Clean Vista install WITH NO ACTIVATION

Ive tried to download the install.wim several times and it claims it is done downloading after about 2.2GB each time. Any ideas?

 

The items removed are locations where a possible previous activation has been done, so it removes them just to make sure the system is clean.

Look at the size by right-clicking on the file and selecting "Properties". That's the real size of the file.

 

I have tried and it shows the same. I tried to install just to see if it was a fluke. But it claims it is missing files as soon as i get passed the cd key screen

 

Look on the DVD and make sure the install.wim file is actually on it. It's possible the disc didn't burn correctly. It should be in the "sources" folder.

If it is there, it's possible that you have some network device in between you and the download site that's interfering. It could be something doing some caching (some ISPs do this), or it could be something that's timing out (though that would cause other problems too). There's not really a way to fix that though. You could try to download using a different web browser. Like firefox or IE.

 

For the Digital River links on the 1st post- do they come in varieties where SP1 is already installed?

 

Not that I know of, and since Microsoft has discontinued the anytime upgrade program, my guess is they probably won't make that version available like this.

 

Microsoft have not discontinued the anytime upgrade. It's still there on my PC and when I click on it I get taken to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/pr...orupgrade/windowsanytimeupgrade/overview.mspx

 

Hey orev, I have an addition for step 21.

Here is the link for Dell Drivers.
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen

 

The distribution of Windows Anytime Upgrade DVD is what has stopped. Everything else is intact.

 

Thanks!
...

 

I've updated the guide to include a link to the Windows Marketplace where you can get Vista discs for $15. I'm not sure if they require you to enter your product code though. Has anyone gotten their install discs from this site? Did you need to enter your product code?

 

This process worked for me except that i didn't have a QLB folder so after clean install my QuickLaunch and button sounds didn't work. Hp downloads didn't have the software or update for QuickLaunch Buttons for my model (dv2754tx - verve special edition) but i found QuickLaunch Buttons 6.4 software for different models. I tried it not expecting it to work - and was pleasantly surprised to find it did. Now i have a perfect clean vista installation with full functionality.

Thank-you Orev.

 

No good for me. I ran the ABR _restore and ti claims that it ran successfully, but my activation still says 30days..

 

I think they changed quicklaunch buttons and it's now called "quicktouch". It's a little bit different, but I think it makes the buttons work.

Please let me know where you got your laptop, the model number, and what version of Vista it came with (premium, ultimate).

 

Quicktouch doesn't do anything for me. I ended up having to look up drivers for a dv2600 to find the Quick Launch Button 6.4B installation file. Now my buttons work.

One weird thing though, I could almost swear that the quick launch buttons on my old DV2000t made a beeping sound, but my new replacement makes a clicking sound instead. Can anyone confirm that with me?

Thanks,
Anthony

 

mine click always did i can change the sound 3 different options

 

I've ordered the DVD from Microsoft but who knows how long it will take to get here. I've tried downloading the files from Digital River but I've run into a problem with the install.wim. The file size is only 753 bytes!! the other 2 files are the correct size byt this is obviously wrong. What have I've done??

 

i'm soooooooooooo noob. ):

i'm lost on burning the the ISO of the Vista DVD.. i tried following mydigitallife's instructions but it's not working? the part with running the command to create the ISO file.. ergghh. i was able to download all the files successfully but.. ISO WTFBBQ? -_-;;;

*edit* nvm.. i think i got it D:

 

its easy with vlight

 

Vista is installing right now. A couple of pointers for the newbies (like me)
1. You can't download the the files from digital river on a PC running XP. I wanted to download the files, prepare the iso image and burn the dvd while the laptop was burning the recovery discs. My desktop is running XP and the installer.wim file would not download (737 bytes)
2. Using vlite, I made the iso image and tried burning a dvd on the laptop. Could not get a disc that worked. Eventually, I copied the 3 files to an external hard drive and burned the disc on my desktop. I'm not sure why it didn't work. Possibly the burner on the laptop is no good, it reads OK but couldn't burn a usable disc.
Just activated!!!!

