How to reinstall Vista?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Allen Watson
  • Start date Start date
A

Allen Watson

I've been having a problem with a Dell laptop running Vista; the wireless
won't connect. After two hours online with Dell support, they advised me to
"reinstall Vista."

How do I do that without entirely wiping the contents of my hard drive?
Clean install wipes everything, and when I try to use Update, it becomes
disabled, telling me it can't install an older version over a newer one
(I've updated since purchasing the computer, so the Installer DVD has the
older version). The only other option I can see is "Custom," and that says
that it will not preserve my files and applications.

Isn't there some way to perform a reinstall without having to wipe the hard
drive? (There is on Mac OS X, my other computer is a Macbook.)
 
Go into Device Manager and update the Drivers for the Network Adaptor(or
enable it)
If it is "proper vista" DVD, not Dell's recovery disk, you can boot from it,
and do a repair.
If you reinstall, you lose everything.

Also, Start>Programs>Accessories>Run> sfc /scannow
 
The drivers have been updated, both by my wife and then by the Dell tech.

The Dell disk is named "Recovery," so I think we're SOL there. But I do have
an MSDN subscription, so I can probably find a "proper" installation disk in
the stack of disks they've sent me (which, being a Mac user myself, I rarely
even look at). Hah! Found an English Vista with SP1 disk; we'll try that.
Thanks for the tip.
 
Correct me if I am wrong on details , but I actually had to do this once:
You can reinstall VISTA using the "anytime upgrade" CD. Just "upgrade" to
the version you already have. It will reinstall all the system files without
destroying data files. Then, you will have to reactivate Vista by internet
or a phone call, but it is no problem because you are the legal owner of your
SN version of Vista.
I had one corrupt system file and this fixed it.
 
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