Erasing my hard drive with recovery disk not working

So recently I was infected with Security Central malware and ran an anti-malware removal program, which worked for a week or so. Yesterday it came back and after attempting to run the anti-malware program again, it cannot find any, though Security Central is still affecting my computer.
What the malware is doing is not allowing me to open ANYTHING. Not a Word file, Internet, application or program. I cannot run a disk either. I decided, because my Toshiba laptop has a number of other problems with slow performance, to backup everything to an external hard drive and erase my hard drive and run the recovery disc.
I ran it in Safe Mode to move all my stuff onto the external hard drive and then inserted the recovery disc. Because of the Securty Central malware, it will not run in normal mode and my laptop says it cannot open the disc in Safe Mode.
All I want to do is erase my hard drive and start over but I cannot seem to do it. I'm not crazy tech-savvy and I know there must be a way to do this but I've tried everything I know how to do. Help??? Thanks!
BTW: my computer is a Toshiba Satellite M115-S3094

Corrected instructions for Recovery and Applications/Drivers Media Document ID: 98082279
CAUTION: The Recovery process reformats the computer's hard disk drive, which completely erases its contents -- including all applications, all documents, and all other data stored on the drive. Be sure to back up your documents and other data before following the instructions below.
Follow these steps to erase the current contents of the hard disk drive and to re-install all of the software that was installed on the computer when it was manufactured:
1. With the computer on, insert the first Recovery disc into the optical drive.
2. Shut down the computer (click the Start button, click Shut Down, select Shut Down, click OK).
3. Press the computer's power button to turn the computer on, and then immediately press and hold the F12 key. Release the F12 key when the menu of boot options appears.
4. Use the arrow keys to navigate to the CD/DVD option. Press the Enter key to select it.
The computer will restart, and will boot from the Recovery disc.
5. Follow the instructions on the screen to start the Recovery process.
CAUTION: Once the Recovery process has begun, do not interrupt it.
The computer's hard drive will be formatted, erasing its contents. All of the software that was installed on the computer when it was manufactured will then be re-installed.
6. Once the Recovery process is complete, remove the Recovery disc, and press any key to restart the computer.

Similar Messages

Can apple erase a hard drive with filevault 2 turned on and then reinstall OSX?

Can I take my MacBook Pro to an apple store and have them erase the hard drive and reinstall OSX? If so how much will that cost me?

I believe that's pretty much your only recourse if you forget the password and didn't write down the recovery key or choose to store it with Apple.
If you chose to store it with Apple, you can have them retrieve it for you if you answer the three security questions.
Really, with FileVault, the recovery key is crucial. You MUST keep a safe copy of it.
Matt

Recovery disks not working

I have an HP G60 Notebook PC, Product # NW144UA#ABA
The computer got a virus and couldnt open Microsoft Office applications so I wanted to restore it to the original factory settings. I created my own set of recovery disks (used 3 DVD-Rs). I started the recovery manager and followed the steps, the first disk worked just fine then popped out and asked for the second. I tried to put in the second disk (correctly labeled from when it was made) and it said the disk is not good, please insert disk #2. I have tried this several times and same thing. Now I can't even get back to the regular computer. When I turn it off or cancel the recovery manager it comes up with a black screen saying BootMGR not working (or something.. cant remember exact words). At one point in trying the recovery manager I got an "error 1002 please contact HP" message. I have tried to keep inserting disk #2 and after 20 times it still wouldnt work. I have tried to call HP customer service and was told I could buy recovery disks, but shouldn't my disks work? Please help!!!

Hi:
Sometimes the recovery disks don't work that you make for one reason or another.
Unfortunately, there are hundreds of posts like yours and unfortunately, very few answers. I have yet been able to help someone get their recovery disks to work.
So, I see that you may have two options (only one if you can't read all 25 characters of the Vista product key on the bottom of your PC:
1. Order a set of HP recovery disks and hope they work.
2. Make your own plain windows vista installation media if you can read your vista product key.
This will NOT restore your PC to factory condition. It will only install the operating system, and you will need to either have your program installation files and also use whatever downloads and drivers are available from your notebook's support and driver page.
Start from page 289 at the link below.
http://philipyip.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/windows-reinstallation-guide-03-03-2013.pdf

