HP Windows 8

SamIsta

Hey

I recently bought a new HP with Windows 7 preinstalled. It also came with Windows 8 on 3 discs, however on the discs it says 'Windows 8 for HP'. My question is can I use the discs to install Windows 8 on my other pc, its an acer, or does it have to be a hp?

Any info would be very much appreciated

Sam

riclad

NO ,i think they only work on a hp pc, no harm to try it though.
i have windows xp,for toshiba,and winxp for dell,cdroms.
doubt if they,d work on an acer pc.

SamIsta

Thanks dude

I am having awful trouble with my pc and I havent a clue what to do, which section do you think it would be place a post looking for some tips?

riclad

which pc hp,or acer?

riclad

http://www.lockergnome.com/windows/2012/10/31/windows-8-a-beginners-guide-for-the-bewildered-part-1-of-3-2/

Start menu win8,app.
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/141702-how-to-bring-the-start-menu-and-button-back-to-windows-8
free app,below
win8,
http://www.iobit.com/iobitstartmenu8.php 4meg .
for the acer,
you can install mint for free,
download iso,Burn image,
boot cd, click install mint.
EASIER to use than win 8, has a browser firefox,http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=38
see

SamIsta

So heres the deal....

App one year ago I bought a new PC, I really haven’t a clue about technology so a friend of mine purchased it for me. This guy is (was) a really good friend and I trusted him completely, he is my daughters godfather and we were mates for a long time. Anyway he got the PC made up by a guy who has a shop somewhere in Clondalkin, it cost me 500 euro with monitor. He told me its an Acer and it’s a high speck, great pc, very fast etc etc. Straight away I was having problems with it so my mate took it away and did a job on it. He gave it back to me with a new windows 7 OS on it and a rake or programs. After a short while I start getting messages saying my OS isn’t legitimate, then the bloody PC start freezing. For the past few months it’s just sitting idle gathering dust, when I turn it on I just get a blank screen. I can’t even get into safe mode because when I try to it gets stuck on loading files. My mate lost the receipt so I couldn’t bring it back to shop, and I of course lost my temper with him and we are no longer mates. A few time I have been tempted to just throw it into a skip because the thoughts of spending any money to get it fixed makes me shudder. I was either sold a total piece of crap, or else his dodgy programs completely messed it up. Oh yea, when I run the windows repair thing it tells me I have a bad disk.

Should I just bin the damn thing?

riclad

my advice is install mint linux on it,
easy to use,has a browser, music player,
OR else put an ad on adverts,ie ,pc for sale.
burn iso mint,660meg,takes 20 mins to install.burn speed ,options set 2x,
burn on 1 cdr.

if you are not a tech, open case, take photos of cpu ,and motherboard.
THE DRIVE HD, maybe full, or mobo,cpu could be overheating,
or YOU may have a virus,or 2, or 3 virus,s.
http://www.wikihow.com/Install-Linux-Mint,

mint needs about 5 or 6 gig free space on hardrive,
click,ok, make partition,ok,
it,ll leave windows as is,
it gives you acess to all your files,
you can try it,
boot from cd ,it loads into ram,

if you like it,click,icon onscreen,install mint.

yoyo

SamIsta wrote: »

So heres the deal....

App one year ago I bought a new PC, I really haven’t a clue about technology so a friend of mine purchased it for me. This guy is (was) a really good friend and I trusted him completely, he is my daughters godfather and we were mates for a long time. Anyway he got the PC made up by a guy who has a shop somewhere in Clondalkin, it cost me 500 euro with monitor. He told me its an Acer and it’s a high speck, great pc, very fast etc etc. Straight away I was having problems with it so my mate took it away and did a job on it. He gave it back to me with a new windows 7 OS on it and a rake or programs. After a short while I start getting messages saying my OS isn’t legitimate, then the bloody PC start freezing. For the past few months it’s just sitting idle gathering dust, when I turn it on I just get a blank screen. I can’t even get into safe mode because when I try to it gets stuck on loading files. My mate lost the receipt so I couldn’t bring it back to shop, and I of course lost my temper with him and we are no longer mates. A few time I have been tempted to just throw it into a skip because the thoughts of spending any money to get it fixed makes me shudder. I was either sold a total piece of crap, or else his dodgy programs completely messed it up. Oh yea, when I run the windows repair thing it tells me I have a bad disk.

Should I just bin the damn thing?

