Help with registry/restoring factory image?

[derekimo]

This Microsoft site supports only retail copies of Windows. For OEM you have to turn to the OEM company.

I see, thank you for that information. Where would I look for that?

You can try here,

https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/media

 

[whs]

Nah, don't try to find a legit copy on the internet - there are none. Maybe you have a friend with an installation disc or go back to the place where you bought the PC. They may have an installation disc that they let you borrow.

 

[chedge05]

This Microsoft site supports only retail copies of Windows. For OEM you have to turn to the OEM company.

I see, thank you for that information. Where would I look for that?

Throw yourself on the mercy of Dell Incorporated, Round Rock, Texas.

They may supply disks for a fee. Maybe not. I think they did at one time.

I enjoy Dell so very much. Hint of sarcasm. That's the reason I'm trying to get my mom's computer going the correct way. I have/HAD a Dell laptop. I owned it for 3 months, hard drive crashed. Sent it in, they send me one that lags and it had NOT EVEN half of the storage space. I took that one out and replaced it with an old HP one that I had. It ran good for a couple of years, and the other day I went to turn it off, start menu-shut down, it shut down fine. went to turn it back on, come to find out my hard drive crashed, even ran the diagnostic testing, hard drive failed. I took it apart to make sure my connection was okay, yeah it was hooked up just fine. P.O.S.
If that is my only option, I'm willing to go that route. Hopefully they won't try to sell me any of their computers, though! haha.

 

[chedge05]

Nah, don't try to find a legit copy on the internet - there are none. Maybe you have a friend with an installation disc or go back to the place where you bought the PC. They may have an installation disc that they let you borrow.

I'd rather go that route, to be honest. That's about my only bet right now. thank you for all of your help. The only thing the system really does, it freezes out of nowhere, and there is something screwed up in the registry somewhere. i'm not that advanced to go digging around in the registry. I have been advised not to and it's risky

 

[whs]

Indiana is too far from Florida, else I would let you borrow one of my discs, LOL. Don't you have a computer club in the area. In our rural area we have over 800 members in the local computer club. It would be no problem finding a disc from them.

 

[chedge05]

Indiana is too far from Florida, else I would let you borrow one of my discs, LOL. Don't you have a computer club in the area. In our rural area we have over 800 members in the local computer club. It would be no problem finding a disc from them.

That would be cool, I'm sure there might be, but I don't know of them, I'll have to start doing my research on that. I know we have a couple of computer repair places in town, but I don't have the funds for that right now. Like I said, it runs fine..when it wants to. And when it freezes, ctrl alt del doesnt even bring it out of it. Waiting it out doesn't work either, and I dread pushing that power button :/

 

[RolandJS]

Registry repair and/or cleaning can be done -- if one is very careful. I've done both for years, since Norton Utilities for W 3.1 - WFW 3.11. Now, Auslogics & Wise utilities are used -- cautiously, carefully, selectively.

 

[RolandJS]

Belarc coughs up lots of information. Included are all in-house, built-in and created admin, standard, guest accounts. I do not know how to adjust accounts to make one primary, and so on. Beginning with Windows 7, Trusted Installer is the absolute authority, I suspect built-in admin is second in authority. All other created accounts bow and scrape before those 2 in-house accts.

 

[chedge05]

I have an HP with Windows 7. I found a Dell disc with Windows ME on it. Will this work?