How To Wipe Clean Laptop And Re-install Windows 7
Jun 8, 2011
My laptop completely crashed. I took it to my cousin and he completely wiped it clean and put a dell recovery disk into it (its an acer aspire 3000). Well he couldn't find the license key to 'activate' windows. Then the laptop screen broke and started working the other day. Anyways, I want to put windows 7 maybe on a dvd-r. I read somewhere that you have to get a license key hence expire like what happened before. I do have a dvd burner in this computer. So:
1. Where do I download windows 7 iso.
2. How do I put it on a dvd-r.
3. How do I completely wipe the laptop clean without logging into it because as I said windows expired and I cant use it.
4. How long will it take.
5. How can I make sure it wont expire and everything will work fine on it.
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Mar 11, 2012
I have a drive with 2 partitions 450GB each and a 100GB partition which I use for files shared on a SVN. Currently I am using windows 7 home premium but I just got Ultimate from a friend who gave it to me as a gift. Can I install ultimate on one of the partitions and leave the rest untouched? I have important files like documents/spreadsheets for work and family photos on my primary hard drive that currently has home premium, I use the other partition for easy organization of all my games. So my question is that is there a way for me to install ultimate on that second 450GB partition and then delete windows boot files and everything from the other one to make ultimate the only bootable partition? If not then are there any cheap external drives, preferably eSATA, that I can use because I am on a budget?
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Oct 31, 2012
wipe my hard drive clean of everything (including my current installation of windows 7)I currently have a dell inspiron 1545 running windows 7. I bought it new and I think with Windows pre-installed. That hard drive crashed, so I got a replacement one and that one did not come with any CDs or DVDs.First question:I've read that nowadays that most manufacturers don't ship disc's, but rather deposit recovery partition on the hard drive.If I create a DVD with this recovery partition will it be exactly the same as if I buy a new windows installation disc?
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Apr 30, 2012
Would like to know what the proper way to go about formating hard drive and reinstalling windows 7 all I have is the repair disk, data back up disk & the Image disk i got the dell laptop from bestbuy and geeksquad did the set up well actually 3 weeks ago my motherboard and processor took a crap and it was replaced but i dont have a windows disk and actually had to get a program to track down the cd key but i dont have any dell software installed in here and its missing to many system files to run down. so i fifgured i would just "start over".
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Jun 14, 2011
tomorrow I will be getting my new HP laptop, I want to do a clean install of Windows 7, which i know how to do.
to get the full functionality from the laptop after do i simply got tp the HP website and download the drivers and install 1 by 1? do i need to do them in any particular order? HP Pavilion dv6-6051ea this is the model i am getting,
From experience I remeber on my old Sony Vaio once I had done this, things like hot keys did not work and the battery life was just terrible after and it heated up even more!! dont want any of these things hapening to the new laptop now! or should I just remove software that I dont want.
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Sep 12, 2012
My girlfriend and sister have laptops, gf has a dell(i know, it was against my advice) and sister has a Acer. Both complain of bloadware, understandably so. Can i use my windows 7 home "premium" disc to install a clean install and use their valid product key? It is a full retail copy that i have legally purchased from a chain retailer. Their laptops have the product key sticker from microsoft. they both have the same version, Windows 7 home "premium." Also, could i install a (small form factor) ssd and then install windows? there is an available drive bay. ]
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Feb 20, 2012
I had encountered problems with my laptop and wanted to start a fresh so I tried to install windows seven again and got all the way through the installation up until the completing installation phase then after about fourty minutesi received an error of what I beleive said windows has encountered a problem restart the computer and restart the installation and when i tried to boot I got an error after the setup is starting services screen that says the computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error windows installation cannot proceed, and when I restart I get stuck in this loop, I have my bios set to boot from cd drive but if I do not press any buttons it shows four different windows 7 listed, I am completely stuck in what to do, i have a dell Inspiron N5030.
