Computer guru's need your help.

[DT10Sam]

Hi Computer Guru's

 

I have had a major crash with my home computer a couple of weeks ago and now I need to back up all of my files and copy them to a DVD and reformat my computer etc. My problem is I can not for the life of me find my Windows XP Pro software. For the price of new software would I be better off to purchase Windows Vista Premium or stay clear of it. I have been hearing good and bad about Vista and do not know of anyone who actually has it or is using it. I do need to purchase new software and need the guidance of the experts and hopefully I can get back up and running in the next few days.

 

Best regards,

Sam

[douG]

XP Pro is good stuff, mature and stable, and gets the job done.

 

Marketing programs for Vista included 'Sorry, Charlie', and 'Yes, We Have No Bananas'.

 

Some Ma and Pa PC shops can sort you straight, I'm sure.

 

Belleville is a little far from Etobicoke, for an honest P2P fileswap, but let me know if I can help.

Edited December 30, 2008 by douG

[xeon]

Few options:

 

Easiest way is to get like Nerds on Site to look at it or bring it into a computer repair store. Shouldnt cost too much.

 

You could also try putting your harddrive into someone elses computer, then copy the files you need onto the other harddrive and then burn all those to disk.

 

Call your computer manufacturer (eg:Dell, HP) and ask them for an operating system/reinstall disk. They will probably just want the numbers off that green sticker on your case. If its not covered under your computers warrenty they may charge a little bit for the disk, but it is cheaper than a new one.

 

As for vista, I can say that im a fan. I was a die-hard XP fan, and was ticked that when I bought my laptop last year it came with Vista. Once I started using it, I got familiar with it, and now that I can use it, it looks nicer, and has a much better user interface. People just dont like it because they have to learn how to use it. Also, make sure your computer has enough balls to run it. Check out the minimum requirements for it on the internet. And when asking yourself which version to buy, if you dont need the feature, dont pay extra for it. I have used Ultimate and Basic, and the only difference is that Ultimate has a couple extra games, the Aero (which is nice but whoopty-doo, just makes everything run slower), and probably the best feature was the video backgrounds, that was cool.

[DRIFTER_016]

First off, what brand of computer is it? Name brand (HP, Dell, IBM) or one of te clones out there?

If it is a major manufacturer you should be able to order a replacement OS disk for a fraction of the $$$$$ of purchasing a retail box of either XP or Vista. Contact the manufacturer or check their web sites.

If it is a clone check with the shop you purchased it from and see if you can get a replacement disk from them.

Most brand name and a lot of the larger clone manufacturers have OEM licensing for their software. They have their own version of Windows that will only work with the bulk lot of licenses (Serial #'s) issued to them.

For instance Dell's Windows disk will only work with the software SN included with a Dell machine etc.

[Leecher]

Like xeon said if you know how to do it or know someone that can, I would install your hard drive from your crashing computer into another PC and copy the data that you need off of it and then burn it to CD or DVD, then reload XP.

 

XP is one stable O/S and still supported by Microsoft..... if you change to Vista, your existing applications may not be compatible and you will be required to purchase additional software licenses.... God knows how many extra software that we install on any PC just to accomplish certain task.

 

Something to think about and good luck to ya

Leechman

[pike slayer]

just download linux ubuntu for free and all problems will be solved!

[Bernie]

Sam , this past weekend I had enough of Vista on my home desktop. I tried, really I did. But Vista it seems had taken control and I could no longer change things on my programs. This was the second time I had experienced this as my laptop had gone wierd too couple months ago. Back to XP on both now. Actually find it easier to navigate and control and all my computers can share files again on my network.

Vista had some nice features but I can't remember what they were .

 

PS ps. I am experimenting with Ubuntu now. Slowly.

Edited December 30, 2008 by Bernie

[forrest]

just download linux ubuntu for free and all problems will be solved!

 

 

What PS said...Ubuntu has a live cd that will boot hte PC and run the OS off of the CD. With the latest version you can see your data and copy it to a USB stick or burn to DVD.

 

forrest

[pike slayer]

ya my laptop crashed randomly one day and having a gateway they have it so you cant reload any type of windows so i took it to my buddys dad and hes a real computer geek and he put linux on my computer, i'm still learning all the ropes but its seems to be the right choice as a quick and easy alternative

[Twocoda]

Yes i hav gone back and forth and back and forth from XP pro to Vista Home

After using vista primium as oppossed to vista home ( junk) i wont go back to XP ever again...and brought all of my comps up to VP

Hard drives are relatively cheap ...get a new one and load vista premium on it or borrow one with an operating system on it ...

install th new hardrive as your primary and plug the old hard drive in as a slave ( read instructions from hard drive manufacturer for these setting or get the info online) No More needs to be done ...you will now see in MY COMPUTER that you have a new letter for the new drive ...just renam the drives ...New ( C) and the new letter will be E or F pending on what you have connectd to the pc...rename it OLD DRIVE....

