After having to resort to restoring my system to the factory condition after everything else failing to fix the issue, I have a question:
My computer came with Vista factory installed, and I installed Windows 7 later. This might seem like a stupid question, but will Windows 7 remain after the restore or will I have to reinstall it from Vista again?
It will depend what you used for the restore. If you did the restore from the recovery partition, you probly end up with Vista. If you did it from a Win7 installation disk, it will be win7.
For the future I suggest you do fequent imaging. Then you can bail yourself out in 30 minutes rather than all the work with a reinstallation.
You'll need to reinstall Windows 7.
If you have not already restored to the factory condition, what was the problem? Perhaps some help can be offered here.
If you are using the recovery disks (or partition) shipped with your computer, it's restored to it's original state, so you lose Seven and get the Vista back.
May I suggest telling us what the problem is and maybe we can help solve the problem without having to do a Factory Restore. May I also suggest as soon as you get your PC the way you want it configured, do a system image backup found in Control Panel>System and Security>Backup and Restore. This will save you precious time and headaches in case of future problems where a restore is necessary. If you have the Windows 7 disk you could put it in and boot from it and try to do a repair, or a system restore from the installation media. You may be able to access more restore points this way.
I started a thread a while back regarding my issue. I've since removed the Creative card and am now running on the integrated sound. I thought removing the sound card fixed it because it's been more than a week since it's froze, but it did again today. I've contacted Alienware support only to get no where; they told me to remove and reinsert my RAM which was nothing but a time waster.
At this point, I really don't know what to do other than a restore. I don't know if it's a software issue or a hardware issue.
Thanks for the help :)
Did you run the Win7 Upgrade advisor to see if the sound card and chip are compatible? Have you checked optional Windows Updates for newer drivers, or tried other drivers from your computer/sound device Support Downloads webpage?
Try a Repair Install using Win7 DVD to see if this sorts it out, as it reinstalls the OS while keeping program, files and settings in place.
It is not necessary to factory restore to Vista in order to clean reinstall Win7. Just boot the DVD, select Custom install, use Drive Tools to delete all partitions (including Recovery partition - but after you make the Recovery disk set in case you want to ever return to factory condition), create New partition(s) as you wish, then install Win7 to first partition. The DVD will see an OS to allow Upgrade version key, even if you delete/format.
If the sound issue remains, try different drivers, including Vista or XP installing Compatiblity Mode by rightclicking .exe to choose Properties.
I did run the Upgrade Advisor before upgrading to Windows 7, and everything was way beyond compatible. I've eliminated the sound card from the possible source of the issue since even when it's taken out of the system, it still froze.
I believe these incidents were occurring even back with Vista so I'm not sure if a clean repair of 7 would do anything. I had other problems with Vista and thought Windows 7 would fix them. It actually did, but this problem still remains. I'm thinking it must be a hardware issue of some sort.
Try another sound card borrowed from a friend or another PC.
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