BleepingComputer.com: uninstall/reinstall Vista

I've posted in here recently about my Vista issues but seems the consensus is that the machine is corrupt and that reinstalling might solve it. except....I have no clue how to do this. I just perused the tutorial section and didn't see anything in there (admittedly, I only looked at 3 pages there) that would help. can someone out there point me to help with uninstalling and reinstalling Vista?

thanks so much.

You don't need to uninstall it. First, backup any critical data to off-disk media. Then make sure the cd drive is the first device in the bios boot order. Now boot to the Vista cd and shortly after the installation routine begins you'll be given the option to format before installing. Choose that option and EVERYTHING on the drive will be deleted. Then go ahead and install. After installing you'll need to install all drivers, starting with the chipset driver. Then install a GOOD anti virus app. Finally, go to Windows update and download all updates EXCEPT for hardware and driver updates (which should NEVER be obtained from Windows update, only from the OEM websites).

hmmmm, well....seems I only have recovery CDs, 5 of them. do I use those?

I also found a disk from Microsoft and the cover says "upgrade your Windows Vista Experience". am guessing that's not the one to use.

hmmmm, maybe I should install Windows 7 instead? too many questions, I know. but I appreciate the help!

so now am wondering if we got a Vista disc (or discs?) when we got this PC and it's just misplaced? could it be the 5 recovery discs I found? pretty sure those are from when we got the computer initially. but unsure if I should use them.

thanks again for any help!

This post has been edited by tobyo: 08 July 2011 - 09:42 PM

after reading your post again Allan, I have other questions. like how do I ensure the cd drive is the first device in the boot order? no clue on that and other things you wrote. I know a few things about computers but I don't think enough to understand all that you're saying to do up there. and I have no idea what disc to use. still wondering if I have a Vista installation disc and misplaced it? Are those typically supplied when you buy a PC loaded with an operating system already? It's been too long since I bought a new PC that I don't recall.

Okay. First, I have no idea what those disks are that you have. They may have come with the system and may restore the system to its original state. Or they may be something else. You need to find out. If you can find an original Vista CD that's even better.

When the system first boots watch for a message that says something like: To enter bios (or setup) press ?? . As soon as you see that message, press the key(s) indicated. That will take you into the bios. Look for the boot order. When you find it, move the cd or dvd drive to the top of the list. DO NOT make any other changes in bios. Save the changes and exit. This will allow you to boot to the cd drive. You'll also need to obtain all appropriate drivers for your system. Again, they are probably on a disk that came with the system - if not, you can go to the website of your system manufacturer and download them.

But again, the first step is to determine what those disks are that you have. BTW, depending on your system it's possible there is a recovery partition built in. What is the make and model of your system?

well, I put 2 of the 5 CDs into the drive and here is what I found. CD 1 is called Recovery15 and has these folders on it: i386, MiniNT,PRELOAD, updgoi

CD 2 is called Recovery25 and has these folders on it: i386, I386Dist, PRELOAD

does this info about these 2 CDs help determine what they are? I thought they were when we got this machine and was an option to create these discs at the time.

the machine is an HP Pavillion a6000n and runs Windows Vista Home Premium. I noticed at bootup (where you see HP Invent blue background, white letters/numbers) in the lower right corner is: F11 = Recovery

so maybe you're right and there is a built in recovery? I have had no luck in finding a Vista CD (other than the one in a plastic case to upgrade).

thanks again for the help, appreciate it!

This post has been edited by tobyo: 09 July 2011 - 10:08 AM

Well, if you want to recover to the original state press F11 and go from there.

yea....scarey! think I better sleep on it.

so...I just had to post an update to this. and may even create a new thread to draw attention to it....

you will never guess what it was in the end. Ready? IT WAS THE MOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and now am kicking myself for not googling this "Vista scroll problems" earlier. I consulted with a friend, he googled that and in the very first selection it said to change the mouse out. and my goodness, but the MICROSOFT mouse works!! and not the Logitech mouse.

the recovery part went great. got to the Windows Vista set-up screen and the drop down and scroll just went crazy at the get-go when choosing my region and language. and that's when my friend googled and that's when I realized I didn't have to do this recovery thing. alas, too late.

SO, anyone else out there experiencing weird scroll issues swap your mouse and/or keyboard before you do anything else! it will save you lots of time. what was happening with this machine was that whenever there was a window with scroll bars, the scroll bars would not work. you can drag the scroll bar down, but it slides back up to the top immediately. the other thing was that we could not get the screen saver to work. We'd choose a screen saver and the thing would revert back to "none".

thus ends an interesting journey with this machine. I should probably PM the tech I worked with in the malware removal forum to let him know too. but, for now, it will exist in this forum for anyone that needs it.

so I just took a loooooooooooooooooong journey with my daughter's PC. The scroll bars were not working properly and I noticed the screen saver was also not functioning correctly. We noticed it in Windows Media Player one day a couple of months ago. my daughter was looking at her music and called me into her room to show me that she could not use her scroll bars in there. you'd click in the scroll bar area or drag down the scroll bar and it would go "nuts". It would cycle through all the items in that window (in this case, a bunch of music albums) and stop at the one at the top. I also noticed that the screen saver was not coming on. when I went in there to change it to a screen saver, it would revert back to "none".

I got help from the folks in the "am I infected?" forum and they sent me to the malware removal forum but the machine came up clean. and so I was stumped and decided the only thing to do was to recover the machine to its original factory state. and that went great. but when I got to the Vista set up screen, the drop downs went berzerk!! Upon trying to choose United States as my region, it cycled through the entire list and I could not choose anything. that's when I called a friend and he googled "Vista scroll issues" and there at the top of the list was "swap out the mouse". and I did and the problem was solved!! Unfortunately, I had to re set up the machine. but at least it looks brand new fresh now

hopefully this will help others with the same issues.

This post has been edited by hamluis: 17 July 2011 - 07:26 AM
Reason for edit: Merged to previous topic.

so, the reason I created a new topic for this was so that it would stand out. because the title of this thread does not give it away. but I guess in a search for "Vista scroll issues" this thread would pop up. right?