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Nov 3, 2012
So I made a mistake while taking on a friend's problematic sony vaio laptop. They were wanting to install a newly purchased Kaspersky av, but after uninstalling the old version of Kaspersky there was a problem with an unresponsive usb mouse & mouse pad. I wasn't able to resolve the issue through various repair programs and manually reinstalling the driver, which was giving off the error code of not being properly installed or functioning. With owners consent, I decided to let Vaio Care to bring the computer back to factory condition. (I wish the owner had the owners manual to this thing.)I made sure to backup all of the files that the owner needed saved, but failed to make any sort of backup recovery disk for the computer. Not sure if it's too late to do so, but the computer will not boot to windows any longer. I get a white blinking cursor on a black background immediately after Vaio disappears from the screen upon bootup, but cannot do anything with it. I made a windows 7 home premium iso dvd, and when booting from it I reinstalled windows onto one of the 3 partitions on the hd (the largest of the 3 which was labeled "Primary" type). Of the other two partitions, one was labeled "Primary" and was named "System Reserved" but only 101MB, and the other was labeled "System" and was named "Recovery" and is 7.7GB. When installing, the computer does a restart but then boots up from the disk again starting the entire process over again. So I changed it to boot from the HDD, but still get the same problem of a blank cursor and windows not booting up.When attempting the System Recovery Options on the Windows 7 dvd I'm given 3 different partitions (2 of which are 400+GB, labled windows 7 operating system, and located on (D: ) Local Disk). I'm guessing this might stand for the old windows 7 from the factory, and the one I installed. The other partition is 7.7GB and labeled Start VAIO Recovery Center located on (Unknown) Recovery.System Restore, System Image Recovery, and windows Memory Diagnostic aren't doing any good. Startup Repair only gives me an issue for one of the 3 Partitions, the (Recovery Partition), and states that Startup Repair cannot repair this computer automatically, saying that the "Problem Event Name: StartupRepairOffline".
When going through command prompt I see that old data & drivers are still on the disc, but was wondering if it was too late to make some sort of a recovery disc for it? My concerns are that when I do a wipe of the drive and a clean install of Windows 7, I'm going to have many issues without having sony's factoryware installed. Am I able to make my own disk to reinstall Sony's factoryware? What's the best way of getting this computer back to fully functioning?I have access to the drivers on Sony's support site: Sony eSupport - VGN-FW510F - Support
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Nov 17, 2012
I want to wipe my hard drive becuase over a couple of years it has become a lot slower and i want to try wiping it before i start upgrading it. How can i compeletely wipe a disk but and then re-install windows on it without having to buy a new one. i don't have the original windows disk on it. Do i use the recovery disk, or do i only wipe the non-os partition.
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Dec 28, 2009
Yesterday I purchased a new laptop (Dell) and I am debating whether or not to do a clean install of Windows 7 to get rid of all the crapware. I am assuming this is the best course of action and if so is there anything special I need to do outside of just reinstalling and wiping the partitions? I have yet to open the box so I am not sure how much junk is preinstalled but I'm assuming it's quite a bit.
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Apr 25, 2011
I have a new laptop on its way and my friend suggested for me to to a clean wipe/format and then reinstall Windows 7 so that all the useless softwares that comes with the laptop can be deleted and I can have a fresh start with the laptop. So my questions are considering my situation, which would be better, to wipe or format? And what are the procedures for the doing so, and also reinstalling Windows 7?
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Oct 10, 2009
Paul Thurrott (Windows 7 Secrets) recommends a clean install on a Vista system. Since I have a HP dv9000 Pavilion Entertainment Laptop Computer, it is capabable of running Windows 7. I have ordered the upgrade version of Windows 7 Professional (since I have Windows Vista Business).
My concern is that with a clean installation, I will lose the installed HP programs that came with the laptop (HP Connect, HP Advisor, etc.). What is the best way of getting those programs. HP technical support was absolutely of no help.
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Mar 19, 2012
I have a old laptop that I installed w7 on. I was getting slow, so I wanted to get it so empty as possible. I have backed up all my files. Now I want everything to go, and start with a virgin windows 7.
When I installed win 7 it saved all my files to windows old (as it should) and all programs are left int c:/programfiles/.
How can I get rid of everything? I tried clean in the diskpart command. But it says it cannot(because of having system files on it).
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Oct 10, 2009
Whilst my sister and family were away this weekend I offered to install Windows 7 Home Premium (x86) on her Toshiba Equium L40-10U laptop.
It was previously running Windows Vista Home Premium, however as it was infested with all kinds of nasties I figured I would kill two birds with one stone.
