I have a HP Pavilion dv7t-1000 CTO Entertainment Notebook PC 64bit with Windows Vista Home premium
Recently I had a friend take it and wipe it to start fresh. when I got it back it is still pointing to a bizarre path..?? (which is one of the reasons I wanted to start fresh. It points to:
why would this be the case? When I got it back I see that some things like my extra monitor was already installed.. (Before I even hooked it up??) and some folders I had renamed example folder.OLD was still here. (and many other things that lead me to believe it did not get formatted correctly. (and could still have virus?)
He used my factory disks. (which I do have)
can anyone advise me on what is going on?
thanks so much!!
I've had a bunch of HP machines. But I never used the restore. I'm not sure if it formats or just installs over what's there. It may leave files and folders that are in subfolders of programs that come bundled with the machine assuming it's data or something. The path looks fine to me. That %SystemRoot% stuff is just a way to use environment variables in case the system is not installed on C:\Windows.
If you really just want the OS and not the bundled software see the threads about ISO download for Vista. You can evaluate for 90 days perfectly legally. There are also tutorials how to extend the evaluation by 30 days.
I've had a bunch of HP machines. But I never used the restore. I'm not sure if it formats or just installs over what's there. It may leave files and folders that are in subfolders of programs that come bundled with the machine assuming it's data or something. The path looks fine to me. That %SystemRoot% stuff is just a way to use environment variables in case the system is not installed on C:\Windows.
If you really just want the OS and not the bundled software see the threads about ISO download for Vista. You can evaluate for 90 days perfectly legally. There are also tutorials how to extend the evaluation by 30 days.
No I have never used RESTORE myself... I was talking about re installing windows .. not roll back to a earlier time as I always have that disabled. (that causes huge problems...) I thought the path should be set to program files and program files (x86) for 32 bit programs?
also why would drivers for hardware that I have not hooked up already be installed?
I really dont want a 90+ day trail of windows... I already paid for this one...
(Unfortunately I did not realize it was crippled version..(HP's version) of windows...
I had been spoiled to having my own CD and a real copy of Windows not pre made version..
(I know I started different than most.. LOL)
not being able to mess with video settings in the bios and having all this bloatware is new to me and I am not happy with all that...I was shocked to see what MOST people get when buying a pre made pc...
anyway... thanks for replying!
It's been awhile since I ran the HP program to install the bundled software. I.m not familiar with the options. I would think there would be a clean reinstall where the disk would be formatted. But perhapd there;s a no format option that your friend used. There are HP support forums where you should be able to get an answer specific to your HP model.
Hopefully somebody with a simialr HP will chime in here.
Nothing unusual here.
PATHEXT is also quite ordinary.
The PATH environment variable specifies a number of folders that will be searched when you enter a command on the command line. This saves you from having to enter the full path. A path to the program files folder itself would be pointless as it does not contain any files, only folders. An application may add to the path variable if it wishes. Most do not.