bought a laptop with windows 7. no OS cd came with it

[jmichael99]

sony vaio. i did create a recovery disk but i would like to have a stright windows 7 cd. if i ever have to reinstall i dont want all the junk software. can i buy one from microsoft? im not trying to steal something. i already have a product key under my new laptop.

also. any good sites i can check out to learn 7? i skipped vista so its all new to me.

any tips will also be helpful too


edit:
its windows 7 home premium 64 bit

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello jmichael99, welcome to Seven Forums!


Seven Forums is "The Best Windows Site 2009" there's no need for another.


As you have a key, do you have a friend that will let you use their install disk if need be?


Start by having a look through our extensive tutorials section at the link below.

Tutorials - Windows 7 Forums

 

[electrotune1200]

If you were not provided with an installation disc, chances are there is a recovery partition on your hard drive. If you reinstall from it, it will include all the software(bloat) preinstalled on your system.

You can call Sony and request a Windows 7 installation disc. Sometimes they provide it for free, Sometimes they charge you a small fee. It all depends on your haggling skills I guess.

Give them a call and be polite. Let us know how it goes.

 

[jmichael99]

Hello jmichael99, welcome to Seven Forums!


Seven Forums is "The Best Windows Site 2009" there's no need for another.


As you have a key, do you have a friend that will let you use their install disk if need be?

only one person i know has access. but its from his work and i dont want him to risk his job bringing it home or something so ill leave it be.

would microsoft send me one? for a price of course

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

You can contact MS at the link below.

Microsoft Windows

 

[richc46]

This may help, too

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2083-system-repair-disc-create.html

 

[whs]

Your Vaio has a recovery partition. From there you can burn the recovery disk(s). Not sure what the Sony interface is, but if you put "recovery disk" into Start/search, there should be a pointer to the wizard. Have 2 or 3 DVD-R handy. Else go to Control Panel > System and security > Backup and Restore. In the left pane you should find "Create a system repair disk".

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

You may have missed the link I posted above to the tutorials section as I added it in after I made the post but here it is again.

Tutorials - Windows 7 Forums

 

[FZ21Z]

Contact Sony, they may send you one for a fee.

 

[gregrocker]

Starting with Vista, manufacturers started enforcing sponsored bloatware which often provides their only profit margin. They stopped providing clean-copy DVD's and even refuse sometimes to support clean reinstalls.

Since many tech enthusiasts see bloatware as corruption which corrupts even more when uninstalled, we learned to find a clean-copy DVD of the OS, unlock all versions if necessary, then clean reinstall using OEM license key stickered to computer.

There are legal download links for Win7 DVD ISO available by Googling.

Find favorite apps or any missing drivers on the Support Downloads webpage for your computer model, Adobe (reader, flash) and Java (runtime, free Ofc suite) sites.

 

[FZ21Z]

There are legal download links for Win7 DVD ISO available by Googling.

+1

 

[electriclott]

I just did this on my new laptop. I wanted to get rid of all the "bloatware" I acquired a disk of the same OS as what was installed on my pc (windows7 home premium) and did a clean install using my original key. After the Install...windows downloaded most of the missing drivers and it worked out just fine....just had to seek out a few missing drivers for the built in web cam and the SD card reader. I downloaded the new windows WAT just to make sure all was good...and it was. I personally could not find a download site to download the ISO file...had to borrow one from my friend....after i convinced him that it was not illegal to do this....he was worried that it would invalidate his copy..but this was the full retail version..not an OEM.anyway..maybe you will have better luck finding a download than I did... I also went ahead and deleted my recovery partition because I believe it would also contain the bloatware I wanted to get rid of in the first place....I was then able to make a bootable ISO disk from my clean install...took me awhile, as I was unfamiliar with this operation...but now I have a clean install disk and its all legal and above board...good luck....and O by the way...this operation did void my support with Dell.. I called and asked first, before I did this,which i really don't need anyway... so be careful if this is important to you.

 

[gregrocker]

I just did this on my new laptop. I wanted to get rid of all the "bloatware" I acquired a disk of the same OS as what was installed on my pc (windows7 home premium) and did a clean install using my original key. After the Install...windows downloaded most of the missing drivers and it worked out just fine....just had to seek out a few missing drivers for the built in web cam and the SD card reader. I downloaded the new windows WAT just to make sure all was good...and it was. I personally could not find a download site to download the ISO file...had to borrow one from my friend....after i convinced him that it was not illegal to do this....he was worried that it would invalidate his copy..but this was the full retail version..not an OEM.anyway..maybe you will have better luck finding a download than I did... I also went ahead and deleted my recovery partition because I believe it would also contain the bloatware I wanted to get rid of in the first place....I was then able to make a bootable ISO disk from my clean install...took me awhile, as I was unfamiliar with this operation...but now I have a clean install disk and its all legal and above board...good luck....and O by the way...this operation did void my support with Dell.. I called and asked first, before I did this,which i really don't need anyway... so be careful if this is important to you.

