Vista home basic OS

[rowey]

Is there a way of getting a copy of vista installed on a notebook that the original factory image is damaged or corrupt ?

 

[Kcircyrd]

Please re-post with a more clear explanation of your query?
What do you mean by, "...original factory image is damaged or corrupt?..."

 

[Julio Franco]

I suppose you mean the backup image in the hard drive itself?

All major manufacturers allow you to buy factory restore DVDs from them. Look in your PC maker's website support section.

 

[rowey]

Thanks Julio, that is what i meant. But please kill this thread as ive installed xp on the pc now.

Thanks for your replies.

 

[Kcircyrd]

We track this very closely.
We find that all major manufacturers only allow you to buy the disks for sure while the computer is in Warranty.
After the warranty has expired, it depends on whether they still have the discs in stock. When they are out of supply, the disks are not available. Among these are HP, eMachines, Gateway, and Sony.
Compaq, Lenovo and Dell do always seem to have disks available.
Also, once the Windows version has expired, Microsoft does not look kindly on the supply of disks. HP and Compaq both say they cannot supply older disks because of their agreement with Microsoft.
Prices vary widely... with the average being about $27 plus shipping. However, Lenovo and others charge as much as $55 to $75 per set. IBM used to refuse to send disks if the computer had "... reached the end of a useful product life..."
This has been a long battle, which, for now, users have not been able to win.
Our association has been collecting data in this area for our members for a long time.