d8z3d&C0nf0z3d Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Ok this is driving me bonkers here, i've found the guide that i wanted for creating a windows vista bootable install disk. but in the guide itself it states "this is what the pre-prepared directory should look like". ok thats wonderful and all but when i search for the files listed in the example, case in point, the boot file. I get three different boot files listed. A little help on which files with what contents needed would be nice. yeah i can find the individual files listed just by searching my computer but when it pulls up the results and there are multiples of the same file with different contents in each do i combine em all into one and put it in the directory i'm making for creating the install disk or are there only specific ones i need? Once i can narrow it down to what files with what contents i need i'll be happy to follow your guide for making the Vista bootable install disk so i can actually use the laptop i was given. I'm already irritated with that thing and don't feel like getting into it, suffice to say that when the company that made it got bought microsoft stopped supporting it and there are no sound drivers that work for it. so i'm saying screw it and reformatted the hard drive and installing the same OS thats on my desktop. only i don't want to screw it up and end up missing files. Took me long enough as it was to figure out it had bad RAM cards in it. anyways i'm getting off topic, please a little help in specifying which folders(containing what) i need to create the install ISO directory. Any help is appreciated even if it is pointing me to another forum posting, if that helps I'm grateful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIGHTNING UK! Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 The folders come off the original install DVD or from whatever you've downloaded from Microsoft's site (sometimes they supply a zip file). The guide isn't for attempting to build an install disc based on an existing installation of Vista on your computer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d8z3d&C0nf0z3d Posted April 8, 2012 Author Share Posted April 8, 2012 so what your saying then is there is no way to build an install from an existing install without downloading an ISO provided by microsoft or a 3rd party? Unfortunately I've already looked into downloading the necessary file from microsoft and other online parties and they require a payment of approximately $10. which normally I wouldn't bat an eye at but as I've just moved yet again for the third time in 2months my account is actually in the negative now and this is not an option. I suppose it would be too much to ask if there's a possibility of there being a free access website or link where i can obtain the required file? The entire purpose behind the need for the install disk as I stated before is simply that I would love to be able to utilize the laptop that I have been gifted, all it requires is an OS and I wanted it to have the same OS as my desktop to prevent any confusion in settings between the two. Sadly I'm extremely forgetful, however it seems that it's apparently necessary that if there is no way of obtaining this ISO file for creating the install disk then I may have to revert to a Linux OS. Even then I'm not sure I can ensure everything will work properly as I generally don't do software, i'm a hardware guy. So you see the desire for maintaining the same OS's on each system, I generally don't know what the hell I'm doing with programming... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIGHTNING UK! Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 That's correct. I'm sure you'll find some links to something that'll work with the key your laptop came with if you just search Google. It's just a matter of getting the right edition (Home Premium or whatever) and version (OEM I'd guess - rather than 'retail') Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d8z3d&C0nf0z3d Posted April 8, 2012 Author Share Posted April 8, 2012 Alright then, that's what I figured. I was hoping that wasn't the case but thank you for the help as well as the confirmation. I apologize for wasting your time with this matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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