Vista recovery?

I am trying to help my buddy with his laptop.
He has Vista Home Edition and no upgrades like SP1 or 2
This is on a laptop, ACER, with 512 of RAM
He removed the files from his "D" which was his recovery area.
He did not make recovery disks.
He put pictures from the internet on "D". I don't know.
His computer is VERY slow.When I start IE6 it is about 6 minutes before it
will open on the screen.
I am thinking more RAM so I ordered 1GB more.
If that doesn't help can I make a complete install of Windows XP from a
disk I received with another computer?
Thank you for the help.
John

 

Install Belarc on his computer and run it - from belarc.com - freeware.
It will tell you the Product keys of the software he has installed, e.g. the
Vista product key. Print this out! You can then borrow another Vista Home
Basic CD but use his product key and start over.
Installing XP on his laptop from your CD breaks the rules, unless you remove
it from your machine permanently. And if it came from a PC manufacturer it
probably won't work if his laptop was made by someone else.
BUT 512 MB of RAM is way below recommended for Vista. In theory 1GB is
enough, I find 2GB is really the minimum.
Have you run antivirus software on it to see if crapware is slowing it down?


"thewiz" <jwelles339@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:X3AVl.93$BG6.31@newsfe20.iad...
>I am trying to help my buddy with his laptop.
> He has Vista Home Edition and no upgrades like SP1 or 2
> This is on a laptop, ACER, with 512 of RAM
> He removed the files from his "D" which was his recovery area.
> He did not make recovery disks.
> He put pictures from the internet on "D". I don't know.
> His computer is VERY slow.When I start IE6 it is about 6 minutes before it
> will open on the screen.
> I am thinking more RAM so I ordered 1GB more.
> If that doesn't help can I make a complete install of Windows XP from a
> disk I received with another computer?
> Thank you for the help.
> John

 

"thewiz" wrote:

> I am trying to help my buddy with his laptop.
> He has Vista Home Edition and no upgrades like SP1 or 2
> This is on a laptop, ACER, with 512 of RAM
> He removed the files from his "D" which was his recovery area.
> He did not make recovery disks.
> He put pictures from the internet on "D". I don't know.
> His computer is VERY slow.When I start IE6 it is about 6 minutes before it
> will open on the screen.
> I am thinking more RAM so I ordered 1GB more.
> If that doesn't help can I make a complete install of Windows XP from a
> disk I received with another computer?
> Thank you for the help.
> John
>
Could you veryfy which Acer model because I guess that the recovery
partitions are hidden in Acer.
It is better to upgrade the memory to atleast 2GB for Vista, if the recovery
partition is intact you can restore it to Factory condition with eRecovery
utility or using Alt+F10 method.

 

"thewiz" <jwelles339@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:X3AVl.93$BG6.31@newsfe20.iad...
>I am trying to help my buddy with his laptop.
> He has Vista Home Edition and no upgrades like SP1 or 2
> This is on a laptop, ACER, with 512 of RAM
> He removed the files from his "D" which was his recovery area.
> He did not make recovery disks.
> He put pictures from the internet on "D". I don't know.
> His computer is VERY slow.When I start IE6 it is about 6 minutes before it
> will open on the screen.
> I am thinking more RAM so I ordered 1GB more.
> If that doesn't help can I make a complete install of Windows XP from a
> disk I received with another computer?
> Thank you for the help.
> John
>
> __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus
> signature database 4128 (20090603) __________
>
> The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
>
> http://www.eset.com
>
>
>


As the computer only has 512mb RAM presently, can we assume that it was
originally XP but upgraded to Vista?

IE6 will not load into Vista as far as I know. IE7 is the default browser.

What is the name of the operating system as printed on the COA found on the
underside of the laptop?


--

Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/


__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4128 (20090603) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

 

> Vista will run faster if you have more than 1 GB, 1.5 GB or 2 GB would
> ideal.
>
ok It will h ave 1.5 when I get through.
The system on the label on the bottom is Windows Vista Home Basic OEMAct.
The computer is an ACER 3050-1150
I will try the Alt F10 and see what happens.

 

"thewiz" <jwelles339@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:X3AVl.93$BG6.31@newsfe20.iad...
> I am trying to help my buddy with his laptop.
> He has Vista Home Edition and no upgrades like SP1 or 2
> This is on a laptop, ACER, with 512 of RAM
> He removed the files from his "D" which was his recovery area.
> He did not make recovery disks.
> He put pictures from the internet on "D". I don't know.
> His computer is VERY slow.When I start IE6 it is about 6 minutes before it
> will open on the screen.
> I am thinking more RAM so I ordered 1GB more.
> If that doesn't help can I make a complete install of Windows XP from a
> disk I received with another computer?
> Thank you for the help.
> John

Vista will run faster if you have more than 1 GB, 1.5 GB or 2 GB would
ideal.

 

"thewiz" <jwelles339@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:t%GVl.578$jT6.135@newsfe17.iad...
>> Vista will run faster if you have more than 1 GB, 1.5 GB or 2 GB would
>> ideal.
>>
> ok It will h ave 1.5 when I get through.
> The system on the label on the bottom is Windows Vista Home Basic OEMAct.
> The computer is an ACER 3050-1150
> I will try the Alt F10 and see what happens.
>
>
> __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus
> signature database 4131 (20090604) __________
>
> The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
>
> http://www.eset.com
>
>
>


Without a recovery partition or Vista recovery disks, you can forget Vista
unless Acer are prepared to supply something..

Re installing XP, you will not be able to use an 'OEM branded' XP recovery
CD from any other manufacturer other than Acer.. two reasons..

1. Keycode are specific to manufacturer OEMs, and no manufacturer is going
to support use of their OEM XP on a competitor machine

2. The driver set up will be all wrong

If you have a generic Windows XP CD, you will still not have a valid
keycode. The code on the base of the machine is for Vista and will not work
with ANY variety of XP.

The only way to get a keycode is to buy XP or track down a CD version which
has a keycode that is not being used by another machine..

One bit of good news.. XP drivers are available from the ACER website for
the model in question..



--

Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/


__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4131 (20090604) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com