Clean Install Windows 7

Jonathan_King said:

Hello Flash, Welcome!
Try installing from the second disc and see what happens.
Worst case scenario: installation fails
Possible scenario: setup prompts you to provide the drivers, in which case you put in the first disc
Probable scenario: you have no trouble, everything goes smoothly, no need to use the first disc.

Let us know how it works out. Good luck!

I would really rather not, just "wing it". That's how I ended up in this position in the first place. I tried reinstalling Vista once without really knowing what to do for sure and managed to make the system all buggy by installing the new OS over top of the old one and simply installing every driver on the disc (because I have no idea what I actually want/need to put on for each and what I don't... there's too many options). I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty much average-at-best with computers now. I kind of miss DOS and Windows 95/98; all of that was easy.

For anyone who has a Dell... the orange OS disc is the disc you want to do a clean install. It works just fine.

On a side note, I kind of have mixed feelings about Windows 7. I dislike that there are no Windows classic options for any features and the set-up reminds me of a Mac, asthetically-speaking, which I am not a huge fan of. It is definitely faster, though.

My laptop froze at step 13 after entering a wrong product key. I then pressed the shut down button till my computer went off. I restarted the computer and chose the "start windows normally" option. The laptop boots to "setup is preparing for first use" screen. It lasts for about 1 minute and then the computer restarts automatically following the same processes.

Thanks very much, shall read that closely. there is not a lot a lot on the laptop so a clean install shouldn't be a problem.

Everything was working perfectly until I hit the PRODUCT KEY entry, at which point, entering the key caused this reply: "This product key is not valid."

The key was entered exactly as displayed on the back of the CD case. So what I don't understand is how others' keys work fine and mine is rejected? Any ideas? Am I just going to have to buy a full version? <--

Welcome!

For the time being, leave the product key box empty. You can try to activate it later, but if it doesn't work, give Microsoft a call. They should take care of it for you.

Be sure that you got the key from a legitimate source, though. I would be a little cautious buying keys on eBay, if you know what I mean.

Hey John,

Thanks for the welcome and for replying so quickly. I looked further into it via another site and found that I could bypass the product key by simply not including one the first time around. At the moment, I am looking at the desktop screen on my new computer after successfully finishing the install (while typing this on my laptop).

As far as rebooting and doing a second install (this time choosing "Upgrade Windows" and including the product key), how exactly do I go about doing that without making a stupid mistake? AKA I'm sorta new to this.

I'm guessing something like:
1) Turn off computer.
2) Turn computer back on.
3) Insert the Windows 7 Upgrade CD again.
4) Perhaps clearing my hard drive somehow? Or installing the OS a second time without clearing??
5) Officially lost and confused. :c

Thanks again BTW, I really appreciate any assistance.