need to reinstall windows vista. Lost the CD..

Can I reinstall Windows Vista Home 32bit without a CD? If so how would I go about doing it. And you don't need the CD key right? It's already programed into the laptop is what I heard somewhere.

 

well i just found a vista home premium 64 bit. would that work with the same cd key on that laptop?

 

As long as your CoA is Home Premium and your CD is Home Premium, the key should work. You might have to call 'em up.

 

CoA?

The laptop came with Home. The only disc I have is Home Premium..

Any ideas?

 

1) Try using your laptop's recovery partition (if you still have it).

2) Find someone with the right disk.

3) Call up Dell and see if you'll send you something.

4) Buy the right disk from eBay (like $15-ish).

 

You can try requesting a disc here: Dell - Support

 

It doesn't matter what edition the DVD says... all the Vista discs have all the editions, and in the installer you choose the edition for which you have a license key.

There's no "Home" edition. There's "Home Basic" and "Home Premium".

But anyways... that doesn't matter... all the Vista install discs have all the editions... just pick whichever edition the sticker on the bottom of your computer says.

The only thing is, you have a 64-bit install disc, which actually is different and will only let you install 64-bit Vista... that may be ok... I'd say it's time to move to 64-bit now anyway. But you will need to find 64-bit drivers, and if any of your programs or devices are actually still not 64-bit compatible, you'll need to find replacements.

Oh yeah, the other thing is, since you have an Dell OEM key, I'm not actually sure if it'll work with your install disc, assuming your install disc is not a Dell disc. But... you can try it.

You can also try requesting the disc from Dell support, as jason1214 suggested.

 

Only for retail disks, OEM disks are version specific. However, OEM keys should activate Windows installed with a retail disk without issue.

 

Just download an original DVD from isohunt.com or something. You already own the key so any DVD will do'.

 

How about we not recommend that, huh? Discussion of Piracy is against the Forum Rules...

OP, like it's been said, just shoot an email to Dell Support.

 

Downloading a copy is not illegal....installing it with a crack or something like that is. That's why i said get an original version, you don't want anything tampered with anyway.

 

To answer the OP questions:

All official vista disc (oem and retail/upgrade) contain every major/preinstalled versions including Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate. However, there is no such thing as a Home Basic 64 bit. Your COA below your computer will work with the version you have but whichever was install (32/64 bit) you will have the call the automated machine to activate your copy. Meaning if you have 32 bit preinstall and install a 64 bit version of your corresponding OS, you will have to call to activate.

Windows 7 is the one with limited chooses (ei.cfg) for those who thought that vista only contain one version.

Your best bet is to contact dell for a copy since dell disc does not required you to enter a COA/activate. With a retail/oem/upgrade, you will have to enter your COA and activate after the 30 days trial.