Help with system restore

[ROCKYHDR]

Hi,
I purchased my Sony Vaio laptop almost 3 years ago...first thing I did was do a Windows Easy Transfer between my old laptop ( Toshiba ) and my new ones to transfer pics,videos and such...
I actually never burned a recovery disc....which was very stupid of me...

I have never been able to do a system restore...after dealing with Microsoft twice in the past year I think I know why...apparently some Toshiba installers were also transfered during my Easy Transfer...when you look at the computer info on my Sony it says it is a Toshiba.....

Microsoft says that I need to get a Sony Installation disc from Sony to reverert it back....however that will mean a clean install and I will lose everything on my computer....

Is there really not another way?

I may call Microsoft back and request a senior tech....

 

[marsmimar]

Are you able to create a restore point? If you can, you might be able to delete everything related to Toshiba from the computer. The restore point would act as your life-line if something critical was deleted and it adversely affected the Vaio. You could restore the Vaio to the exact same condition it was in before deleting those Toshiba references. Or you could create a system image to an external hard drive which would preserve the Vaio exactly as it is right now.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/697-system-restore-point-create.html

You could also try backing up and saving a copy of the registry which would hopefully provide another way to return the Vaio to pre-Toshiba deletion status.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/4230-registry-backup-restore.html

You could use the start menu search box and look for references to Toshiba. Or you could use regedit to search the registry for Toshiba.

How to Use the Windows Registry Editor (Regedit) in One Easy Lesson

All of the above is not without risk. After 3 years, some of those Toshiba references might be so tied in to Sony Vaio that deleting them could leave your computer seriously damaged. So if you haven't already done so, try backing up all your important files, folders, etc and consider either a Repair Install or a Clean Install. A repair install will try to preserve your user accounts, data, programs, system drivers, etc. It takes about an hour to run and you'd have to reinstall Windows Updates which takes at least another hour.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

A clean install can give you a superior performing machine without all the factory bloatware.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html

 

[ROCKYHDR]

Thank you...you have given me some things to think about...one question...

I can still burn recovery discs for this computer...will any of the Toshiba references be on those discs or is that info in a seperate partition and unaffected by everything else that has been done to this computer since I have had it.

Sorry...I realize this may be a stupid question...

 

[marsmimar]

Your Vaio probably has a hidden recovery partition which should have remained unchanged. You could open Disk Management and see exactly what partitions your hard drive has. If one of them is about 15GB (give or take a few GB) and is called Recovery, or Factory, or something similar, then you should be all set. This tutorial explains how to open Disk Management. You could always post a screenshot if you're not sure.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/274797-disk-management-post-screen-capture-image.html

As I understand it, the recovery disks are created using the info contained in the recovery partition. Should you choose to use the partition or the disks, they would return your computer to factory specs. All of your personal data would be lost and the computer would be exactly like it was when it left the factory. So it's very important to backup your personal files and folders before using either recovery option.

And there's not such thing as a stupid question. Not when it comes to computers.