Solved Uninstall problem.

Allen

New Member
Messages
5
Don't know if this is the right place to post this. If it's not, please re-direct me. I installed Win8 as a trial in my seldom used Vaio laptop which had been running Vista happily for some years. I h removed all documents and user files first because I was aware that if I wanted to uninstall Win 8, I would have to reload Vista from the Rescue Discs I made when I first bought the Sony. (These had worked perfectly a few months earlier when I gave them a trial run). After some weeks, I decided to remove Win8 because I couldn't alter the screen resolution to make Win8 fill the screen, and it was fairly obvious that to work to it's best advantage I would really need a touch screen. So I uninstalled it (via Control Panel) and then tried to reinstall Vista from my Rescue discs. However all I get is a blank screen and a message "Cannot detect operating system". Is there a solution to this? Grateful for any advice.:think:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Motherboard
    N/a
    Memory
    1 TB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5450
Uninstalled what from the control panel? You can't uninstall windows from the windows control panel?
Did you set your BIOS to boot from your recovery disk?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
Well from memory, I thought that's what I did. I followed instructions from somewhere, and it all disappeared. I thought I did it via Uninstall Programs in Control Panel, but that was some weeks ago, and I really can't remember now.

Re the laptop. The screen shows a panel headed "Phoenix TrustedCore Setup Utility" with headings "Main", "Advanced" "Security" "TPM State" "Boot" and "Exit". Under "Boot" I have:

Boot priority order:
1.USB optical drive
2. i.Link optical drive
3. Internal optical drive
4. Floppy disc drive
5. USB Flash
6.USB Hard Disk Drive
7.Internal Hard Disk Drive
8. Network

Then:

Excluded from boot order: i.LinkHard Disk Drive.

There is also a note that "External drives are available when the External Drive Boot is set to enable.

I'm afraid I'm not sure exactly where to begin. But I assume that because I can get the Setup Utility on the screen, I have not actually lost the operating system. If I insert the Rescue Disc 1, it loads to the extent that it shows the Vista files more or less as you would see them in Explorer, but at the foot it seems to require a file name to be entered, but I've no idea what, and I can't progress from there. I assume that the "Internal Optical Drive" is the drive for the DVD, but I can't get it to move to be number 1 in the "Boot Priority Order. I can get it to move to the bottom of the list by pressing -, but if I press + I just get a beep. All very disheartning.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Motherboard
    N/a
    Memory
    1 TB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5450
OK, the setup utility is built into the motherboard BIOS. It is not part of Windows. It loads before your operating system and gets everything running. BIOS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On the "Boot priority order" screen select the first device "USB optical drive". You should be able to press the - to move it down. Then keep moving things down until Internal optical drive is at the top. Then go to the second device and move it down until Internal Hard disk drive becomes number 2 in the list. Then put your recovery disk in the drive, save changes and reboot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
Ok. Many thanks. I'll give it a try and let you know the result.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Motherboard
    N/a
    Memory
    1 TB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5450
Hi again. I've done all that, but as before, after inserting the Recovery Disk 1, I get a box headed "Open" and below that "Look in" and "System32". Underneath that are 3 columns of files beginning with "0409" and ending with "zh-HK". Below that I get a bar with the title "File name" and a blank box with a blinking cursor and an invitation to "Open". But I have no idea what to type in the blank address box, or whatever it is. Below the address box is another: "Files of type" and "Setup information. I've arrived at this point before one way or another, but have no idea what to name the file to open it, or the correct one, so I never get past this point.

Most grateful if you could tell me what I should do next. I really appreciate your advice.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Motherboard
    N/a
    Memory
    1 TB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5450
Problem solved! Somehow or other I found VAIO Hardware Diagnostics and ran it (everything ok), after which "Vaio Recovery Utility" appeared. I ran the "Recovery Wizard", followed the instructions, and Vista is now up and running. Just not sure how I came across the Recovery Utility, but clicked on "Full PC Restore" (I think it was) and away we went. Many thanks again.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Motherboard
    N/a
    Memory
    1 TB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5450
:thumbsup:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
Back
Top