Thanks orev.

 

I don't have any problem downloading it on XP. Usually a problem with downloading it is because there is something causing a problem in the way, like a download manager, proxy, or even something your ISP could be doing.

 

Hey all,

Quick question, how can I verify the md5sum number? I have a Windows Upgrade Anytime disc on me.

I've searched all over the web but came up empty.

I use Nero 8 and Daemon tools. Not sure if those would help..

Thanks!

 

You're probably the first one to ask this Try winmd5sum (here's a link to the portable version http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/winmd5sum_portable). Otherwise, you can use the command line tool from here: http://etree.org/md5com.html or if you have cygwin you can use that md5sum tool.

 

I downloaded from Digitalriver using my XP desktop, it worked perfectly fine.

I could see the MD5 checksum in the file properties somewhere on XP

 

Orev, this worked great on my Compaq Presario x86 and x64, but I recently tried it on a Dell Inspiron 1501 with no success.

 

Thank you to Orev for a thorough, clear guide. The clean install worked perfectly on my HP dv2715nr. It's now more responsive, and much faster booting.

The problems I've had are getting all the drivers loaded again. I have one remaining unknown device. By comparing before and after msinfo output, I think i have it narrowed down to the keyboard. On the factory install there is

while in the clean install, i just have

(I've edited them down to just description and driver.)

I guess the QLB refers to the Quick Launch Buttons. There are also references to qlbctrl.exe and other things that aren't in the clean install. The SWSetup directory has QTouch which I thought was the updated version, but I've installed that and no QLB. Where does this come from? And is that where the HID Keyboard device comes from?

 

It is most likely the Quick Launch Buttons. They are considered a type of HID (Human interface device) like a keyboard. Those drivers may not be in the SWsetup folder, so take a look at HP's web site and go to the download drivers section for your laptop. Here is a link: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...&cc=us&dlc=en&product=3646852&os=2093&lang=en

 

Got my 6500T with Vista Home Premium 32 bit .
I am considering doing a clean install with the 64 bit Vista. Can i still use ABR to restore my OEM license?

 

Yes, ABR works with 64-bit.

 

Yes, that seems to be it. The information I read about QuickTouch being a replacement was wrong. And QLB is not in SWsetup, so i got it from hp.

Thanks.

 

What number did you call or what website did you use?

I called MS to get the disks for vista 64 with SP1 and was told we had to get them thru HP. They would not provide me a copy. I first called the MS Order Desk 800-360-7561, then was passed to the MS Software Replacement 888-218-5617.

 

I recieved my dv9700t the other day (240 gb dual hd, 64 bit vista home premium) and I have tried to do a clean vista install following these instructions. However I have been running into some problems...I recieved no OS backup cds with my laptop, instead all I got was a 13GB hd partition labeled "recovery." First I burned my recovery discs and backed up my vista license with ABR. I searched all over my HD, but couldn't find any vista install files like this guide mentions may have been backed up to the HD, so I borrowed a friends vista home premium cd installer for his dell laptop. His OS is 32 bit, but from what I have read you can use the same license to install both 32 and 64 bit versions of the same operating system (correct me if im wrong?). I modified the disk by copying the contents to my hd and removing the OEM parts, made an iso file out of the files, and burnt them as a bootable CD using vlite. I then proceeded to boot from the cd, formatted the partition with the current OS, and went through all the installation steps. Everything went smoothly with the install until it was about 3/4 of the way done and was on the step called either completing or finalizing installation. Then everything froze up and made no progress for about an hour so I finally shut it down by pressing and holding the power button. I tried again and the exact same thing happened I finally gave up and have restored my system using the recovery discs I made (at least I know those work for next time so I can get rid of the recovery partition). I am currently downloading the 64 bit vista install files, but it looks like it will take at least another 30 hours (assuming the connection doesn't get interrupted, I am on DSL unfortunately). How has everyone else been doing a clean install with vista now that HP no longer is shipping back up OS cds?