 

Acess everything just by clicking on the drive ....the NEW drive holds the operating system ( which ever one you choose) so it will be partitioned away from the crash... try Vista out and if you lik it ...delete xp from the old drive to free up more space and reinstall ( which ever one you like)

By having two drives on your comp you speed up the performance od the comp...while yer at it chck your ram...for upgrade

 

welcome to the wonderful world of computers... save your pens and pensils for investment purposes...who knows what they will be worth 20 years from now...

sorry bout the crash and good luck with the recovery ....

 

If you use a borrowed operating system on a borrowed hard drive....set up comp as i said and burn onto cd...then your to square one of getting a new hard drive and operating system

Edited December 30, 2008 by Twocoda

[Wendel]

whatever you do don't call Nerds Onsite... unless you KNOW a good one.

The good ones are really good, the bad ones are REALLY bad...

 

do a search on google for computer repair ripoff and you will find a youtube video about some of their shenanigins.

I used to be a nerd years ago, but left the company because even though you have 60 nerds behind you to get the job done right, what happens when you're the only one they call for help? You get to spend all day doing tech support for free to other nerds lol!!!!

 

To answer your question Sam, I would stick with Windows XP. Do you just need the media to install it, or do you need an actual license as well? The media is easy to find, if you need a license key check out ebay, should be able to get an OEM copy fairly cheap(I see them for about 110 bucks or so), also, sometimes you can find it on Kijiji.

 

Good luck!

 

Mark

[GBW]

Sam, I know the folks at MicroAge in Bellville, call them if you need more help after what you get here.

If you want contacts PM me as they are a VAR I work with, cheers.

Geoff

[limeyangler]

HOLY CRAPPOLLA!...i feel like such a dinosaur....how do you guys know all this stuff???!!!!

[hawkeye]

I'd stay clear of VISTA right now. If you know XP then you will have no "learning curve"

 

In any case Windows 7 is in beta and that will replace VISTA so why not wait anyway.

[Bernie]

In any case Windows 7 is in beta and that will replace VISTA so why not wait anyway.

 

I agree. Does anyone remember Windows ME? Awful!

[xeon]

I'd stay clear of VISTA right now. If you know XP then you will have no "learning curve"

 

In any case Windows 7 is in beta and that will replace VISTA so why not wait anyway.

 

IMHO people wont make the switch even to Vista unless they absolutly HAVE to. For the most part, the only reason why people have vista is because they bought a computer and thats what came with it, and dont know how to put XP on it. By the time Windows 7 comes out, the masses wont have even made a switch from XP to Vista. Look at most of the computers out there right now in government, and some private companies, all XP. They cant afford to buy hundreds of copies of Vista right now, and cant afford the computers needed to run vista smoothly. I really think that 7 is going to tick off ALLOT of people, in the fact that theres going to be THREE windows operating systems which are all in use, making it so some people will have to learn all 3 of them if they have a computer at work, home, and a new computer with 7 on it. I just dont see why M$ doesnt just stick with vista and XP for a while longer, and try to phase them out completly before releasing 7.

 

 

Anyways, I think i might go fishing sometime next week

[DT10Sam]

Hi Everyone,

 

Thanks to all of you for the many responses and I am still up in the air about everything here. At work I am running XP Pro and it works fine. The computer that crashed at home was a clone that was built for us and it obviously had a pirated version on it which has me ticked and the company that built it is no longer in business. Our other computers are all Dell's and they seem to have no issues whatsoever.

 

Microage Computers in Belleville is no longer doing any retail sales and it is difficult to get XP Pro or Home without having to buy a motherboard or hard drive as OEM products requires you to do that.

 

Presently I am downloading Ubuntu on one of our work computers and I am still not certain of its capabilities if it will run Dreamweaver software etc. so that I am able to update our website and if it is compatible with some games so that my young ones can play them.

 

Those of you that are running Ubuntu can you let me know how it is for some games that our kids can run on it.

 

Vista in this area seems to be in short supply for a few days. Both Best Buy and Future Shop will not have any in until Jan. 7th and it is a super price for Vista Premium something like 70.00.

 

As you can tell I am still kind of undecided and looking for some sort of resolution, all I do know is that I can not believe how dependent we have become to computers until one goes down. Never had these issues many years back, I guess age is starting to show up again.LOL.

 

Thank you for your responses and assistance it is much appreciated.

 

Best regards,

Sam

Edited December 30, 2008 by DT10Sam

[pike slayer]

i just got ubuntu not to long ago, im still learning all the ropes and its actually pretty neat and is turning out to be better then any type of windows i ever used. there are endless possibilities with it. i have not tried any games with my computer yet but i setup my printer and i installed software for downloading maps to my gps and it seemed much easier then windows. when downloading things like flashplayer, limewire,etc and you just have to pick the linux version. if you cant figure out how to do something on it there are forum sites just type in ubuntu forums in google and theres a bunch of them. there are tons of nerds out there that know their way around any problems and they seem pretty helpful. good luck!

[DT10Sam]

Thanks to everyone that gave me advise on this issue. I was able to purchase a copy of XP Pro and now I am up and running and will have the terrible task of copying everything over to my new hard drive as well as finding all of the drivers for everything that I am running. Guess I really didn't plan on having anything to do for New Years Day until now. Again thanks to everyone nad away I will be copying and transferring.

 

Regards,

Sam