Windows 8 Windows 8 and Office Starter 2010 - Need Help

[Shashank]

I bought a Sony VAIO laptop, SVE14113EN model, with Windows 7 and Office Starter 2010 preloaded in it. I have upgraded to Windows 8 around 6 months back and I was able to use Office Starter after that. Last week when I have Reset (Remove everything and reinstall Windows) my Windows 8, I found that Office Starter was missing.

Microsoft website says "All of your personal files will be deleted and your settings will be reset. Any apps the came with your PC will be reinstalled, but all other apps will be removed" if I reset. As per the above statement Windows should have installed Office Starter since it was an app given by OEM.

Now is there any way by which I can get Office Starter re-installed in my laptop ? Please help me.

 

[patcooke]

First look to see if it shows in Control Panel, Programs. If it does you should be able to reinstall from there. Failing that, the only you might recover an OEM install is by running a full recovery from your Sony recovery disks which would of course also reset your original operating system which would require a reinstall of your Windows 8.

 

[Jimbo22]

From what I've found out: is MS has pulled the official download of Office 2010 starter. If an only if you have it with a OEM preinstalled OS, that would be the way to reinstall it as patcooke suggests.

 

[Shashank]

First look to see if it shows in Control Panel, Programs. If it does you should be able to reinstall from there. Failing that, the only you might recover an OEM install is by running a full recovery from your Sony recovery disks which would of course also reset your original operating system which would require a reinstall of your Windows 8.

I have checked in the Control Panel , I did not find the Office Starter there. I have a question in the suggestion about 'back to Sony reset (Windows 7) and then to Windows 8'. Does this mean I will have to buy Windows 8 again ? or in other words, Does Microsoft allow multiple downloads of OS for one purchase ?

 

[patcooke]

Does this mean I will have to buy Windows 8 again ? or in other words, Does Microsoft allow multiple downloads of OS for one purchase ?

You will not need to purchase again, simply re-use your existing key to validate - did you not burn the windows 8 install to a dvd?

 

[Shashank]

You will not need to purchase again, simply re-use your existing key to validate - did you not burn the windows 8 install to a dvd?

Hi Patcooke,
Thanks for the reply.
Purchase again as in 'Pay' and buy again ? Hope not!!
No. I don't have it written in a DVD. I can still go to Windows Upgrade assistant and upgrade again right ?

 

[Shashank]

Oopsie!! Need not purchase again right!! Dint' read it carefully!

 

[patcooke]

I can still go to Windows Upgrade assistant and upgrade again right ?

That's what I'd do.

 

[Saltgrass]

I have been trying to think through what might have happened in your case. But I assume you used the Windows 8 Reset option and not the OEM Factory Reset option Pat refers to.

When you installed Windows 8, it was probably never given an image to use for a Reset and therefore reverted to the original Windows 8 install image, thus your original programs were not included. Even if it would have been set to use the original Windows 7 image, you would probably have gotten a version error when trying to recover the Windows 7 image.

It might be a good idea to put a copy of the original Factory Reset image somewhere safe, unless you already have the recovery media for it. If you download Windows 8 again, you may also want to put those files in a safe place, or create a DVD/USB drive to reinstall if necessary, and I would suggest a flash drive.

Currently, my system (non-OEM) is set up to use a current image of my OS partition. When I reset, it replaces that partition exactly as it was when I created the image. My primary backup, in case of Drive failure, is a System Image I create on a regular basis. But the Recovery partition is not included with it, so it won't be restored.