I have just wiped and reinstalled vista on a laptop, I have all genuine original discs that come with laptop new, it does not have recovery partion but has genuine recovery disc with vista on it all branded dell.

after vista installed, the hdd shows used 56gb, this can't be right can it.

You know how there was an uproar after Vista was released because it was so bad? Yeah

Use it to torrent win7 and install that imo.

ps. disagree all you want Matt; Vista still sux!

willo hard drives always keep some space free.
for example a 500 gig hard drives usualy only has approx 468 gigs free. it's just the way it works.

although i now use Windows 7 i never had a problem with Vista.

yeh vista destroys HDD capacity like you wouldn't believe, 56GB sounds pretty right to me.

I have a desk top running vista and its great, i find it really fast, but when its on laptop, its so slow, i have got all drivers from dell site, put service pack 2 on, done all updates and it nearly takes up half of the 250gb drive.

maybe your laptop has less ram than your desktop ?
also laptop hard drives are usualy slower running at 5400rpm compared to 7200rpm on desktop hard drives.

this was improved alot with a windows update some time ago i beleive.

my laptop has 3gb ram, my desktiop has 3gb of ram, but vista for laptop is 64bit

You shouldn't be using 64bit if you're under 4gb memory.

Under 4gb memory is always 32bit (otherwise known as x86).

I know, but thats the disc's that came with laptop, and i dont have a 32 bit with product key, i have been told the product key on base of laptop will not work with 32bit

my other laptop is win 7 which is 64bit and has 2gb ram, it come like that from factory, i wish i could change to 32bit, but i dont have code

yes i would try 4gigs of ram.
also laptops need cleaning inside.
get a can of compressed air and unclog those fans.
the hotter a laptop runs the slower it can perform.

a better solution if funds allow is stick windows 7 on it as
it does run smoother and more efficient.

what anti virus are you using?
although "microsoft security essentials" isnt the best its rather good for free and has a small foot print on windows.

You say the laptop is Dell. i have a sneaky suspicion your anti virus is " mcafee " if so it's known for clogging up and slowing systems down. in my opinion ofcourse

the recovery discs is just windows vista, no anti virus, i put microsoft s essentials on it, been informed that due to power pack not being right wattage it slows laptop down, i dont believe this.

power pack just runs laptop, but will not charge battery, battery is on 65% not charging

sometimes if the laptop doesnt get enough power depending on the processor "make/model" the speed can run in a reduced state.

right click my computer and select properties and see what speed the processor is running at against what its full potential advertised speed is when you bought it.

I bought it second hand, all i know is its dual core

Look on C:/ and check if it has "Windows.old" if so delete it as this is what will be taking up space.

I formatted the drive, nothing on it.

am trying to install xp pro on laptop, but it loads all files, and gets to point where it says setup is starting, and them i get blue screen of death

What code / description do you get from the blue screen.

Its a Driver issue.

Try it with min memory as you dont say the age or the spec of the laptop. (ive not read backwards over this post).

i dont know how old it is, but it has 3gb ram and dual core, the blue screen mentions corrupt drive and tells me to run dsk chk.

Vista installs properly but runs very very slow, so i tried to install xp, but get blue screen, the drive is formatted so it is a fresh install of xp am trying to do.

I have 1 code for 32 & 64 bit with my disc (win 7 Pro).

i only have the oem code on bottom of laptop.
So thought i would try xp on laptop, but wont let me install it.


My own laptop has 64bit win7, that i want to change to 32bit, but only have key on bottom of laptop that come with laptop new pre installed with a recovery partion.

What version of xp are you trying to install ?

I have one of the first xp releases and it fails on modern laptops because of driver issues. So give up and threw seven on it.

About 3 months ago, i had a couple of simular cases where Vista went really slow for no obvious reason, affter investigating further the memory of 2GB was being used up in full.

Another 2gb total 4gb got vista back up to speed.

Just additional info.

2002 xp pro with service pack 2

http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/6464393

You've already paid for Win7 once. Download that, install the version you need. simples.

why not also install win 7 pro, and use the new feature to run windows xp inside. Virtual machine ?

