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Windows Vista Why Do I Need A CD to Complete Installation of Windows 7?
- Thread starter CAG43
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Axel PC
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How did you install Windows? -- It was installed on the computer when I purchased it. I used Macrium Reflect v6. to make a backup file The backup file included the System Reserve partition. I store it on an external USB hard drive. Then I restored the backup file a SATA hard drive and after the restore completed successfully I installed the hard drive inside my computer. When I booted the system it started to load Windows then it told me I needed to use the Install CD. I don't have an install CD.
What is your BIOS boot order? --- My computer is a notebook and it only has one internal drive.
CAG43
RichM
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Why are you installing or reinstalling Windows7 on your computer? Did you get a virus? Or it stopped booting? Your computer came pre-loaded with Win7 you said. If you had a corrupted Windows system or it was infected with a virus, making an Image file with Macrium and restoring it to the same drive or a different drive will not solve your problem.
Depending on how you answer us, you are most likely looking at a Windows reset or a Windows reinstallation back to factory state.
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>
Depending on how you answer us, you are most likely looking at a Windows reset or a Windows reinstallation back to factory state.
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>
- Thread Author
- #6
Thank you for your response,
I am planning to replace my old hard drive with a new SSD and upgrade Vista to Windows 7 and on my desktop, a Windows 7, 32 bit Home Premium, I want to install multiple 500GB SATA drives. Before making these changes, I want to be able to backup the system drive to an external hard drive and boot the system from the backup.
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Hi CAG43,
Thanks for your responses back. That's very helpful to know what you are trying to do. Your original post is somewhat confusing since it sounded like your computer already had Win7 and you were trying to repair it. An upgrade process is quite a bit different, but we can help you.
In Post #2, LoboVerde asked you what media you were using to attempt the Win7 upgrade from the Vista. And you didn't answer his question. So, to repeat Lobo's question, what media are you using to upgrade the Vista to Win7 with? You have a notebook, did you get Recovery Discs with it? Or did you download a Win7 ISO file and create a bootable USB stick from which to run the Win7 upgrade? The reason Lobo asked you about the boot preference order, is that you would need to go into the notebook BIOS on bootup with a key like <F1>, <F2>, <DEL>, <F10>, or similar key to make this change to your boot order under boot preferences. The keys vary from Make/Model of notebook. If you provide us with your Make/Model notebook, we can tell you what key you must use to access your BIOS to make this change.
Once you can access you Win7 bootable USB stick, if you indeed have this already, you can launch the Win7 upgrade program. From there you can overwrite (erase) your hard drive with the Win7 install program and install the Win7 OS onto your existing hard drive. The tricky part and no one has yet mentioned this to you is that the Win7 upgrade from Vista is a FEE-BASED upgrade; in other words it costs money for that license key from Microsoft which you must purchase. This License Key will run you about $80 on ebay or amazon or other reputable online software reseller. This will be the only way you can legally upgrade your Vista to Win7 on any computer including your notebook!
Let's assume you get this far, and check that your Win7 is now activated in the Win7 System Information screen under "Windows Activation", and you get the "Windows is Activated" message on your notebook. From there, as per RichM's post #4, the easiest way is to remove the original mechanical drive from your notebook, and replace with the new SSD drive you wish to be your new Win7 bootdrive. Next, locate the external hard drive or flash drive that you backed up your Macrium backup file to, and plug that drive into any available USB port on the notebook computer. Insert your Macrium "RESCUE MEDIA", which should be a USB stick you made previously when you created your original Win7 backup image (your notebook will need to have at least 1 open USB port to do this with). When you boot your notebook from the Macrium Rescue Media USB stick, you will open the Macrium program. From there, you need to check that your new SSD drive is recognized by Macrium and shows the size (capacity in GB). Let's say 500GB I think you mentioned. As long as your original mechanical drive is 500GB or smaller this will work. Use the Macrium and select "Restore an Image File", and browse to your backup media device (external usb hard drive or flash drive) that contains your Win7 backup image file you made earlier.
