HDD swap in new laptop

Hi everyone.. It's been a while,

I just bought a new laptop (this one) and I want to yank the 320gb 5400 and install a 500gb 7200 rpm drive in it.

The laptop has the product key on the bottom for reinstall. Just for safety sake I made the 5 DVD recovery discs. :)

The real question I have is with my product key can I use a friends stand alone win7 pro install disc to do a clean install of Win 7 Home premium? Both the Pro and the H Premium are 64 bit versions. Which is what this laptop has on it now.

I really would like to get rid of all the other stuff that is not necessary as far as I'm concerned. I read somewhere that win7 install discs have all versions on them, and it will install the correct version to match my key, hence Windows 7 Home Premium.. I think that is all for now.

You will need to use a key that is specific to the version of Windows 7 that you install..

Thanks Tews... The key on the bottom of the new laptop is for 64bit Windows 7 Home Premium. The laptop will still have 64bit Windows 7 Home Premium on it latter too, If I have my info correct. :)

If it was the other way around, installing from a HP disc and having a key for Pro, it would be rather simple, but you're doing it this way, you will need to make a universal install disc:
Windows 7 Universal Installation Disc - Create

Hope this helps. You will need a DVD burner and a bank DVD. If you have a new computer you should have a DVD burner already, and blank DVDs can be bought at many stores. I've even seen them inside drug and grocery stores before.

Your key on the sticker is an OEM key and wont work on a retail version

Why don't companies just ship the installation disc with the computer any more? Even Dell doesn't seem to do it any more. It makes stuff like this so much simpler.

I agree.. It would be so much simpler...

The laptop has the product key on the bottom for reinstall. Just for safety sake I made the 5 DVD recovery discs.

Why not use the recovery disk you created?

I guess I'll have to, but I was kinda hoping for a clean install without all the crap the the manufacturer puts in..

I'd just uninstall everything you don't want and spend some time looking around the tutorials and customization parts of this site to learn how to restore everything to how it originally would look, or make it exactly how you want it.