Thanks exo, but I wont use downloaded ones, I would rather have one which has a product key, and a genuine disc, I appreciate your help tho, thanks.

I am after win7 Home premium for my own laptop so i can get rid of stupid recovery partion, and for other laptop if i can't get vista or xp on it then win7 i will try to get on it, but xp will not instasll on it, i have tried installing win7 on it, but the only disc it will take is the dell vista disc.

Problem is that Windows XP does not recognise SATA HDD's thats why XP will give BSOD. Try going into BIOS and make sure your hard drive is in compatibility mode or you could create your own XP disk and add the SATA drivers onto it. Google "Slipstream drivers into XP"

Ouch!! Why on earth download 7 from a rat-infested source, when you can legally obtain the ISO's from Microsoft themselves (well their distributor)?

32-bit Windows 7 Home Premium x86 ISO
http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65732/X15-65732.iso

64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium x64 ISO
http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65733/X15-65733.iso

32-bit Windows 7 Professional x86 ISO
http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65804/X15-65804.iso

64-bit Windows 7 Professional x64 ISO
http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-65805/X15-65805.iso

All you need is to burn the relevant ISO to a disc, and then re-activate Windows using your legal product key.

All the downloads are clean-installs and updated Service Pack 1 and contain no nasties. You will likely need drivers for many of your components. Digital River run the official Microsoft Store - http://www.microsoftstore.com (you can verify this at the very bottom right).

Thanks Matt.

But will my product key on my laptop work on a 32 bit, it came with product key for 64 bit.

It should be fine, iirc, the ability to do so on retail versions is standard, however on OEM versions it is dependent on the SLIC data. Just try it and see if it works for you; it recently worked for me on an Acer, dropping to 32bit from 64bit and back, using an OEM key.

Does the COA specifically mention x64/64bit?

Does the COA specifically mention x64/64bit?

It does not, it just has product key, thats it. I just dont want to wipe hdd amd install and find out the key wont work, as I will be goosed then as the recovery partion will of been wiped and no way to get laptop up and working again.

I have downloaded and put on disc, wiped my drive and installed 32bit win 7, but will not activate using my key.

This is what I have been informed:

Retail install disk will not work with your OEM product key. It'll install, but your product key would be rejected for activation.


That's because, in a file on the install disk, there is a preset value for the 'Channel' to which the licensing belongs. In a file called ei.cfg one of the entries is called 'Channel' and the value set for that variable on a retail install disk is set as 'Retail'. For the OEM key to be accepted that variable needs to be set to 'OEM'.

It's rather easy to fix, if you wish to make a 'roll your own' install disk to use, but you need to use a suitable third party software tool to do the job. A suitable software tool will be one which performs the functions of:

Creating an .ISO file disk image from an optical disk.
* Allowing the contents of files within that ISO image to be edited.

ISOBuster is a popular such tool.


So the procedure required is:

* Create an ISO image of the install disk
* Locate the file ei.cfg which is in the \sources folder on the disk
* Alter the entry value for 'Channel' from Retail to OEM
* Burn the altered ISO image to disk, to create a new install disk which will work with your OEM install key.



Note: These procedures are not "supported by Microsoft" ones, despite the fact that related procedures have been mentioned in Microsoft technical blogs etc. They'll work just fine, but if you require any further assistance with them you can't expect that it'll come from the formal customer support arrangements.

1) I've checked the code and the install, it's not rat-infested and I resent the implication that I'd link to a location if I wasn't sure about the source.

2) Does it matter where the ISO is obtained from? As if MS will ever know if he's using ISO's from tpb or their site. Shit, he'll probably get better download speeds from torrenting it.

Sorry mate, didn't see the bit where you said it was tested and verified virus free.

Still, I can't understand why anyone would bother their arse downloading something from virusheaven, when they can get the proper thing from the actual developer at no cost - it's an unnecessary risk to take imho.

I have been informed I need a OEM install disk of Windows 7 Home Premium for it to work with key on bottom of laptop, and info on this Matt or Exo, thanks.