Macrium will show you from 2-7 partitions on your backup image file, and the new SSD drive will show 1 or 2 partitions depending on make/model. Once you've selected the Macrium backup image file on your usb connected external media, select Restore making sure that your SSD drive is the target of the restore and that your external usb media is set as the source. Run the Restore. Depending on the speed of your notebook, and the total size of all your Win7 partitions, and how full your main windows partitioin is; this could take from 1-3 hours or so. Most Restore's I run that contain over 100GB for all partitions run that long or less. Remember that even though your bootdrive is an SSD, your data transfer speeds on the Restore operation are determined by the slowest component in the Restore source/target physical configuration. So, if your notebook is say only a single CPU chip, and your notebook USB is v2.0 and not 3.0 these times could take longer, since they are using older, slower technology. (your Vista computer is now 8-9 years old, and likely not to have either a fast CPU chip nor newer high performance USB 3.0 ports).
When Macrium tells you the Restore is completed, click ok, and exit the Macrium WinPE environment by exiting the Macrium program. It will automatically reboot your notebook. During reboot, disconnect both the Macrium Win7 bootable USB stick and your external hard drive or flash drive that contained your image backup file. The notebook should not boot up in Win7 and it should also be Activated and everything should work including wifi and the Internet if you did it right.
A comment to you that RichM didn't mention is that it would take 3 USB ports to perform a Macrium drive Clone with your notebook, so I didn't describe how to do that one, as most older notebooks do not have 3 usb ports. Instead, I chose the normal Backup/Restore image file method, as it only requires 2 usb ports [one for the Macrium USB Rescue Media, a 2nd one for the external usb drive or flash drive containing your Win7 backup image file].
Should you wish to go the Clone route, and use Macrium to clone the Win7 from your original mechanical drive over to your new SSD drive, you will need an SATA-USB adapter for the removed original mechanical drive to connect to the notebook. This device can be had for under $20 US and the link to buy one is here:
Insten 675639 Adapter-Newegg.com
This little adapter will give you the missing piece you don't have to do a Clone as suggested by RichM. Usually, the Clone method is easier if you have a desktop PC where you can hook up both hard drives internally, and still use the USB boot stick, or on a laptop that has a built-in DVD/CD drive you can use Macrium Rescue Media in DVD/CD format.
I spent the time describing exactly what you have to do to get the notebook working, and that's why I chose the 2-USB port method (using Image Backup file on external usb media) and not the Clone method, though that works and both RichM and I have done this on Win7 as well as W10. Your limitation of not having a built-in DVD/CD drive would force you to use the 3-USB port method and that requires you to buy a part (in this case the SATA-to-USB adapter above). The 2-USB port method does not. You can do either one, but I went with the cheaper method for your particular setup.
@RichM: thanks for the assist, Man!
You might consider using the Clone method on your Vista Desktop once you upgrade that desktop PC to Win7 as I describe above. Keep in mind that upgrading that Vista Desktop PC will require you to purchase a 2nd License Key in order to Activate the Win7 upgrade on that computer, and that's another $80! You cannot use the Win7 license key you purchased for upgrading the Vista laptop again. It's one license key per computer per OS. Keep in mind if you upgrade both of these computers, you're looking at purchasing $160 of Win7 OS keys (2 of them), and if you wish to use the Clone method in Macrium on the notebook as well as the desktop, that's another $20 for the adapter. Total cost to do both computers then for you would be $180 if you want to go Clone method on both.
Hope that helps.
Post back anytime with questions or if you run into any difficulties.
Best,
<<<BBJ>>>
Thanks for your responses back. That's very helpful to know what you are trying to do. Your original post is somewhat confusing since it sounded like your computer already had Win7 and you were trying to repair it. An upgrade process is quite a bit different, but we can help you.
