Reinstalling W7, No windows disc!

[koralyne]

So i totally forgot i dont have a recovery disc for my computer.

I bought a new harddrive today and transferred my stuff to it in hopes of formatting my origional drive, and reinstalling windows, to get a clean install.

But now i dont know how to reinstall windows. Ive got a partition on my origional HD that says recovery, but i cant figure out how to use that to get to the reinstall screen on boot.

So what are my options?

 

[Roderunner]

With the original hdd + recovery partition installed in your pc, you should find how to make recovery discs somewhere in the start menu.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello koralyne.

Have a look at this info for recovering a Dell from the hidden recovery partition if it's still possible on your machine; be advised this will over-write all the data on the entire PC.

This tutorial at the link below shows a way to "copy-out" the data to external media first.

How to Copy & Paste in Recovery Console on Windows 7 or Vista

Be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.

   Information

New Dell
Turn on the computer.

2 As the computer starts, press <F8> on the keyboard until the Advanced Boot Options menu appears on the screen.

Note:
You must press <F8> before the Windows logo appears on the screen. If you press <F8> after the Windows logo appears on the screen, the Advanced Boot Options menu will not appear on the screen. If you do not see the Advanced Boot Options menu, restart the computer, and then repeat this step until you see the menu on the screen.

3 Press the <Down Arrow> on the keyboard to select Repair Your Computer on the Advanced Boot Options menu, and then press <Enter>.

4 Specify the language settings that you want, and then click Next.

5 Log in as a user who has administrative credentials, and then click OK.

6 Click Dell Factory Image Restore.

7 In the Dell Factory Image Restore window, click Next.

8 Click to select the Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition check box.

9 Click Next.
The computer is restored to the default factory configuration.

10 When the restore operation is completed, click Finish to restart the computer.
The software is now installed as it was when the computer was first received.

 

[gregrocker]

You'll have to plug back in your Dell HD to make the Recovery Disks from the Dell DataSafe application to make Recovery disks.

If this fails, order the disks from Dell Tech Support, or find a retail Vista installer for your version to clean install using the Product Key on COA sticker.

 

[WinViSeven]

Ask your computer manufacturer for a new recovery disc.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello again, here's some interesting info you may find useful and be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.



After you have copied out or made back-ups of the data you need to save to external media; if you can find an exact Windows version that the PC shipped with you can do a clean install using the activation key on the COA sticker attached to the PC though it may require a robo-call to MS to sort the OEM batch-key.

How to Activate Windows 7 by Phone


If you can't find an exact same version, you could use the info in this tutorial to create an "all Versions" installer of any version Windows installer, to install using the same method I posted above.

Windows 7 Universal Installation Disc - Create


After you have made backups of everything you care to save, the best method is to do a complete wipe (secure erase) of the entire Hard Disk Drive first, it over-writes everything, all the old Windows code including all the old drivers/programs, giving you the best possible space to install Windows to.

SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation