Reinstalling W7 on Laptop From Friend - Not Sure Which Install Type

theog said:

If your Windows 7 Ultimate product key is legal, it will work.

It is legal, I just don't know if it is an upgrade key or a full installation key.... That is where I'm stuck.

I basically need to figure out what media my key came with so I know what media to use to reinstall W7...

While you can first try to clean reinstall with the Ultimate Product Key you audited from the HD, I would clean reinstall with the Pro Upgrade key on the COA sticker since you know it's legit and belongs to the owner of that machine. OEM in the Ultimate Product ID in Computer>Properties could indicate a cracked pirated copy.

Here are the steps to get a perfect reinstall of factory OEM based on hundreds done here: Reinstalling Windows 7

Before reinstalling I would use Theog's links to attempt full Factory Recovery from boot (which self-activates) to see what it has to offer, maybe make the Recovery Disks. If it doesn't run then you can feel free to delete it during Clean install as given in the steps above.

1) YES, you will be doing the Lenovo clean install.
2) You stated in post 1, you had made your Recovery USB Pendrive.
3) Anytime upgrade will do all activating for you.

If you would like a clean, clean, take look at this tutorial:
SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation
But you will need a Startup Repair disk:
System Repair Disc - Create

I don't think it is a cracked version of W7 Ultimate... The guy I bought it from isn't computer savy enough to install cracked W7 OS.

I wish I could just type my product key in somewhere and it would tell me what type of installation it will be good for.

Is that really the only difference between pro & ultimate? If so, I'm fine with Pro.

Let's put it this way, if this were your laptop and you were having issues with performance right now, what would you do to get a fresh install of W7?


Thx,

Mike

Rex32 said:

theog said:

If your Windows 7 Ultimate product key is legal, it will work.

It is legal, I just don't know if it is an upgrade key or a full installation key.... That is where I'm stuck.

I basically need to figure out what media my key came with so I know what media to use to reinstall W7...

I wrote the tutorial using a full key.

So I googled my product key that is reported in computer properties and it is on some shaddy forums referring ot SLP OEM installs or something, idk...

I think using the Lenovo Recovery option and putting a fresh Lenovo W7 professional install might be the best way to go, it also seems like the simplest...

The USB thing I created that I referred to in post #1 is a bootable USB Stick with the W7 Ultimate x64 Retail Disk image files extracted on it...

I'm still checking if I can use the lenovo revoery tool, I'm going to reboot now and try pushing f11, will report back.


Thx,

Mike

Okay, I'm going to explore that option now.

Is the language pack really the only difference between pro and ultimate, if so why the hell would anyone buy ultimate?

-Mike

Oh one more thing regarding my product key... When I used Belarc Advisor to give me a report on the laptop, the key that contains the OEM part is reported first and the a second key is in parentheses, any idea what the second key is?


Thx,

Mike

Even better question is why would anyone buy Pro or Ultimate when Premium suits the vast majority of users, costs $89 for OEM or $125 for three Upgrade licenses right now on Amazon.

You can unlock the Pro version in the Ultimate flash stick you created to do a clean install if Factory Recovery doesn't run or suit you after a test drive. Just browse into the Sources folder to delete ei.cfg file and it will give you a menu with all versions.

The number with OEM is the Product ID used only by MS as a cross-check. The Product Key is the other number. Is the Product Key readable on the COA sticker? Copy it down and put it away for safe keeping now.