In Post #2, LoboVerde asked you what media you were using to attempt the Win7 upgrade from the Vista. And you didn't answer his question. So, to repeat Lobo's question, what media are you using to upgrade the Vista to Win7 with? You have a notebook, did you get Recovery Discs with it? Or did you download a Win7 ISO file and create a bootable USB stick from which to run the Win7 upgrade? The reason Lobo asked you about the boot preference order, is that you would need to go into the notebook BIOS on bootup with a key like <F1>, <F2>, <DEL>, <F10>, or similar key to make this change to your boot order under boot preferences. The keys vary from Make/Model of notebook. If you provide us with your Make/Model notebook, we can tell you what key you must use to access your BIOS to make this change.
Once you can access you Win7 bootable USB stick, if you indeed have this already, you can launch the Win7 upgrade program. From there you can overwrite (erase) your hard drive with the Win7 install program and install the Win7 OS onto your existing hard drive. The tricky part and no one has yet mentioned this to you is that the Win7 upgrade from Vista is a FEE-BASED upgrade; in other words it costs money for that license key from Microsoft which you must purchase. This License Key will run you about $80 on ebay or amazon or other reputable online software reseller. This will be the only way you can legally upgrade your Vista to Win7 on any computer including your notebook!
Let's assume you get this far, and check that your Win7 is now activated in the Win7 System Information screen under "Windows Activation", and you get the "Windows is Activated" message on your notebook. From there, as per RichM's post #4, the easiest way is to remove the original mechanical drive from your notebook, and replace with the new SSD drive you wish to be your new Win7 bootdrive. Next, locate the external hard drive or flash drive that you backed up your Macrium backup file to, and plug that drive into any available USB port on the notebook computer. Insert your Macrium "RESCUE MEDIA", which should be a USB stick you made previously when you created your original Win7 backup image (your notebook will need to have at least 1 open USB port to do this with). When you boot your notebook from the Macrium Rescue Media USB stick, you will open the Macrium program. From there, you need to check that your new SSD drive is recognized by Macrium and shows the size (capacity in GB). Let's say 500GB I think you mentioned. As long as your original mechanical drive is 500GB or smaller this will work. Use the Macrium and select "Restore an Image File", and browse to your backup media device (external usb hard drive or flash drive) that contains your Win7 backup image file you made earlier.
Macrium will show you from 2-7 partitions on your backup image file, and the new SSD drive will show 1 or 2 partitions depending on make/model. Once you've selected the Macrium backup image file on your usb connected external media, select Restore making sure that your SSD drive is the target of the restore and that your external usb media is set as the source. Run the Restore. Depending on the speed of your notebook, and the total size of all your Win7 partitions, and how full your main windows partitioin is; this could take from 1-3 hours or so. Most Restore's I run that contain over 100GB for all partitions run that long or less. Remember that even though your bootdrive is an SSD, your data transfer speeds on the Restore operation are determined by the slowest component in the Restore source/target physical configuration. So, if your notebook is say only a single CPU chip, and your notebook USB is v2.0 and not 3.0 these times could take longer, since they are using older, slower technology. (your Vista computer is now 8-9 years old, and likely not to have either a fast CPU chip nor newer high performance USB 3.0 ports).
When Macrium tells you the Restore is completed, click ok, and exit the Macrium WinPE environment by exiting the Macrium program. It will automatically reboot your notebook. During reboot, disconnect both the Macrium Win7 bootable USB stick and your external hard drive or flash drive that contained your image backup file. The notebook should not boot up in Win7 and it should also be Activated and everything should work including wifi and the Internet if you did it right.
A comment to you that RichM didn't mention is that it would take 3 USB ports to perform a Macrium drive Clone with your notebook, so I didn't describe how to do that one, as most older notebooks do not have 3 usb ports. Instead, I chose the normal Backup/Restore image file method, as it only requires 2 usb ports [one for the Macrium USB Rescue Media, a 2nd one for the external usb drive or flash drive containing your Win7 backup image file].
