missing operating system

[rubyred52]

hi

i am looking to buy an old vaio online

the seller says there is no operating system installed but it does have a vista certificate sticker at the back

how would the sticker help?

what options do i have?

[nikkilim]

The sticker means that it was purchased before that includes Vista as part of the package. It should include a disc too but I am sure on this situation.

Best if an employee would confirm that you can get that OS for free.

[Thalamus.]

Hi aliasger_jamali,

welcome to Questions & Answers..:smileyhappy:

Normally Vaio's come with a hidden HDD partition so as long as the Vaio your purchasing has the original HDD & that the recovery partition is still intact you should be able to restore your vaio back to original factory settings by doing the following..

To recover from the recovery area

On models with the ASSIST button

1 Press the ASSIST button while your computer is off to launch VAIO Care Rescue.

If the display language selection window appears, select your desired language and click OK.

2 Click Start recovery wizard.

To perform the custom recovery, select Tools and click Start advanced recovery wizard.

3 Follow the on-screen instructions.

On models without the ASSIST button

1 Turn on your computer and press the F10 key several times before the VAIO logo screen disappears.

If the Edit Boot Options window is displayed, press the Enter key.

If the display language selection window appears, select your desired language and click OK.

2 Select Start recovery wizard.

To perform the custom recovery, select Tools and click Start advanced recovery wizard.

3 Follow the on-screen instructions.

If the Vaio has a new HDD or the recovery partition has been formatted or is damaged then you could if you wish contact Vaio support & purchase a set of recovery disc's, which should allow you to restore your Vaio back to the supplies OS & pre-installed applications, etc.

Or depending on the model vaio you could purchase & install your own Windows OS & download the pre-installed drivers & utilities from the Vaio support site but unfortunately you can not download the pre-installed applications..

Hope this helps..

[rubyred52]

thanks

i want to make it clear before i buy the machine

so if i had to buy the operating system would having the sticker make it any cheaper or would i be paying the same as someone who didn't have the sticker?

if i contacted vaio support would it be better if i told them about the sticker?

[Thalamus.]

aliasger_jamali wrote:
so if i had to buy the operating system would having the sticker make it any cheaper or would i be paying the same as someone who didn't have the sticker?
if i contacted vaio support would it be better if i told them about the sticker?

The Windows product key sticker on the bottom is a Sony OEM Product Key which is issued to licence the operating system pre-installed by Sony..

If you buy your own copy of Windows then usually you'll need to by a new licence as well..

I may be possible to install an identical version of Windows, to the one pre-installed by Sony, & use the product key from the bottom of the Vaio but I suspect you would have to contact Microsoft to activate correctly..

Also if the pre-installed applications are of interest to you then you would need to purchase these yourself..

aliasger_jamali wrote:
if i contacted vaio support would it be better if i told them about the sticker?

The sticker shouldn't make any difference to Vaio support, all they usually need is the Vaio's serial number..

Have you asked the person selling the Vaio is the HDD recovery partition is still intact or if they created a set of recovery disc's.?

[rubyred52]

hi

the hard drive has been replaced and there are no recovery discs