The microsoft sticker placed at the bottom of the Lenovo laptop has worn off. Lenovo say I have to pay for my laptop to be shipped to them, and a new product key. Is that right?

Lenovo said there is no recovery media for IDEA G550 with Windows Vista and they sent a free of charge the installation CD/DVD for the operating system, but I need to download and install all the drivers needed from www.lenovo.com/support.

With regards to the product key that I need...I know Microsoft said I need to contact the manufacturer....I am just wondering what is the expectation? Are they expecting that the manufacturer will charge me for that?

I know others would have faced the same issue, so just wondering if the manufacturer charges for shipping the laptop, and for the product key?

Thanks

Thanks for the help.

There was no recovery disc.

It was all pre-installed, and that was all wiped off, and there was no way to get it back.

Lenovo recovery gave me a disc, and said I would have to install other components myself as for some reason they didn't have the right discs for me.

So, I am afraid I do need the recovery key.

Any advice about the actual key? Do I have to pay for it?

Thanks!

Knowing your product key may not be necessary. You have not given enough information to give advice on all your options.

Why do you need to know what the key is? Have you already attempted re-installation by some means?

Is the laptop still bootable in normal mode or safe mode?

Is there a hard disk based recovery solution for your laptop? This is normally accessed by hitting F8 twice a second immediately after turning on but may be different for your laptop. Please let us know the specific Lenovo model number.

Tricky

Hi,

You can see if this applies to you and if Lenovo will supply you with a Recovery disk.

You can contact Lenovo and ask them to send you a set of Recovery Disks.

They should do that for a small cost.

And if you never received a Recovery Disk when you purchased your Computer there should be a Recovery Partition on the Hard Drive to reinstall Vista back to how you bought your Computer.

The Recovery process can be started by pressing a particular Key or Keys combination at Boot. (Power On / Startup)

It may be F10, F11, Alt + F10, etc depending on the Manufacturer.

Ask them for the correct Key sequence.

And if you do have a Manufacturer's Recovery Partition on your Hard Drive, you should be able to make your own Recovery Disks from it to reinstall the Operating System.

Look under Programs > your Computer Manufacturer's name > then their System Tools or Recovery Software Headings for them, depending how it is worded.

If you can not find any reference to it, contact the Manufacturer for advice on how to make those Recovery Disks.

The above reinstallation methods do not normally require you to supply a Product Key during the Installation Process as the Recovery Process uses the Factory Installation Product Key to automatically Activate during the reinstallation process.

Cheers.