Hello everyone. I have a Sony VAIO laptop model VGN-FW41E but it also says model PCG-3H1M on its underside. Not sure which is correct to post. Anyhow, here is my complicated scenario. I would super appreciate any feedback!
My husband bought me this laptop 5 years ago as a gift. I made a backup from the beginning on 15 CD-R's. I do not recall if it was a system backup or file backup, as I failed to clearly write which kind of backup it was. Mistake #1. The next 3 years, I never had any problems and always made sure to keep my antivirus updated and computer clean and defragged when needed.
Then, last year, I let someone charge his phone through my laptop, and after that came serious problems. Mistake #2. I let my husband take my laptop to get it fixed, Mistake #3, and he had the tech reformat my laptop and installed a questionable Windows7 (which I never asked him nor wanted him to do). What I want is to reinstall my genuine Windows Vista (which I only have the CD key since a disk did not come with the purchase) and I want my computer back the way it was when he bought it with all the awesome programmes it had already installed. How can I do this from the backup I initially made a month after I received my laptop? I tried restore from disc and had it set to boot first, but nothing happened. Then, I tried restoring from the restore and backup help section and chose to restore the files from the disc. It allowed my to restore 1disc, but none of the other 14. Kept saying wrong media. So frustrated by then, so I figured if I could somehow reinstall Vista, would my back-up files be recognized? Help! I am new to all of this!
My husband bought me this laptop 5 years ago as a gift. I made a backup from the beginning on 15 CD-R's. I do not recall if it was a system backup or file backup, as I failed to clearly write which kind of backup it was. Mistake #1. The next 3 years, I never had any problems and always made sure to keep my antivirus updated and computer clean and defragged when needed.
Then, last year, I let someone charge his phone through my laptop, and after that came serious problems. Mistake #2. I let my husband take my laptop to get it fixed, Mistake #3, and he had the tech reformat my laptop and installed a questionable Windows7 (which I never asked him nor wanted him to do). What I want is to reinstall my genuine Windows Vista (which I only have the CD key since a disk did not come with the purchase) and I want my computer back the way it was when he bought it with all the awesome programmes it had already installed. How can I do this from the backup I initially made a month after I received my laptop? I tried restore from disc and had it set to boot first, but nothing happened. Then, I tried restoring from the restore and backup help section and chose to restore the files from the disc. It allowed my to restore 1disc, but none of the other 14. Kept saying wrong media. So frustrated by then, so I figured if I could somehow reinstall Vista, would my back-up files be recognized? Help! I am new to all of this!
