I want to wipe my drive and reinstall Windows 7. My laptop has acted really strange since upgrading to Windows 8 and I want to go back. I created some Win 7 repair disks some time ago. I also have a backed-up image of my Windows 7 system. Could I use either method to reinstall Win 7 back to my laptop?
Is there also some good, free disk-wiping software out there?
Boot into installer for Custom install then follow the steps shown here: Clean Install Windows 7
ok, like i said before - do i need a system image if the ntfs/hd format is gone with the wipe? can the boot disk described in the guide recreate the ntfs status or do i need a system image? i dont have recovery disks, again.
i dont want to try and reinstall windows on a wiped drive with the boot disk and then find out it cant find a HD to install windows on!
no one?
Look at that, someone came right in and stomped on your thread.
Look in the bios, External, it will tell you if you have a hard drive to install windows on. If there is, it will also tell you the size in Megabytes. Divide that by 1024 and it will tell you how large the hard drive is in Gigabytes. You don`t need any partitions set up to install windows, in fact you can delete any partitions that show up, then just hit next and windows will start to install.
If you make an install partition of the entire drive and then format it, it will be NTFS. you can then install windows to it.
If windows can`t find a hard drive to install on then you have to fix whatever the problem is.
okay cool. im just concerned because the ntfs will be destroyed, no trace of it unlike a regular format. that is okay, right? i just need confirmation for that. i am not completely confident yet if the boot installer can install windows on a drive that isnt properly formatted, and can create the ntfs/fat whatever that is needed to install anything.
maybe im confusing partition with the format. the ntfs wont be found after the wipe, this is okay?
@TockTock, just use your windows 7 backup image to reinstall Windows 7.
Here`s the tutorial
System Image Recovery
For the umpteenth thousandth time, Windows FORMATS the partition/disk to NTFS. Stop worrying about it Windows will take care of it. Just install windows. There is a tutorial below my signature if you need help. You should read it. :)
If you have any problems following the steps in Clean Install Windows 7 post back then and we will help you apply the appropriate solution or workaround.
At Steps 6/7, delete all partitions to get the cleanest install, then create New partition(s) as you wish. This should be sufficient.
The concerns you express aren't really concerns at all, more imaginary. The installer takes care of all of this.
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