If you believe a repair shop used counterfeit software during the repair of your Acer you should let Microsoft know, they may even give you a Windows 7 license foc as a gesture.
If the laptop was not repaired properly by the shop you also have the small claims course route, particularly if you paid via card the shop should have an account of this payment. If you paid by cash, and it is possible your OS is pirated, contact Microsoft about it.
Your HP Windows 8 disc will only activate the HP machine, it wont work on other machines

Nick

riclad

make sure vga cable, is connected, tight all the way in to monitor,and vga port,or dvi port at back of the shop.

MAYBE leave it in to pc repair,he,ll look at it ,see is there any hardware fault on it,
whats the model,no,eg acer 570 gk.?
SOME pcs have recovery,mode, eg reboot pc, press cntrl,f11,
or cntrl,f5 , restores os to drive c.formats drive c,deletes all user data.
MINT is an os ,livecd,
eg boots from cdrom,into ram, you can copy,delete,or check windows files,folders without install mint
I don,t see how you can complain to Microsoft.bout a pc,if you have no receipt or proof of purchase.

my tv,broke down,i lost receipt, the shop,dixons fixed tv,after 11months.1month left on warranty.IT TOOK them 4 minutes to look up my pc no,
on the stock,invoice pc in the store,in dublin.
cos i brought them the serial no,
each pc has a serial no,on a label,
UNLESS the pc is handbuilt,custom pc, shop will have a record of the purchase,serial no.
eg acer serial no, plus bring in a note, serial no,plus windows license key.

SamIsta

Thanks all.

I think its for the skip, but many thanks for the info.

yoyo

SamIsta wrote: »

Thanks all.

I think its for the skip, but many thanks for the info.

Binning it would be a waste of money, the issue could be as simple as a broken hard disk. Does the machine have a Windows license affixed to it like:

If it does not and the repair shop did not provide you with installation media/an external license cert they may have used a pirate version of Windows. This is something Microsoft would be interested in knowing about.
Do you have the specifications of the machine to hand? It may be worth spending some money fixing it that just dumping it, as I said if you were sold a counterfeit copy of Windows you may receive a complimentary license from Microsoft after reporting it. If you have a license sticker on the machine post here the exact version the license is for, for e.g: "Windows 7 Pro OEM" or similar and we can then advise

Nick

riclad

PUT it on adverts,ie, photos,of cpu, motherboard, you,ll probably get 350euro ,for it ,if Its a REAL high spec pc,eg intel5 or intel 7 cpu.
ITS possible your friend is abit stupid,or a bit dim,
when i started building pcs, i made a few rookie mistakes,
before i got the hang of it.
he may have installed,loads of programs, it could be a simple thing like a loose power cable to cpu, fan, causing the p to crash.
MANY pcs come with no install cds, theres a recovery win7 ,partition on the hardisk.
i bought a hp pc,new ,no manual,no cds,pc unit,keyboard,mouse,thats it,340 euro.
everything is on drive,c.its not a high spec pc,cpu is 1.6ghz.
I click start menu,make win7 recovery cds,3, thats it,took 20 mins.
i tried em they work.
cntrl,f11, installs win 7 on drive c, if the disks don,t work.

OR give it to a charity shop,remove drive first ,
dont want someone getting your bank account,credit card info.
from the hardrive,

riclad

OPEN case, on rear of pc,
remove,data cable,power cable from the hardrive,
remove 4 screws ,that hold drive into pc case.
take out drive, dont leave a pc, with a drive in a skip,or public place,
ANYONE with a linux cd,can read all the data, credit card info,serial nos,,banking info,password to online banking .
you dont need to be a hacker,to do this, linux cd, bypasses all windows,accounts,passwords.
i think your friend thought ,hes, doing you a favour,
ITS probably a very good pc, with a loose cable, or a loose graphics card,
ie a simple technical fault.MAYBE overheating problem.
I bought a brand new sony,laptop, in a large pc shop,in dublin, for 2 months,
it displayed message ,this copy of win7 is not genuine.
i did windows security updates, the message disappeared.

TRY open the case,
remove the main pc, power cable first, take out bios battery for 4minutes.
this sets bios back to factory settings.

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000239.htm

place back battery as before, with writing 12, 3volt logo,facing upwards.

riclad

LOOK on www. adverts.ie for sale,
you could buy a pentium 4 pc, 2gig ram,dvd/cdrw cpu 2.0ghz dual core,
would be fine for webrowsing, music, youtube, internet use,
if you need a 2nd pc.
plug into your monitor from the acer pc.
cost 70-80 euro
http://www.adverts.ie/towers/dell-dimension-4300-base-unit-p4-1-70-cpu-ram-1-gb-nvidia-video-card-64mb-attached-60-gb-hard-drive-dvd-drive-windows-xp-no-offers/2639445

http://www.adverts.ie/desktops/dell-vostro-220s/2800859
nice pc,windows 7 pro.installed.
100 euro..

