CLAIRE39, yes, you can download a copy of Win7 which is an ISO file. You don't need a CD drive or USB port because you perform the repair install/in place upgrade from within Windows.
How much free space do you have on your C: drive? When you perform a Repair Install/In Place Upgrade, a copy of your current C: drive is saved as Windows.old. There has to be enough space on your drive to save this file.
Assuming you have enough drive space, or close to it:
Download Win7x32 All-In-One ISO
click here. After it finishes downloading, place it on your desktop.
Create two new folders on your desktop. Name one
Win7 and the other
DISM++
If you don't have 7-zip you can download it
click here. Install it on your computer.
If you don't have your 25 character CD key you can use Magic Jellybean, to download it
click here. Install it on your computer. When you run this tool, you want
CD Key not Product ID. I copy and paste the CD key to notepad and print it to alleviate typos.
Download DISM++,
click here, it is a zip/compressed folder, and place it on your desktop.
Run below batch file. Double-click zip/compressed folder, when it opens, double-click the file
run disk cleanup extended. It will start disk cleanup extended (dce). The CMD window will open blank. Leave it open, after dce completes it will close. Check all the boxes in disk cleanup and run it. Be patient it may take a while to complete.
View attachment Run Disk Cleanup Extended.zip
Extract the contents of zip/compressed folder Windows 7 Ultimate ISO on your desktop to Win7 folder on your desktop. To do so, Right-click windows 7 ultimate file, on menu hover over 7-zip, new menu, choose extract files..., to the right of extract files, click the box with ... in it in, popup choose Win7, then OK.
Right-Click DISM++ zip/compressed folder on your desktop, on menu hover over 7-zip, new menu, choose extract files..., to the right of extract files, click the box with ... in it, popup choose DISM++, then OK. The folders you created on your, Win7 and DISM++ should now contain the contents of their zipped/compressed folders.
If you have an external hard drive, now would be the time to perform a full system image backup to it.
To start Repair Install, make sure you have your 25 character key, open the Win7 folder on your desktop, click setup. Follow prompts/instructions, you want
Win 7 Starter, at the appropriate screen you want
Upgrade.
You will use DISM++ to install the plethora of Windows Updates after you complete the Win 7 repair install. It's easy to use, after you've completed repair install, to install windows updates, open DISM++ folder, click on DISM++ x86, on menu select
updates, then select
scan, it will scan for updates and present what is available, choose everything, the program will then present you with options for any update that is potentially problematic with a description. You can choose to install or not, it's up to you. When all your choices are made, select
install. Takes a while, not as long as Windows Update however and no need to reboot until after it completes!
After DISM++ runs, completes and you reboot, you should have a fully working Win7x32 Starter with updates you chose to install.