Solved Can I rely on the existing bios settings when doing a new install of 7

[illiterate1]

Hi,

I have a new win 7 installation disc arriving soon. I hope to be able to put a fresh copy on a fujitsu laptop but I am concerned that the manufacturer's of the laptop may have set up the bios (pheonix) so that no one else can install over their existing in-built windows 7. You're help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[bigmck]

Hi,

I have a new win 7 installation disc arriving soon. I hope to be able to put a fresh copy on a fujitsu laptop but I am concerned that the manufacturer's of the laptop may have set up the bios (pheonix) so that no one else can install over their existing in-built windows 7. You're help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

You should have no problem doing a Clean Install on any PC. Just follow these directions.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

 

[Alejandro85]

No, there should be no problem, at least with the BIOS. Computers that DO give problems are those that come pre-infected with Windows 8, but 7 is free from that, so you can reinstall whatever you like.

 

[whs]

The Phoenix BIOS is relatively common. I see no reason why there would be a restriction on your system.

 

[illiterate1]

A great big thankyou to everyone.. What a site !! it's incredible. The only query I have left is " where in Win 7 can I find the drivers to back-up (save) before starting the installation..?". The reason for the new install boils down to a more than limited knowledge..well..no knowledge. I was cleaning the laptop of old programs and files, and at some point I needed to run a 'util' from the dvd drive, CCleaner probably. It was at this point that I got the message "installer is not responding" or words to that effect. After several tries with different discs I gave up and opted to try a clean install (still haven't received the new Win 7 disc yet..should be here this week, hopefully). So that's it really, installer not responding and me not able to respond to that. You guys are brilliant, thanks once again.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

" where in Win 7 can I find the drivers to back-up (save) before starting the installation..?"

Not sure I am following this.

The necessary drivers are supplied by the Windows installation disc and/or Windows Update.

I would try to download the NIC (Ethernet) driver before I began, however. It should be supplied by the Windows disk, but I wouldn't want to take the chance of not having Internet connectivity. You should be able to get it from the laptop manufacturer's web site.

 

[DavidE]

Do you have a readable COA (Certificate of Authenticity) sticker on the laptop?
It's usually on the bottom, or in the battery compartment.

If you do, you can do a clean reinstall and use the key on the COA certificate to activate Windows.
The COA sticker will show what version the license is for, such as Home Premium.
If you ordered the same version, there is no need to buy/use a new key, if you have a readable COA key.

This tutorial has everything needed, including where to download the latest official Windows ISO installer:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html

 

[illiterate1]

quote "not sure I am following this..". That's my fault, sorry for misleading you. The clean install tutorial says that I must save the drivers from the original Win7 which is now on the laptop, before I start a clean install. My first thought was to look in the 'device manager' section (well, that's what it's called in XP !!) but since I don't know my way around Win 7 there is a possibility that all the drivers may be found somewhere else. Where it says to first save the original drivers, I think it means the ones which were shipped with the laptop when it was first purchased from new. Sorry, for confusing the issue. To further demonstrate my ignorance may I ask what is a 'Windows ISO installer' ?

Thanks for all your help and advice,

Illiterate

 

[whs]

Don't worry about the drivers. They will install automatically. No idea why you were advised to save them.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

quote "not sure I am following this..". That's my fault, sorry for misleading you. The clean install tutorial says that I must save the drivers from the original Win7 which is now on the laptop, before I start a clean install. My first thought was to look in the 'device manager' section (well, that's what it's called in XP !!) but since I don't know my way around Win 7 there is a possibility that all the drivers may be found somewhere else. Where it says to first save the original drivers, I think it means the ones which were shipped with the laptop when it was first purchased from new. Sorry, for confusing the issue. To further demonstrate my ignorance may I ask what is a 'Windows ISO installer' ?

The Windows ISO installer refers to a legal and legitimate downloadable ISO file from Digitalriver.com that can be burned to a DVD and used to install Windows.

Can you post a link to that specific tutorial that mentions saving drivers?

I suppose you might want to do that if you had some type of exotic or hard-to-replace driver that was not going to be supplied by the Windows disc or Windows Update. That would be rare in my experience and I'd expect you could get any such driver at your laptop manufacturer's web site after you install. Do you have any exotic hardware?

There's a bunch of drivers in C:\Windows\system32\drivers folder. Maybe elsewhere for all I know, but I've never bothered backing them up any time I wanted to do a clean install.

You might wait for other comments.

 

[DavidE]

Can you post a link to that specific tutorial that mentions saving drivers?

I think the OP is referring to the http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html tutorial.
This is in the "Tip" of the tutorial:

Before doing this clean install, you should download and save all of your device drivers to a USB flash drive, DVD, another HDD, or some other media to have them handy to make setting Windows 7 up easier when finished installing Windows 7. For example, having the network driver available in case you cannot connect to the internet until it's installed.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I think the OP is referring to the http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html tutorial.
This is in the "Tip" of the tutorial:

Before doing this clean install, you should download and save all of your device drivers to a USB flash drive, DVD, another HDD, or some other media to have them handy to make setting Windows 7 up easier when finished installing Windows 7. For example, having the network driver available in case you cannot connect to the internet until it's installed.

