Download Vista home premium?

Hallo

I have vista home premium that is messed up. Hewlett Packard USA will not sell me recovery disks. Is it possible to download and burn the operating system from somewhere, I have a legal license key.

 

Does your computer have a recovery partition?

Most manufacturers no longer include or even make disks for the operating systems they provide, but instead put on the files on a section of your computer's hard drive.

 

How old is your computer? How did you determine HP will not sell you a disc? If your computer is not more than a few years old, you should be able to get a recovery disc from HP. See HP and Compaq Desktop PCs: Looking for Recovery Discs?. The page has a link to another page where a recovery disc can be ordered.

P.S. I just went through the online order screens for recovery disc. I could order one for $15.99, shipped via USPS.

 

I think Dreamer is probably right, and that there will be a recovery partition from which the system can be restored to factory condition. Such partitions are usually booted through a function key combination.

If the system is still working can you type diskmgmt.msc in the Start > Search box let us know what partitions are shown there. Give as much detail as possible, and also post your comp's model number.

 

I agree about the recovery partition. I did not mean to imply his computer would not have a recovery partition. I'm just saying he should be able to order a recovery disc if he can't get a recovery going from the recovery partition.

When my Compaq laptop was new, back in July 2007, I could not burn a recovery disc from the recovery partition; the burn procedure would not work right. I contacted HP by phone and they sent a recovery disc free of charge; of course, the computer was still under warranty then.

 

Hi,

Thanks to you all for the replies. I bought my laptop in South Africa in November 2007, whilst visiting there, a hp dv2525ei. with a vista 32bit system. I tried to make recovery discs and it did not work, said a set had already been made.(not me) I contacted HP usa and they said I must get recovery discs from the country of purchase. I tried that with no luck. I tried HP in my current country and no luck, so I am stumped. I would gladly pay for discs. I will never buy another HP product, I have been trying to get discs since July. I can no longer boot up. I need to use a boot disc I downloaded from neosmart, and that has been unable to do a successful repair.

 

Exactly how did you try contacting HP? Have you seen Obtaining a Recovery Disc set in Europe, Middle East and Africa?

 

Hi

Yes I have already been to that link, and I have contacted HP by both e mail and phone. I have also contacted various agents in South Africa, and the shop where I bought the laptop. HP says I must get the discs from South Africa. My phone calls are either not returned, or I am told that they do not ship out of the country. A friend in South Africa has also been trying to track down some discs for me, but has not had any success. I have also tried Zimbabwe and Zambia. I have tried a website that deals in recovery discs in the USA as well, who claimed to be able to supply or source discs for any machine. I never heard back from them. I have tried to borrow a disc, but people here all seem to have XP.

 

Hi Plodr

Thanks for that link. I have that iso recovery, unfortunately this time it says it is unable to automatically repair my system. I have run it 39 times so far and the last time it reported a corrupt registry. Seems the problem is a bad driver belonging to external media. I had uninstalled my logitech webcam and disabled the built in webcam, so don't know what it is referring to.

 

Hi paradoxdream,

Thanks for your message

 

hmmmm seems to me that if you have a legal key then finding a copy of Windows is easy, the download of any software is not a problem it is the unlawful use of it thats an issue, however if you have a legit key then downloading thesoftware then activating it with a legit key makes it legal.
Look this over and see if I am right about this.
http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Windows-Vista-Download-42021.html

 

Hi Dakz,

Thanks for your message. You are right, vista can be downloaded by following your link, providing you are upgrading and not doing a clean install, or have a computer with no OS. Thanks!

 

Hi Sach2

Thanks for your message and the advice - which I will take! You have all been so helpful, much appreciated:wave