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magicdanw
pcGuru()
Calc Guru
Joined: 14 Feb 2007
Posts: 1110
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 Posted: 07 Aug 2007 10:40:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Well, as I said before, UBCD has some tools that might help fix the mbr. I'd give it a try, since it's helped me out of similar situations in the past. Also, do you have a friend who has a Vista DVD? And are you sure your computer didn't come with any DVDs or CDs? Because the method that's most likely to work is to use Vista's repair option. |
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justusdude
Advanced Member
Joined: 24 May 2006
Posts: 265
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| Posted: 07 Aug 2007 10:41:37 pm Post subject: |
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None of my friends have a laptop. And no I don't have any cd's. Is it possible to boot from a flash drive?
EDIT: I'll just go to best buy and get vista reinstalled or recovered or whatever. Thanks for the help guys.
Last edited by Guest on 07 Aug 2007 10:46:35 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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magicdanw
pcGuru()
Calc Guru
Joined: 14 Feb 2007
Posts: 1110
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| Posted: 07 Aug 2007 10:47:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Should be. Backup any data on the flash drive before formatting it. Then, format it like I said before to put DOS files on it. Then, copy your data and the fixmbr.exe file back. Boot off it and run fixmbr. If it won't boot, try going into BIOS and changing the boot order to boot the USB device first. |
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JoeImp
Enlightened
Active Member
Joined: 24 May 2003
Posts: 747
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| Posted: 08 Aug 2007 12:20:04 am Post subject: |
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That cnet video is absolute rubbish.
1) He says installing and using this wubi crap is easier than booting from a cd, and he compares the two like they do the same thing.
2) 26 seconds in - Video says "Install Ubuntu on Linux with no muss or fuss." The hell? "Install ubuntu on linux?" How does that make any sense? That's not what we're doing.
3) He keeps trying to say how hard burning a cd is. If you're THAT a LAZY that you can't burn a cd and do things properly, stop trying to use linux right now.
4) Tries to tell you that wubi requires a gigahertz of cpu.
5) Tells you to back up your data. If you had made another partition and not been a lazy freaking bastard, there would be no risk to your data.
6) Explains in no way how this wubi is supposed to work. You're an idiot if you go installing operating system stuff after watching a 2 minute video with no details.
I see no point in using wubi. Try a live cd if you're not ready to install linux yet, but otherwise, do it properly. If you're THAT lazy, should stick with windows.
(I used "you" and "you're" a lot, I'm not talking about the OP in particular, just people that what I was saying applied to.) |
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Delnar_Ersike
Lazy H4xx0r
Active Member
Joined: 24 Dec 2006
Posts: 578
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| Posted: 08 Aug 2007 02:54:12 am Post subject: |
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JoeImp wrote: That cnet video is absolute rubbish.
1) He says installing and using this wubi crap is easier than booting from a cd, and he compares the two like they do the same thing.
2) 26 seconds in - Video says "Install Ubuntu on Linux with no muss or fuss." The hell? "Install ubuntu on linux?" How does that make any sense? That's not what we're doing.
3) He keeps trying to say how hard burning a cd is. If you're THAT a LAZY that you can't burn a cd and do things properly, stop trying to use linux right now.
4) Tries to tell you that wubi requires a gigahertz of cpu.
5) Tells you to back up your data. If you had made another partition and not been a lazy freaking bastard, there would be no risk to your data.
6) Explains in no way how this wubi is supposed to work. You're an idiot if you go installing operating system stuff after watching a 2 minute video with no details.
I see no point in using wubi. Try a live cd if you're not ready to install linux yet, but otherwise, do it properly. If you're THAT lazy, should stick with windows.
(I used "you" and "you're" a lot, I'm not talking about the OP in particular, just people that what I was saying applied to.)
[post="110946"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]
Here comes the counter-rant...
1) Why, don't they do the same thing? All people want to do is try running Ubuntu on their computer, so they don't really care what each does unless it messes up their plans.
2) Haha, interesting catch. Must be a careless mistake by the creators of the movie.
3) A lot of things can go wrong while burning a CD. Also, you can render the CD obsolete by scratching it, you cannot insert a separate CD while running Ubuntu off a CD, you can lose the CD (especially if you have a million other ones), and not everyone has a perfect CD burning utility (the one on my laptop, for example, completely sucks).
4) It's probably only needed while you install Wubi. Also, blame the folks who uploaded Wubi and put those system requirements in the description, not the guy who is telling you how to use it.
5) Anything can go wrong when installing a new OS, so it is best to have a backup ready. I personally have most of my sensitive data already backed up on a USB flash drive, but the average user will want the backup when he/she doesn't know what to do.
6) The reason he only tells you how to install Wubi, but not use it, is because using it is different for every type of laptop. Plus, the average user probably doesn't have half the knowledge about computers that you have, so telling all kinds of technical information to the average user might confuse him/her and maybe even frighten him/her away from using the program because it is too complicated.
That being said, you didn't mention one point in your rant (yes, I am helping you here): malware can configure and corrupt your hard drive and therefore render Wubi useless if the wrong files are corrupted, while CD's are safe from all kinds malware because they completely consist of Read-Only memory. |
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Arcane Wizard
`semi-hippie`
Super Elite (Last Title)
Joined: 02 Jun 2003
Posts: 8993
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| Posted: 08 Aug 2007 04:18:47 am Post subject: |
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First of all, the mbr can be fixed in a gazillion ways, but you should know how to before that will work. Best Buy doesn't sound like they know anything and will probably do more harm than good, but if you really want them to fix it for you be sure to tell them to ONLY restore the mbr.