Unable to erase external hard drive with Disk Utility

Macbook Pro (mid 2010) running 10.9
Hello
Recently, my Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1 TB external hard drive has not been showing up on my desktop or in finder. The light is on when connected, and in the Disk Utility it appears.
1. It was naturally created with a partition on it (all of the 1TB allocated to it) and it appears in the Disk Utility as well; however, it is grayed out.
2. I clicked the actual drive in DU and it was verified as being ok. I clicked on the partition next to verify and it said "Error disk needs repaired"
3. So I clicked repair, "Disk Utility cannot repair the disk..restore as many as your backed-up files...etc."
4. No problem (the data on the hard drive is used for my Time Machine back ups and my current internal hard drive is working fine with all the data intact)
5. Ok, so I click the erase tab on the entire external hard drive...erase..."Disk cannot be unmounted"
6. Ok, I try to erase the invidual partition..."Could not open disk"
It seems every time I try to erase this drive completely im hitting blocks. I even tried this method from the OS X Recovery menu (Command+R on startup). I would greatly appreciate any help to just get this whole thing external hard drive erased and start anew. How else would I go about this?
(pictures for reference)
Thank you all

If this is your only backup device, you need to start a new backup on another drive immediately. Don't erase (or try to erase) your only backup.
After you have the other backup, boot into Recovery and try again to erase the volume. You will have to unlock it before you can do anything with it, because it's encrypted.
If you still can't erase it, the drive has failed.

Drive Partition causing issues after new hard drive and recovery disks installed

I have an HP Pavilion Media Center PC m7640n running Windows XP Media Center Edition.
My hard drive failed and I had a computer guy install a 1 TB Hard drive as well as additional memory. I purchased the recovery disks and he installed everything for me. I have two issues:
1. After updating to XP Service Pack 3 and all other Windows recommended upgrades the computer deleted all my drivers and would not "plug and play" install anything. I had the computer guy back to fix this--he did get all my drivers to work, but when I plug in anything new for the first time (such as my iPad), I have to go into the device manager and manually update the drivers. The computer doesn't recognize it and automatically prompt me to install it.
2. The hard drive partition defaulted to my C drive being very small and my D drive being large. Since software usually defaults to the C drive for installation, I quickly ran out of space. I had the computer guy back and he programmed something so that everything now defaults to the D drive. Unfortunately all my program files (including Microsoft Office) are still on my C drive including everything I put on my desktop. My C drive is now full.
Here is an example: iTunes shows that it is defaulting to the D drive for anything I load into it. Yet I tried to download the new operating system for my iPad and it said my hard drive was full. When I did a file search to see what files had changed in the last week, it shows iTunes on my C drive (and my D drive). Yet all the files that were "changed" due to my upgrade were defaulting to the C drive, even though in the setting in iTunes it shows it should be saving to the D drive.
D:\Documents and Settings\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Media
Is there an easy way to fix these issues? I've already spent more than I anticipated when I chose to rebuild this computer vs buying a new one. Now I'm regretting the decision and I'd like to try and fix this myself and not pay my computer guy to come back at $90/hour.
Thanks!

Here are the original specs of your computer. The specs state that the original hard drive was 320GB. You have since replaced the factory drive with a 1TB (1000GB) hard drive. The HP recovery routine seems to have issues with hard drives that deviate from the original size. The partition issues you are experiencing may be a result of this. As for the rest of your issues, it sounds like the SP3 install went bad.
If I were you, I would consider reinstalling the OS using your recovery discs by doing a complete "destructive" reinstall/recovery. Afterward, I would post the size of both the c: and d: partitions... and go from there.
Frank
Frank
{------------ Please click the "White Kudos" Thumbs Up to say THANKS for helping.
Please click the "Accept As Solution" on my post, if my assistance has solved your issue. ------------V
This is a user supported forum. I am a volunteer and I don't work for HP.
HP 15t-j100 (on loan from HP)
HP 13 Split x2 (on loan from HP)
HP Slate8 Pro (on loan from HP)
HP a1632x - Windows 7, 4GB RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6450
HP p6130y - Windows 7, 8GB RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6450
HP p6320y - Windows 7, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GT 240
HP p7-1026 - Windows 7, 6GB RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6450
HP p6787c - Windows 7, 8GB RAM, NVIDIA GT 240

Windows xp inst disk can't find hard drive. got recovery disks and loads files and starts windows

I have a compaq 110C-1100DX I believe has a virus I can't find. If I try to reinstall windows XP it can't find the hard drive. I have downloaded the drivers from intel for the controller ICH7M/MDH SATA AHCI controller ( could not find on hp's site ) and slip streamed onto the inst disk, still no good. ordered a restore disk from HP ( both ways I am using an external cd/dvd drive )
. It copies files like it is going to install and then just continues to boot windows. The hard drive shows up in the bios and my computer, but not in device manager or disk management. all I can see are removable storage. I have run the diagnostics in the bios and they passed. I have lost use of the keyboard in windows, but it works to F key @ boot and works when needed during the installation process.
thanks for any help you can give me. I have installed, upgraded and reinstalled operaring systems many times and never been stymied like this.

