Vista time has come

[JogaBonito1502]

I think I may be switching to Vista next week. The main reason is because I diagnosed my brother's laptop (the one he spilled water) and everything is fine with the exception of the hard-drive. So I ordered a new hard-drive from newegg, but I overlooked the fact that the recovery disc won't work. I'll most likely have to buy a new OS for it. Unfortunately, the specs aren't too good. So what I have decided to do is to buy my desktop Vista and install my XP on the laptop so my mom can have it.

If you're wondering why we're not returning it to my brother it's because he already bought a new one. He couldn't wait until I found an ATA-6 HDD to test the motherboard and other parts of the laptop.

Before I buy Vista, I was wondering if anybody know what my chances are of getting an free OS from Acer? Probably 0 right? The laptop is over 2 years old and I'm not sure if the warranty lasts this long.

 

[CrossCech]

Why wouldn't the recovery disk (assuming it's on a cd) work? Or was your recovery disk a ghost partition on the old drive?

I'm not familiar with Acer's support website (or if they even have one ), but they may have a recovery disk download for your model or might be able to send you a cd/dvd for a small fee (for shipping?) after confirming your model serial number and whatnot. That's what I've done with Dell and HP laptops in the past that I've replaced hard drives in.

Here's a link that I found trying to google your question/situation - might have what you need ... might not: http://www.user-guides.co.uk/acer/acerRecovery/acer.asp?keywords=acer 5610z recovery disk torrent

 

[JogaBonito1502]

Well I'm 100% positive the recovery disk won't work because the old hard drive fried and this is a brand new.

 

[rohan23]

I thought you didn't have to have the same hard drive to use a recovery disk. I've used a Gateway one on 3 different hard drives, in the same computer. No problems at all.

 

[JogaBonito1502]

Really? I've always thought recovery disks worked because you never really reformatted. I'll try the recovery disc before I order.

 

[rohan23]

Yeah, I've even used Dell ones on non-Dell computers. Shh....

 

[worshipme]

but I overlooked the fact that the recovery disc won't work.

As long as you still have the license key, you can download an .ISO of XP and install it.

 

[cavemangrinder]

Yeah, I've even used Dell ones on non-Dell computers. Shh....

I've done that as well haha.

As long as you still have the license key, you can download an .ISO of XP and install it.

Yeah. If you have the product key on the computer somewhere, then you are set to go. Just a matter of getting your hands on a XP disc or .ISO file.

 

[Celegorm]

Well I'm 100% positive the recovery disk won't work because the old hard drive fried and this is a brand new.

Acer disks usually still work.

 

[JogaBonito1502]

Thanks for the help guys. I still have all keys and such. To me, the recovery disk only worked because I thought there was always a hidden partition or something on the HDD that allowed you to reinstall using less files. I guess I was mistaken.

But now I have a question. What is the difference between the recover disk and an OS disk?