2012-02-13, 08:21 | Link #1 |
Underweight Food Hoarder
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Reinstalling OS
I'm reformatting my laptop but when I bought it, there was no CD that came with it. Just the Windows 7 Ultimate CD key on the sticker on the bottom.
Do I have to bring it in to the retailer to get it reinstalled or does Microsoft have some way of giving me the Windows 7 Ultimate if I have just the key? |
2012-02-13, 08:31 | Link #2 |
temporary safeguard
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Germany
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The key means you own a license for that software, so you are allowed to use it.
Usually that means the software vendor should provide you with the software if you request it, but many vendors don't see it that way. I don't know Microsofts policy on this. The easiest way to go about this, would be finding someone who also runs win7 ultimate, install from their disc and use your key to activate it. You have to make sure it is the exact same of the many win7 variants though. |
2012-02-13, 09:42 | Link #5 | |
temporary safeguard
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Germany
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If you find a download link somewhere, that would be ok. Microsoft offers downloads for all their software with the MSDNAA program, but those are usually (weakly) shielded from public access. |
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2012-02-13, 12:32 | Link #8 | |
AS Oji-kun
Join Date: Nov 2006
Age: 74
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Of course, there is the other option of doing a little research on the Internet and see what your choices are. Have you visited the support site for your particular brand and model of computer? Have you searched Google with the computer's model number to see what discussions come up? Really, those should be the first things you do when trying to get technical information. I'd put asking questions on AS pretty far down the list.
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2012-02-13, 15:07 | Link #10 |
Love Yourself
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Northeast USA
Age: 38
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I believe the way that the recovery partitions work is that you choose to boot off of them, and then they behave like a DVD. To choose which partition to boot off of, there used to be a 1-2 second period of time where you could press F8, right before Windows began to boot, and you could select to load Windows into Safe Mode, or to load something else. My guess would be that your option to boot from the recovery partition would be in there.
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2012-02-13, 15:54 | Link #12 |
a.k.a. Flammenkrieg
IT Support
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Down under...
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What brand and model is your laptop (and when did you buy it)? The method to access the recovery partition for each laptop is generally different.
In some cases (such as a Dell), you will need to go into the Advanced Boot Options (F8 while starting up). The first option should be "Repair your computer", if the computer does indeed have a recovery partition. You may need to log in with your Windows 7 user name and password. In the case of a Dell computer, you would then use the factory reset option to begin the reformat and reinstall process.
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2012-02-13, 16:43 | Link #13 | ||
AS Oji-kun
Join Date: Nov 2006
Age: 74
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2012-02-13, 16:53 | Link #14 | |
temporary safeguard
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Germany
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Quote:
When I set up my Dell to a dual boot some years ago, it was a major hassle. There was a weird mini partition on the machine that contained a windows media center os. You could fast boot into this with a special button on the keyboard. Every time you pressed that button, the bios would do some crazy voodoo with the primary boot sector (storing it in an eeprom, write something else to the bootsector, then restore it later on). But if there was GRUB in that boot sector instead of the expected Windows, pressing the button would completely screw up everything. Button of death. Solution was to read out the bootsector into a file and placing only a link to this file in the bootsector itself... Ever since I'm scared of reformating laptops. |
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