Hi,

I bought a computer a few years AGO which came with Vista pre-installed. I want to format the harddrive, but we dont have a Vista cd to re-install again. Is it possible to format the harddrive and to still have Vista as the operating system?Formatting means deleting everything. Unless the system has built in recovery partition you will need a Vista cd to reinstall VistaOk, how would I find out if the system has a recovery partition?

Also - should I not have been given a Windows Dvd when I bought the computer?The answer to both questions is the same: Contact the OEM or retailer.Most pre-built systems come with an option to burn CD's of the operating system for just such a case as yours. Check in your All Programs for that utility.

Alan <>< I don't really know what I'm looking for to burn a cd of the operating system....Do you know what the program might be called?You should go to the manufacturer's website and download the owner's manual.

It will INFORM you whether or not there is a recovery partition and how to use it.

It will also tell you how to back up the computer so you can restore it.What is the make of your pc? Dell, Hp, etc? If it's Dell it may come with a "system restore" disc and not one labeled "vista cd". Also, if it has a recovery partition then accessing it will usually be done through the startup of the pc. Like F2 or DEL keys get you into the BIOS, F11 may boot you into the recovery partition. It depends on your system. Also, it seems lately pcs are not coming with a restore disc or the actual os disc because they have the image ready to burn and expect you to burn it instead of them doing it for you. Last but not least you can usually order the restore disc from the pc MAKER. It usually costs about 15$. Let's SAY that you find thee is no restore partition.
If this is a standard desktop PC you can make an 'clone' of you hard drive.
You buy a new or used Hard Drive of the same type and about the same SIZE or a bit larger. Put the new drive as a 'slave.'
You use one of the 'disk image' programs to copy an image to the new drive.
Next install the new drive as master. Boot up. Next you 'prune' the drive of old programs you do not want. Delete user accounts that you do not need. After that you can use the defacement program to optimize the free space on the PC. The improvement in performance is about the same as doing a new install on a clean disk. Without an install CD this is the only practical option.