FUBAR & I'm up the creek, I don't know if I have a paddle!

Hi,
The school of hard knocks is where I'm learning:
I recently re-installed W-7 Pro successfully but in downloading a driver update program, I believe an unscrupulous group in helping me download, might have infected my machine with something in order to sell a tune-up service. I decided I needed to re-re-install the O/S, only this time re-format the disks to get rid of whatever was slowing down the machine. I did too good a job reformatting, all disks were reformatted in the early stages of re-installing the O/S. As a result, the installation program couldn't "Expand Window Files". I am being asked for a "System Image", and I don't have one. My question: Where do I now get a "System Image"?

I want to avoid a repair shop because of limited finances. Can I buy a "System Image" disk on eBay? My machine is a Lenovo M-90, I had Microsoft Windows 7 Pro 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601.
Thank you

I would never use those third party driver download programs. They usually have undesirable or malicious software that loads onto your system. If you need drivers for your system, you should download them from Lenovo support or the device manufacturer's website.

How did you install Win 7 the first time? Do you have a Win 7 DVD? Do you have a Lenovo restore disc?

Why did you reload the OS in the first place?

Regards

I have the official Microsoft W-7 Pro Installation disk(SKU-FOC-000129)
Originally the computer was bought used, with no O/S disk
There were 3 partitions, 1 logical, and 2 system on one hard disk, all 3 partitions were formatted
I don't have a Lenovo restore disk
I reloaded the O/S because the machine was slow, and I thought making a clean O/S reinstall would be the "poor man's" fix, if the machine was infectedI
I can't continue with the installation because it tries to "Expand the Window System Files" only there are none to expand after I formatted the system partition
Thank you for responding :)

If you've got the Win 7 DVD, this is an easy fix. If you provide your system specs in detail, we can give you the guidance to have a perfect clean install.

From what you've indicated, I think your hdd had three partitions: system reserved, C:\ drive and D:\ drive? Is that correct? What is the make and size of your hdd?

Regards

The Lenovo M-90 has a Western Digital "Caviar Blue" WD5000AAKS

Chaim613 said:

The Lenovo M-90 has a Western Digital "Caviar Blue" WD5000AAKS

Is that 500GB?

Yes, it is 500GB

I see from Google that your drive is 500GB internal desktop drive. I always like to ensure the drive media is clean and healthy before a clean install. You should download the Western Digital Data Lifeguard utility and do a full erase on the drive that will delete all the partitions and test each sector by writing zeros. This utility will identify any bad sectors that may exist and reallocate spare sectors if need be. Considering that you purchased this computer used without an OS, it's always good to check the drive thoroughly before you invest the time for a clean install of the OS. You should run all the tests for the drive that are included with the WD Data Lifeguard. I would download the DOS version and perform all the tests, full erase and or low level format. Win 7 will give you the options to create the partitions when you install the OS to a raw drive. Do you know what size partitions you want?

Regards

Do you have a DVD burner on this system?