No crisis Best way to clean reinstall Windows Professional? Have DVD

HappeeJoyJoy3 · 15 Apr 2014

Hi! Have already entered my P.C.'s CURRENT stats in my profile.
1 year ago, had Windows XP, Service Pack 3 on my P.C., Media Center Edition Dell Dimension E510, 32-bit.
At that time, bought Windows 7 Professional, DVD, Microsoft. Box labeled, "Upgrade designed for Windows Vista." Installed same on this computer.
After more reading about Windows 7, unsure if I did a clean install during my original install of Windows 7 Pro & am wondering if I should try to REinstall the same Windows 7 Professional that I bought onto this machine.
If so, what is the best way to go about it?

P.S. I have an external hard drive, so my data is safe.
Thanks in advance.

Gator · 15 Apr 2014

If all your data is safe and backed up and you don't mind starting over, my personal preference is to wipe the hard drive and reinstall. Im not sure if thats best practice or not, but I like a completely new install with no lingering files in other folders.

What exactly is the problem though? Are you having issues or are you simply wondering if you did a clean install? If you aren't having performance issues, you can simply clean up some of the old files that may have been left over if you happened to install the OS on top of your old one.

Here are a few links to help
Clean Install Windows 7

(If you did an install on top of another installation):
How do I remove the Windows.old folder? OR Windows.old Folder - Delete

theog · 15 Apr 2014

To clean install:
1) Clean the HD Drive, using Step one in this tutorial:
SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation
than
~~2a) clean install with the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Disk.~~
2b) Clean Install Windows 7

~~2c) UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with~~

gregrocker · 15 Apr 2014

With Dells the only factory feature will still run after a reinstall is the bootable Diagnostics which are very useful to have, so I would test if they will boot and run now by tapping the F12 key at boot, selecting Diagnostics to run those, then repeat to select Utility Partition which often has an even more extensive diagnostics suite. Go ahead and test your hardware to see its condition.

Once you know these will run then the only partition to keep during the booted Clean Install Windows 7 is the first one which houses these diagnostics. Use the Drive Options in steps 7/8 to delete all other partitions, create and format new one in the space.

I would decide whether you want to reinstall based on performance. If you're satisfied with performance you can go over your install to familarize yourself more with it and optimize it some using the Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7. If you prefer to reinstall to try to get better performance, look over these same steps for Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which compile everything that works best based on thousands of installs we've helped with here, and everything not to forget as you prepare.