, then is there a fee to get the upgrades downloaded again,
and what would it be .... and can it be saved to hard drive rather than
installed immediately? I ask this because ..... no doubt ..... he will be
bothering me later on; and it would be nice to have it available to
re-install.

Any advise would be appreciated.
Chuck
 
G

Guest

Thanks Carey. As I indicated, I see the recovery method discuss in his
manual; the 3 ways ... with #1 being via the hard drive version that
apparently is present.

My question is if I do the hard drive method, will that,
#1 ... delete the menu link to create his recovery dvd's ...
and
#2 ... if so, then in presuming that also destroys his (apparently) free
option of a one-time upgrade, what would be the likely cost to gain access to
do that again ... in case I have to reimburse him for my destroying it. I
doubt he will because he is actually a great neighbor ... just is not
computer literate.
Thanks again
Chuck
 
M

Mike Hall - MVP

One of the best ways to lose a great neighbor is to fix his/her computer..

Contact the vendor, who may or may not know the true answers to your
questions.. explain your findings and possible concerns to your neighbor,
then start the recovery process..


doonboggle said:
Thanks Carey. As I indicated, I see the recovery method discuss in his
manual; the 3 ways ... with #1 being via the hard drive version that
apparently is present.

My question is if I do the hard drive method, will that,
#1 ... delete the menu link to create his recovery dvd's ...
and
#2 ... if so, then in presuming that also destroys his (apparently) free
option of a one-time upgrade, what would be the likely cost to gain access
to
do that again ... in case I have to reimburse him for my destroying it. I
doubt he will because he is actually a great neighbor ... just is not
computer literate.
Thanks again
Chuck

--


Mike Hall
MS MVP Windows Shell/User
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/
 
P

Paul Randall

I would go online to the manufacturer's website and look for a way to do an
online chat with customer support. I've had good luck with eMachines and HP
online chat. They can answer your questions more definitively than anyone
here, since you didn't specify the brand and computer model.

-Paul Randall
 
J

John Barnes

You say you have the Vista upgrade. Restore from the HD (probably XP) and
then use the Vista upgrade. You will have to reinstall any programs and
drivers and updates again.
 

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