How to run through a quick clean install of windows 7 and my hard drive as I believe I have some nasty root-kits. All I need to know is where I can download windows 7 again - I have product key). And some basic steps doing the clean wipe. Also could you take me through partitions and how to do one? I want my hard drive completely clean restoring my system.
View 19 RepliesI have a pretty basic desktop computer (CQ5600Y) that broke down on me recently. I haven't owned it for more than a year. All I know is that I left my computer on for a few hours and when I come back to use it, it was responding very, very slowly. It took 5 minutes just for an icon on my desktop to highlight after I clicked it just once. As a result, I shut my computer off by holding the power button and then turned it back on.
When I turned it back on, it will show the Compaq start-up screen with the option for Setup, Boot Menu or System Recovery. I can get to Setup and Boot Menu, but not System Recovery. If I press nothing during this time, the computer will just turn into a black screen with a blinking cursor and the statement, "Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk and Press Enter". I have a Windows 7 installation disk and the system recovery disks, but neither seem to work.
When I use the Windows 7 installation disk, I choose the Windows Setup mode. It then goes to a "Windows is loading files..." screen and I assume it is loading files from the disc. It then asks me which language, time and currency format and keyboard or input method I would prefer. I choose accordingly and press "Next. I then choose "Install Now.." It states that "Setup is starting...". I then get through the licensing information and press "Next" and then I choose Custom so that I can install a new copy of windows.
This next step is where I am stuck. A window pops up with the title "Where do you want to install Windows?"
It also states that "No drives were found. Click Load Driver to provide a mass storage driver for installation." I don't know where to go from here. I assume I need to load a driver, but what driver am I supposed to load? When I click "Load Driver" it asks me to "insert the installation media containing the driver files."
I have inserted the recovery disks (there are 4 of them + one supplemental disc) and searched through them, but I couldn't find anything. What exactly am I looking for? All these file names are foreign to me. Am I looking in the wrong discs? Are there drivers I am supposed to download from some website? If so, what should I type into google in order to find the right drivers?
Presently running XP home, want to install Win 7 Home Premium. I have two internal drives , one [c drive has all the programs] the second drive [d has all the documents, pics data]. Can I safely do a clean install on c-drive without backing up the data on d-drive.
View 8 Replies View RelatedOn my home computer, I have 2 physical drives. One hard drive has a single partition (D:) and the other (newer) drive has two partitions (C: and E:). Unfortunately when I first purchased this computer, the technician mistakenly installed Windows XP onto my older hard drive (D:) rather than installing the OS onto the desired C: drive.
The main problem that I am having is: Can I perform a clean install of Windows 7 onto C: drive even though my current OS (Windows XP) is installed onto D: drive? P.S. I have already backed up all files that exist in all of my partitions and would like to format all of the drives (C, D, and E)
drive spaces: C: = 40gb D: 200gb E: 200g
make a dualboot comp by adding windows XP to a new partition. I created the new partition with 20gb. (From the 500 of my actual harddrive)But before I actually installed on that, I got distracted with a second harddrive that my dad got(for no reason). It had a full copy of Windows XP backed up on it from another computer, so I figured I would just use that for the dualboot. I plugged it in (wired the same way as my old harddrive, but different data slot), restarted, checked the harddrive in explorer - all the data was there / reading correctly / etc, and I used 'easyBCD' to add the new harddrive to the boot list.(Which, of course, crashes if I try to start it. I just wanted to see what it would do). For a reason I can't remember, I unplugged the second harddrive for a bit, started the computer on accident (I don't know if anything loaded before I shut it off), and then when I plugged it back in.Windows 7 would not launch. It goes to a DOS-like window, except it's just a flashing _ and it never does anything even after a few minutes. XP didn't work still.. so I decided to reinstall XP (as I couldn't tell which harddrive was which on the list, I unplugged the main harddrive while installing onto the new).. and when I did this.. it formatted and installed fully... then restarted.. then restarted.. and restarted.. and just kept restarting, never showing any thing past the manufacturer logo/BIOS load-button-message-thing. So, I then try to use my 3-disk Windows7Recovery disk(burned myself with a program apparently included by the manufacturer.) It installed fully, appearing to work.. but when I launched it, it said "Invalid Partition Table" and wouldn't boot past that. When I insert my driver installer disk, it gives me a basic DOS window thing. dir A: shows the files in the disk. dir B: for some reason shows the same. C: says "Error reading from drive C: DOS area: general failure". All other letter:'s just say "invalid drive". (I'm doing this with both harddrives in.) I attempted connecting the harddrives to an old computer, but it gave an error for both. (It detected the harddrives, but said it had an error reading from it. Windows Explorer asked me to format it... {i'm willing to format one of the drives if anybody thinks it will help, but the old harddrive has data I'd prefer not to lose.} ) Looking on google, I saw several problems that all have similar problems (less overdescripptive than I am though) but none of the fixes suggested worked for me. Also - as I have two different with different errors, I only need to make one of them work.)Also - my other available computer has a CD burner / floppy drive if either are required. I also have several USB's. The computer can boot from USB's and CD's (tested), and I could easily take the floppy thingy and connect it to the computer.also - this computer is probably still under warranty unless unscrewing the hard drive voids it. .. does that count as modification of the computer?
