m7747c

[edtnemo]

I have had this system since 2006. I have lost the hard drive and do not have a reinstall system disk. Is there a way to get a copy so I can restore it legally?  I would like to restore it as I received it but would settle for the Vista operating system.

Thanks

[mdklassen]

I looked at: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00847342#AbT1

but did not see an option to either order or download a copy of Windows Vista.

> I have had this system since 2006. I would like to restore it.

Compare the age of your (now-dead) disk-drive and your computer to 10-year-old automobile tires.

Those tires probably have gone "bald", and may "blow" at any time.

I highly recommend that you buy a brand-new computer.

Or, if you are on a "budget", see  www.bestbuy.com  and do a search for "refurbished desktop computer".

You'll find some computers, running Windows 10, for barely 33% to 50% more than buying a "bare" license for the reatil version of Windows 10.  Money well spent, rather than spending any money trying to "repair" your current boat-anchor.

Finally, note that Microsoft officially ended all "support" for Windows Vista last month -- April 11, 2017.

So, having a computer running Vista, and being Internet-connected, is increasingly becoming a great "risk".

[edtnemo]

I understand the about age of the system.

I have already purchased a new system. I tried to buy another HP but for some reason my orders were cancelled each time I placed it. So I ended up buying a Dell which is not a very good system but I have it and am trying to use it for awhile.

I really was trying to get a cd to restore the HP like I received it. Even though it was older it is/was faster than the Dell.

I hate to scrap the HP since it is still a good working system (hardware).

I am not sure what I will do with it but I thank you for you input and help.

Thanks

Ed

[mdklassen]

> I hate to scrap the HP since it is still a good working system (hardware). I am not sure what I will do with it

You might want to install the UBUNTU variant of Linux, to run a "supported" operating system on that hardware.

UBUNTU includes FireFox as a web-browser, Thunderbird as an E-mail client, and free software that functions quite similarly to Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint.

UBUNTU runs quite well on hardware that previously was running Vista.

[mdklassen]

> I ended up buying a Dell which is not a very good system but I have it and am trying to use it for awhile.

> Even though it was older it is/was faster than the Dell.

Note that the first time that you connect any brand-new Windows 10 computer to the Internet, it will launch Windows Update in the "background", and that significantly consumes CPU/Disk/Network resources, while downloading all the latest security-fixes.  So, the computer could be "slow" until Windows Update completes, and reboots.

[edtnemo]

Thanks for the comment but this is not the updating. I have had the system for about 1 year and the things I notice are things like typing is sometimes delayed, screens are slow loading, and even when there is not much running the system acts slow. I have had a number of computers in my life and even though this one has four processors it is still very slow compared to the others. I have learned to live with it until I purchase another computer.

I may do as you recommended and scrap the m7747c since it is over 10 years old.

Again thanks for you help.

Ed

[mdklassen]

> I have had the system for about 1 year.

Thanks for the additional information.

> typing is sometimes delayed, screens are slow loading,

> when there is not much running, the system acts slow.

> this one has four processors

> it is still very slow compared to the others.

Those symptoms are not typical for any one-year-old computer.

Something is wrong:

* computer-virus ?  Download from 'MalwareBytes' and run a one-time scan

* failing disk-drive that needs to repeatedly "retry" each read or write operation?  Download the free version of SPECCY from www.Piriform.com and run it.  Expand its "storage" section, to look at the SMART statistics.

* overheating, causing the CPU to "throttle-down" to a slower speed?  SPECCY will report temperatures of motherboard, CPU, and disk-drive.

What is the rated speed of each processor?  The actual speed?

Number of threads per processor?

How much RAM?

Measure, measure, measure, using the "performance" tab of Windows "Task Manager"

At the bottom of that tab, start "Resource Monitor", and close Task Manager.

Drill-down to see the percentage of "disk-drive-busy" and "data transfer rate".

Drill-down to see which processes are using large percentages of the CPU.

Drill-down to see which processes are accessing the Internet.

Quick experiment: download UBUNTU, and burn it to a DVD-recordable disk.  It's too large to fit onto a CD-recordable disk.

Disconnect from the Internet, and boot from the DVD.

Choose "live CD" -- do not choose to "install" UBUNTU.

UBUNTU  will load into RAM, and will *NOT* "touch" any of your files.

Play with UBUNTU -- is it "slow" to respond to typing on your keyboard?

Is it "slow" to open FireFox, or the word-processing and spreadsheet-processing programs?

If it is "quick" and "responsive", it might be because it is not "touching" your disk-drive.

Slower experiment: buy a new disk-drive (or "repurpose" a spare disk-drive that you trust).

Disconnect from the Internet.  Disconnect your current disk-drive.Connect the new disk-drive. 

Install Windows onto this "test" disk-drive, and "test-drive" it, to see how fast your hardware really is.

Slower experiment #2: buy a new disk-drive from Seagate or Western Digital.

Download from their web-site (www.seagate.com or www.wd.com) their free "disk-cloning" software.

The SEAGATE software requires that the "target" disk-drive be made by that company. Ditto for the WD software.

Run the disk-cloning software -- probably takes 1 to 2 hours -- to make a "byte-for-byte" copy of your disk-drive.

If you get any "I/O errors" when reading from your original disk-drive, you have a symptom to work with.

If it completes successfully, boot from the new disk-drive, and see if your computer runs much better.

[mdklassen]

I forgot to mention: are you running some "add-on" anti-virus software?  A few people on this forum have complained that one such package (Macafee) consumes a disproportionate share of your computer's resources.  Uninstall it, and let the built-in "Windows Defender" be your anti-virus protection.

[edtnemo]

mdklassen, thanks for the info in your previous resopnse I will try some of it out. This next week is going to be very busy so it will take me some time to try them but just wanted to let you know I got them.

I had Macafee but it is not running now. This system has run slow since I received it so it may be some type of hardware problem. I have cleaned a few things up but nothing makes it run like the old m7747c run.

Thanks again for you help

Ed