If the drive is listed in Disk Utility do the following:
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the drop down menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
After formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Complete the OS X installation.
When you are installing Windows via Boot Camp the Windows installer needs to format the Boot Camp partition. Be extra careful to select only the partition you created with Boot Camp. The XP installer should label the partition "C:", and you should recognize it by its stated size.

My iMac is disconnecting all my media hard drives and giving "Disk Not Ejected Properly" message since updating to OSX 10.9

Ever since I updated to OSX version 10.9 on my iMac, it is disconnecting all of my media hard drives and giving me the message: "Disk Not Ejected Properly." My hard drives are connected to my iMac through a Nitro Professional 8-port Firewire 800 hub/repeater, and a Firewire 800 cable from the Nitro hub connects to the back of my iMac. This configuration has been working fine for over a year. Suddenly, and immediately after performing the update about a week ago, the drives won't stay connected for more than a few seconds before the iMac disconnects from my drives. I've tried restarting and reconnecting many times and the same thing keeps happening.
I have a new MacBook Pro (one month old) that I've been using temporarily to work with my photos and video on these drives as the drives are able to stay connected to this computer—I put a Thunderbolt adapter onto the Firewire 800 cable to connect to it. Luckily I had not yet updated it to the new operating system and I am afraid to do that. I've had the persistent message that Updates are available for my computer on my MacBook but I will not perform any updates for fear that I will lose access to my media drives. I am a professional photographer, so it's pretty disasterous if I can't access my drives. Please advise me what to do to keep my hard discs connected to my iMac and what to do to keep this from happening with my MacBook.
Thanks in advance for your knowledge and assistance!

Hello Roma2001,
Thank you for the details of the issue you are experiencing with your FireWire hub.
I recommend following the steps in the section titled "Top troubleshooting tips" in the following article:
USB and FireWire Quick Assist
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1151
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Sheila M.

IMac G5 10.3 Upgrade to 10.5 How to erase the hard drive with no 10.3 disc

Working on my brother's computer. iMac G5 (no iSight) was running 10.3.11. He tried to do an upgrade to 10.4 along with a RAM upgrade. When he totally hosed it up, he turned it over to me and now wants to upgrade to 10.5. I obtained a retail version of 10.5 and was able to install it but I can't configure it because the old 10.3 Sys Admin is still in there somewhere. Brother has lost password and lost 10.3 start up disc. Can I just wipe the entire hard drive (most info is corrupted anyway) and start over clean with 10.5? If so, how do I accomplish that without the old install disc? Thanks for any help! I'm fairly desperate and pretty sick of tangling with this problem.

Richard, thank you so much for your advice. I will try that first thing tomorrow morning when I'm "fresh". I think the hard drive is fine. I already ran the verify and repair routine. My brother thought he could do all of this himself. I told him to install his upgrade first, then his hardware (RAM stick). Well, he installed the RAM first. Then assumed that something was wrong with the Software when it wouldn't load. Very long story short, one of the 1GB RAM chips was bad. As soon as I took it out, everything was fine. But he did something Very Bad while trying to do the upgrade and I just can't recreate what he did, not to mention how many other people were involved before he called me (and I'm far from an expert!). The Genius Bar at my local Apple store recommended erasing and starting over with the 10.5, but then everything I read on line said I had to have the 10.3 install disc. I bought a MAC when I retired from corporate America so I wouldn't have to do this type of thing any more. My MAC never gives me one bit of trouble. But I speak to it kindly every day and coo in its ears! I'll let you know how it works out! Thanks again. --Pam.

I have tried transferring my iphoto library to my external hard drive and it's not working.