View 5 Replies View RelatedI have a HP Pavilion dv9800. It came with Vista and one 250 GB HDD. I added a second internal 250 GB SATA HDD. I got the second drive formatted and so it showed as a second drive where the HHDs are displayed. I didn't have any Vista OS software on it (to my knowledge, as far as I could see) but I could use the drive for extra storage, etc.I went to add Windows 7 with an install disk. I would like to simply replace Vista with Windows 7 and have the second HDD usable as extra space, so it would serve the same function as it has with Vista. However, when I used the install disk it asked me which drive I wished to install Windows 7 on. I installed it on on the second HDD only, so now I'm running Vista on the C: drive (and it's on D: Recovery too) and Windows 7 on the drive added second. can I replace Vista on C: (and D) and then use the other added HDD for storage, etc? In other words, I want only Windows 7 OS on this machine, but want to be able to use both drives, with a similar configuration as I had with Vista.
View 4 Replies View Relatedinstall two hard drives using windows 7
View 1 Replies View RelatedI bought an HP desktop about 2 years ago with vista 64 bit on it and it has been crappy ever since. I've had problems with programs not being recognized, things not installing at all when they should, and it freezing up for no good reason. Anyway, I went out and bought Windows 7 ultimate the full version. I saved the few files I have on a jump drive and I want to completely wipe out the hard drive and install windows 7 and start from scratch.
View 9 Replies View RelatedRecently did a clean install of windows 7 on my laptop but when I finished the install, I noticed that there still 158 gb used space on my hardddrive. Is this normal? I thought I had reformatted the entire system as i don't have aceess to any of my pre-existing files...
View 2 Replies View RelatedI have a new computer that runs Windows7 64 bit. I have an older computer hard drive that has XP.I needed something from the old hard drive and hooked it up with the cables from the Windows 7 hard drive and it booted up and ran. I've since gone back to using the Windows 7 hard drive.How do I proceed to add that second hard drive running XP to the new computer so I can have the option of running either OS? I've read through some posts, but they all presume you are installing the OS to new clean hard drives, not have them already installed.Is it as simple as hooking the XP drive into the computer as a second drive and booting it up? Do I need to change some external setting on the hard drive to have it recognized as a slave? Will Windows 7 automatically change the boot to recognize the second OS and allow a choice at startup?
View 7 Replies View RelatedI purchased an Inspiron 15R today and wanted to do a clean install of Windows 7 right out of the box. I'm using a Windows 7 disk from another machine.I formatted the drive and all of it's partitions (recovery etc.) and installed the OS. After booting though I get sent to an error screen that tells me Windows had an error starting up and that I should choose a way to startup with the usual safe mode etc. No matter what I choose it sends me to this screen. So I booted from the disk again to attempt to format and reinstall, but now I have no disk drives to install to.
I have run a diagnostics check and nothing seems to be wrong, the HDD is still being recognized in the BIOS. What can I do to get my HDD back and showing up in the install destination options?
