Reinstalling Vista Without Cd

How can i reinstall vista without a cd? - Answered by a verified Tech Support Specialist. We use cookies to give you the best possible experience on our website. Hello, I have a gateway labtop model NX860XL and serial number XXXXXXXXXX I had to reinstall Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-Bit.

• Reinstall Vista Without Cd

1. How to reinstall Vista without the installation disk How do I reset my WinXP installation without having to reinstall the OS. However, neither of these fully answered the question as far as I'm concerned. People suggest using System Restore, which only affects the registry and NOT programs added after a restore point is created.
2. My dumbnut brother wants me to reinstall vista for his laptop. But the thing is, he deleted his partition backup for vista and the laptop didnt come with a cd. He wants me to reinstall it because he sometimes get the blue screen of death. So how can i reinstall vista 32? He has a laptop Acer aspire 4720z.

I realize this question has been somewhat addressed in the following topics:
How to reinstall Vista without the installation disk
How do I reset my WinXP installation without having to reinstall the OS

However, neither of these fully answered the question as far as I'm concerned. People suggest using System Restore, which only affects the registry and NOT programs added after a restore point is created. Then someone says you need the DVD, which, as described in the question, is not available.

So I have the Vista OEM key, as provided on the bottom of my Gateway laptop. I just don't know where my Vista installation disc is, or whether I even received one.

So, some bonus questions:
Is my only option just to borrow a Vista CD from somebody else?
And if I do that, will the installation work with my Gateway-provided Vista OEM key?

Thank you.

NoCatharsisNoCatharsis

1 Answer

I'm not sure how Gateway handles it, but many manufacturers now will actually partition a recovery disc on the drive. I'm not sure if they're all the same, but right click 'My Computer', go to 'Manage', and check on discs and storage to see if there is a recovery partition. If so.. Reboot, and I think it's F11 to access it. Could be wrong about the key though.

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Is there a way to reinstall Vista, or reset Vista to it's default settings so that it's like a brand new install without installation disk

RolandRoland

2 Answers

You could try using System Restore to restore it to the earliest possible restore point available. This can be found by searching for 'System Restore' in the start menu.

GaryJLGaryJL

Unless you have a recovery partition from your OEM, or a backup (Windows Backup and Restore, Ghost, Acronis, etc) then you need the DVD.

John TJohn T

Reinstall Vista Without Cd

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