I have a Macbook Pro. I have recently gotten into photography and to save space on my internal hard drive, I bought an external hard drive to keep all of my photos on. It's a Toshiba with 1 TB of memory. I have searched and searched on how to transfer my iphoto library to it and I'm getting the same answer. I open two finder windows, one with pictures open, the other with the external hard drive open. I have tried to drag the iphoto library icon to the second window to the external hard drive and instead of it staying there and loading everything it gives me the circle with a diagonal line through it and floats back up to the pictures finder window. I'm not sure what the problem is, but I really need help!

you need to make sure the drive you are moving the iphoto library to is formatted in the mac OS extended journaled format
you can view and/or change this in the disk utility which is found in the utilities folder in applications within finder.
on the left side select the external HD and then click on the erase tab it will show you the format it's currnetly in, if it's not mac OS extended journaled select that from the drop down and then hit the button that says erase.
after the erase is complete try the article i gave you again to move the location of the lbrary and it should work.
good luck

Satellite L455-S500 Recovery Disks NOT Working (Windows 7 HP)

DH bought a Satellit L455-S500 in May of 2010. It worked well for just over three years. Then it into a spiral of failing to boot up...virus scans showed issues and nothing was removing them. The computer would not make a backup copy - so we started the recovery process with the press 0 and release as it booted.
The recovery partition had apparently gotten corrupted. The recovery process failed.
Recovery media was ordered from Toshiba and we tried again.
Hard drive was wiped and recovery media disk one was placed in the optical drive and the computer went into the installation of a clean copy of the OS. It asked for the second disk - then gave error code 10-FC12-0241 and said to click [OK] to shut down. It reboots at that point and gives error code F3-F200-0002 and again says to click [OK] to shut down. It does NOT reboot at that point.
I've tried the original hard drive (wiped & formatted) and a new hard drive from the local electronics store. I've tried removing the memory stick (RAM) from the B slot and I've tried swapping the memory stick from the B slot to the A slot.
We replaced the laptop after a couple of days as he NEEDED a working one for his job - but he doesn't LIKE Windows 8 (no touch screen on the replacement laptop). I'm still trying to get this one working again so that he has a spare that he LIKES working with.
The error codes show that the most likely issues are with the hard drive or the memory. But I haven't had any luck with any of my attempts to get it working again, even as a clean install.
Could it be the recovery disks that have the issue? Or do I need to try one more time with a brand new, unused hard drive, instead of a working one pulled from another laptop?

Try reformating the hard drive to one raw partition before using the recovery media. You can use a windows 7 disc to format the drive then remove the disc and start with the recovery media.
S70-ABT2N22 Windows 7 Pro & 8.1Pro, C55-A5180 Windows 8.1****Click on White “Kudos” STAR to say thanks!****

New Hitachi hard drive in MacBook does not work

I just got my new 320GB 2.5" Hitachi Travelstar 7K320 7200RPM SATA Notebook Drive with 16MB Cache from OWC and found it is not recognized when I try to install the OS from the optical disk.
I took it back out and examined it and found that it does not have all of the pins the original has. It is lacking the set on the far left (when viewed from the top, with pins up). Being an SATA, it seems that it should be configured as a standard? Has anyone else had this problem?
Ed

Did you prep the drive?
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.

New hard drive, mac still does not work

Mac stopped working so took it to a mac store and they said its most likely the hard drive. Sent the hard drive back because it was still under warranty and they sent me a new one.
Installed new hard drive in the computer and when I turn it on I cant find the HD anywhere so that I can format it. The install disc is the only thing that shows up and when it asks where I want to have the disc installed there is nothing for me to click because the HD is not there.
Am I missing something or is the HD not the issue? Thanks

Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
7. Upon completion quit DU and return to the installer. Complete installing Snow Leopard.

Recovery Disks Not Working - Windows 8

Hi,
This relates to my G6-2240sa HP Pavilion, bought 14 months ago, preinstalled with Windows 8 (later upgraded to 8.1)
Just out of curiosity I installed Linux Mint, hoping to dual-boot my system.
In the process I have wiped out everything on my HD.
I didn't mind that so much, as a fresh install of Windows 8 would have been welcome.
But now I find that the recovery disks (4) that I created are not working.
Whichever of the three options I choose (and I have tried them all) the process grinds to a halt, becoming unresponsive at anything from 7% to a max of 34% on the second disk. Then I am confronted with "The destination Drive is not Connected"
(I presume it means my hard drive. What on earth had it been doing for three hours, to suddenly discover that?)
I have run the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI thorough disk test and it comes up as Long DST: Passed, Memory Quick Test: Passed.
Started the recovery process from the bios defaults, using the optical drive as the first boot device, which only managed to reach a max of 17% before freezing. Strangely, the better results of 34% came from using a USB external DVD)
I have been through most of the other posts on here to find a solution, but none of them seem to apply to my specific problem.
Took it back to PC World, where I was informed that my best bet would be to buy a set of Recovery disks for my Model, Serial number, Product ID, obtainable from the Netherlands at a cost of £42, and I am waiting for them to arrive now.
Now I'm wondering, at the risk of throwing good money after bad, would it make more sense to buy new Windows 8 software or a different computer?
Surely having paid for a system that claims to offer security in the form of a recovery procedure, I am entitled that it should work as claimed.
After more than a week I'm at my wits end as I cannot use any of my programs without a Windows platform.