Should you wish to go the Clone route, and use Macrium to clone the Win7 from your original mechanical drive over to your new SSD drive, you will need an SATA-USB adapter for the removed original mechanical drive to connect to the notebook. This device can be had for under $20 US and the link to buy one is here:
Insten 675639 Adapter-Newegg.com
This little adapter will give you the missing piece you don't have to do a Clone as suggested by RichM. Usually, the Clone method is easier if you have a desktop PC where you can hook up both hard drives internally, and still use the USB boot stick, or on a laptop that has a built-in DVD/CD drive you can use Macrium Rescue Media in DVD/CD format.
I spent the time describing exactly what you have to do to get the notebook working, and that's why I chose the 2-USB port method (using Image Backup file on external usb media) and not the Clone method, though that works and both RichM and I have done this on Win7 as well as W10. Your limitation of not having a built-in DVD/CD drive would force you to use the 3-USB port method and that requires you to buy a part (in this case the SATA-to-USB adapter above). The 2-USB port method does not. You can do either one, but I went with the cheaper method for your particular setup.
@RichM: thanks for the assist, Man!
You might consider using the Clone method on your Vista Desktop once you upgrade that desktop PC to Win7 as I describe above. Keep in mind that upgrading that Vista Desktop PC will require you to purchase a 2nd License Key in order to Activate the Win7 upgrade on that computer, and that's another $80! You cannot use the Win7 license key you purchased for upgrading the Vista laptop again. It's one license key per computer per OS. Keep in mind if you upgrade both of these computers, you're looking at purchasing $160 of Win7 OS keys (2 of them), and if you wish to use the Clone method in Macrium on the notebook as well as the desktop, that's another $20 for the adapter. Total cost to do both computers then for you would be $180 if you want to go Clone method on both.
Hope that helps.
Post back anytime with questions or if you run into any difficulties.
Best,
<<<BBJ>>>
- Thread Author
- #8
Hi CAG43,
Thanks for your responses back. That's very helpful to know what you are trying to do. Your original post is somewhat confusing since it sounded like your computer already had Win7 and you were trying to repair it. An upgrade process is quite a bit different, but we can help you.
In Post #2, LoboVerde asked you what media you were using to attempt the Win7 upgrade from the Vista. And you didn't answer his question. So, to repeat Lobo's question, what media are you using to upgrade the Vista to Win7 with? You have a notebook, did you get Recovery Discs with it? Or did you download a Win7 ISO file and create a bootable USB stick from which to run the Win7 upgrade? The reason Lobo asked you about the boot preference order, is that you would need to go into the notebook BIOS on bootup with a key like <F1>, <F2>, <DEL>, <F10>, or similar key to make this change to your boot order under boot preferences. The keys vary from Make/Model of notebook. If you provide us with your Make/Model notebook, we can tell you what key you must use to access your BIOS to make this change.
Once you can access you Win7 bootable USB stick, if you indeed have this already, you can launch the Win7 upgrade program. From there you can overwrite (erase) your hard drive with the Win7 install program and install the Win7 OS onto your existing hard drive. The tricky part and no one has yet mentioned this to you is that the Win7 upgrade from Vista is a FEE-BASED upgrade; in other words it costs money for that license key from Microsoft which you must purchase. This License Key will run you about $80 on ebay or amazon or other reputable online software reseller. This will be the only way you can legally upgrade your Vista to Win7 on any computer including your notebook!
Let's assume you get this far, and check that your Win7 is now activated in the Win7 System Information screen under "Windows Activation", and you get the "Windows is Activated" message on your notebook. From there, as per RichM's post #4, the easiest way is to remove the original mechanical drive from your notebook, and replace with the new SSD drive you wish to be your new Win7 bootdrive. Next, locate the external hard drive or flash drive that you backed up your Macrium backup file to, and plug that drive into any available USB port on the notebook computer. Insert your Macrium "RESCUE MEDIA", which should be a USB stick you made previously when you created your original Win7 backup image (your notebook will need to have at least 1 open USB port to do this with). When you boot your notebook from the Macrium Rescue Media USB stick, you will open the Macrium program. From there, you need to check that your new SSD drive is recognized by Macrium and shows the size (capacity in GB). Let's say 500GB I think you mentioned. As long as your original mechanical drive is 500GB or smaller this will work. Use the Macrium and select "Restore an Image File", and browse to your backup media device (external usb hard drive or flash drive) that contains your Win7 backup image file you made earlier.
