My lappy was dead slow so I did a restore to factory settings which helped for a few days only. I then did a full refund install from a pirate disc someone gave me, but it now has generic or no drivers and won’t even see the wifi receiver for a start.

It’s saved the previous windows files…how do I sort this out?

FWIW it often beeps on boot up unless I F2 it and a string of characters appears in the password box every boot.

Oops! Can you use another computer to download the drivers for the wifi transmitter? Then you just need a flash drive to install it. Should be ok to get everything else once it is online

Hmmm…. the old one still works I think

Wired is more likely to work in that state than wireless I would have thought.

If the factory install doesn’t fix it, it’s a hardware issue.

Take the pirate copy of Windows, throw it in the bin, restore factory settings again, then we can try and fix what’s actually wrong with it.

Usually, when you’ve rebuilt a machine, you have the driver disc from the manufacturer – Windows doesn’t have drivers for every model of computer.
If you haven’t (which sounds to be true), you need to go to the manufacturers website and download the drivers from there.
Failing that, have you tried turning it off and turning it back on again?

It may have a factory restore partition hidden on the hard disk which requires a key combination to access at boot time. (you will loose any files on the system if this is the case).

What laptop is it?

“a string of characters appears in the password box every boot. ” Stuck key?

Not a stuck key, unless it sticks only during boot up.

Wired connection no work.

Cougar it’s saved the old windows, how do I restore? Oddly a number of exe files are x86 while it’s a 64 bit install.

Is it a Sony?

Pirate copy = Trojans etc.
As Cougar said…

Copy would Ave been provided by IT mate, would not knowingly have been dodgy.

GFS: as I asked, how?

Did you buy it new? If it didn’t come with restore discs then you need to find the tool to access the restore partition. Often you cant restore to an earlier version of Windows, so you may not be able to recover your last full install.

google the make and model of the machine and find how its restore function works and recover to that.

I’m sure your mate who gave you the disc was being kind, but for windows not to activate it has to be either an ooollldd preview distribution, or a hacked disk image, and if someone’s messed with the installer files how do you know they’ve not slipped some other “goods” in there?

Meantime, try a Ubuntu boot disc or USB stick and run the hardware diagnostics on that?

It’s a Packard Bell (Acer)

how do I restore?

Same way as you did last time, I would imagine? You said you’d done it once already?

Generally, there’s an option on boot, maybe F12 or some such to drop into the recovery partition. Though, a) it varies between manufacturers and b) you might have hosed it with the hooky W7 disc.

Not a stuck key, unless it sticks only during boot up.

It does sound like there’s a keyboard fault there, and that may be consistent with the beeps (a stuck key would produce rapid squealing beeps a bit like an alarm bell ringing; compare and contrast with more discrete, easily countable beeps indicative of a POST error).

Oddly a number of exe files are x86 while it’s a 64 bit install.

That’s normal, don’t worry about it. Even though it’s an x64 platform it still needs backwards compatibility to run i386 (32-bit) apps.

Google would suggest it’s Alt-F10 for Acer laptops.

Handy (though a little old) forum thread: http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f108/laptop-recovery-instructions-162525.html

I tried alt F10 on the original install, no go, but I didn’t restore through control panel.

Although it now brings up a restore option now, that’s doing jack (albeit the new os is branded Acer, previous was PB)

You have a very short window; power it up, hold Alt and mash F10.

Though if you’ve got a keyboard fault, that won’t help. I’d be half tempted to disconnect it and plug in an external one.

Wow, one day asking for help in suing local authority over a puncture, next day asking for help in using illegal stolen software, quite the week for you and ethics cynic-al!

Fwiw, I can’t see any point in putting effort into getting illegal software to work, you might be there for days with no success and be installing some really nasty stuff.

As someone that used to work for a small software developer and seeing first hand the problems piracy causes, I am going to predictably say you shouldn’t use cracked software, it causes lots of problems to lots of people, supports criminals and makes software more expensive for everyone. Would you steal something from a shop? If not, why are you stealing software?

And is stw really a place to give advice on cracked software now?

Point the first, he’s not getting help with cracked software, he’s getting help restoring his laptop to its original state using the preinstalled rescue partition.

Point the second, he’s already got an OEM Windows licence, what does it matter whether the disc he uses is a copy or an original? It’s just media.

Perhaps if your horse were a little lower you’d have been able to see to read the rest of the thread rather than just the OP.

What Cougar said

Take Cougar, will try, also see if I can disabled level the keyboard.

Great moralising Jim, keep it coming.

Point the first, he’s not getting help with cracked software, he’s getting help restoring his laptop to its original state using the preinstalled rescue partition.

Point the second, he’s already got an OEM Windows licence, what does it matter whether the disc he uses is a copy or an original? It’s just media.