Success!
Although I have to say that with a poplation of over 7 billion I did think that my problem would have attracted more response than just one reply.
However, my thanks to Indypat for that. You gave me the hope to keep trying.
I read your solution from your link Pat, removed the SSD (taping the bare connectors, just in case), did all the other things suggested and tried again. Twenty more times! Still no go.
Was just surfing the net to find the cheapest OEM to buy, when the mailman (We call them postmen) arrived at last with the recovery disks I had ordered.
Started the process at 10 am ( I think I had to replace the SSD first to authorize the process) and by 4 pm recovery was complete! So my conclusions are that the recovery disks I made, did not work. Don't ask me why - I made them all according to the instructions - maybe the medium was faulty?
Now, (and for the foreseeable future as far as I can see) I shall continue updating Windows and reinstalling all my precious programs.
Still, after two weeks' cast into the outer darkness, at least I have clean Windows.
I'm glad you got your own problem sorted at last Pat. Like yourself, I am an HP fan. (again)

Hard Drive Fail - Transfer Purchased not working

Hi
The hard drive on my 3 year + 2 month old Macbook Pro died a week ago (2 months out of its extended warranty, not that it cost a lot to repair). My back-up included 99% of the files on the drive. Between my back-up and managing to access the disk from another drive I've got 99% of my iTunes library. Just the one album has a lot of its tracks missing (A favourite.. you might know. Seethers Deluxe Holding Onto Strings).
I've had the Macbook repaired and it's back and working fine. I've reauthorized it ... got a message saying "Including this computer you have authorized one of your five" so I'm assuming it's picked up that it's the same device. If I click on "Add or edit my products" under this discussion dialogue, it shows just the one MacBook Pro which suggests this is so.
OK... so.. I hook up the iPhone (where the album is complete) and in iTunes (11.0.4) choose "Transfer Purchased Files". I don't get any messages to confirm or deny anything nor any feedback to suggest real activity. The album in iTunes remains incomplete.
iTunes lists all the tracks, but against some, instead of the track number, there is a circle with an exclamation mark in it. I get a message about the original file being missing (which they are.. I've checked the music directory) if I attempt to play them.
I've been onto the store, revisiting where the album is still available and there appears to be no download option, just "play".
So... what do I do? I'm wondering if I should delete the songs from iTunes so they're completely absent, no markers even, but I'm a bit concerned this'll worsen things. If someone can reassure me or advise me what else I should do, that'd be really cool.
Thank you.
All began with a 11fx ... Macbook P i7 17" (10.7.5), iPhone 4, iPad 3 iOS 6.0
Newly purchased MacMini i7 (10.8.4) c/w Cintiq HD24. Looks like NASA central!

Ok, solved. Third party app.

I have compaq cq50. was VISTA upgraded to WIN 7. Recovery disks not working. BOOTMGR compressed

will not boot up. I have 2 recovery disks, the 1 of 2 will take but 2 of 2 disk doesnt run.

Hi:
If you are trying to use the Vista recovery disks and they are not working, and you can read your Vista product key on the bottom of your notebook, then you can make your own Vista installation disk by reading the guidance below.
If you're up to a slight but rewarding challenge you can make your own if you can read your 25 character Vista product key on the PC.
Just download the 3 files you need at the link below, and read all of the instructions to create a bootable DVD installation disk using imageburn.
Disregard the part of the text under the first screen shot about "extract the files to the Vista folder."
The files were already extracted to that folder when you ran the X14.exe file by reading the text on top of the first screen shot.
The other thing I noticed is on the 4th screen shot, where it shows Developer ID Microsoft Corporation. I had to type Microsoft Corporation in myself, and then the other codes automatically populated.
When I went to compile the ISO file, ImageBurn gave a message that about a WIM file and ISO, and if I wanted to burn it in a different format.
I selected No, make the ISO file.
It was not that hard to do. I burned both the 64 bit disk and the 32 bit disk in case I ever need them.
I tested both of them an my hp dc7100 CMT desktop PC, they worked perfectly.
When you enter the product key, it knows what version of Vista you have.
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/software-os/w/microsoft_os/3317.2-3-microsoft-windows-v....
After you successfully install Vista, you can then install the drivers from your PC's support and driver page.
Paul

Erasing my hard drive with recovery disk not working

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for