Reinstall Win 7 on Laptop

Long story short... I am working on a laptop that belongs to a friend of my son. This thing seems wrecked with viruses and spyware. I believe my only course of action to fix this thing is for a clean install of Windows. My question is...

Can i use my Windows 7 Home Upgrade disk to reinstall Windows on this lappy? I have done it many times before with XP and Vista, but was unsure if it can be done with 7 since MS has done some things different to prevent piracy. I do have the 7 Key on the bottom of the notebook. It's just that nobody ships recovery disks with notebooks anymore.

Yes, since Vista you can use retail installer to reinstall factory OEM with Product Key on COA sticker. If necessary you can unlock all versions in any installer.

Be sure to wipe the HD first to overwrite any infected code: SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation

The installer is mostly driver-complete, with newer arriving quickly via optional Windows Updates. Any drivers then missing in Device Manager can be found on the Support Downloads webpage for your model computer or device.

Install programs slowly over time to gauge performance after each. Don't let any programs write themselves into msconfig>Startup as they become freeloaders on your RAM/CPU and can spy on you. I only allow AV and gadgets.

Use a lightweight free AV like MS Security Essentials which works perfectly with Windows 7 Firewall.

When it is finished, clean and order the HD perfectly using state-of-the-art free CCleaner then Auslogics Disk and Registry defraggers monthly.

Then save a Win7 Backup image externally so you never have to reinstall again, just reimage the HD or replacement using DVD or Repair CD: Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup

Thank you all for your reply's. I was able to find the restore partition. When Windows asked me which part I wanted to install to I saw a 28GB hidden partition and that was it. I found the restore utility and in about 20 minutes she was back to factory config. Thanx again.