alex Posted October 24, 2008 CID Share Posted October 24, 2008 MY computer recently got hit by a major virus ( not sure what it is) but i need to restore vista home premium and my recovery partition is no longer in existence and this is what hp told me to use to restore my computer. now i have a set of recovery discs on the way but i have been waiting for more than a month to receive them and i was wondering if anyone knows anything about a way to restore the recovery partition or reinstalling vista freely. Thanks any help would be greatly appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmanc4 Posted October 24, 2008 CID Share Posted October 24, 2008 Click Start, and then click Computer > View menu > Details> Hard Disk Drives area, double-click Local Disk (C:), and then look for the "Windows.OLD" folder ,if it doesn't , then the info is gone, and the recovery disks may not help. Always keep your backups on a separate disk entirely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wknight40 Posted October 24, 2008 CID Share Posted October 24, 2008 If you have the OEM key on your computer you might be able to download a copy and use that key to install. I'm not condoneing illegal downloading but if using the key that you already own you should be fine. It may not always work either. Also on some of the illegal download site you can find copies of restore disk for your model of PC. Again by using your OEM key should make your new copy a legal install. It is a gray area for most. Just a poosible ide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky Posted October 24, 2008 CID Share Posted October 24, 2008 Why don't you try system restore then look for the virus using an updated version of Symantec, I did mine yesterday after finding a virus on my system. Works great now. Type in system restore in the find bar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex Posted October 24, 2008 Author CID Share Posted October 24, 2008 i will try to locate the virus however i know i need to find a restore disc to reinstall vista as my recovery partition and the ability to connect to the internet is lost. i have not come across a website that has model specific disc sets. That grey area i understand and have been trying to work with, however i cant find the proper disc set to download and use to restore my computer, any further advice where to find? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saygoodie Posted October 24, 2008 CID Share Posted October 24, 2008 If you have the OEM key on your computer you might be able to download a copy and use that key to install. I'm not condoneing illegal downloading but if using the key that you already own you should be fine. It may not always work either. Also on some of the illegal download site you can find copies of restore disk for your model of PC. Again by using your OEM key should make your new copy a legal install. It is a gray area for most. Just a poosible ide. Perfectly legal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky Posted October 24, 2008 CID Share Posted October 24, 2008 i will try to locate the virus however i know i need to find a restore disc to reinstall vista as my recovery partition and the ability to connect to the internet is lost. i have not come across a website that has model specific disc sets. That grey area i understand and have been trying to work with, however i cant find the proper disc set to download and use to restore my computer, any further advice where to find? What brand PC is it? you could call the manufacturer and ask for the recovery disks, they should send some to you. Mine is an HP and HP tell me if I cannot make a recovery set from the recovery drive, they will send me some, worth a try? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommie gorman Posted October 25, 2008 CID Share Posted October 25, 2008 emachines and gateway charges for the disks last I checked. So yeah it depends ont the manufacturer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky Posted October 25, 2008 CID Share Posted October 25, 2008 emachines and gateway charges for the disks last I checked. So yeah it depends ont the manufacturer. This is true, but if you want the correct drivers and default software that came with your comp, well worth it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex Posted October 25, 2008 Author CID Share Posted October 25, 2008 i have an hp and have been in contact with them all week, i asked for recovery discs on sunday and they just sent them out today and i wont get them until the 3rd or 4th. I wanted to have my laptop working before i go back to school next week. and if it is perfectly legal where exactly can i locate a bootable version of the os, windows vista sp 1 for a 32bit system? and yes emachines does charge, but my laptop that was damaged by the virus is an hp, a fairly new computer, dv5 1002 nr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmanc4 Posted October 25, 2008 CID Share Posted October 25, 2008 You have to be very careful here, although some may say it is " perfectly legal " to download a copy of an OS as long as you have the key, I'm not so sure of that, and I also do not believe that this site will condone this either. Some may see this as pirating, and any site can get into legal issues just for discussing the subject. Topic is locked for now, If you want to discuss recover lost data, I'm sure this would be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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