Macrium will show you from 2-7 partitions on your backup image file, and the new SSD drive will show 1 or 2 partitions depending on make/model. Once you've selected the Macrium backup image file on your usb connected external media, select Restore making sure that your SSD drive is the target of the restore and that your external usb media is set as the source. Run the Restore. Depending on the speed of your notebook, and the total size of all your Win7 partitions, and how full your main windows partitioin is; this could take from 1-3 hours or so. Most Restore's I run that contain over 100GB for all partitions run that long or less. Remember that even though your bootdrive is an SSD, your data transfer speeds on the Restore operation are determined by the slowest component in the Restore source/target physical configuration. So, if your notebook is say only a single CPU chip, and your notebook USB is v2.0 and not 3.0 these times could take longer, since they are using older, slower technology. (your Vista computer is now 8-9 years old, and likely not to have either a fast CPU chip nor newer high performance USB 3.0 ports).
When Macrium tells you the Restore is completed, click ok, and exit the Macrium WinPE environment by exiting the Macrium program. It will automatically reboot your notebook. During reboot, disconnect both the Macrium Win7 bootable USB stick and your external hard drive or flash drive that contained your image backup file. The notebook should not boot up in Win7 and it should also be Activated and everything should work including wifi and the Internet if you did it right.
A comment to you that RichM didn't mention is that it would take 3 USB ports to perform a Macrium drive Clone with your notebook, so I didn't describe how to do that one, as most older notebooks do not have 3 usb ports. Instead, I chose the normal Backup/Restore image file method, as it only requires 2 usb ports [one for the Macrium USB Rescue Media, a 2nd one for the external usb drive or flash drive containing your Win7 backup image file].
Should you wish to go the Clone route, and use Macrium to clone the Win7 from your original mechanical drive over to your new SSD drive, you will need an SATA-USB adapter for the removed original mechanical drive to connect to the notebook. This device can be had for under $20 US and the link to buy one is here:
Insten 675639 Adapter-Newegg.com
This little adapter will give you the missing piece you don't have to do a Clone as suggested by RichM. Usually, the Clone method is easier if you have a desktop PC where you can hook up both hard drives internally, and still use the USB boot stick, or on a laptop that has a built-in DVD/CD drive you can use Macrium Rescue Media in DVD/CD format.
I spent the time describing exactly what you have to do to get the notebook working, and that's why I chose the 2-USB port method (using Image Backup file on external usb media) and not the Clone method, though that works and both RichM and I have done this on Win7 as well as W10. Your limitation of not having a built-in DVD/CD drive would force you to use the 3-USB port method and that requires you to buy a part (in this case the SATA-to-USB adapter above). The 2-USB port method does not. You can do either one, but I went with the cheaper method for your particular setup.
@RichM: thanks for the assist, Man!
You might consider using the Clone method on your Vista Desktop once you upgrade that desktop PC to Win7 as I describe above. Keep in mind that upgrading that Vista Desktop PC will require you to purchase a 2nd License Key in order to Activate the Win7 upgrade on that computer, and that's another $80! You cannot use the Win7 license key you purchased for upgrading the Vista laptop again. It's one license key per computer per OS. Keep in mind if you upgrade both of these computers, you're looking at purchasing $160 of Win7 OS keys (2 of them), and if you wish to use the Clone method in Macrium on the notebook as well as the desktop, that's another $20 for the adapter. Total cost to do both computers then for you would be $180 if you want to go Clone method on both.
