Installing Vista Clean, With No Crapware. Submitted by brian on Sun, 2. Copied from my guide available here.
If you're looking for Activation Backup & Restore (ABR) it has moved to it's own page, which you can find HERE.- -- -- -This guide is relatively VENDOR NEUTRAL. It should work on all Vista installations that were preinstalled at the factory, for both laptops and desktops. NOTE: This procedure may look long, but I'm just really wordy at writing these things. You should get through each step pretty quickly. Here's the deal, you're a computer guy, and you got a new laptop, but you hate that it came with all that crapware preloaded. If you only had a way to install Vista clean, you'd love to do it.
But that brings up another issue: Vista activation. Why should you need to activate Vista again when you already have it activated?
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The point of this guide is to be able to install a clean version of Vista, without calling Microsoft (or going online) to activate. No more, no less. I just don't like the "big brother" aspect of activation every time I re- install. BEFORE YOU POST ANY COMMENTS: This guide is ONLY about reinstalling Vista on a system that you purchased, WITH A VISTA LICENSE. If you have questions about installing on another computer where you have no license, GO AWAY.
That is PIRACY and will not be tolerated here. Some notes: You can only install the SAME VERSION of Vista you already bought. If you're laptop came with Home Premium, you can NOT install Ultimate.
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This guide uses information that's ALREADY ON YOUR LAPTOP. The only thing you will need to download is a small utility to backup and restore the activation.
Free Download Link: http:// Home Page: http:// To my surprise this SmartPCFixer really helped me! My old computer is running faster and there is no. Russian Tea Time. Welcome to Russian Tea Time! The restaurant where everyone feels at home and everyone is welcome! Owner and Chef, Klara Muchnik, and her son,Vadim Muchnik, opened Russian Tea Time in 1993. Centrally located. Gonk writes. I was too late at backing up my tivo with winmfs.My original hard drive has died. does anyone know where I can get an image of a tivo drive for australia. help. You original TiVO drive has died? Put it back.
I have developed this on an HP laptop (dv. I don't see why it won't work on other systems. Let me know if it does!)This has been adapted and expanded from the original notes given for Lenovo systems by Wh.
I am not a lawyer, but this is not a crack or break in any way. I fully believe that this is completely legal. All you are doing is backing up information already on the computer, and restoring it after you install. A Note for Beginners: This is not an especially difficult task, but it is a bit more technical than you may be used to or comfortable with. If you follow the guide, you should be OK. HOWEVER, this guide does not cover installing drivers and possibly other things that you will need after Vista has been installed. Also, you may need to deal with situations that are not covered in this guide.
If you don't feel comfortable doing that, then you should not do it. BUT, if you get stuck or something doesn't work right, you can always use the recovery discs to restore your system to the way it was when you opened the box. Things you need: Skills and knowledge enough that you are comfortable installing an OS from scratch, and maybe partitioning a disk. USB Flash Drive (or other external disk) Must be writable media! You cannot use a DVD or CDVista Installation Media. DVD+Rs to make your recovery discs. Activation Backup & Recovery tool, downloadable below.
Disc Definitions. There is no such thing as a "Home Premium Vista" disc, or an "Ultimate Vista" disc!!!! ALL VISTA DISCS CONTAIN ALL VERSIONS OF VISTA. The thing that determines what version of Vista you have is the License Key that you have. You may have a sticker on it that says "Vista Business" or "Vista Home Premium", but IT IS A LIE. Your disc *may* be forced to install a certain version, (see "CUSTOM OEM Vista Disc" below) but it still contains all versions.
It is possible to modify this disc so you can use it to install any version (that you have a license for). There are many types of Vista discs out there, here is the "official" terminology of what they mean (each of these discs come in 2 versions, 3.
Anytime Upgrade Disc This disc contains all versions of Vista, unmodified as Microsoft is shipping it. It is sometimes included for free with your system, or can be purchased online for under $1. This purchase price does NOT include a license or serial number, it is only the installation media. It is intended so you can upgrade from one version of Vista to another by purchasing a license online. This is the type of disc you need to do a clean install. Recovery Disc These disc(s) contain an image of your computer as of when you got it.
They can be used to restore your system to the EXACT state as when you first opened the box and turned it on for the first time. Vista is on these discs, but so is all the bloatware.