SamIsta

Hey All

Appreciate the advice so far.

Yoyo: no there are no stickers whatsoever on the hard-drive, no markings on the outside. When I turn on the pc the screen flashes the following: AsRock H61M U3S3, I read somewhere that thats something to do with the motherboard or something. The monitor is AOC. I did get a disc with the pc, it says: Intel series user manual, drivers, utilities. I tried putting it in hard drive to see if something would happen but it didn't.

(ha ha I know how dumb I sound here)

Riclad: I really don't feel confident doing anything with Linux, don't even know what it is, but check this out...

When I go into safe mode it starts to load files but freezes every time on: DRIVERS/AVGIDSHA.SYS. I read on a forum that this is malware, soemone else said its an AVG malfunction. Also when I run the windows repair it says Bad Disk.

I just want to clarify that the windows 7 OS was put on the pc by my mate, not by the guy in the shop. My mate bought it without an OS as he said it would be cheaper to put it on himself, he also out on lots of stuff I didn't even want and didn't know how to use, like Utorrent, cracked copies of office (I do know how to use that), and rakes of other crap that I have no use ofr. I am a sociologist, I do a lot of qualitative and a little quantitative research so I just wanted a half decent pc to run NVivo and SPSS programs.

I dont know if any of this sheds any light. If any of yee know of a decent repair shop please do let me know, somewhere I wont get ripped off, I just need to know if the pc is any use at all or how much it would cost to get it up and running.

Once again really appreciate your time and advice.

SamIsta

Also one other thing: I remember when my mate was setting it up he said there was 80MB of memory used up and he hadn't a clue what was on it, it had him baffled, he couldn't figure out what it was about and reckoned it must be corrupted or something.

Is getting a new disk a big deal? Costly? If someone could fix this for cheap enough it would be great, I paid the shop guy 500, and paid my mate 100 for putting all the stuff on it, damn I could have had a good Medion for that price, I had a medion laptop for 6 years and it never broke. I loved that Aldi bought laptop, ha.

HelpWithIT

As the mod said...the "shop" should have put a certificate of authenticity on the PC for whatever license came with it..if your fiend isn't willing to follow this up then you have two choices...go to the shop in Clondalkin and insist on them giving you the media and the label of Authenticity (btw all system builders with the exception of the major brands have to buy OEM media which consists of a Operating System CD/DVD and it will have the license key also) or you will have to buy the license and activate your copy of Windows...there are too many coybows out there selling systems with counterfeit software

SamIsta

Just ran the system repair thing again and it said this:
Problem event name: Startup Repair Offline
Problem Signature 1: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 2: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature 3: unknown
Problem Signature 4: 60
Problem Signature 5: Auto Failure
Problem Signature 6: 1
Problem Signature 7: Bad Disk

riclad

as i posted before ,you could buy a pc ,for 100 euros, ,with windows on it,license key label on the side. ,
on it adverts ie .
Most pcs , have 2 or 3 partitions ,on drive c;
setup by windows install process.
intel cds ,are motherboard ,drivers, HOLD ON to em,
you can install most programs ,winxp,win7
then acess desktop mode to use it,
ILL post back here
http://www.pcworld.ie/Product/WESTERN-DIGITAL-Internal-25andquot-SATA-Hard-Drive-500GB/304405/128.2
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/zxue/archive/2012/03/07/win8-howto-1-switch-between-metro-ui-and-desktop.aspx


Windows Key + T – Dumps you back to Desktop Mode and cycles through your open windows on the taskbar.


see link,above, press windows key,on keyboard, 4small squares, logo ,on key , to switch pc,to normal ,
lower part keyboard,near alt key.
4 black,or white ,rectangles.

http://www.simplehelp.net/images/winkey/windowskey00.jpg

ON lower left side,on most keyboards.

desktop mode.
thing is you an buy a pc unit ,with windows ,on , it. no monitor, pcworld, 350 approx,
with pc license key, label,
genuine windows os.
key is use ,d as part of install process, IF os reinstalled is needed, eg if you get a bad virus.
press windows key to acess desktop mode,

win 8 starts, in app,mode, like a tablet,large icon s etc

riclad

You could buy a pentium 4, laptop,on adverts.ie 2gig ram,dvdrom, cpu 2.oghz,
90 euro approx, 15 inch screen.
i dont know if it would run the programs listed ,in your previous post..

riclad

http://www.qsrinternational.com/products_nvivo_system-requirements.aspx

FROM above,i think you ,d need A PC or laptop,
pentium 4 ,at least 2 gig ram,
xp,or vista with SP2 update, or win7, win 8 os installed.
laptop can be plugged into your monitor using a vga cable , from laptop, vga port,
All laptops have vga out port.