Hope that helps.
Post back anytime with questions or if you run into any difficulties.
Best,
<<<BBJ>>>
- Thread Author
- #9
Hello, Big Bearjedi and LoboVerde thank you for your replies.
To answer your questions,
1. The media I am using to upgrade Vista to Windows?
I intend to purchase Windows 7 online.
2. I made a USB Recovery stick. It uploads Microsoft's PE then Macrium.
3. My backup file is stored on a USB hard drive.
4, My note book is a ToshibaSatellite Model A205 - S5825 and the BIOS is ver: v2.20.
5. Before I upgrade my hard drive I want to backup Vista and be able to restore the backup file so I connected a hard drive to my notebook with a USB cable and restored the backup file to it. Then, I rebooted the notebook and pressed the F12 key to go to the Boot Device Menu. The option to boot from the hard drive where where I restored Windows was not available. I had to install the hard drive inside my notebook then restore the backup image file to the hard drive. Why was the hard drive not shown on the Boot Device Menu? What do I need to do to make it available?
6. I want to install my new SSD inside my notebook and then install Windows 7 to it, then activate Windows 7.
Which version of Windows should I use, Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate?
Thank you so much for your help!
CAG43
To answer your questions,
1. The media I am using to upgrade Vista to Windows?
I intend to purchase Windows 7 online.
2. I made a USB Recovery stick. It uploads Microsoft's PE then Macrium.
3. My backup file is stored on a USB hard drive.
4, My note book is a ToshibaSatellite Model A205 - S5825 and the BIOS is ver: v2.20.
5. Before I upgrade my hard drive I want to backup Vista and be able to restore the backup file so I connected a hard drive to my notebook with a USB cable and restored the backup file to it. Then, I rebooted the notebook and pressed the F12 key to go to the Boot Device Menu. The option to boot from the hard drive where where I restored Windows was not available. I had to install the hard drive inside my notebook then restore the backup image file to the hard drive. Why was the hard drive not shown on the Boot Device Menu? What do I need to do to make it available?
6. I want to install my new SSD inside my notebook and then install Windows 7 to it, then activate Windows 7.
Which version of Windows should I use, Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate?
Thank you so much for your help!
CAG43
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2013
- Messages
- 2,419
Hi again,
Thanks for your responses back. The upgrade to Win7 is dependent on exactly which version of Vista you have (Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, Business, Enterprise). The upgrade is the least costly when you upgrade from same type of old windows to new type of windows. Example would be if you have Vista Home Premium you would want to upgrade to Win7 Home Premium; Vista Pro to Win7 Pro, and so forth. You can find that information on the Microsoft COA license sticker on the bottom or your Toshiba laptop and it will tell you exactly which version you have. There was no Typically an upgradeable Win7 version from same-to-same Vista as mentioned is usually $50-$100 cheaper than the full Win7 version. That's not true anymore as Win7 came out 6 years ago, and the upgrade media is much cheaper as on ebay. You can buy the full version (Clean Install) for around $80 for Win7 Home Edition, which is fine for most home users; and about $130 for Win7 Pro. I wouldn't recommend any of the Business editions unless you have specific requirements there you didn't mention.
Regarding your ITEM #5, that's quite confusing, but it sounds like your hard drive may be failing or has failed, and that's why your BIOS is not recognizing it. To eliminate that you need to test both your RAM memory sticks as well as your Hard Drive.
Here's the link to run the MEMTEST RAM memory test:
Link Removed
Here's the link to test your hard drive:
Link Removed
To answer your question on what you have to do to make your hard drive available on the Boot Menu is to find the failing component and replace it.
Unfortunately, if you test your RAM sticks and your Hard Drive and they both pass, you are looking at a failed Motherboard, and that runs about $275-$500 to replace on that Toshiba you have.
I had a Client with that exact laptop, and when the Motherboard failed, he simply opted to buy a new laptop rather than spend that kind of money on a repair. 
