ok guys. please help me.

[a dreams forever]

oh so it is an OEM cd key? Didn't think it was since the letters OEM wasn't in the cd key lol. hmm a friend of mine has a compaq presario as well. different model number but it is a compaq home basic. will it work if we make a recovery disc from their recovery partition and install it on mine with my cd key?

 

[Luna]

You can order replacement disks through the following site
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/1033/ordermedia/default.mspx

The site will ask you for you to validate your key. Not sure if it works with OEM as mentioned above.

 

[a dreams forever]

thats cool.. ill try that if what i typed above doesn't work.

when you make a recovery disc or whatever from the partition, that is an oem home basic disc right? any oem will work with any oem disc of the same product right? if so i will call up my friend now and have him burn from the partition. i dont know why i never made a back up cd on mine with the partition.

 

[Dark Atheist]

no with oem i think you have to go through the comp that sold you the pc/laptop and who gave you the disk - think ms only deals with corp and retail

 

[a dreams forever]

so.. say a dell oem home basic wont work with my cd key?

I have a friend with a dell oem home basic and another friend who has a compaq recovery disc partition. So if he burns the backup cd from his partition that wont count as an oem home basic?

 

[Erbmaster]

so.. say a dell oem home basic wont work with my cd key?

Can't say for sure, OEM's distribute their wares differently.
Chances are your second option is the better option.

I have a friend with a dell oem home basic and another friend who has a compaq recovery disc partition. So if he burns the backup cd from his partition that wont count as an oem home basic?

I'd try this as your 1st course of action, you may have to activate it over the telephone, but any BIOS checks that some OEM's throw on their recovery solutions should at least be covered by the fact it's the same vendor.
Although you may well have driver issues, depending on whether the resore is from the cab files or from an image.

 

[a dreams forever]

jeez. im ready to just go buy it hah. don't want to risk having conflicting drivers... *sigh*

 

[Dark Atheist]

if your friend has home basic from compaq oem that should work with the key you have like erbmaster said you will have to go to the compaq site and get the drivers

 

[Erbmaster]

Nah, don't give in yet hehe 😀

You have a valid licence key, that's mainly all you're paying for after all.
try the Dell disc if the Compaq option is a bit daunting.

Or just contact Compaq and explain the dilemma. They may be more willing to help than you think 🙂

 

[a dreams forever]

ahh i already did the live chat 3 times.. all pointing me to a 28$ disc. will that work? using my friends cd then going to compaq.com and downloading the drivers for my model number? it wont mess anything up and make anything not run will it?

 

[Dark Atheist]

no if its an O.E.M version of home basic, it wont mess anything up, you have a legit key for an O.E.M home basic, so borrow the disc - install - get drivers - dont let your mates near your laptop again 😛

 

[a dreams forever]

haha I wont. I just called him and it is a different model number. Their computer is an AMD 64 and mine is a Intel P4. that wont make it impossible or mess anything up will it? sorry for all the questions. i r nub at computerz.

I just never knew that the recovery partition was actually replacing the discs. if I'd knew that I wouldn't have let him near it.

 

[Dark Atheist]

nope - it should work just fine, all you have to do is get the right drivers for you model number 🙂

 

[a dreams forever]

ok cool. ty for all the info everyone! i'll be back later to let everyone know how it went lol