Anyway, I downloaded the ISO from Technet and burnt it to DVD, updated the BIOS on the laptop (worked fine) and proceeded to install Windows 7 (fresh, not upgrade, completely wiped and started from scratch).
Everything went fine, went through setup and logged on, Windows Update kicked in, perfect.
Had a play around and the machine was running like a dream, so I started installing stuff. As I didn't require ANY extra drivers I installed the RTM version of Microsoft Security Essentials first. I then moved on to Spybot - Search & Destroy etc.
When I restarted the machine it started to boot and got to the Starting Windows screen, however the Windows animation didn't appear, I waited, and waited, and nothing. Restarted again and it went to the Startup Repair option, did that, found nothing, restarted, and again it was stuck at the Starting Windows screen.
I rebooted and tried for Safe Mode, which very weirdly failed, it said loading and again just sat there.
Failing that I figured either bad install and/or bad burn. Re-dwonloaded ISO, burnt new DVD, reinstalled. Did the same again.
I decided I would give it a quick clean just to be safe, so I gave it a blast with some compressed air. Tried again, installed fine, Windows Update fine, first restart and it was dead again.
I have since tried installing without letting Windows Update connect, no joy, I then ran CrystalDisk to check the HD and that reported as all fine.
I'm going to leave it running Memtest overnight/overmorning and see what that says, whilst I download Windows Vista in the hope that if all else fails I can revert to that.
So, can anyone shed any light on this or offer me any help?
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Aug 30, 2012
I bought an ASUS laptop and it came with no disk. I not only do not want the bloatware but I want to switch the HDD out for a newly purchased SSD. How can I do this? I want to use the license that came with the laptop
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Oct 29, 2011
I was triying to wipe my HDD with diskpart >> clean all to overcome "Windows could not configure one or more system components" issue which I post to technet forum afew days ago.But I have some concerns about wiping process. Most of the notebooks are being sold with hidden partition which contains OEM Windows 7 and required driver files for a clean systems recovery. That partition made hidden by the manufacturers as factory defaults. I was wondering if diskpart can handle with this hidden partition?If not, that won't be a actual wiping the HDD that may reason of the issue mentioned in the link.
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Nov 18, 2011
Lately i got myself a new computer. I use the wrong OS to install and installed Window XP and Got a BlueScreen mid way. Later i realize there was a Disc containing Windows 7. when i Put the CD in it does nothing. My Pc load all the way up to a black screen with a blinking underscore and stay there. I cant type and can only restart the PC.
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Dec 29, 2012
I ve got a dell laptop that has a password on it and is the ex adminstrator and i need to know how to either remove them or reset back to factory
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Dec 29, 2012
I ve got a dell laptop that has a password on it and is the ex adminstrator and i need to know how to either remove them or reset back to factory
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Aug 7, 2011
I have a Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit laptop and upgrade key for Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. I want Windows 7 Professional 64-bit clean install in this laptop. How do I do it?NOTE: I also have EXE/ISO file from previous win7pro64 upgrade in a different laptop from win7hp64 (bought the key and downloaded the file from digitalriver).I also have got a 120 GB blank SSD. Can I do this clean install of win7pro64 in this SSD? How?
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Jan 14, 2012
I want to install Windows 7 on my lap top. I have the C.D. It says that it is loading the files but when It boots up it goes back to XP.
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Feb 13, 2013
I am getting an error "cannot install" 0x80070714 when I try to install windows 7 into a clean disk and the installation just stops..
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Jan 30, 2012
I'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
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Feb 3, 2010
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.
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Jun 29, 2010
I have seen a lot on clean installs but all guides are from like 2009. Is clean install still a way to install windows 7 with upgrade disc on a new hdd? since i have a hdd with vista on it and i have the licence how do i install 7 with the licence and a black hdd?
