reformat needed for Vista Computer

[DMGrier]

So I know this is a Windows 7 forum but my Mom's HP laptop is well over four years old and since my dad has left her she is to poor to buy a new laptop and it has been running kind of slow and I am trying to extend the life on this computer. I feel it is time to do a reformat since all the files on the HDD are a mess.

The issue I am running into is I need to find a legit free copy of Windows Vista Home Premium 32 Bit. I can't find anything except ones that have been altered but I have the serial that is on the Windows product key sticker so now I just need a copy of Vista, I have tried bing and could not find one for it even though I have found plenty for windows 7. Any ideas would be highly appreciated.

 

[gregrocker]

Unfortunately there are no free versions of Win7 available for consumers. However Vista with SP2 has incorporated most of the Win7 improvements so it is quite good and worth clean reinstalling with the Product Key which came on the PC.

I also found this download courtesy of Rich over at our Vista forums which is used to create the Vista ISO file: http://en.community.dell.com/suppor...fficial-iso-download-links-digital-river.aspx

Follow the illustrated steps to extract the box files and create the ISO, then burn to DVD using ImgBurn.

Then follow the same steps as for Win7 to get a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

 

[DMGrier]

Thanks for that, I am sorry if my post was confusing cause my goal is to do a fresh Vista install since that is what the product key is good for. What I was saying is I had no problem finding Windows 7 ISO online but could not find Vista.

 

[koolkat77]

Will this link be of any help? Vista ISO download - Vista Forums

 

[gregrocker]

Thanks for that, I am sorry if my post was confusing cause my goal is to do a fresh Vista install since that is what the product key is good for. What I was saying is I had no problem finding Windows 7 ISO online but could not find Vista.

I provided you with the ISO link for Vista which is clearly labeled that.

In addition I provided you with the steps to get a perfect CLean Reinstall of Vista factory OEM. These are the same steps as for Win7. However you must be able to read and understand them and not just skim and misinterpret them.

KoolKat found another Vista ISO link however both of them are to box files which must be constructed into an ISO by carefully following the steps given in the tutorial providing them.

 

[DMGrier]

Thanks, I just did the install and it worked great, my god talk about a lot of updates to install.

 

[gregrocker]

Any drivers missing in Device Manager after all the optional Updates are done?

As it says in tutorial after it's all setup and running fine save a backup image using free Macrium Reflect so you never have to reinstall again, just reimage the HD or its replacement in 20 minutes. Macrium - Image your system