TRY reboot, hold f8,wait for menu safe mode, select directory services restore mode,use up,down,arrow, enter key to confirm choice.
this fixes win7 bootup files repairs them,works 90 per cent of the time.

the win7 ati driver file maybe damaged,this controls the ati graphics card video output.

you can also try safe mode,f8, VGA MODE,
this uses standard video driver built in to windows 7,
LOADS windows 7 os ,even if the ati grahics driver files are damaged.

you can install any windows program,press windows key,go to desktop mode,
put install cd.dvd in the drive.

the chances are that hardisk would be fine,
if it was formatted,again,
using format command, format c;/,
if you had an win7 dvd,you could put in dvd, click install win7,
setup,ok, et,
IT WOULD check the disk,then format it, win 7 install takes 30 -40 minutes,
depending of cpu,speed,ram memory, in the pc.
it checks disk, to make sure disk,drive c; is usable for an os installation .

BostonB

Drop it into a PC repair shop to get it set up again.

Not really sure why you'd bin something possibly worth a bit of money.

riclad

Use,ing a LIVEcd ,Mint os,you reboot pc, put in the cd,mint boots up,from there ,

USING the menu,file manager ,you can acess any files or folders ,
on hardrive,drive c;/
SEE Quote;
Re: Transferring files from Windows to Linux
by Lennac on Sat Mar 16, 2013 5:49 pm



Generally they will show in file manager and you just click on them and they will mount and give you access.
Then you can transfer files. Boot backup with live CD and run gparted which will allow you to manipulate your partitions.


Boot up to your linux desktop then it will be there for you to use and add back your personal files if you wish.
.

Menu,file manager is very similar to windows xp, or vista,
click,system ,icon,
click,computer, icon, drive, c;.,open,explore,
folders,my documents etc.
uses,mouse,keyboard,
alot easier to use than Windows 8,in my opinion.

IF you want to pm me,an adress,in dublin, i,ll post you a cd, tommorow,with mint os on it,
IF you think that is appropriate

You don,t need to be a super tech expert ,to use mint menu,file manager,,browse drove c,/ windows, user ,my documents,

or to copy and delete files,folders, as You wish.

Cuddlesworth

riclad wrote: »

Use,ing a LIVEcd ,Mint os,you reboot pc, put in the cd,mint boots up,from there

WTF are you on about? In all your posts.


OP, motherboard model you posted is relativity new, so the machine should be a decent enough spec.

From what you have said so far, if the check disk on windows indicated the drive is faulty combined with the OS/system freezes, it would appear the drive needs to be replaced and the Operating system re-installed.

Base cost would be around 50 Euros for a replacement drive and 100 Euros for a genuine copy of Windows. So you can add another 50 at least for a shop to repair it if they are fairly priced.

Its up to you if you would want to replace it or if its worth replacing to you. Personally I would shift it on Adverts for 200, take the 200 you would have spent on repairs and buy a low end laptop.

riclad

http://www.elara.ie/productdetail.aspx?productcode=MME8037PU9
you could buy windows 7.
The hardrive may have a few bad sectors,
IF you turn on pc, put in win 7,Install dvd run setup, it,ll check disk,
format the disk,install windows 7.
Basically it,ll format the drive,install windows 7,
if theres a small amount of bad sectors.

A livecd, is a cdrom, with an os, that boots up from cd,
into ram ,memory,
from any pc, Allows you to look at the disk, drive c.
AND copy files, or delete files,
or even check the drive partition .


quote;
Due to manufacturing tolerances and the nature of the technology involved (a physical disk), there will inevitably be sectors that do not function as they should. The HDD firmware (its embedded software) knows this, and these bad sectors are automatically taken out of use and remapped to one of the spare sectors that are specifically provided for this purpose (these sectors do not count towards the nominal capacity of the drive, since they are only called upon for this purpose).

It should be pointed out that even on brand new drives of the highest quality will have some bad sectors, and that whilst drives can be upwards of 99.999% bad sector free, they can never be 100%. And that includes the HDDs user by many of the world's biggest servers, such as those used by Google and Microsoft themselves.

As regards the LBA errors, I think that these are just sector reference locations for where a sector has failed and has been marked bad.

EG if bad sector count is less than 0.1 per cent ,
the chances are you,ll be able to do a full
WINDOWS 7, install ,and use the drive as normal.

OF course ,you could sell the pc, on adverts.ie ,and just buy a new pc unit,
pcworld 350 euro,
With a genuine windows os install, with a proper label, with a license key on it.

You may find windows 7 alot easier to use than windows 8.

Even if you leave pc in a repair shop,
the chances are at some point ,
You,ll need to buy a genuine copy of windows ,
with a license key, to install on the hardrive.

FROM your post ,re hd test info,

YOU may need to buy a brand new hardrive to install windows ,on that pc,
i cannot be sure ,from the info provided,
To be honest.

riclad

http://www.dban.org/download

http://www.dban.org/

You need to use free program ,to format,erase all data,on the hardrive,
if you decide to sell, it,
Otherwise all, info re credit card, bank info,,email passwords,
account info,password would be avaidable to anyone who has acess to
the pc .
Any linux cd ,can acess the files ,regardless of any passwords, set by windows operating system.
OR else remove the drive from the pc,before selling it.

SamIsta

Hey All


Once again many thanks for all the info and help, I appreciate the time it takes to give such detailed responses, you guys are really great.

Riclad: I took the following advice from you...

"TRY reboot, hold f8,wait for menu safe mode, select directory services restore mode,use up,down,arrow, enter key to confirm choice.
this fixes win7 bootup files repairs them,works 90 per cent of the time."

I did that about 3 hours ago and for the first time in ages I actually have a blue screen, though all it says is Welcome with a little spinning circle, ha better than nothing I suppose.

I have two questions:

1) If it does let me have access to the desktop at some point I am going to uninstall all the programs that my mate put on it. I will then buy a legit copy of Windows 7 and install it. Will doing that delete the dodgy copy of Windows 7? And if the new copy wont install then can I still use the legit copy at a later date or will I need a new licence?

2) The link to Dariks Boot and Nuke defo sounds promising, is it possible to save that software to a usb or something and stick it into my hard drive to wipe it clean?

As you know I have no idea if I have a physically damaged disk drive or not, but as you say it may not be so doing this stuff might just work...or not?

Looking froward to your reply

Sam

HelpWithIT

Riclad.....you got any skin left on those fingertips??? (-;

riclad

no,skin left.
i,m down to the bone,
ok, to get serious,
it may have a virus,stops windows loading,
try f8,safe mode,last known good configuration,

Try safe mode,vga mode,
eg if grahics drivers for pc dead,faulty.

it,ll use win7 generic vga driver.
your previous posts,mentioned,ati- sumthing,points to grahics driver problem,
maybe.


1, if copy wont install you can install it on any pc anytime,
as long as you have license key label, or just photograph the vcd box,label.


as far as i know it puts old windows files,into folder,
old windows,.
C. ;/ ,OLD WINDOWS

UNLESS you go for install method, install,format drive c;/
eg it erase all files,music,photos,user docs, windows install file.

Default process is format c;.erase all files.
format drive c;/


unless you specify,in install process,menus,
use existing media ,
DO NOT FORMAT drive./ media

i presume you are buying win 7 premium, 32bit version,

theres home,pro version avaidable too.

riclad

there many programs that delete ,erase all files on drive c.
I,.ll look around and post back later.

its easier to just download iso,file,dban,from that link.

Burn image to a cdr disc, blank cd, cost 20 cent,
then put cd in acer pc,reboot,it should load up in 3 minutes or less. .
you can copy the file to usb,then put it on another pc,
or burn file fro usb to a cdr disc.

Use imgBurn free program to burn image,
burn image command,browse to image, set options,burn at 2x speed.
takes 3 to 5 mins to burn the cdr disc.

I,M LOOKING for a program thats easy to use ,for a non expert.

riclad

try f8, safe mode,low resolution mode,

then try f8,disable driver enforcement,

if all else fails try f8,safe mode command prompt,

when black screen with cursor appears,
type exactly this, on the line below,eg bootrec comma
BootRec.exe /fixmbr


Press enter key,to perform command
BootRec.exe /fixboot

press enter key again, wait 3 minutes,
cursor blinks,its finished.
or it may say process complete 100 per cent.

.Wait til it says,ok,or cursor flashes,maybe 3 minutes.

or try bootrec /fixboot and bootrec /fixmbr


use fixmbr command, press enter,
then try bootrec /fixmbr



reboot pc,does windows load?

use the axact syntax in above commands,eg big b,big f

i used those 2 commands last week to fix a windows 7 pc,
it worked.

command prompt is a black screen, where you can put in command
fix win7 files ,,etc get windows to load,see,
http://www.stillnetstudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/windows7-cmd.png

type commands then press enter ,to perform the command.


then reboot pc see does it load ,in normal,or safe mode.