Replacing a defective vista system drive

[Guest]

I have a dell inspiron 530S desk top with a failing ST3160815AS hard drive. The system randomly fails and on restart I must choose repair instead of start normally. In the event that I must replace the drive, how do I reinstall Vista. I do not have media for visa as it came pre-loaded on the Dell.

reply to jjones6826@yahoo.com

 

[somemothersson]

Hi,

If you do not have your disk you can contact Dell for a re-install disk that will have the OS as well as all of the drivers needed for your computer. I think they charge something like $10, which isn't bad. You can call Dell Support at 1-866-243-9297. Be sure to have your Service Tag and Express Service Code Numbers with you as they will need them to get you the appropriate drivers.

Or ask around your friends and see if anyone has a vista home disk and install from there, then use a secondary PC to go to the dell site and download the all the drivers from: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~ck=anavml

Choose enter your service tag so you don't download incorrect drivers. However, if Vista is like XP then your COA number may not match up given the time of production of the disk you are borrowing compared to your COA. IE if you computer came pre-Service Pack 1 and the disk you are borrowing has the service pack included then the COA will not be accepted. But I am not certain on this.

Good luck.