OK: "download and save". That refers to going to the website of the PC or hardware manufacturer and downloading the newest drivers. I thought the OP was referring to saving drivers from his current install.

That was standard procedure for earlier operating systems, but I rarely hear of anybody getting in a jam by just accepting Windows default drivers from the install disc and THEN re-evaluating after the install if some functionality is missing that drivers from the manufacturer might provide.

But I'll grant you that some people are obsessed with "newest drivers" and aren't about to be satisfied with anything as pedestrian as a driver found on a Windows installation disc. I'm not one of them.

As I said earlier, I would get the NIC driver before the install just in case I didn't have connectivity after a clean install. I've never had that problem personally, but have seen allegations of it.

 

[gregrocker]

Drivers for Factory OEM are better handled using the tips, advice, tools and methods in http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164.

 

[illiterate1]

Hello and thanks for the replies,

The driver reference is in ' Windows 7: Clean install Windows 7' in a footnote "tip". It goes something like...." before doing a clean install, you should download and save all of your device drivers to a USB flash drive... etc... for example, having the network driver available in case you cannot connect to the internet until it's installed" I have obviously read it incorrectly. Thanks for letting me know that drivers are on the new install disk.. When I reformat my desktop pc's (running XP) I need to install drivers for sound card, audio card, printer and so on, so you have eased my mind on that score. On another note, I mentioned in a previous post that my reason for a clean install was due to the fact that the Fujitsu laptop repeatedly gave me "installer not responding" messages when attempting to run a util from the dvd drive.. surely there must be a way around this phenomena in Win 7, rather than opting for a clean install (although the clean install is going ahead anyway).

Many thanks for your help,

Illiterate

 

[madcratebuilder]

You may need drivers that are specific to your lap top. Go to the manufacturers website to find what is available.

Mother board specific drivers like the chipset, Ethernet, wifi, usb and other devices specific to your machine. I like to have these needed drivers before I do a install but it's normally not necessary. You can d/l and install after you install W7.

 

[gregrocker]

Again, follow the steps given in http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164 which are quite specific and based on tens of thousands of installs we've helped with here since beta.

Have your wireless driver in your backup so if it isn't provided by installer you can install it quickly to get online, enable Automatically deliver drivers via Windows Update (Step 3) then install all Important and Optional Windows Updates, with reboots, until there are no more offered when you Check for Updates.

Only after all Updates are installed (except Bingware) should you import any missing drivers in Device Manager. It isn't necessary to import the chipset unless elements of it are missing, or there are performance issues which point to it which we can help you sort.

 

[mitchell65]

In Post #14 you said

When I reformat my desktop pc's (running XP) I need to install drivers for sound card, audio card, printer and so on, so you have eased my mind on that score.

Although all the advice you have been given on "drivers" is correct you will need your installation disc for your printer. Clearly Windows 7 could not contain all the drivers for all the printers and Scanners that exist, that would run into many thousands of drivers! If you can't find your Printer installation disc, don't worry just post here the make and model of your printer and one of us will give you the link to download what you need.
EDIT: Incidentally I think you reside in the UK but your timezone on your profile shows you as in the USA. Don't worry when you have finished your clean install post a new thread and ask how to change your timezone and you will be given full instructions. You can see it is wrong just look at the time shown in your profile! But as I say this is not vital do it later.

 

[illiterate1]

Hello,

I received the new Win 7 disk yesterday and downloaded drivers from the fujitsu website. As you can imagine, I don't know what half of them actually do, except for the audio driver. Although some would advocate downloading whilst others suggest not to bother at this juncture, I am nonetheless following all your advice to the letter. Having downloaded a multitude of drivers, when I reached the last one in the list it was a ' driver collection designed for supporting a first installation', perhaps I should use this as opposed to individual drivers. That said, I may not even need them.

Thank you everyone.

Illiterate.

 

[gregrocker]

Are you joking? I just wrote out for you above exactly how drivers are handled in Win7. I didn't trust you'd actually read the tutorial so I summarized the drivers steps so you wouldn't miss them. Then you reply back that you did exactly the opposite! Are you kidding?

Again, follow the steps given in http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164 which are quite specific and based on tens of thousands of installs we've helped with here since beta.

Have your wireless driver in your backup so if it isn't provided by installer you can install it quickly to get online, enable Automatically deliver drivers via Windows Update (Step 3) then install all Important and Optional Windows Updates, with reboots, until there are no more offered when you Check for Updates.

Only after all Updates are installed (except Bingware) should you import any missing drivers in Device Manager. It isn't necessary to import the chipset unless elements of it are missing, or there are performance issues which point to it which we can help you sort.

It's a shame that you dont' want to benefit from the other steps in http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164 as that tutorial compiles everything that's worked best in tens of thousands of installs we've helped with here.

 

[Boozad]

As Greg said, just reinstall Windows and run all rounds of updates, this should leave you fully furnished driver wise. I recently upgraded my father-in law's Acer laptop from Vista to 7 and it installed every required driver, I didn't have to bother updating anything.