repair install

She can actually do this for you at her location since the key is stored in your wireless network's Properties>Security tab even when it is not connected to that network. I just checked my California and Boston network Keys on this laptop from here in Florida.

That's good news!

I found the formatting problem with this XP machine. It has been so long since I used it tht I forgot about a script blocker.

While waiting for the daughter-in-law to call back about the network key, I have been poking around the wireless stuff on the clean install and found something curious.

In bare bones SP1 format, without any updates, the clean install has a provision for creating ad-hoc networks. I had been searching for this for weeks on the OEM version without success. I had used instructions included in a couple of books and many online articles. Of the several methods I attempted was the one I stumbled upon on the clean install. The window including the ad-hoc options was not found on the OEM version. Is it possible that Lenovo decided to eliminate this feature (and who knows which others) from their OEM version? If so, I wonder if I will stumble into other features which were not available on the factory install.

an aside: I am happy that I remedied the formatting issue on this XP machine. I now have spell check active!!!

drpepper

update for last two posts:

You are a genius!! I am connected. I can now proceed with updates.

Thanks,
drepepper

progress report, observations, questions:

progress
New RAM has been installed. I now have 8GB. Windows is updated and activated. Firefox and Google Chrome are installed and restored to my preferences. Files and program installations are to follow.

observations
This is something that probably should have been intuitive, but it caught me off guard. The tutorial did not state to remove the flash drive upon reboot after completing installation (step #9). I ended up looping the installation process until I figured it out. I count this as a lesson learned.

My new WEI has improved from 4.7 to 5.9 overall. Individual entries are:

processor 6.5
RAM 7.3
graphics 6.2
gaming graphics 6.2
primary hard disk 5.9

Curiously graphics was the previous weak link. Now primary hard disk is the weak link. Do you have an idea what the clean install did to improve the graphics to the point that it is not the weak link? In the overall universe of Windows 7 machines how good is the WEI score of 5.9?

I now have 297GB available space with 264GB free. Free space will decrease after completing program installations and transferring files, but I will have significantly more free space than before. Thank you.

questions
There were a few issues with the lan driver which I overcame. I found drivers in two different locations within Lenovo Support. One was under Windows 7 64-bit. The other was under Windows 7 Home Premium. This one included both 32-bit and 64-bit drivers. Windows could not use either of them, claiming that the files were corrupt. I explored device manager>network adapters and found that I have Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter. I Googled "Broadcom network adapter drivers" and chose a driver to download. This resolved the problem. I would like to know if there is a better way than I used.

In the future when I upgrade to Win7 Professional, what is my best bet? Will purchasing an upgrade and installing it in the conventional manner suffice for this clean install I am using?

Once I complete programming installation and file transfers, what is the preferred method to burn a recovery disk for the default image?

drpepper

What drivers were updated by optional Windows Update after enabling Automatically get recommended drivers and updates for your hardware?

Logitech - other hardware -USB input device (Logitech download assistant)
Lenovo - display - ThinkPad display 1366x1024
Intel Corporation - display -Intel(R) HD graphics 3000
Realtek - network -Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller

So no wireless driver came in via Updates?

What is in your msconfig>Startup and msconfig>Services lists after hiding all MS services?

As it says in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which I posted five times for you, uncheck everything in both places in msconfig (after hiding all MS services) except Microsoft Security Client.

Uninstall Google Updater service in Control Panel>Programs and Features. This is pernicious spyware which should be avoided by installing no Google programs, only using the stable google search box in your browser, and staying signed out of Google Programs as much as possible.