Reinstall with an upgrade disk?

rcmpbllsoup29 · 15 Oct 2009

I always format my hard drive ever year so I get a fresh operating system to work with.

I bought a new laptop in August and am eligible for a free upgrade to W7, but I am apprehensive to do because I'm not sure how I will do a reinstall. My computer did not come with restore disks and I don't want to buy them from the manufacturer. Do i need to reinstall xp or vista first in order to reinstall? If, theoretically, i used an activated version of vista, that isn't exactly...genuine (just to reinstall).... would it record that serial key and put my 7 installation at risk?

thanks :)

gregrocker · 15 Oct 2009

Windows 7 has a flawless Image Backup utility that will copy your entire HDD (including any dual boots) to a primary partition (which it views as a drive) or an external drive. I do both in case the HDD fails. Once you get your Vista upgraded to Win7 and configured perfectly, create a Backup Image which you can use to do a restore of the current HDD or a new one in about 20 minutes. This is a much easier annual reinstall.

As easy as this is, I would still use your laptop's utility to burn those recovery disks to keep in case you need to restore your Vista to factory condition. Acer will mail you disks if you call within 90 days of purchase. Then you can delete the Recovery Partition which will become inoperable after Win7 upgrade anyway.

Kari · 15 Oct 2009

Hello rcmpbllsoup and welcome to the SevenForums.

Your HP computer should have a recovery partition, hard drive D:. It contains a program to burn a recovery disc CD or DVD set. You can start the recovery disc creator by opening the drive D: in Explorer, or booting your laptop and then repeatedly pressing F11 during the startup. The computer will display a prompt to either recover the operating system or create a set of recovery discs.

Recovery partition and / or recovery disc set contains your original OS (Vista Home Premium) and the bundled drivers and software to allow system recovery to factory defaults.

The Recovery Disc Creator only works once, allowing you to burn just one set of discs. The reason is copyright regulations; OS and software makers don't want to give you the right to make several installation sets. There's no really working and legal way to bypass this.

When you install Windows 7, the recovery partition stays there but becomes useless, you can not boot to Recovery Options (pressing F11 when booting) anymore.

So I really recommend you to use this Recovery Disc Creator before you upgrade your computer with Seven. Burning the discs means you can always go back to the factory defaults if something happens.

Kari

EDIT: Some other members might tell you to delete the recovery options and forget the whole thing. Before you believe it and do that, please do some googling and do some thinking: would you like to completely loose your ability to recover your computer to the stand it was the day you bought it. Maybe you understand what I mean after reading this thread.

theog · 15 Oct 2009

Hi rcmpbllsoup29

Take in who Kari is saying, Kari is hitting it right on the nail.

Kari · 15 Oct 2009

@theog: Thanks for support

Kari

Antman · 15 Oct 2009

Kari is a knowledgeable professional held in high regard at SevenForums. Kari has a well-established and long standing track record of being a subject matter expert regarding the task at hand.

Kari · 15 Oct 2009

Thank you, Antman. You saved my ****ty day.

Kari

rcmpbllsoup29 · 15 Oct 2009

For some reason my HP partition doesn't work anymore. I CAN boot into it, but the application says that a recovery partition does not exist. Without the application within windows, i cannot create these recovery disks. In other words, I can do a full factory restore using the partition, but I cannot burn disks with it.

Furthermore, does the full backup work for windows 7 home premium because that would be the version that I would get?

gregrocker · 15 Oct 2009

rcmpbllsoup29 said:

For some reason my HP partition doesn't work anymore. I CAN boot into it, but the application says that a recovery partition does not exist. Without the application within windows, i cannot create these recovery disks. In other words, I can do a full factory restore using the partition, but I cannot burn disks with it.

Furthermore, does the full backup work for windows 7 home premium because that would be the version that I would get?

Yes, I was real glad to learn that image backup is in Premium since we pre-ordered several.

Since you bought your laptop in August, you are covered by tech support and hardware warranty for a year (at least). I would call them and ask them to help you make the recovery disks, then they will witness the failure and normally send you free copies. I'm not sure what HP's policy is but Acer just sent us free recovery disks since we called within 90 days of purchase.

But since you are intending to upgrade to WIndows 7, you only need to do the upgrade and configure it the way you like, then save backup copies of the HDD image which can be used to re-image the disk flawlessly in 20 minutes. So you won't need to reinstall Vista OR 7 as long as you save (and update if you want) that image.

Finally, if there is a reason to reinstall Vista and you lack the recovery disks, you can do what tech enthusiasts prefer: borrow an OEM copy of your Vista version and do a clean install which will activate itself (or require a quick call to MS) since you own that version of Windows for the life of the hardware, no matter what installation medium you use as long as it is OEM and not retail.

SIW2 · 15 Oct 2009

Hi Greg,

Glad Windows backup is working well for you. I assume you mean you restore the image in 20 mins. How much used space is that you are restoring?

All the MS Vista installation dvd's are identical . They can all be used with any valid product key. OEM System builder, Full Retail, Upgrade, whatever Edition it says on the box - they are all the same. I think you will find that is also the case with 7 . The only difference is between 32 and 64 bit dvd's, obviously.