Thanks Hilary again.

I've had another error message saying that 'the reason the upgrade is required ' the key is already in use' but I have been using it since the early part of the year!! -:( There are some articles about what you say, but very complicated.

microsoft are charging 450 Euros for a new key!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You should be able to buy an OEM package for < 100 but it will be limited to use on one machine and the key may not work on your system. In which case you would have to do a new install.

Back to my laptop for a moment, got the HP6715S and set it up with the twin screen option for father-in-law, all working perfectly. Whilst it's not the fastest machine on the planet it's more than adequate for what he needs. Cracking deal for 400 and there's the promise of 50 cashback.

I was cleaning up my Desktop and I guess I may have accidentally deleted the My Computer Icon and also my Recycle Bin.

My Computer does not appear when I click Start so I cannot move the version that would appear there (a well suggested fix) to the Desktop.

Right clicking on the desktop to get into Display Properties will get me the to customise desktop but the My Computer tick box is greyed out.

Last night Optimist asked whether I was logged in as Administrator (my Win32 problem). I thought I was and always have been - but I could be wrong.

Something is odd. I have no Recycle Bin in Windows Explorer.

Off line for a couple of hours now - but anyone with any ideas for me to follow when I get back. Please.

TP

hawick,

The idea of Windows XP and Vista is that it's one copy of the software for each PC. That also applies to other recent MS products such as Office too.

To prevent piracy, MS started putting the activation gizmo into their products whereby the user had 30 days from installation to activate the product over the internet. Basically MS send a little man with a torch down the telephone line to look inside the user's PC and match the components inside the PC with the serial number of the software which is then stored in the MS filing cabinet. When somebody tries to activate the same piece of software on a different PC, the alarm bell rings and that person gets locked out.

This was all very well, but some clever people soon worked out what MS were doing to their software to lock people out of using it multiple times and quickly developed some workarounds (known as cracks) to get users back into XP and Office. MS then went one step further with Vista and made it a more difficult to crack. It has been cracked nonetheless, and there are numerous websites which explain what to do if you've got a bit of time.

What I suspect has happened in your case is that the eBay seller has reformatted the hard disk and installed an existing activated copy of Vista onto the machine before selling it to you. I further suspect that he has cracked it for 6 months as that would roughly coincide with the dates that you mentioned above and there is a 180 days crack which is commonly used.

New machines with preinstalled operating systems generally have a sticker on them with the CD key of the operating system. Does yours have one?

If you don't want to shell out for a new copy of Vista, it is possible to re-crack Vista for another 180 days which you would then need to do ad infinitum. Alternatively you may want to think about changing OS to XP which is cheaper (and very easy to crack if you've access to an existing copy).

I have heard of people going into PC stores and reading the key off the sticker on the PCs as some have Vista installed but not fully activated.

My missing My Computer and Recycle Bin.

What an IDIOT !!!

Obsessed with owning any bit of software that looks as if it makes life faster I'd bought a thing from Uniblue called System Tweaker.

And, yes, it has the facility to hide both those icons.

Get a life TP - you've just wasted a good three hours of the current one.

TP

Haystack it did cross my mind!!!

Thanks for further replies, I came clean though, spent hours on the phone with Microsoft, to be fair really tried to help, , even doing registry changes etc, to no avail. \it seems I was sold a pirate copy.

Time to dip into the trouser pocket.............. -:(

I'm no fan of this habit of selling computers with preinstalled software but no damn OS disk.

I bought an Acer 7004 laptop from Laptops direct which included Vista a couple of months ago ... no Vista disk of course and I've no idea how to repair the damn thing if it went down ... it's certainly not clear from the 'instructions'.

Anyway, the damn thing was slow and vista had issues with some of my software - finally I had to connect it at one location to an adsl d-link modem - of course the d-link didn't support vista. Enough was enough and getting my old xp disk out I put XP on - of course I can no longer boot vista* but the machine now flys and I've had no issuses with software or anything else. I'm also confident of being able to repair the thing when it eventually goes t^ts up.