Well fair enough I saw the reference to the pirated copy, looking again I see recovery chat beginning. I’ll slightly disagree with your second point though, it is still theft/distribution/possession of illegal software. Easy to say Mircosoft are big it won’t harm them which is a common reply in similar threads on other forums, but it is the same culture of accepted theft, same support of the criminality behind piracy that harms the small devs making really cool stuff for a living and seeing it stolen and freely distributed within hours of release.

If a thread had been started saying “I’ve stolen some forks and can’t get them to fit my headset” the general reaction would be pretty different though, I’d imagine a lock/general anger. Its interesting that it is deemed more acceptable to admit to stealing software.

Great moralising Jim, keep it coming.

Will do, if you keep doing the things that really annoy me 🙂

I’ll slightly disagree with your second point though, it is still theft/distribution/possession of illegal software.

… which he’s already paid for. If I bought an audio CD and then lost / damaged the disc so a mate made me a copy of his, is that still “theft”? Technically perhaps, in that I didn’t back up my own disc. But morally? Who’s lost out here, the retailer due to me not having to buy something twice?

For all we know, the disc the OP was given was actually a legitimate, official download from Digital River. So he tried to recover a broken Windows install, which he’s bought, using a disc image provided by Microsoft. Where’s the crime here?

If it’s not and it is a hooky copy, then I suppose you’ve got an argument for “supporting piracy” in that his mate downloaded it. But the loss of revenue / poor the software developers is moot in this particular case.

Will do, if you keep doing the things that really annoy me

You’re on the internet, fella, goes with the territory…

A grown up has offered to have a look at it.

Jim I bet he watches point or something, I’ll try to find something you can wring your hands about.

A word of advice to anyone looking after a any business IT needs: do not under any circumstances apply Cougers logic that using any Microsoft Media for software you have licences for will be fine.

If you get audited Microsoft can be funny about it and you can land up with a rather large bill as you pay for the version you have installed…

Case in point is a company that purchases 100 copies of Office Standard and 5 copies of Office Professional. The techies then build a workstation image but use the Office Pro install media but only install the functionality of Standard Edition.

If Microsoft discover this you & your legal team will likely have to work very hard to not end up paying for 100 licences for the Pro edition.

Ouch 😯

Sure. Apples and oranges, though.

Installing a copy of (say) Windows 7 Home Premium with a different Home Premium disc isn’t the same as replacing it with Ultimate.

Mallet/Shards…….you know the procedure.

Never Fails.

Sadly the opportunity for petrol/matches/singed pubes did not arise, said mate fixed it, now I need to try to get ti to see the 4mB of ram I installed 😡

Gb, not Mb.With a 32-bit OS, you’ll only see about 3.5
Gb available.

Aye, sorry, I am only seeing 1.7 or so (64 bit OS)

What’s it show in bios? Maybe you shook a DIMM loose when you took it to your mate.

I put the memory in after he sorted it! I’ll check bios when i get home, ta.

Well it’s all going OK but my pc is only seeing 1 of the 2 memory slots 😡

Looks like I may not be able to fix this myself/with stw help 🙁

If swapping the DIMMs over means the other DIMM works in the other slot, but putting both in always results in the one in the same slot not showing up, than you have a duff mobo. Might also explain the other weirdness.

In that case – bin it. Or it will like bite you in the ass sometime you really don’t want it to.

Always install DIMMs with a grounding strap or with the machine plugged in BUT TURNED OFF AT THE SOCKET [keeps the metalwork grounded]. ALWAYS have bare arms, and cotton clothes, and don’t move around more than your arms. Touch the grounded metalwork every 30 seconds, or better still rest a finger on it.

Remove the battery too, and wait a minute.

You may know these things, but if you don’t you might fsck up the machine completely.

Ta, I just tried only one DIMM in one slot, which worked, then the other DIMM only in the other slot, which didn’t at all.

ta for the tips – no shellsuits here!

I keep any important docs/images etc in the cloud, and can use work pcs when I need to if this one dies – so no harm in perservering with it till it dies?

– so no harm in perservering with it till it dies?

Depends entirely on your situation. If you need to get something done for a deadline of 5pm, for whatever reason this laptop is your only means of doing that for the day, and it chooses that day to die (as sod’s law dictates it will), what would you do?

If, however, it’s mainly arsing about on STW that would suffer if it goes belly-up suddenly, then sure, persevere.

It’s the latter zokes, and I can always do it on my phone if necessary…I may get a 4mB stick to boost it till it goes.

I am presuming it has **** all value if I were to sell it now or strip/sell it in order to replace it?

I just tried only one DIMM in one slot, which worked, then the other DIMM only in the other slot,

try them both in the same slot. (Not at the same time…!)