 

HP does not ship Recovery Discs unless you order and pay for them, so you always need to burn your own. The ones you burn are actually better, because they are more specific to your system. Also, they never ship "OS" backup discs... most companies don't do that anymore.

On the 64-bit thing: Yes, the same license will work, but you must get different media. There is only either 32-bit or 64-bit on a DVD, not both.

When you made the disc using vLite, do you modify anything else in it? Or did you just burn the disc as-is? However, since you want 64-bit, and the disc you had is 32-bit, you will be better off downloading the files anyway.

 

I was actually doing a clean install before sending my Dell back last week and had it hang about 3/4 the way through 3 times. I kept re-doing and installing the the SATA drivers over and over - it finally "took" on the forth try. Don't know if that helps you Dan, but you might want to try again.

 

you were doing a clean install w/ what media? The dell OS recovery disks or what? And you kept having to reinstall the the sata drivers over and over--> on Vista?? Why didn't the sata drivers on the vista install disk work....?

 

I'm unable to download the Vista files from Digital River (both the 64 bit and 32 bit). I tried it in IE7 and Firefox and I get a page that says "Denied". I tried it on my desktop as well which is running XP Pro and had the same problem. Is anybody else having trouble with the downloads?

 

I had done a clean install w/64-bit Vista Ultimate the day before with Les' instructions and thus had used the Intel Matrix driver off on a USB drive during install. I was going back to the full Dell recovery install and figured it would just load as usual. It got stuck. Tried again using the previous Matrix driver I had, got stuck. Tried again with the Matrix driver right off Dell's site for the 1720, got stuck. Tried one more time with the driver I had on the USB drive - bingo. Don't know why - that was just how it happened.

 

I noticed the same thing last night - and they do not have the option any longer to buy just the disks for your version of Vista. I suspect it is due to SP1 and the need to do new media with SP1 included (maybe?).

BTW - I have a new Vista Ultimate 64-bit disk if anyone in interested. Just bought a Sony and it seems a little too difficult to move to 64-bit on it - that plus I went with Business anyway. And it appears that the disks they have now only have what you ordered on it. The 64-bit disk I have does not have 32-bit on it and thus I assume it has none of the other Vista flavors either.

 

Same here. Looks like those links might be dead now Since MS has stopped the digital version of the program, I don't know if we'll see any new links for SP1.

All discs are either 32-bit or 64-bit. They do not contain both. Also, unless Sony went out and made a highly customized disc, it probably contains the other versions (Basic, Premium, Business). That's how all of the other Vista discs work. They may have customized it a little so it doesn't ask what you want though.

 

orev - sorry, did not mean to imply Sony had anything different - I was referring to the disk I got via Windows Marketplace. So, the 64-bit disk I have for Vista Ultimate (which is labled as such) would probably have 64-bit for Business, Home Premium and Basic also?

 

Yes, all vista discs have all versions of Vista. The license key you got with it will only activate with "Ultimate" though.

 

Thanks - I know you have said that about 1 million times, but I guess it seems different now from what it was a few months ago??

 

By burning a DVD-R with in double layer, it would seem one could put the full 3.66 GB image (ISO) file for the integrated Vista 64 with SP1 plus select software such as The trial version of Acrobat standard, Office Pro 2007, and several other programs with trail or single-file downloadable versions. That way one could install the trial versions of the software he has purchased from one disk then enter his product keys for each program.

The HP pdf on Backup and Recovery states the following:

Note the following guidelines before creating recovery discs:
● You will need high quality CD-R, DVD-R, DVD-R with double-layer support, DVD+R, or DVD+R with double-layer support discs (purchased separately).

Questions.

1. Can the boot software on a recovery disk (or the MS installation disk) read a DVD burned in double layer since the hard drive has already been reformatted?

