Repair Install tutorial, which step should I use?

OzBoz said:

I apologise for my slowness in understanding this tutorial, but I have been round and round in circles trying to do a repair install for days, and my brain is now fried. My computer is frequently crashing (not to blue screen though) either locking up, or rebooting. I've tried a startup repair but that tells me "No problems" even though power off reboots frequently fail.

I stumbled on this site and tutorial and tried what it suggests. The Upgrade Install failed and Windows restored the previous version, which is obviously broken. I went back into the tutorial to start again, and realised I might have been using the wrong step, 4,5 or 6. I find the explanation slightly confusing, for example, my original Win 7 Professional 64bit, and the MS DVD that came with it, I don't believe was SP1. My system is now SP1 which I assume was installed as an update. I am now not sure which of the steps applies to my situation.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

Brian

Hi Brian,

Welcome to Seven forums.

You can use the Non SP1 disc as well to perform the system recovery. As SP is an update which installs after the windows installation.

You should check this article which should be helpful:

Failure to Boot

If you have the backup of the data then best would be to clean install the windows on the system:

Clean Install Windows 7

Keep us posted with the results so we can advise you further.

Hello Brian, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Since this is an OEM Windows that came preinstalled on the PC, these warnings in the tutorial would apply to you.

Repair Install


You cannot use a OEM Windows 7 "Factory" Restore/Recovery type of installation disc that came with or created from a store bought computer to do a repair install with. These can only be used do a clean install instead.
You can do a repair install on a factory OEM installation with the latest official Windows 7 with SP1 ISO file here: Microsoft: Windows 7 Direct Download Links, and use Windows 7 USB-DVD Download Tool


Once you download the correct ISO file, you could use step 4 or 5 in the tutorial.

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn

OzBoz said:

Thank you Sandeep P,

From your response, I understand that I can use step 6 of the tutorial. Have I got that right?

I take you point about a clean install, but to be honest, the thought of all that reinstalling tends to put me off. However, I realise it's a path I might have to go down.

Thanks again for your help, and welcome

Kind regards

Brian

Hi Brian,

Thanks for your reply. You should download the SP1 from the link shared by Shawn and perform a repair install.

However, a clean install is always recommended for the better performance of the system. You can keep it as last resort for resolving this issue.

Keep us posted with the results so we can advise you further.

OzBoz said:

Thank you both for your responses.

I have managed to do a repair install (update) but the system is now showing a few problems. The major problem at the moment is that IE and Thunderbird will not work even though the internet connection looks good, so I can't even validate my Windows. They both work normally in Safe Mode. Any ideas where I should look. The ASDL2 router is ok and works just fine with my laptop. and as far as I can see, the settings on the laptop are the same as those on the problem desktop.

I know a clean install is the best solution here, but frankly I dread embarking on such a massive exercise, only to run into the same sort of problems installing, that I have run into so far. Nothing has gone smoothly or as expected.

Regards

Brian

Hi Brian,


Its great to hear that repair install worked fine on the system. Please let us know what happens when you try to connect to the Internet using the Internet explorer.

If it works fine in the safe mode with networking then you should perform a clean startup:

Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup

Keep us posted with the results so we can advise you further.

OzBoz said:

Hi Sandeep,

Thanks again for your interest. In the end, I could only connect to the internet in safe mode, and certain other applications were showing signs of corruption, so I admitted defeat and did a clean install. I am still re installing all my applications, (BIG job) but so far, everything seems to be clean and working properly.

Once again, thank you for your input and interest.

Regards

Brian

While I have not been "in this thread". I just got done reading everything from both sides; and i have to say yes you probably did the only logical thing left that could probably be done. If in doubt; and all else fails; then reinstalling doing a clean install should fix any and all issues not barring any other "hicups" that may arise.

OzBoz said:

Hi Sandeep,

Thanks again for your interest. In the end, I could only connect to the internet in safe mode, and certain other applications were showing signs of corruption, so I admitted defeat and did a clean install. I am still re installing all my applications, (BIG job) but so far, everything seems to be clean and working properly.

Once again, thank you for your input and interest.

Regards

Brian

Hi Brian,

I understand re-installing windows would be the only option left. I am sure once the windows and applications are installed system should be working fine without any issues.

If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact us.