<<<BBJ>>>
Thanks for your responses back. The upgrade to Win7 is dependent on exactly which version of Vista you have (Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, Business, Enterprise). The upgrade is the least costly when you upgrade from same type of old windows to new type of windows. Example would be if you have Vista Home Premium you would want to upgrade to Win7 Home Premium; Vista Pro to Win7 Pro, and so forth. You can find that information on the Microsoft COA license sticker on the bottom or your Toshiba laptop and it will tell you exactly which version you have. There was no Typically an upgradeable Win7 version from same-to-same Vista as mentioned is usually $50-$100 cheaper than the full Win7 version. That's not true anymore as Win7 came out 6 years ago, and the upgrade media is much cheaper as on ebay. You can buy the full version (Clean Install) for around $80 for Win7 Home Edition, which is fine for most home users; and about $130 for Win7 Pro. I wouldn't recommend any of the Business editions unless you have specific requirements there you didn't mention.
Regarding your ITEM #5, that's quite confusing, but it sounds like your hard drive may be failing or has failed, and that's why your BIOS is not recognizing it. To eliminate that you need to test both your RAM memory sticks as well as your Hard Drive.
Here's the link to run the MEMTEST RAM memory test:
Link Removed
Here's the link to test your hard drive:
Link Removed
To answer your question on what you have to do to make your hard drive available on the Boot Menu is to find the failing component and replace it.
Unfortunately, if you test your RAM sticks and your Hard Drive and they both pass, you are looking at a failed Motherboard, and that runs about $275-$500 to replace on that Toshiba you have. I had a Client with that exact laptop, and when the Motherboard failed, he simply opted to buy a new laptop rather than spend that kind of money on a repair. <<<BBJ>>>
- Thread Author
- #11
Hi again,
Thanks for your responses back. The upgrade to Win7 is dependent on exactly which version of Vista you have (Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, Business, Enterprise). The upgrade is the least costly when you upgrade from same type of old windows to new type of windows. Example would be if you have Vista Home Premium you would want to upgrade to Win7 Home Premium; Vista Pro to Win7 Pro, and so forth. You can find that information on the Microsoft COA license sticker on the bottom or your Toshiba laptop and it will tell you exactly which version you have. There was no Typically an upgradeable Win7 version from same-to-same Vista as mentioned is usually $50-$100 cheaper than the full Win7 version. That's not true anymore as Win7 came out 6 years ago, and the upgrade media is much cheaper as on ebay. You can buy the full version (Clean Install) for around $80 for Win7 Home Edition, which is fine for most home users; and about $130 for Win7 Pro. I wouldn't recommend any of the Business editions unless you have specific requirements there you didn't mention.
Regarding your ITEM #5, that's quite confusing, but it sounds like your hard drive may be failing or has failed, and that's why your BIOS is not recognizing it. To eliminate that you need to test both your RAM memory sticks as well as your Hard Drive.
Here's the link to run the MEMTEST RAM memory test:
Link Removed
Here's the link to test your hard drive:
Link Removed
To answer your question on what you have to do to make your hard drive available on the Boot Menu is to find the failing component and replace it.
<<<BBJ>>>
- Thread Author
- #12
Hello again Bigbearjedi and thank you for all your help on my situation with the Vista laptop.
Based on what I gleaned from your findings, I may have to rethink upgrading the Toshiba and just purchase a new system.
But first, I will run the memtest and run the hard drive diagnostic procedure to be sure the hard drive is not failing.
Wish me luck!
CAG43
Based on what I gleaned from your findings, I may have to rethink upgrading the Toshiba and just purchase a new system.
But first, I will run the memtest and run the hard drive diagnostic procedure to be sure the hard drive is not failing.
Wish me luck!
CAG43
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2013
- Messages
- 2,419
And you're quite welcome for the help; that's what we do here! I understand what you're saying, and appreciate that you're willing to consider running the suggested Hardware diagnostics.
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