2. Can you add other software as separate files on a DVD that is made for an ISO file ( I'm not an experienced ISO burner).

 

question...

My dv6700t is arriving on Monday.. (I hope). It is coming with Vista Premium SP1 installed. I do have a anytime upgrade disk, but it is NOT SP1.

So will the activation_backup ABR work to make a activation certificate backup of SP1 and use it to install the pre-SP1 on the anytime upgrade disk and let Windows Update bring it back to SP1.

In other words, will the activation work with a non sp1 version if it was created WITH the SP1 that the dv6700t comes with?

Thanks,

Ken

 

Yes, it will work regardless of SP1 or not. Its still the same licence key..

 

I did try again last night...again everything seemed to go smoothly: it went through all the steps besides "completing installation", restarted itself like the installer said it would, on startup it said "starting windows for the first time" or something to that effect and I thought that it had finally worked...but then it went into the "completing installation" step and I went to bed. I woke up about 4 1/2 hours later and all there was was a black screen with a mouse pointer (same as what happened the other two times) so I shut it down again by pressing and holding the power button. I thought maybe windows still successfully installed somehow so I tried starting it up; it went to the screen saying windows had been shut down improperly so I chose to start it normally; however it froze on the initial windows screen so again I shut it down with the power button. I am hesitant to try this again as it seems that doing this over and over just can't be good for the laptop. I guess I will have to hunt down a regular installation cd if I want to do a clean install now unless anyone has an idea what the problem could be; I was in the middle of downloading the files from digital river when they took the links down I did not make any other modifications to the cd other than the ones listed here (remove $oem$ folder and pid.txt I think it was?). Maybe I will check with my local computer repair store and see if they have an OS cd that you don't need to buy a license with, I kind of doubt it though.

 

No, it has not changed. Some OEMs are including an installation answer file which causes the install disc to not ask you about it, but if you remove that file then you have all choices again. They're just hiding the option, not removing the software.

Yes, you can customize the Vista install disc and include on it whatever you like. This can be done by hand, with vLite, or with the Windows Automated Installation Kit. If you get good at doing it, you could make a career out of it.

1) I don't think these things have anything to do with each other. Your DVD drive should be able to read a dual layer disc, and that would not require any additional drivers, or anything from the hard disk, AFAIK.

2) No, you can't add anything to a DVD burned as an ISO directly. An ISO is one big image of a CD/DVD. But you CAN extract all the files from the ISO, then add things into it, then remake a new ISO file. Then you can burn that ISO to the DVD. However, if the DVD needs to be bootable, like an install DVD, you need to burn it in a special way. Again, vLite is probably the best/easiest way to do this.

It's not going to hurt the laptop at all. In fact, if it's a new system, its a good way to burn test it. The only danger might be if you leave it alone for many hours and it overheats. However, that should not happen as long as it's on a desk or something. If it does overheat, it would need to be fixed anyway because that means that the safety measures that were supposed to stop it from overheating didn't work.

 

Thanks orev, thats good to hear...I guess I am just really frustrated with trying to obtain a vista installation cd without buying a new license now...are they even available anymore? I tried to download the files from digital river but over 20 hours into the download the files were apparently removed from the server (just my luck), I checked with a local computer store and they do not have any of the anytime upgrade cds, I talked to hp support briefly and was told that it is not possible to do a clean vista installation! (I angrily ended the conversation there). I am thinking about doing another recovery of my system so I can at least use it during the return period to make sure I don't need to send it back while I attempt to locate a usable vista installation cd.

 

Yes, it's very annoying. It seems that many of the legal avenues to obtain these discs have dried up. I don't know what Microsoft or anyone else has against clean installs, but they certainly make it as difficult as possible.

 

Although this isn't essential...

I noticed that my remote works, but the Windows button (top right corner) of remote does not work.

All of the other buttons work. Any ideas?

Note that all drivers and applications have been installed. It couldn't possibly be a newbie mistake.......