clean install of windows 7

[CHRISK999]

I have a 5 year old dell inspiron running windows home premium 7 32 bit. It's been running very slowly recently, so thought I would try to load a system image that I had created previosly , but was told that there were corrupt files so had to abandon this.
I have my windows license key and I was led to believe that if went onto the microsoft web site I could download what i needed to re - install windows, however part way through the process a message appeared saying that my copy of windows was an OEM version and that I would need to conatct Dell to resolve the probelm.
On going to the DELL web site and registering my details , I found that all conatct methods for technical support were unavailable , I suppose because my laptop is years out of warranty.
Any idea what my options are?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hello and welcome Chris mate usually preinstalled machines from Dell or whoever usually have a factory restore partition it is just a matter of finding the right key to depress / tap while powering on the machine. I have seen several version ie Alt+F11 while powering on the F5 or F6 and even F8 usually the safe mode key You will of course lose all your data and programs but it will be as it came out of the factory.

Edit for a rough idea see this I know it relates to Vista but the principle is the same Restoring Your Computer´s Software to the Factory Settings for Windows Vista | Dell US

 

[CHRISK999]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately when I follow the link and use the advanced boot options , there is no "Dell factory restore image" option , must be just for windows vista, not windows 7

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi and welcome to SevenForums,
Could you post one of these,
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/274797-disk-management-post-screen-capture-image.html

Use Clean boot also,
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html
Click Start and type in the search box,
msconfig
Click on the suggestion on top or hit the Enter key,
Go to the Startup section and take some screen shots for a complete list,
Go to the Services section and on the bottom left Check the box to Hide All Microsoft services,
Repeat the screen shots,
See the links above my signature on how to take and upload screen shots here.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

In addition to Thrash Zones post mate did you try the phone link with Microsoft? and explain the situation with them? They can on a good day be very helpful and might even give you a download link for an ISO to reinstall from. When you do that tell them that the 7 was an upgrade from Vista and just as a by the by how was that done??

 

[CHRISK999]

In addition to Thrash Zones post mate did you try the phone link with Microsoft? and explain the situation with them? They can on a good day be very helpful and might even give you a download link for an ISO to reinstall from. When you do that tell them that the 7 was an upgrade from Vista and just as a by the by how was that done??

Thanks for that , I'll give that a go when I've got time

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Did you receive the free upgrade on a upgrade disk in the mail with a activation key with it ?

I got one from Acer in 2009 after a purchase of a computer it came with the above I asked about.
Just used it

 

[CHRISK999]

Hi and welcome to SevenForums,
Could you post one of these,
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/274797-disk-management-post-screen-capture-image.html

Use Clean boot also,
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html
Click Start and type in the search box,
msconfig
Click on the suggestion on top or hit the Enter key,
Go to the Startup section and take some screen shots for a complete list,
Go to the Services section and on the bottom left Check the box to Hide All Microsoft services,
Repeat the screen shots,
See the links above my signature on how to take and upload screen shots here.

Thanks for that , I've uploaded the screen shots that you mentioned

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Thanks one issue is you have 2 antivirus programs
Avast and Bull Guard
Personally I would get rid of both but you can flip a coin and try just getting rid of BullGuard first.
Also with a 32bit system you have way too much stuff starting with windows
Quite a few Unknown's

I personally would start by unchecking all of them except for Avast and see how it goes.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

I agree with Thrash Zone mate and for what it is worth I don't think Avast is that good either. I have been with Kaspersky now for six years and never a problem (except with some ad hoc scanners) but if you want someting free see this Free Windows Desktop Software Security List | Gizmo's Freeware < check out the real time but again I would avoid AVG Trend MuckAfee.

In your start tab too I usually keep everything unticked it certainly speeds up the boot, and if you are interested (and I haven't mentioned it before) read through this for some more performance - if you don't mind losing a bit of the "bling" like transparency which you don't have to even when using the other tips.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/11728-optimize-windows-7-a.html

 

[ThrashZone]

MuckAfee.

:roflmao:

 

[TrustMe]

It looks like you have a recovery partition on your hard drive. I followed the instructions in this video to get my Dell back to its factory state.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C4ECjkiGFYM

Just remember you will lose all your personal files so back up everything you want to keep.

 

[bigmck]

The System and Active files are in the Recovery Partition. Does anyone else see this as strange?

 

[essenbe]

The System and Active files are in the Recovery Partition. Does anyone else see this as strange?

Some OEM setups do it that way.