I have an HP Pavilion a6500f computer that I got from a friend because it stopped working. It's got some really nice hardware, and I'd like to use it. But it has some odd booting problems. Basically, I've done a lot of testing and decided the easiest thing to do is reinstall Vista on it. It has a recovery partition, but I've been unable to get that to work. Among a few other things, I tried using Hiren's Boot CD to boot miniXP mode and set the recovery partition as the active one, hoping that it would boot up from there and let me restore it to factory settings. (I read to do that online somewhere) Long story short, it doesn't work. Booting form the recovery partition freezes every time, booting normally gets past the this screen:
and then just gives me a blank, black screen that shows nothing and is totally unresponsive no matter how long I wait. There doesn't seem to be anyway to boot it into safe mode, none of the F1-12 keys give me the option. Trying to boot from the normal partition gives me option to try to repair my computer, but it just sits for a while, asks if I want to use a restore point, and then freezes after pressing either yes or no. Based on a few of the tests I've done, I don't think the HD is bad, it just has all of the boot data on both partitions messed up. But I could be wrong.
My main question:
I happen to have a Vista home premium x64 disc laying around, not anything that came with the machine though. I also have the serial key for the vista that was originally installed on the computer (likely a HP oem or whatever) Can I install the retail copy of Vista on that computer OK? Or will the key only be good for the HP oem build of vista, or something weird like that? I'm not worried about any data backup at all, I just want to get it in working condition. I'm pretty sure I can get Vista installed by wiping the HD and doing a clean install with my disc, I just need to know if the key is going to work with the Normal, "un-branded" build.
If you have any suggestions (even ones about how to get it to work without that other Vista disc) I'd love to hear them.
Thanks

and then just gives me a blank, black screen that shows nothing and is totally unresponsive no matter how long I wait. There doesn't seem to be anyway to boot it into safe mode, none of the F1-12 keys give me the option. Trying to boot from the normal partition gives me option to try to repair my computer, but it just sits for a while, asks if I want to use a restore point, and then freezes after pressing either yes or no. Based on a few of the tests I've done, I don't think the HD is bad, it just has all of the boot data on both partitions messed up. But I could be wrong.
My main question:
I happen to have a Vista home premium x64 disc laying around, not anything that came with the machine though. I also have the serial key for the vista that was originally installed on the computer (likely a HP oem or whatever) Can I install the retail copy of Vista on that computer OK? Or will the key only be good for the HP oem build of vista, or something weird like that? I'm not worried about any data backup at all, I just want to get it in working condition. I'm pretty sure I can get Vista installed by wiping the HD and doing a clean install with my disc, I just need to know if the key is going to work with the Normal, "un-branded" build.
If you have any suggestions (even ones about how to get it to work without that other Vista disc) I'd love to hear them.
Thanks
My Computer
System One
-
- Manufacturer/Model
- Dell Inspiron 1545
- CPU
- Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 @ 2.00 GHz
- Motherboard
- DELL - 27d90219 Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A05
- Memory
- 4 GB
- Graphics card(s)
- Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family
- Sound Card
- IDT High Definition Audio CODEC
- Monitor(s) Displays
- Generic PnP Monitor (DPMS), 15.3" (34cm x 19cm)
- Screen Resolution
- 1366x768
- Hard Drives
- Internal 320 GB Portable 320 GB used for separate storage of media, plugged into USB port as needed.
- Cooling
- Single built in fan
- Mouse
- Touchpad, + Logitech wireless mouse (USB)
- Keyboard
- Built in
- Internet Speed
- ~150 kilobytes/sec DL
- Other Info
- Usually have low HD free space left (<10 GB), often left on overnight. I really push its capabilities.