Question about if I reformat

Sean89 · 05-04-2008, 03:34 AM

Now Ive reformatted before, but heres my situation I bought a notebook from Alienware a couple months back. A little bit after vistasp1 was released I wanted to reformat but realized they never gave me the operating cd. So I called them up they sent me a new one I'm just concerned that Ill have problems activating it (yes I have the code# under my computer) but will this cd work if it does/doesn't have sp1 installed or not? Cause I don't want to reformat then find out I have problems activating vista...Thanks if you can help.

pensacol · 05-04-2008, 06:22 AM

You shouldn't have any problems at all. It should activate over the internet. If not activate over the phone and speak to someone. Explain to them what happened and they will provide you with an activation key. Just as long as you are using the same key with the same machine.

Sean89 · 05-04-2008, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pensacol

You shouldn't have any problems at all. It should activate over the internet. If not activate over the phone and speak to someone. Explain to them what happened and they will provide you with an activation key. Just as long as you are using the same key with the same machine.

Yea Ill definitely be using it on the same computer I was just wondering if the cd would still work even though its not an OEM cd, but it still came from the company where I got the computer from. Thanks for the help to

StrangleHold · 05-04-2008, 01:33 PM

You should be fine.

eye-Q · 05-04-2008, 02:25 PM

since you got the activation number you're ok. you also can download windows fron the web, burn the iso on a dvd and use your activation code after installing

eye-Q · 05-04-2008, 02:27 PM

since you have the serial no then you are ok. you can also download windows from the internet, burn the iso on a dvd and install it using your existing code

dznutz · 05-04-2008, 05:31 PM

i'm pretty sure they'll send you a RECOVERY CD which includes all the junk (limited trial software and ads) that came with your setup whn you opened the box. that's how it is nowadays.

Sean89 · 05-04-2008, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dznutz

i'm pretty sure they'll send you a RECOVERY CD which includes all the junk (limited trial software and ads) that came with your setup whn you opened the box. that's how it is nowadays.

Yea they SHOULD of, but they didn't and I realized this a couple months after I got my computer so they wanted me to pay for it. So I just told them my hdd crashed

and got a new cd and hdd.

dznutz · 05-05-2008, 07:23 AM

nowadays it's not uncommon for some models not to come with a recovery cd pre-made by the manufacturer. instead they want you to make a copy from the hidden/non-hidden recovery partition using their supplied software pre-installed in the laptop. that's why they wanted to charge you [the standard 20 bucks?] for the manufacturer made disk. but if you complain hard enough they'll give in as people aren't familiar with this new procedure.

g25racer · 05-05-2008, 05:52 PM

Exactly as posted above! Only one thing, the recovery disks will not let you reformat but just do a full restore. You can make the disks yourself too as my HP came with the software to do so.

05-04-2008, 03:34 AM	#1 (permalink)
Sean89 New Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 24	Question about if I reformat Now Ive reformatted before, but heres my situation I bought a notebook from Alienware a couple months back. A little bit after vistasp1 was released I wanted to reformat but realized they never gave me the operating cd. So I called them up they sent me a new one I'm just concerned that Ill have problems activating it (yes I have the code# under my computer) but will this cd work if it does/doesn't have sp1 installed or not? Cause I don't want to reformat then find out I have problems activating vista...Thanks if you can help.

05-04-2008, 01:33 PM	#4 (permalink)
StrangleHold Diamond Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: In a realm of unknown Wonders Posts: 6,839	You should be fine. __________________ NZXT Apollo Athlon 64 X2 5600+ Gigabyte GA MA770 DS3 G Skill DDR2 800 2gb PNY 8800GT Spinpoint F1 500gb. Too bad stupidity isn't painful.

05-04-2008, 05:31 PM	#7 (permalink)
dznutz Platinum Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: california Age: 28 Posts: 539	i'm pretty sure they'll send you a RECOVERY CD which includes all the junk (limited trial software and ads) that came with your setup whn you opened the box. that's how it is nowadays. __________________ ANTEC 900 COOLERMASTER EXTREME 500w MSI NEO-F p35 INTEL E4500 EVGA geforce 7300gs 2gb CORSAIR XMS2 SAMSUNG SH-203N SATA SEAGATE BARRACUDA 1Tb SATA AIRLINK 101 300n pci XP PRO 32 bit, VISTA ULTIMATE 64 bit

05-05-2008, 07:23 AM	#9 (permalink)
dznutz Platinum Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: california Age: 28 Posts: 539	nowadays it's not uncommon for some models not to come with a recovery cd pre-made by the manufacturer. instead they want you to make a copy from the hidden/non-hidden recovery partition using their supplied software pre-installed in the laptop. that's why they wanted to charge you [the standard 20 bucks?] for the manufacturer made disk. but if you complain hard enough they'll give in as people aren't familiar with this new procedure. __________________ ANTEC 900 COOLERMASTER EXTREME 500w MSI NEO-F p35 INTEL E4500 EVGA geforce 7300gs 2gb CORSAIR XMS2 SAMSUNG SH-203N SATA SEAGATE BARRACUDA 1Tb SATA AIRLINK 101 300n pci XP PRO 32 bit, VISTA ULTIMATE 64 bit

05-05-2008, 05:52 PM	#10 (permalink)
g25racer Diamond Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 3,583	Exactly as posted above! Only one thing, the recovery disks will not let you reformat but just do a full restore. You can make the disks yourself too as my HP came with the software to do so. __________________ CPU - AMD Athlon 64x2 5200+ @ 2.6ghz Ram - 2GB Stock clock HD - 320gb seagate & Samsung 750gb 32mb cache GPU - XFX 8600GT XXX Zalman @ 680 or 700mhz PSU - Ultra X-finity 600watt OS - Vista Home Premium(32) & XP Pro and Vista Audio - JVC 460watts Control - Logitech G25 Wheel & Logitech Rumblepad 2 Games - GTR2 and LFS -- Race Sim's for Life --

05-04-2008, 06:22 AM	#2 (permalink)
pensacol New Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 8	You shouldn't have any problems at all. It should activate over the internet. If not activate over the phone and speak to someone. Explain to them what happened and they will provide you with an activation key. Just as long as you are using the same key with the same machine.

05-04-2008, 02:25 PM	#5 (permalink)
eye-Q Bronze Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Sheffield Posts: 68	since you got the activation number you're ok. you also can download windows fron the web, burn the iso on a dvd and use your activation code after installing

05-04-2008, 02:27 PM	#6 (permalink)
eye-Q Bronze Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Sheffield Posts: 68	since you have the serial no then you are ok. you can also download windows from the internet, burn the iso on a dvd and install it using your existing code

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