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Starter pack

Download it on the computer.

A light, legal operating system for browsing and word processing. Not a cracked Windows installer. Not a phone number. You pay about $79 a year only if the computer is Ready — and checkout isn’t open yet.

  1. 1. On the old PC, or any working PC, download the starter zip and unzip it.
  2. 2. Double-click Start-Spareboot. It assesses the PC, then offers repairs, a driver scan, browse-and-docs software, and a light system.
  3. 3. Keep the phone steps beside you. A USB stick is only if that machine can’t download.
QR code for https://spareboot.com/phone

Steps on your phone

Scan this while you work at the computer. The same steps stay next to the keyboard.

spareboot.com/phone

What it’s for

  • A closet laptop or desktop from about the last ten years.
  • Browsing, email, and word processing — the job the machine still has.
  • A light system from the publisher’s own download.
  • Download the starter on that PC and run it. A USB stick is only the backup.

What it’s not

  • A Windows install, cracked or otherwise.
  • A gaming PC, a video studio, or a promise to make it new.
  • A phone queue. Help is chat plus a photo.
  • A bill for a machine that never gets Ready.
Download the starter zip

1. Download it, then run it

Sit at the old PC if it can still open a browser. If it can’t, use any other computer that has a network, then carry the zip over. Unzip the folder. Double-click Start-Spareboot.bat. Walk the path, or pick a step: assess, repairs, drivers, browse and write, then the light system.

Repairs wait until you type YES. The new operating system waits until you type READY. ABORT stops that step. The zip does not erase a disk.

2. Phone beside the keyboard

The QR opens the short steps on your phone, including the BIOS photo path and the USB backup. The same sheet is inside the zip as PHONE-SHEET.html if you’d rather print it. Do one step, then the next.

3. You pay only if it’s Ready

Ready means the machine boots the new system, reaches the internet, and a person can browse and type. If it can’t — or you don’t want to erase the disk — stop. The license is $0. The usual price, when checkout exists, sits between $50 and $100. We say $79.

4. Back up before you get brave

  • Copy off photos, letters, tax PDFs, the half-finished novel.
  • If BitLocker is on the disk, unlock it and copy files first. Don’t paste recovery keys or passwords into chat.
  • Plug in the charger. Old batteries quit at the dramatic moment.

5. Pick one system

Match the machine. Installing four operating systems in an afternoon is how a laptop becomes a hobby you didn’t want. Download the installer from the publisher’s own page.

6. USB, only if you can’t download

Skip this if the computer already has the zip. A stick is for the machine with no network, a drive that won’t mount, or a screen that never reaches a browser. Use a name-brand USB stick, 16 GB or larger. People usually reach for Ventoy or, on Windows, Rufus. If the stick won’t boot, try another port — a USB 2 port often behaves — and remake it. Then send a photo.

7. When you get stuck

Open Grok on your phone and say you’re with Spareboot. Send a photo of the screen, the BIOS page, or the sticker on the bottom. You get one next step. Do it, then reply with a new photo or “done” / “failed.”

8. When to stop

Swollen battery, a burning smell, or a machine that will not show a picture: stop. That isn’t a software job, and it isn’t a bill. We don’t flash a BIOS because a chat got confident, and we don’t want card numbers in the conversation.