The images are encrypted, and cannot be modified to be used for a clean install. It's best to burn these for yourself using the included recovery disc creation tools, but you can also usually buy them. Vista Retail Disc These discs are the ones you buy at the store in a shiny Vista box. They include a license and serial number for a particular version of Vista. The contents of the disc are IDENTICAL to the contents of the Anytime Upgrade Discs. These discs are expensive because you are buying a license along with them. You already have a license for Vista on your laptop, so there's no need to buy another one to do a clean install.
OEM Vista Disc These discs sometimes get shipped with your system, and are IDENTICAL to the Vista Retail and Anytime Upgrade discs. The main difference here is in the licensing from the OEM (HP, Dell, etc..). CUSTOM OEM Vista Disc These seems to be showing up more recently, especially with Dell systems. Some OEMs ship Vista discs that have been modified to include changes such as forcing the disc to only install a certain Vista version, and also include integrated drivers.
You can probably do a clean install with them, but you might need to modify the disc before you do it. See the next section for details. Obtaining The Vista Installation Discs. The most important thing you need for this procedure is the Vista installation disc itself.
Like many previous versions of Windows, the disc is often not shipped along with your computer in an obvious form. Sometimes it is hidden in plain sight, and other times it is hidden on the hard disk. It's also very possible it was not given to you at all. You need to obtain the disc using one of the following options.
Purchase the disc from Digital River: It appears that the place that used to allow them to be downloaded now has the real disc available for purchase. Please try this link to purchase the media: http: //store. Home. Page. Sorry, Looks like this is dead now. Purchase from Windows Marketplace: Windows Marketplace sells the discs at a reasonable price (~$1. It doesn't look like they are verifying your registration key on this site (there's really no reason they would need to), but I have not personally gone through the entire process myself.
These discs are the same as a retail or OEM install disc, but, like all the other discs in the guide, they do not come with a license. You already have a license, so you don't need to buy another one anyway. Anytime Upgrade Disc: The Anytime Upgrade disc was being shipped with new computers, and is exactly the same as an installation disc. It may have come in the box with your laptop. It's in a dvd case inside the box with all the manuals.
Unfortunately many companies have stopped shipping this disc with new systems. You have a few options to obtain it. The disc can be ordered online (legally) from various places for less than $1. Comp. USA used to have them, but now they are going out of business.
It is very cheap because it is just a disc, and does not include a license. You can try to search for "Vista Anytime Upgrade" at online stores. Unfortunately, Microsoft has discontinued the Anytime Upgrade program, so you can no longer order the disc from them. You may be able to find the discs elsewhere online, but those will also probably stop being sold as Microsoft shuts down the program. Some people have reported they are being sold on e.
Bay, but they are a little more expensive. MAYBE it's already on your hard drive: Your manufacturer MIGHT have copied the contents of the Anytime Upgrade DVD directly onto the hard disk of the computer (sometimes in a hidden folder called "WAU"). The problem is that you cannot directly burn this to a DVD and then boot from it to do a clean install - - you first need to burn the files as a bootable DVD in order to use them. To create a bootable DVD from these files: Download, install, and run v.
Lite. Select the location with the WAU folder. Select your vista version. Select the ISO button and make the ISO - you can create an image or directly burn to DVD. Now you should have a bootable Anytime Upgrade DVD you can use for a clean install. Thanks to seven. 11 for the steps. Note: You can do a lot of other things with v.
Lite too, but avoid messing with other things in there until you know what you are doing with it). Here are some places you might find the folder on your system. C: \Windows\sonysys\wau (hidden folder)Please let me know where you found it on your system!
You can see if it might be on your system by doing the following. Click Start > Windows Anytime Upgrade > Choose your edition. Under the upgrade option a message will display whether your laptop is pre- configured for Anytime Upgrade.
You will not have the "Anytime Upgrade" option if you have Vista Ultimate, but you might still have the folder on your hard drive. Take a look around for it. Thank to coolguy for these steps)seven. PDF with screen- shots that can walk you through the process: PDF Walkthrough.
Borrow a Disc: If you know someone else who has an Anytime Upgrade disc, a retail Vista disc, or an OEM disc, you can use any one of those as well. Make sure that you USE YOUR OWN LICENSE. The license is not tied into a DVD, it's tied to the computer and the product key you use. Download from Windows Marketplace: According to My. Digital. Life, one can download the Vista installation media from Digital River, who is Microsoft's partner in online distribution of Vista. You'll have to download 3 files, one of which is over 2.
Gi. B, and when you're done you'll have the Vista files you need to do the installation.