Nice work. This is what it takes to get totally clean, folks, with manufacturer's making their profits now off of sponsored bloatware.

Imagine all of the millions of new computer purchasers who try Office (instead of free Works) for word processing and then are handed the bill 3 months later for $260 and have no way to convert their documents to Works, or know nothing of free Open Office by Java. This single bloat which corrupts the OS (if Norton doesn't) when removed, gets the cost of Windows cut by more than half to makers.

The Norton magnate is a billionaire off his bloatshare. Meanwhile, we pleebs have to workaround the mess they hand us like we're doing something sneaky with our own property.

The exception is when you buy a business computer. They don't do it to each other, I guess.

 

[allend66]

Hi, same here - my new Toshiba Satellite L500 has OEM x64 Win 7 Home Premium, but I read somewhere that the recovery partition is only x86. I think that's a swizz! If that's the case, I'd want to take an image of my current x64 C: drive and reload that if there were problems later.

I've read a lot of the forums, Paragon seems recommended, but what about the inbuilt C:backup utility - is this not trustworthy?

Thanks (Noob from XP sp3, on an ooooold Toshiba lappy)

 

[strollin]

Instead of a straight OS install disk, I prefer to get my system setup the way I like it after removing bloatware, adding/removing Windows features, installing all required drivers and installing any software I consider essential. Once I get it to that point, I then create a system image (Win7 has this built-in but you can also use 3rd party apps such as Acronis). That way, if I ever need to recover, I can restore that image and have a fully working system setup the way I like it.

It's pretty much the same as if the mfr had given you a restore CD but customized for your preferences instead of theirs.

 

[G1LLY]

Hi, same here - my new Toshiba Satellite L500 has OEM x64 Win 7 Home Premium, but I read somewhere that the recovery partition is only x86. I think that's a swizz! If that's the case, I'd want to take an image of my current x64 C: drive and reload that if there were problems later.

I've read a lot of the forums, Paragon seems recommended, but what about the inbuilt C:backup utility - is this not trustworthy?

Thanks (Noob from XP sp3, on an ooooold Toshiba lappy)

I use Paragon, dunno how I lived without it to be honest, great software , I do a clean install of Windows 7 & update it with all the latest hotfixes & get all the settings how I like them the simply back it up to a external drive, my system image is usually about 3-4GB, now if anything goes wrong I can simply wipe my hard drive & reload the image & install my software again (I only use a few apps so it takes me very little time to get everything back like it was).

It's just like a clean install but without much of the time consuming hassle, much better than going through the full Windows install.

Try it, it's never let me down once

 

[gregrocker]

Macrium Reflect Free - Reviews and free Macrium Reflect Free downloads at Download.com
Paragon Backup & Recovery 2010 Free Advanced - Free Download

Win7's new built-in Backup Imaging is not yet as highly regarded, but has never failed for me:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html

WD and Seagate also have free Acronis full suite cloning and imaging apps if it detects you're using their HD:
WD Support
| Seagate

 

[paul1149]

Here's what I'm doing - I'm sure this Lenovo comes with some kind of recovery partition, but rather than take the machine back to Zero should things break down here, I first did a full backup, just in case, and now am in the process of building the system the way I want.

As soon as I get my external HDD enclosure, I will do a full system image. Then, should the need arise, I can reinstall, not to Zero, but to a system rid of bloatware and with my desire programs, settings, registrations and user files already in place.

Isn't that a whole lot better than going back to Zero? And since I'll have the space on the external drive, I'll do differential backups as well, so should I want to I'll be able to bring the thing back up to any milestone I prefer.

 

[gregrocker]

First thing to tame bloatware is to uncheck everything in msconfig>startup except AV and gadgets as all others are freeloaders on your RAM/CPU and can spy on you full time.

Gradually wean yourself off of factory utilities as Win7 built-ins are better, e.g. HP Wireless manager adds 30 seconds to startup and pegs CPU, Win7's starts up connected with no hit.

Use a lightweight free AV like MS Security Essentials which works flawlessly and invisibly with Win7 firewall.

Gradually uninstall bloatware using REvo Uninstaller in Advanced Mode. After it runs Windows uninstaller, don't restart when prompted, click Next and delete the bolded reg keys and files it finds to clean up.

Nevertheless some bloatmonsters like Norton, Office Trial and Symantec can corrupt even from uninstall, so run sfc /scannow to monitor System file intergrity.

Clean and order the HD perfectly using state-of-the-art CCleaner (Run Cleaner and Reg tab) then Auslogics Disk and Registry defraggers monthly.

Monitor the Event Viewer>Admin View to google repeat errors to find how others have resolved them. Check also Peformance Log on Advanced Tools page accessed by clicking through WEI score link at Computer>Properties. Look for cued issues at top and also Generate a System Health Report there.

Anything less than instantaneous performance or any hangs at all on above-spec hardware would cause me to do a clean reinstall. Locate or borrow any installer to unlock all versions: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/85813-windows-7-universal-installation-disc-create.html