Hello, please forgive me if my post is inappropriate but I haven't been on this site long enough to lurk and learn. Any help or feedback would be appreciated however. Before I go down the path of learning to download and create my own Vista 64bit Home Premium OEM DVD, I was going to see if someone, who has the same machine as I do, would be willing to post one of the two recovery DVD's I need to restore my computer to factory condition as one disk I have of my set is corrupt. I have a Toshiba Satellite L300D-044 (PSLC8C-04401R - AMD CPU) in which I made Vista Home Premium 64-bit Recovery DVD's back when I first got my machine a few years ago. My problem stems from the fact that the first "burnt" DVD media is corrupt. I do not need DVD #2 as that seems to be working fine. DVD #1 of my set has a non-readable error and simply does not work. I also have the full Windows 7 Upgrade DVD for this machine which I purchased. I would be willing to post that somewhere if someone needs this media. PM me if you wish to get a copy of that DVD. I have all legitimate keys for this machine too by the way. I just don't want to have to pay Toshiba $45 to get a new set of Recovery DVD's from them. This is NON-CRITICAL as my machine is running fine, yet it would be nice to get the recovery DVD in case I need it in future. I also have Acronis True Image backups of my machine but they contain all my programs and data files. It would be nice to restore the machine to factory ("base") condition easily should I choose to sell the machine. Anyhow, if anyone can assist me with this then I would be very appreciative. Thank you in advance.
I share you need to be prepared and have the necessary disaster recovery plan, but what problem are you having? Your problem may be fixable and this might be the time to do the research and learn how to create a OEM DVD. Assuming your problem is fixed, another option would be to use Vista's System Image utility, make one of more system images and keep them in a safe place. Either DVD or external hard drive. I've never use the Vista version but I've used the Windows 7 version extensively and it works to perfection. I'd think Vista's process to as good as 7's. We have three laptops (one laptop and two netbooks ... two are Toshiba) and I have all the necessary Toshiba disks that came with them and those I made. But, I'll never use them since 7's built-in system imaging works so well. Of course someone may have what you have asked for and get it to you. That would be great, but creating system images is always a good idea. After all, if you have to restore from the Toshiba disks, all your tweaks are lost, maybe even your data. With a current system image, you can restore a much newer system and keep all your tweaks. Have you tried to copy the damaged disk? I've had that work but not recently I'll have to admit. Maybe the disk just needs a thorough cleaning with warm soapy water.
Thank you for your reply and I completely agree with you that images are the best way to proceed! I've been doing that for years with all my machines. I have this machine backed up using Windows 7 Acronis True Image backups too. I am not having any problem at all with the machine at the moment, well besides having a touchy power brick (completely separate issue in which I will buy a new brick). But I wanted to completely nuke the machine and start again and add new programs. The thing is, I didn't image my computer to a base install (completely fresh install) once I upgraded from Vista H.P 64-bit to Windows 7 H.P. 64-bit back in the day and I should have. Rather, I went immediately to installing all my programs and files and THEN imaged the computer. So now all my images contain out of date installs of programs I don't use any longer. It's just a pain to uninstall all those programs to get the computer to a base install once more... As mentioned, this is non-critical stuff but rather an annoyance that I'd like to fix some day. I don't even run Vista any longer but would like to have a working copy of the recovery DVD should I sell this machine in future. Also, yes, I have tried to copy the damaged DVD and in several different DVD readers at different speeds too. There is a read error in the actual media and it is FUBAR'ed. I only hold onto it for sentimental reasons I think...LOL! Again, thanks for your insight. I completely agree that one must image their machine regularly. By the way, Macrium Reflect is a pretty decent and light weight imager for free for those who are interested...
I have narrowed down the fault on the DVD to one specific file 658 MB file though... Since ripping/uploading and downloading an entire DVD is time consuming (and a major PITA), I have narrowed down the fault to one specific file off the DVD that I can not read/rip. It is located inside the D:\ZZImages\ZZImages folder and is file PREINST2.SWM and it happens to be 658,825 KB in file size. All other files are read and ripped fine to my hard drive. So, if this helps, I would only need to get a copy of this one file. Should speed the entire process up for someone if they can help me out. I have also downloaded a Vista 64bit SP1 ISO as plan B. But I will see if I can obtain this PREINST2.SWM file first before going down another route. Thanks again!
No there is no recovery partition present. I nuked it after making the recovery DVD's thinking the DVD's would work...ya, bad idea! "You've stated you no longer use Vista, so is your goal to clean re-install back to Windows 7..? OR do you want Vista re-install in order to sell it..?" Yes, my goal is to do a clean re-install back to Windows 7. Then I am going to update to SP1 and include all updates and then image the drive to have a quick and easy method of restoration. A baseline installation if you will. I have a Windows 7 upgrade DVD from Toshiba and a valid key since installing a few years ago. I don't know any longer (it's been too long to recall) if the upgrade DVD checks for Vista first. I have the key still as I wrote it down a long time ago. But if there is some kind of checking script that is required to have Vista installed first before allowing Windows 7 upgrade to be accepted and installed. One day I am going to sell the machine and am going to supply the Vista recovery DVD's (if I can get them to work by replacing the PREINST2.SWM file with a non-corrupt one) as well as the Win 7 Upgrade DVD. I am not planning on selling the machine immediately, but sometime in the near future depending on how this works itself out. I realize there are many ways to get back to a stock install of Windows 7 64bit. I even have a retail upgrade DVD of Windows 7 that I used on a separate computer but the key has already been used on my other machine...not sure if that's useful information or not, but hey, though I'm not exactly a newb to computers, I am a newb to making my own OEM installs and I am kind of lost trying to figure out an idiots guide 101 to getting started here. Thank you for replying.