* I installed xp on a seperate volume hoping to be able to dual boot - but to do that I need the vista CD - which doesn't come with the damn thing!!

Just a rant but why do we let them get away with selling us an OS but no OS disk?

I would prefer to have installation CD's and agree that there is a large proportion of the computer buying public who's motto is 'Feel the price never mind the quality!'.

However, so long as you have your software keys, you can always borrow or download the installation disk. Also, as an example, in the early days of Win XP SP2 there were plenty of people trying to reinstall using the original pre SP2 disk. This was at best unsafe and if they had a more recent hard drive, then it would not work. In those cases, having the install disks could do more harm than good.

A far more worrying trend is that Microsoft are making it less necessary to look after the software keys, because if you change your computer you can't take the OS with you.

Gone a bit quiet so if anyone remembers this short conversation in October:-

"Any view on this Asus.

Bearing in mind my needs. Primarly something that I can display pictures on and a possible secondary benefit of a travellable mail and web site reader.

I see it is Linux but it says it is XP compatible. Presumably that means it would handle the camera download software.

TP


Optimist - 30 Oct 2007 11:40 - 6230 of 6409
I've taken a quick look at it.

It says that the hardware is XP compatible, so you would have to trash th O/S and install Win XP but it will be tight on disk space. In theory, you could run XP in VMWare on the existing O/S but I doubt that it has the power, memory or disk space for that. "

Just a note to say that I've found a web forum dedicated to this device here

I have a nagging feeling that this may turn out to be the new Libretto that so many of us took to about a decade ago. Solid state disk. Almost instant boot up. Small.

And from what it says an XP version should be available next month.

Just in time for Christmas.

TP

TP,

The Torygraph did a review of your Asus at around the time of your original post. I intended to paste the link in case you hadn't seen it, but it slipped my mind.

Thanks Hilary,

Quite a positive review.

TP

My ASUS has finally arrived - over a week late with unanswered e mails and phones along the way and minus the optical mouse. The tedious swop over proceeding as I write (190mb 0f microsoft updates alone!) so too early to comment but I will not be using the Batersea boys again (asuslaptop.co.uk).

k,

"but I will not be using the Batersea boys again (asuslaptop.co.uk). "

Sorry to hear that they let you down. Maybe they've changed hands. It's a minute little operation when you see it in the flesh.

You're warning is more up to date than my experiences.

Better luck with the machine.

TP

A mate of mine called in a panic getting a meesage "Explorer.exe Bad Image". From what he says it seems to relate to "windows\system32\browser1" - not a valid windows image...

I gather from general chatter that it could relate to a Trojan infection.

Can anyone help with advice to pass on? (Layman-speak please...)

TIA - :)

Hi Alan

I've never come accross that so I can't help your friend much. I did come accross this article which appears to deal with a similar problem but it's not easy and it appears to refer to a different file so may be irrelevant.

The first thing is to run a virus scan and try to get rid of any nasties that may be there. Also run "chkdsk /f " in a command window. This will indicate whether he has a disk problem.

Thanks Optimist. The problem for him is that the system will not load enough to
allow him to run anything like scandisk. None of the F8 options work when he loads.

He's a bit loathe to doa full rebuild in fear of losing his data - lots of family pics
etc.,

I'll do a bit more surfing for answers...

Alan

If the system will not start at all then you can't tell whether the file damage is caused by a virus or a disk problem.

Either way, the safe way to proceed is to buy a new hard disk and do a clean install of Windows. Once the new system is fully patched and AV installed, then mount the old disk as a secondary and copy the data from it (after virus scanning).

As a modern disk will be larger than 120GB, the new installation must be done from a Win XP SP2 setup disc.

I know that this solution is drastic, but at least it is straightforward and the end result is that your friend will have a machine that he can trust again.

Many thanks Optimist. I'll convey the good news.... ;)