Vista retail or OEM

Hello

I am in the process of performing a much needed system recovery of my Acer Apsire 7720. Ideally I would like a fresh install of Vista Ultimate without all of the unneeded software added during the recovery process.

I purchased a retail copy of Vista Ultimate a year ago for my desktop but am wondering if I can perform a clean install of Vista retail on my laptop but using the OEM serial number on the bottom of the Aspire unit and successfullly activate without issues.

Thanks in advance!

 

i would thinks so, ive done it with xp but not vista, however let me know if it works as im planng on doing that with my 5920G

oh but is the oem version ultimate aswell or is it home?
you could always use the serial # that you used for your desktop...

cheers
mtarm1

 

My 7720 had Vista Ultimate preinstalled and I want to install Vista Ultimate from a retail disk I purchased over a year ago. So I'm keeping the editions (ultimate to ultimate) the same.

 

yep will be totally fine but as i said yous should be able to use the other key if for some reason it dosnt work and let me know too...

cheers
mtarm1

 

I've got two versions of Vista on my system, Ultimate as my main OS using a retail key, and Home Premium as a testbed using the CoA sticker on my laptop.

 

64bits better or 32bits?
I plan to install windows vista ultimate 64bits if it is better.
I think need some 64bits drivers.
But I'm not sure all those cinedash, touch pad and blah blah would function properly or not.

 

Everything functions perfectly - if you burned the Drivers & Utilities disc, it contains both 32- and 64-bit software.
It is an evolution, and having all 4GB of power to use is nice. It's incredibly stable, too.

 

I saw 2 options in the eRecovery Management.
1st 1 is Factory Default.
2nd 1 is Drivers and Applications.

How many DVDs you use to burn "factory default"?
Does Factory default included Driver and Applications or just Windows?

If I have my Factory Default DVD(successfully burned) and Drivers and Applications DVD(successfully burned),
can I just copy these 2 DVDs files into an External HDD or a USB storage/Flash Drive?
And use the External HDD/Flash Drive/USB to format the laptop?

 

so is the driver aapplications disk a disk of all the drivers and apps on the laptop at that current time (of burning or factory default?) and will it just plain install every program driver on a fresh install? does this mean i can have a 64bit factory default of acer? or does the restore disk offer a 32bit and 64bit option?

cheers
mtarm1

 

DarkSilver:
I used two DVDs to burn the Factory Default image (that's your recovery set).
It does not include the Drivers and Applications - it's just a disk image of how your computer was set up when it left the factory.
No clue - the D&A disc isn't bootable, and the Factory Default DVDs may have some special formatting. Still, it's worth a try. Go experiment!

Mtartm:
The D&A disc is a copy of all the drivers and applications your system shipped with - graphics, sound, Launch Manager, Arcade Deluxe, as well as a few of the software trials.
It won't install everything as soon as you insert it - by browsing around the disc, you can pick and choose exactly what you want to put onto your system.
The restore disc only provides you a disk image of what was on your system when it left the factory. So for example, my restore discs have Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit on it.

 

Thanks a lot.
Finally, I get to know about these stuffs.
I won't do the experiment, unless my laptop get screwed up again. XD!
Because it is worthless to do the experiment while the system is CLEAN and WELL TWEAKED.

 

but that does mean if i install a retail version of vista 64bit and use the D&A disc it would be similar to a factory default install of the regular 32bit ecept with 64bit? right i really hope so

and just to confirm, the D&A disc is only the factory default programs and drivers not the current programs and drivers?

thanks again Chaser

p.s there is a show in australia called the chasers war on evrything, its hilarious, everytime i see your dp it makes me think of the show and laugh...lol

anyways google it and youll know what i mean, its totally worth it.
you might have heard about them pretending to be osama bin laden driving into the apec metting in sydney the other year... hilarious

anyways love your dp.....

cheers
mtarm1

 

If you install a retail version of Vista 64-bit, your Drivers and Applications disc will have all the drivers you would need to get your system running the way you want it. It may be missing a few Acer-specific customizations, but I haven't noticed anything negative about that.
For example, since I use a retail version of Ultimate 64-bit, I used the D&A disc to reinstall the Realtek sound drivers, Acer Arcade Deluxe, Launch Manager, the Synaptics Touchpad driver, JMicron SD Card Reader, ABIG Fingerprint Reader, and Atheros LAN card.
For the Intel WiFi, Chipset, and SATA stuff, I went straight to the source at Intel.com.
And for the Nvidia graphics driver, I always use the latest from Nvidia themselves.

Yes, it is only the factory default programs and drivers, not the current ones.

And please, call me TehSuigi. "Acer Chaser" is just what I do.

 

lolz sorry, anyways thanks for the info, how do you like your 5920? also would you be able to look at my thread about upgrading graphics cards?

cheers
mtarm1

 

It's a 6920G, and I love it to bits.

 

oh true durrr...

5 and 6, same thing different colour...

how different is it to the 5920G? (apart from specs)

any pics?

and you beat me to my other post... lol

cheers
mtarm1

 

It's a wider model - 16" with a 16:9 aspect ratio screen instead of 15.4" with a 16:10 aspect ratio screen.
Pics be here.

 

If I would like to format it to Windows Vista Ultimate 64bits, I would call for you before I start anything.
Intel WiFi, Chipset and SATA stuff, mind explain them further?

 

Those are the drivers for your Intel wireless card, the Intel chipset (not normally needed, I just like having everything up to date), and the Intel Matrix Storage Manager to control AHCI in Vista.