My laptop is running like shit and i want to completely wipe it and reinstall vista home basic i tried burning a recover cd online but i just get an error message when i try and install, can anyone please tell me how to do this, thanks!
Our repair CD ISO is not a free copy of Vista. It contains no Windows system installation files, just a recovery environment for fixing a broken boot.
If your system is still running, you should be able to factory reset using the standard OEM facilities built in to your laptop.
There might be a recovery section on your start menu, or a recovery partition accessed by Fkey at power-up, or recovery CD(s) provided with the PC (or ones you can make yourself from the recovery partition.)
It depends on the make and model.
Check your user handbook, or the OEM website for instructions, like these for HP PCs