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Jan 31, 2010
I'm an IT student who got a free Win 7 x64 disk from my school, and I am unable to do a clean install. My system specs are as follows:
Intel Core 2 Duo 3.12 Ghz
nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX 512 MB PCI-e
320 GB Western Digital HD SATA
1 Gb DDR2 1066 MHz and 2x2Gb DDR2 1066 MHz SDRAM
I set my boot sequence to boot from DVD-ROM drive first, and HD second. It goes to the "Windows is loading files" screen and gets hung up. I started the process and went to watch TV for an hour, and it is still on the "Windows is loading files" screen. I haven't gotten any error messages. I've unplugged all USB devices from my computer as I have seen on this forum that it has worked for some people.
edited to add: I originally had only 2 Gb of RAM, and it got hung up at the "Windows is loading files" screen. I thought it was getting hung up because I didn't have enough RAM, so I bought brand new 2 sticks of 2 Gb RAM. I took out one of the 1 Gb sticks and placed both of the 2 Gb of RAM...for a total of 5 Gigs. And, it is still doing the same thing.
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Apr 6, 2012
i've had enough of 7, I use my PC for music and after months of installing/uninstalling/re installing/researching/driver checking etc. i've decided i'm just not going to get things working with 7.
I have my XP disc and i'm ready to do a clean install, but i'm struggling to get it going... what do I do!? Inserting the XP disc brings up the autopay but the option to install is greyed out, which I understand as it's a step down. However, when I press f12 on booting to try to boot my pc from disc it just locks on the boot menu. What can I do to get a clean install of XP going?
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Jun 18, 2012
I have been having numerous problems over the past wk. The firewall won't stay on, can't do windows updates etc. I have run Vipre as my anti virus and also mbam and superantispyware and everything is coming back clean. Today I decided to just backup my documents etc and then do a clean install. Now the problem is that the DVD burner doesn't show up in the BIOS. It shows up in my computer and it's running fine. If I format it out of the computer can I get windows to install from that DVD drive?
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Aug 10, 2009
i wanna Format my C:/ drive and Clean install Windows 7 beta..
im inserted W7 DVD and restarted my computer.. bt doesn't Boot From Windows 7 DVD .My first boot Devise is DVD rom.second Boot Devise is HDD...
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Feb 26, 2010
I didn't notice until I tried 2 burns. Then I resorted to downloading elsewhere and after 3 more downloads I got the right file(verified by hash) for 64 bit Windows Pro English. Burned the iso to my thumb drive fine, seemed to install fine and fast on this system: [code] Have 2 500GB spinpoint F3s in raid 0 and 1(setup in bios correctly and in raid menu bios fine)190GB raid 0, 375GB raid 1 using Intel raid after mostly done with install it said it had to restart so it did, but since I used a USB thumb drive it tried booting from that again instead of finishing install. I redid the install after fixing partitions and it seemed to go fine this time I removed the drive when it restarted. I was actually finally in windows 7!After installing a couple drivers I needed I restarted then things went bad.Could no longer enter windows normally because once it loaded the screen went blank.It automatically installed gfx drivers but the monitor drivers aren't installed and I was incapable of installing them after 1-2 hours trying to figure out a way. Monitor didn't show up in device manager.Monitor is an Acer2051w.I could get into safemode and try to mess with stuff.I was able to uninstall video drivers then boot into windows normally but it would automatically install the same driver and I wouldn't be able to get back in again. Automatic driver installation was off by the way.
So I couldn't fix this so I decided to reinstall Windows 7. The install went through fine, said it had to restart to finish up and after restarting the screen would stay blank forever. Doesn't seem to be installing properly now.So I can't get it installed again, and when it was it wasn't working properly. I have the monitor drivers even but no way of installing them so Windows is screwing up setting a bad resolution/ settings for the display that I can't fix hence the blank screen issue.
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Apr 11, 2011
I have a retail Upgrade DVD for Windows 7 Home Premium which I purchased. I did a clean install by wiping my hard drive using the format partition option on the Windows 7 DVD. I had Vista installed on the HDD before the upgrade so the installation program could "SEE" that I had a qualifying version of Windows to validate the upgrade key.Activation was successful.Now, I want to start a clean slate. However, I don't have Vista installed anymore, just Windows 7.Can I reinstall with an upgrade key on a blank, reformatted hard drive? Will activation pass?Or do I need to reformat with the installation program on the DVD?Finally, I made an image of my Vista operating system before I upgraded, do I need to restore the image so my Win 7 DVD can once again "SEE" the qualifying Windows version?There are forums out there that say different things, yes you can, no you can't, well it depends.
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