Don't begin with linux unless you are prepared to spend a lot of time to work on yourself and the system. Customisation takes time and experience.
Secondly,
1) No they do not do the same thing. Wubi install Ubuntu into a virtual disk and sets Windows to boot into it just like it would boot into Vista. A linux install CD would install, fix, or do 10,000 other things for it's respective flavour of linux exactly when where and how you want it to. Obviously a beta version of a new program that tries to install a rather volatile third party OS is going to mess up some plans, as evident by this thread.
2) Actually a very dumb mistake in this case because Wubi is precisly aimed at installing ubuntu in windows. That's it's sole use. Saying on linux is then a very dumb mistake-a to make-a.
3) Oh come on, the general public has been burning CDs since 98/99. Even my sister can do it with a number of different tools. That you have a crappy laptop with crappy software does not mean the general public, who's members are more aimed at burning things the way they want to and it actually working, has made the same mistake.
4) He works for cnet. He shouldn't be telling anyone how to do anything to begin with.
Last edited by Guest on 08 Aug 2007 04:20:53 am; edited 1 time in total |
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benryves
Active Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2006
Posts: 564
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| Posted: 08 Aug 2007 06:33:06 am Post subject: |
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For future reference, Virtual PC 2007 is freeware (a fast PC emulator). If you want to experiment with alternative operating systems (or just run your old DOS games) it can be quite handy. :)
Secondly; what you pay for with Windows is the license and product key, not the installation media. If you have an MSDN subscription (unlikely) you can download ISOs to create installation media if HP have skimped on it. Otherwise you can borrow a disk from another manufacturer as long as the versions match. Just use your own product key. Do NOT get a cracked version, as you have a valid license (the key will be stuck on your PC somewhere).
Last edited by Guest on 08 Aug 2007 06:34:50 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Arcane Wizard
`semi-hippie`
Super Elite (Last Title)
Joined: 02 Jun 2003
Posts: 8993
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| Posted: 08 Aug 2007 10:11:02 am Post subject: |
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Virtual PC 2007 does NOT support linux in graphics mode out of the box. You have to modify xorg.conf manually and hope that makes it work. It officially only supports dos, windows, and os/2. Not appropriate for experimenting with alternate OSes at all.
If you really need to at least get a real virtual machine like Qemu or VMWare which have always had proper free versions that actually do work and have cutting edge features. And haven't been bought up by Microsoft or Apple to market against eachother with the clueless consumer who loses out on features dancing around them like little puppets.
Also, Microsoft licensing does not work that way. Only with volume licensing do you pay for the license and key only, for regular home consumer licenses it's 1 original installation media per 1 PC sytem which may not even be upgraded too much. OEM distributors like HP and Dell sell Windows installations this way. Read the EULA. |
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Arcane Wizard
`semi-hippie`
Super Elite (Last Title)
Joined: 02 Jun 2003
Posts: 8993
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| Posted: 09 Aug 2007 05:07:19 am Post subject: |
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Also, with volume licensing you have to buy the systems with Windows preinstalled. You can not build your own PC and simply use any installation key to install Windows on it. It needs to have come with Windows preinstalled from an OEM so you can use a volume license you own OR you have to get Windows retail which is buying the installation media with a single key for that medium for one PC.
ANYthing else is piracy.
Last edited by Guest on 09 Aug 2007 05:10:04 am; edited 1 time in total |
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benryves
Active Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2006
Posts: 564
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| Posted: 09 Aug 2007 05:21:10 am Post subject: |
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Arcane Wizard wrote: Virtual PC 2007 does NOT support linux in graphics mode out of the box. You have to modify xorg.conf manually and hope that makes it work. It officially only supports dos, windows, and os/2. Not appropriate for experimenting with alternate OSes at all. I have only used three distributions (SUSE, DSL and Knoppix) with Virtual PC, but all three have perfectly run happily (and graphically) without needing to fudge around with any settings. I can't speak for Ubuntu, though.
With regard to licensing, I am not referring to using an OEM key on a different or upgraded system, nor am I referring to using said OEM key on your own hand-built machine. I'm referring to the case where you have an OEM machine that has Windows preinstalled but does not come with the installation media. Dell provide you with a Dell-branded CD, but I know on my hp they simply copied the CD to the hard disk, so to create an install disk I had to burn it to a CD myself.
If you could point me to the specific part of the EULA that states that you cannot use your license key (tied to your particular OEM machine) with an OEM disk for the same Windows version from another manufacturer, I'd be happy to be proved wrong.  |
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Arcane Wizard
`semi-hippie`
Super Elite (Last Title)
Joined: 02 Jun 2003
Posts: 8993
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| Posted: 09 Aug 2007 08:32:30 am Post subject: |
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When reinstalling you must do so on a completely wiped HD and use the exact same components as came preinstalled (and branded) by the OEM. You can of course reimage the disk or iso you got from them to make backups for example, but it must have all the same components as the original. You can't use another OEM's disks, a retail disk, or even later versions of the same OEM's installation disk.
Volume License is completely seperate from OEM and retail. |
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Computer Tech Support => Technology & Calculator Open Topic
