I just got windows 7 home premium and before i install it i want to reformat vista. How do i do this? I have a toshiba laptop.also, when i do this and i put the windows 7 disk in what do i do? do i just follow instructions?
i have a retail upgrade version of windows 7 professional x86 am i able to format the hard drive using the disk...i dont want to use it to install windows 7
MS makes it clear that using Windows 7 Upgrade disk with XP requires a clean (Custom) install, which most people assume means over the same XP. This can be done, and places your files in windows.old for redistribution. This is only an option for Vista, since you can do an in-place upgrade which reinstalls your programs, files and settings.
You can also direct the clean install to another formatted partition or second primary formatted HDD which allows for a cleaner install. The problem is that you may still have XP in the first partition on the same HDD, which you probably will not want for long, and a laptop is hard to connect to a second HDD. Plus, an OS in an outer HDD partition takes a fraction longer to be read by the laser.
But there is a way to install from XP with an Upgrade disk to to a clean formatted first partition. Here is the way I did it:
Use a Partition manager like Paragon or Easeus to copy your XP partition over to a partition other than the first (or install XP to another partition) then use EasyBCD to Add it to the Boot Menu if necessary.
Now comes the hat trick: Boot into the new XP partition and use Disk Management to mark it active, then go to Control Panel>Folder options and show hidden system files. Make sure boot.ini, ntldr, and ntdetect.com are in the roots of both OS drives so you can boot back into XP later.
Now delete and format the first partition using Disk Management (or Easeus) from the XP desktop, then without rebooting install WIndows 7 to the first partition. After install, you can copy files over from XP via explorer and then hide or delete the XP partition, because you now have the best operating system ever and it's installed on formatted metal from an Upgrade disk.
Be sure to use Windows 7's great new imaging backup to image your installation after you get it like you want it, so you'll never have to reinstall again.
I have a Win 7 OS on my laptop but I had Vista before and got the Win 7 through an "upgrade" disc and key that came with it.I want to format the HDD and reinstall my OS but I don't have any OS discs other than the upgrade disc for win 7 (i.e. i dont have the vista OS disc seeing as it was pre-installed on the laptop and is on OEM version; no recovery discs were provided).How do I go about it? Would my upgrade disc and key work if I were to use them right after formatting?
Is it possible to use the upgrade disc to format C drive (it has the Windows 7 RC activated, I can also reinstall Windows Vista if I have to), and do a clean install?
If I use a commercial software like Drive Scrubber to clean my HD, will a Win 7 Upgrade Discboot ? I want to eliminate any possible virus/malware. Is there any advantage to using commercial software to format, or is the reinstall format listed in the tutorials as effective? My concern is that Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 (KIS) had corrupted data bases and after removal and reinstallation did not perform well. I could not download anything, e.g. CCleaner and received Certificate Error questions on certain websites. Also, I would like a fresh registry to insure previous programs like Chrome, Firefox, KIS, remnants are eliminated.
Can I format a Hard Drive with Windows 7 using a 2000 format disk. If so, what are the prompts i see and action on boot-up before I use the format C. Done it before but just forgot
I have a few questions and one of them is, what is the difference between an unconditional format and a diskpart's Clean All in the command prompt. When I read their definitions online I don't know what they differ in.
how i can format my pen drive if window 7 and XP is unable to format it. they are saying files are in use. i have kept window xp, photoshop and some other software in it. Now please tell me how can i delete these items or format it.
I am giving Fedora (Ext4) the boot from my 150G VelociRaptor and replacing it with Windows 7.What is the difference between a 'Quick' format and a 'Full' format. Does a quick format simply rewrite the FAT and a full format write 0's to the sectors? The reason I ask, is that I am concerned that the Linux Ext4 formatting may leave artifacts which I can do without. So, bite the bullet and go the long route, have lunch and a nap or take the quick way out?
I have a Dell Inspiron 15. I can run Oblivion on my computer, but I can't run Fallout 3. It installs fine, but when I get to the starting menu and try to start a new game, it crashes.
I installed Win 7 RC on a new build and purchased Vista Home Premium 64bit OEM with upgrade to Win 7 Home premium. The Win 7 upgrade disc has arrived. I understand that Vista must be installed and activated for the upgrade to work. Attempts to install Vista with Win 7 RC running or booting from the Vista disc lead to error code 0x80070103, insufficient free space. My HDD has > 450 Gb free space in 2 partitions. Do I need to reformat the HDD in order to install Vista over Win 7?
