Quick Vista Question

JimboJangles

JimboJangles

New Member
I have a Dell.
:(
But it does meet the requirements for Vista.
:)
BUT, I don't know the BIOS password to change the boot order on the Dell.
:( :(
But my dad has an Acer that meets Vista requirements.
:rolleyes:

I was thinking that I could put my hard drive in my dad's laptop to install Vista on the D: partition (XP is on C: ).

The Question: After installation, will Vista still run when I put the HDD back in my Dell?

(I'm not looking for an alternate route, I just want to know if this works or not)
 
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probly not, XP wont work if u do the same thing. It is a security measure that XP has built in, it detects that evrything is new, thinks it been stolen, the BSODs. And i would assume that microsoft wouldent remove such security features from its newest OS. As for you not having the password to get into the bios, that is an easy fix, simply open up your computer, find the cmos battery (its a little silver circle and kinda looks like a short but wide watch battery) now u have 2 choices after finding the battery either A) near the battery on the mother board there should be a jumper spot (2 short little metel "spikes" next to each other you can find a jumper (like the ones on the bk of ur hard drive) and put it on those 2 "spikes" and start up ur computer or B) remove the battery and intsert a ring across the pick-up points were the battery goes to short it out. both of these actions will reset the bios settings, including the password to get into it
 
JimboJangles said:
I have a Dell.
:(
But it does meet the requirements for Vista.
:)
BUT, I don't know the BIOS password to change the boot order on the Dell.
:( :(
But my dad has an Acer that meets Vista requirements.
:rolleyes:

I was thinking that I could put my hard drive in my dad's laptop to install Vista on the D: partition (XP is on C: ).

The Question: After installation, will Vista still run when I put the HDD back in my Dell?

(I'm not looking for an alternate rout, I just want to know if this works or not)
Click to expand...

Well first of all, that is piracy, second of all, it doesn't depend on the HDD to run Vista, it is the RAM, CPU, & in some cases the GPU.
 
is that piracy? cause he is still only putting it on one computer. and if he buys the the vista os, that dosnt seem like piracy to me.
 
blue21 said:
probly not, XP wont work if u do the same thing. It is a security measure that XP has built in, it detects that evrything is new, thinks it been stolen, the BSODs. And i would assume that microsoft wouldent remove such security features from its newest OS. As for you not having the password to get into the bios, that is an easy fix, simply open up your computer, find the cmos battery (its a little silver circle and kinda looks like a short but wide watch battery) now u have 2 choices after finding the battery either A) near the battery on the mother board there should be a jumper spot (2 short little metel "spikes" next to each other you can find a jumper (like the ones on the bk of ur hard drive) and put it on those 2 "spikes" and start up ur computer or B) remove the battery and intsert a ring across the pick-up points were the battery goes to short it out. both of these actions will reset the bios settings, including the password to get into it
Click to expand...

Aww... dangit :(
That's what I was afraid of...
Well, I have a dell Latitude D610, so the cmos battery trick doesn't work...
I've actually already tried to get help with the problem. Here's my original post about it: http://www.computerforum.com/86823-bios-password.html
Do you think it would work if I put the HDD in a dell inspiron to install? (again, I have a lattitude)
I may just give it a try and see if I can get it to work...



INTELCRAZY said:
Well first of all, that is piracy, second of all, it doesn't depend on the HDD to run Vista, it is the RAM, CPU, & in some cases the GPU.
Click to expand...

First of all, you're wrong. That wouldn't be piracy if I own a version of the software that I flippin paid for, and I would only be installing one copy of the OS. And for all you know I could be installing it for a 30-day trial to test it out. :P

Second of all, I already stated that both computers do meet the requirements, which clearly implies it has the needed RAM, CPU, and in some cases GPU. I'm not asking if it will work with any particular hard drive... so, you answered a question that you imagined as you misread the post.
 
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blue21 said:
ok, why is it that you think the cmos battery "trick" dosnt work?
Click to expand...
That will work at resetting the BIOS info and any passwords that were set in the BIOS, the only way I can think of that would cause it not to work is if you dont leave it out long enough.
 
blue21 said:
ok, why is it that you think the cmos battery "trick" dosnt work?
Click to expand...

Just follow the link I posted and read...
The Dell Latitude D610 does not have a cmos battery. The BIOS password is stored in a chip that doesn't need continuous power to keep data stored... i think it's called "non-volatile" or something.
There are other ways around it though. The only options I have are shorting out the EEPROM - which I tried, but could never find the right chip - or booting off of a specially built HDD to I guess replace the BIOS software?

But anyways, I just now found a picture showing where the chip is at, so I think all of my problems are now solved. Just short pin 3 and 6 on startup and all is well! (i hope)
 
INTELCRAZY said:
Well first of all, that is piracy, second of all, it doesn't depend on the HDD to run Vista, it is the RAM, CPU, & in some cases the GPU.
Click to expand...

If that's piracy then backing up my entire PC onto an External Drive is piracy as well. There is NO law that states, "You can not install what you already own on a different platform."
 
blue21 said:
is that piracy? cause he is still only putting it on one computer. and if he buys the the vista os, that dosnt seem like piracy to me.
Click to expand...

It is not piracy, you are allowed to have windows installed on any single computer at a given time. IF you move a copy from one machine to another (with out keeping it on the original machine) you are still with in your license agreement.

However, it won't work because of the HAL and other aspects of the windows installation will be modeled (drivers, and registry) towards one hardware configuration and not the other.

You need to clear out the bios password, and I would refer to the manual on how do to so. Depending on your machine on some newer ones its a button you push and on others its a jumper you short.
 
Sweet. Well, I actually just solved the BIOS password problem after like a month of searching for answers and taking my computer apart...

So one more quick question:
I have a copy of XP on my C drive, AND on my D drive (don't ask). If i'm installing vista, I still want my copy of XP on the C drive to keep my software functional... but I don't need the windows junk on the D partition. Should I just install Vista on D: or delete the old XP files that are there first?
 
and just because I know that "don't ask" isn't enough to satisfy your curiosity, and to fend off accusations of piracy or breaking the windows service agreement or whatever, I got the laptop at school and still need the C copy of windows to be able to function on my school's network. The D copy is mine, and is there so I have admin rights when I want them, and to help get rid of malware on the C copy of windows.
I don't want to format the D drive because there are a lot of files on there I want to keep. Should I try to manually delete the old copy of XP before I install Vista, or just let it do all the work when I install?
 
id say ur best bet is to back-up what u want from the D drive and then install Vista on it and format while installing.
 
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