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Hey Slarty, how did your area make out with the storm ? Hope all is well. :)
Hey Slarty, how did your area make out with the storm ? Hope all is well. :)
Ahh I see now, my apologies! So it is a mass installation key that is embedded in with the original software, Hence why doing a reinstall using VAIO recovery centre it doesn't ask for key.
I have another Sony VAIO, a smaller 15" one, but the hard drive I think is knackered and wont boot. Although can get into the hard drive and access files through a USB running linux.
Give me a mo, let me have a look with CMD, see what I can find - Although plenty of folders in the E: drive itself.
I apologize to all as well - I only contributed to the confusion.
Nah, don't bother trying to look in the cmd. Greg should be able to get you booting from the recovery part, just as if you hit f10. go in that direction.
Sorry, got the gist of the OEM key and sticker a few posts back, just was replying and also mucking about with the laptop at the same time.
Ok thanks SlartyBart.
Greg, what to do next then?
Greg would be the authority, but I'm not sure he has had success in this type of situation.
I do recall several posts to the effect that a reinstallation can render recovery partitions useless and beyond repair---although I'm guessing that in such a situation a recovery could still be done from a set of recovery disks, if the user made them.
First off if you still have the Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 you did on the PC, try to activate it with the Product Key on the COA sticker as best you can. If it fails then use MS Phone Activation and explain that you are trying to CLean Reinstall your factory OEM and cannot fully read the Product Key on the sticker. We have had reports they can confirm this with other remains on the sticker and the Product ID listed at Control Panel>System enough to issue a new key. That's worth a try. How To Activate Windows 7 by Phone Step-by-Step Guide
If this fails you can try booting the Recovery partition as suggested by Marking Partition Active then rebooting and tapping the F10 key vigorously as before.
If this fails you can try adding the Recovery partition to a Dual Boot menu using EasyBCD as demonstrated in this post: Boot Recovery Partition using EasyBCD If you get stuck we can help you with the files which need locating after unhiding all Hidden and System Files in Control Panel>Folder Options>View.
You can also contact Samsung to see if they provide Recovery Disks or OS Reinstallation DVD for your model.
Once you get Factory Recovery you can see how it performs after you Clean Up Factory Bloatware.
While it's true the key you'd audit off of the HD after Recovery cannot be used for a Clean Reinstall, there is a method to back up the Factory mass-activation file to reinstall it and activate after reinstall, however it is not supported here by decision of the Administrators so you'd have to research it yourself.
Last edited by gregrocker; 02 Nov 2012 at 12:26.
WOW! Thanks Greg!
Right Im off to bed now, Its gone 4am here! Will post back tomorrow.
Thanks to everyone for your help here.
Tony.
First of all apologies for causing confusion last night, I was very tired.
I have tried to activate the clean install, but only have the first 10 digits remaining of the sticker, so it isn't possible. I haven't tried telephone registration, but I have phoned Microsoft to see if they could help and the kind lady in the Indian Call centre could barely understand a word I was on about.
I have phoned Sony and they want £50 for recovery discs - Thats $80!
Ill have a go at using BCD. Ive unhid files in recovery partition so can see everything.