I ordered the 50$ Windows 7 upgrade disk. I realize that Windows 7 will need vista or XP already installed for the upgrade version of Windows 7. But if I want to upgrade my Vista 32-bit to Windows 7 64-bit, Will I be able to do it with this upgrade disk? after all I will need a fresh install (because 32 to 64) and this is the upgrade version...
Customer dropped off a laptop telling me that his Windows upgrade had failed.
It's a new HP DV6 that had Vista pre-installed on it.
I've taken a look at it, and there's a "Windows.old" folder on the root of C:, which is of course a back up of all his data.
There's also a batch file inside the folder with the following inside of it:
"REM Dummy file for NTVDM"
I'm wondering if there's a way to "continue" the upgrade / merging process? He has asked me to re-install all of his software the way he had it. So i'm hoping there's an easier way to continue where he left off.
I know Windows 7 creates a "Windows.old" folder when upgrading from XP. Not sure why one was created for a Vista to Windows 7 upgrade though.
I have a pc with Windows XP pro 32bit retail version. First I have made an image, just in case. Then I have upgraded it to windows 8, 64bit by using the retail upgrade DVD and clean install. However, I found out that my motherboard is so old (5 years old) that there are no drivers for win8 and after asking ASUS they said that the motherboard is not supported any more and that there will be no new drivers for it. I tried using win7 drivers but it did not work and without correct drivers a lot of things does not work (in particularly hdmi port).What I want to do now is to revert to my image (windows xp), buy a Windows 7, 64bit upgrade retail DVD and upgrade windows xp to windows 7 for which there are drivers for my motherboard.
1) Can I use windows xp retail (whose product key has already been used to upgrade to win8) image to upgrade to windows 7 retail? will the activation of windows 7 succeed? I want to use clean install again since i upgrade from 32bit to 64bit
2) If the answer to question 1 is a yes, how does microsoft prevent users from using the same windows image file to upgrade different pc's? I mean, theoretically, I can make an image of pc1, copy it to a hard drive of pc2 (even if it will result in erroneous installation due to different specs) and upgrade both systems by using two VUP product keys which are cheaper than one VUP + one retail product keys
3) Can I use windows 8 upgrade DVD which is not used any more to upgrade another PC?
I purchased Windows 7 Professional through the Ultimate Steal.
Downloaded it, put it on a disk also.
It will go through the start of the setup and copy files etc, and then it will give an error and say to install from a current version of windows I need to use the upgrade anytim through windows.
But when I go to upgrade anytime it asks for an upgrade key, but all I have with the purchase was a product key and it says that I can't use the product key.
any help?
edit: also i have windows 7 home premium installed right now
and here is exactly what it says:
"To upgrade from one edition of Windows 7 to another edition of Windows 7, use Windows Anytime Upgrade. Cancel the upgrade, open the Start menu, and search for Windows Anytime Upgrade. "
I have Windows 7 Home Premium installed on my my machine, but is is not activated yet. I will be getting a Windows 7 Professional key from the student offer, and I would like to use that. Is it possible to use that key in Anytime upgrade?
I'm considering whether to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. IMHO, the new OS seems to be not sufficiently "mature" yet, and it is better to wait for the first service pack to come out before actually upgrading.
I have a flash drive and when I want to open it it only want to format. I really need that data on the flash drive, is there like a back up program for that or a way to get by the format?
For some reason my hDD on a USB 3.0 hub's partition info is now RAW and when I plug in the drive windows says I need to format it.Ive ran the program Active Partition Recovery and the file systems are RAW, within the "tree" of the program I CAN navigate through the folders and find all my data - I just cant save it using that program. So the data is still there I just need an easy program to get it. Ive tried Easus to get it but fails. I believe there's a CRC error on the drive but cant check it with CHKDSK as "the drive is not recognised".
I just installed a second ssd drive but my system does not recognize it. I am new at this and i need to know what to do to set it up. I have window 7 and an asus p8p67 deluxe motherboard. I already have 2 other drives.
I want to format one of my drives, recently got a new laptop but kept the old hard drive but now have 2 drives when i go to format the old one with all my old stuff it says its in use ?