What do I do now? I decided to replace my existing hard drive as I thought it was damaged due to viruses. I installed a new hard and then used my Windows 7 Ultimate DVD to install. I got as far as the above. If this question has been answered somewhere else on this site
View 3 Replies View RelatedCan we install same OS in different hard drives?
View 2 Replies View RelatedI'm installing Windows 7 on an older PC. It was running on it before but my hard drive bit the dust. When I boot from the install disk and go to install it, there are no hard drives listed and the message says "No drives were found. Click Load Driver to provide a mass storage driver for installation."
It's an old Dell Dimension 8300 with a couple WD hard drives in it, a 250GB and a 500GB. I could get the model numbers if that's necessary.
I'm doing a clean install on my computer, and it's going alright until it asks me to choose which hard drive I want to install Windows 7 on. Apparently I have 2: a C drive and a D(Recovery) drive.What should I do in this situation? Should I just install on the C drive, or should I do what it says here: Partition the Hard Drive in a Windows 7 Install and delete the partitions and create a new one.
View 7 Replies View RelatedI have download windows 7, backed up all my drivers and copied all my important info onto my external Hard drive and am about to try and clean install windows 7.
But do i have to partition the hard drive? My Dell laptop has a 110GB hard drive which came already partitioned. 10GB is called 'Recovery', do i need to do the same and make a larger partition and install Windows 7 or just leave it as it is?
I decided to replace my hard drive because it seemed to have viruses that were making it run incredibly slow. I put in a brand new hard drive and proceded to run the Windows 7 Ultimate disk. I got as far as the beginning of the actual installation (after telling it what partition to put it on) and it ran for a few minutes and then I got the errror message 0x80070057.
View 2 Replies View RelatedI am getting an error "cannot install" 0x80070714 when I try to install windows 7 into a clean disk and the installation just stops..
View 3 Replies View RelatedI just installed Windows 7 build 7068. 64bit.I have an Asus P5WD2E-Premium mobo, and 5 Western Digital Hard drives of various sizes, all SATA.Windows recognizes only 2 of the drives, the c drive of course, and only 1 of two WD 400gig hds, which are identical.I know this may be a mobo issue, but, wasn't sure about Windows 7.
View 9 Replies View RelatedRecently, my ancient desktop died on me. I had some stuff stored on the main C drive (40 GB) and some on an external 1 TB drive. I put the 40 GB HD in the external module to upload it to a laptop with a 360 GB HD. I would then like to transfer that 40 GB to the 1 TB drive. When I plug in the external with the 40 GB, it appears that the Windows 7 machine does not read it or pick it up. It recognizes it as an external device, but not as a drive.
View 14 Replies View RelatedI recently completed my first build within the last two weeks. After tinkering with everything for a while I decided to pull my HDD out of my old Dell and use that as a backup.
I then got to thinking about how it might be useful to install Windows on each hard drive and use whichever one I want for whatever I want to do with the computer. IE: One HDD will be only for games and the other HDD will be for everything else I want to do. I've done a few searches and found conflicting results. To add to this problem I returned my Gygabyte MOBO for a different model. I know I will have to reformat my current HDD that Windows is installed on. So here is the twist.
When I get the new MOBO hooked up I want to use my old Dell HDD as my primary HDD because it is bigger. Since Microsoft thinks Windows is installed on the other HDD and different MOBO what will happen with I install it on a new HDD and new MOBO? It would be essentially the same as installing it on a different computer which is obviously not something Microsoft wants happening. How is this done?
Now, given that I get that to work can I then disconnect my primary HDD and plug in my second HDD, boot from disc and install all over again. I have no problem going back and forth disconnecting and connecting which HDD I want to use when i boot up if I cannot have them both hooked up to the MOBO, but I assume I can and will just choose which to boot from in BIOS. I do not plan on moving data between the two drives as I will use an external HDD for any data backup that I might need.
I built a new PC and I have my old hard drive. What I would like is to install windows 7 on each hard drive and at start up be given the choice of which one I want to start up. Is this possible and if so how is it done. I did a search and I don't think I know what this is called because while I get the impression from other threads that it can be done I can't find out how. So when the PC powers up I want it to give me the choice of using HD1 or HD2 and each HD having its own windows on it that is completely separate from the other HD.
