Solved Clean Install using Factory COA Activation Key

Bare Foot Kid

R.I.P. August 13th 2014
Last edited:

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
* BFK Customs *
OS
W 7 64-bit Ultimate
CPU
Intel Q9550 Yorkfield
Motherboard
ASUS P5Q Pro
Memory
8GB Dominator 8500C5D
Graphics Card(s)
ATI : XFX 5870
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio 7-1
Monitor(s) Displays
1x 47" LCD HDMI & 3x 26" LCD HDMI
Screen Resolution
1920x1080P & 1920x1200
Hard Drives
1x 80GB Intel X25-M G2 SSD : 1x 500GB & 1x 640GB WD Caviar Black(s)
PSU
Corsair 620HX
Case
Cooler Master RC-690
Cooling
Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
Keyboard
Microsoft 500
Mouse
Razer Diamondback 3G
Internet Speed
14 Mb/s
Other Info
1x Koutech 3Gb/s SATA HDD Hot Swap Rack
Nice work BFK :D

How about adding the link for a USB Flash drive for those netbooks without a DVD drive.
 

My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Built them myself, Science Experiments !
OS
Win7 Enterprise, Win7 x86 (Ult 7600), Win7 x64 Ult 7600, TechNet RTM on AMD x64 (2.8Ghz)
CPU
AMD fx8350 4ghz, AMD-32 2400mhz, AMD-64 3200mhz, AMDx64 2.8G
Motherboard
SIS 755, ECS-K8M890M-M (Ult 7600), GigaByte & others
Memory
2gb, 4gb on the Ult 7600, 4gb on Technet RTM, 32gb on FX8350
Graphics Card(s)
Draw my own Graphics, several nVidia cards
Sound Card
on motherboard
Monitor(s) Displays
19" flat scr, 28" I-Inc widescr,22" Emprex Widescr, 23" Acer
Screen Resolution
1280 x 1024, 1440 x 900, 1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
6 pata Ide HD's & 2 Sata HD's
added 80gb external on Ult 7600 computer,
numerous extra 1tb, 2TB, 3Tb SATA HD's
A collection of ext HD Docks w/ HDs
PSU
430w, 550w, 600w, 700, 800, etc
Case
All Generic Full Towers
Cooling
Open Air & a few fans, some w/ colored LEDs
Keyboard
Compaq & Dell recycled from GoodWill
Mouse
Made in China Optical Wired Mouse
Internet Speed
Fast Cable InterNet
Antivirus
AVG Free on 24 different Desktops, NO Problems!
Browser
IE 8 is preferred, but use FireFox sometimes
Other Info
Linksys Routers, switches, & Hubs
Too Many USB Flash Drives to count, Biggest is 64GB !
Eight computers in my home network.
Sixteen computers at my business network.
Linked via TeamViewer !
Lots of old used spare computer parts everywhere!
Thanks Doc, there you go mate! ;)
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
* BFK Customs *
OS
W 7 64-bit Ultimate
CPU
Intel Q9550 Yorkfield
Motherboard
ASUS P5Q Pro
Memory
8GB Dominator 8500C5D
Graphics Card(s)
ATI : XFX 5870
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio 7-1
Monitor(s) Displays
1x 47" LCD HDMI & 3x 26" LCD HDMI
Screen Resolution
1920x1080P & 1920x1200
Hard Drives
1x 80GB Intel X25-M G2 SSD : 1x 500GB & 1x 640GB WD Caviar Black(s)
PSU
Corsair 620HX
Case
Cooler Master RC-690
Cooling
Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
Keyboard
Microsoft 500
Mouse
Razer Diamondback 3G
Internet Speed
14 Mb/s
Other Info
1x Koutech 3Gb/s SATA HDD Hot Swap Rack
Have a look through this information below to see the best option for your situation and be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.

After you have copied out or made back-ups of the data you need to save to external media.

If you can borrow or download installation media of the exact same Windows 7 version the PC shipped with you can do a clean install using the activation key on the Certificate of Authenticity (COA) sticker attached to the PC though it may require a robo-call to MS to sort the OEM batch-key.

How to Activate Windows 7 by Phone

If you can't find an exact same version, you could use the information in this tutorial to create an "all versions" installer of any version Windows 7 installation media so you are able to install your version using the same activation method I posted above.

Windows 7 is version specific and not bit-rate specific, i.e. a Home Premium COA activation key will activate either the 32-bit or the 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium Operating System.

Windows 7 Universal Installation Disc - Create

ISO - Disk Image File : Extract to the Desktop

After you have made backups of everything you care to save to external media, the best method forward is to do a complete wipe secure erase of the entire Hard Disk Drive / Solid State Drive first, it over-writes everything, all the old Windows code including all the old drivers and installed programs, giving you the best possible space to do a clean installation of Windows 7 to.

SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

Additional Secure Erase / Wipe Information

For those with netbooks and no CD/DVD drive, have a look at this tutorial.

USB Windows 7 Installation Key Drive - Create


.
What about the way we did it in XP, where you continually press the F8 key as the computer boots, and choose install to the out of box OS? :)
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
DELLXPS 8300
OS
WIN7 x64 Home Premium SP1
CPU
Intel Core i5-2400 processor(6MB Cache, 3.1GHz)
Memory
8 GB RAM
Hard Drives
1.5TB C Drive

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
* BFK Customs *
OS
W 7 64-bit Ultimate
CPU
Intel Q9550 Yorkfield
Motherboard
ASUS P5Q Pro
Memory
8GB Dominator 8500C5D
Graphics Card(s)
ATI : XFX 5870
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio 7-1
Monitor(s) Displays
1x 47" LCD HDMI & 3x 26" LCD HDMI
Screen Resolution
1920x1080P & 1920x1200
Hard Drives
1x 80GB Intel X25-M G2 SSD : 1x 500GB & 1x 640GB WD Caviar Black(s)
PSU
Corsair 620HX
Case
Cooler Master RC-690
Cooling
Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
Keyboard
Microsoft 500
Mouse
Razer Diamondback 3G
Internet Speed
14 Mb/s
Other Info
1x Koutech 3Gb/s SATA HDD Hot Swap Rack

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
* BFK Customs *
OS
W 7 64-bit Ultimate
CPU
Intel Q9550 Yorkfield
Motherboard
ASUS P5Q Pro
Memory
8GB Dominator 8500C5D
Graphics Card(s)
ATI : XFX 5870
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio 7-1
Monitor(s) Displays
1x 47" LCD HDMI & 3x 26" LCD HDMI
Screen Resolution
1920x1080P & 1920x1200
Hard Drives
1x 80GB Intel X25-M G2 SSD : 1x 500GB & 1x 640GB WD Caviar Black(s)
PSU
Corsair 620HX
Case
Cooler Master RC-690
Cooling
Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
Keyboard
Microsoft 500
Mouse
Razer Diamondback 3G
Internet Speed
14 Mb/s
Other Info
1x Koutech 3Gb/s SATA HDD Hot Swap Rack
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