View 11 Replies View RelatedI can not select my boot up drive anymore from my two hard drives, two OS pc. Both drives are SATA drive, but one of them appears as IDE in Bios. What is going on here?
View 1 Replies View Relatedim going to install an ssd (and run windows 7 from it) and would like to be able to keep my old hard drive with (exsisting windows 7 installation) for a few days till i sort out what i want to copy.if i select the ssd as the boot drive then i should be able to look around in the old hard drive?? or am i wrong
View 7 Replies View RelatedI'm working on a re-install of all components following a complete corruption of the boot sector on my drive which could not be fixed with repairs. The last time I installed everything fresh, I had no issues. Between then and now, there have been no hardware changes on my system, but now I am having issues installing the IDT Codecs. I keep getting an error along the following lines: Quote: ExitError: Error=Device Object not present, restart the system and run setup again. Running under compatibility mode, and running drivers from both the motherboard CD and the manufacturer website both have the same effect. The CD, when booted, says "This OS not support!" and only contains 32-bit vista codecs. ECS' website download indicates the IDT drivers as being compatible with Windows 7. Both do not work. It is almost as if the hardware "disappeared," despite the fact that I was using the drivers quite successfully till just 2 days ago, when the boot sector went kaput.
Windows has installed its own default set, which do nothing to power the 8mm jacks which I use with my speakers, but instead put sound through the HDMI, which is useless because I use a dedicated graphics card. I have tried uninstalling this codec and re-installing IDT, to no effect. Windows replaces with its own default codec.I have referenced this thread here, but offered solutions do not seem to work for me: Intel IDT Audio Driver will not install
Does anyone know whether there is a difference in performance between doing a clean install of Windows 7 vs upgrading Vista? Any better stability? I'm just wondering whether it's worth the trouble of the clean install.
View 3 Replies View RelatedI picked up a used computer that has vista. I have an extra hard drive with windows 7 on it. Is there something I need to do other than swapping out the hard drives? Replacing the vista hard drive with the windows 7 hard drive. When I did this, the pc will automatically run system repair. I get patch prevented the system from starting Windows 7 will not start on the pc, so is there something else I must do?
View 1 Replies View RelatedI have some questions about window 7. I want to switch two hard drives from a different computers; one mechanical and one ssd. The problem is they both have window 7 os 64 bit oem editions. Is there any legal way for me to accomplish this? And if a an alternate universe me does it regardless, what is the potential consequences it might face?
View 1 Replies View RelatedI was running Windows 7 and I decided to test out Linux Ubuntu so that I would know what I was talking about with the OS. The disc run was pretty bare bones so I decided to install it onto my system. Bad news is that it completely messed up Win7 somehow and I was pretty much forced to do a re-install of my Win7 installation. When I went to re-install to fix the lag errors, it says I can't install on any of my hard drives because they have been all changed to ext3 format by Linux. I have no idea how to change them back to NTFS format for Windows. is it possible to format my hard drives back to NTFS using the command prompt that is in the Win7 install disc?
View 4 Replies View RelatedI have a M2010 running Windows 7 ultimate using raid. I was wondering if I put in a hd in the secondary spot if I could add XP Pro and dual boot. I have some things that work better under XP. I put my old laptop drive in and set the bios raid to auto detect/ata. It booted to 7 and installed drive E:. I didn't change any Matrix software settings so it's a raid/non raid setup.
View 9 Replies View RelatedI have (2) internal hardrives in my current pc, what i want to do is install a separate Win 7 OS on each. I have read that you unplug the main hardrive which already has the Win 7 OS on it. And I proceed to plug in the other hard drive, but my pc never allows my to install the Win 7 CD Rom Install disk. I keep getting the "No Boot Device Available error" It sees the hard drive and the CD Rom when I try to click on either i get the No Boot Device Available Error. When both Hard drives are plugged in there is no problems windows boots fine. How can I get the second hard drive to install the CD Rom so I can have (2) separate OS systems on the two hard drives. I am using a Dell Precision T3500 if that has anything to do with it.
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