Reinstalling W7 On Dual Boot System

[michael diemer]

One of the things I've thought about in preparation for W7 EOL is to do the "non-destructive, in-place re-installation." (Fred Langa has an excellent tutorial on that). However, since the original installation of W7, I have created a dual-boot system, with Zorin being the other OS. So, the W7 partition is now smaller than before (when it was the whole hard drive). So, I'm not sure that will work. I can foresee getting an error message like " The partition you are installing to is not the same size as when Windows was originally installed." I'm afraid it either won't work, or it will work, but I'll wipe out Zorin in the process, as Windows will take up the whole drive. Anyone have any thoughts on this?


BTW, the reason I want to do this is to keep all my files and programs, but have a fresh W7 install, so it works flawlessly. I would not do any updates, as I would just keep it offline and use Zorin for online work.

 

[Paul Black]

Hi michael diemer,

One of the things I've thought about in preparation for W7 EOL is to do the "non-destructive, in-place re-installation." (Fred Langa has an excellent tutorial on that).

This is a Repair Install.

See my post with information and instructions here => Repair Install.

 

[SIW2]

The partition you are installing to is not the same size as when Windows was originally installed." I'm afraid it either won't work, or it will work, but I'll wipe out Zorin in the process, as Windows will take up the whole drive. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

NO, you don't need to be concerned about that.


Repair Install will be fine as long as you have enough free space on the windows partition. IIrc 16gb free space needed. If you don't have , it will just tell you - not enough space.

It might affect to boot files, so it depends how you have set that up. If you are using windows bootmgr to also boot Linux, it should be ok.


Before doing a repair install:

1. Check programs and features and uninstall any programs you don't use/need. Reboot to make sure they are cleared out. That reduces the settings and files that will be transferred during repair install.

2. Have a good clear out of junk files including running diskcleanup - which will probably offer to uninstall superseded updates. Reboot to make sure they are all cleared out. That should also give you more space on the windows partition.

3. Backup Activation using dism++. Then copy the entire dism++ folder to another disk/usb stick for safety. View attachment Dism++10.1.1000.100.zip

 

[michael diemer]

Hi michael diemer,



This is a Repair Install.

See my post with information and instructions here => Repair Install.

OK, I'm a bit confused. Langa says, at the point where Windows asks you what kind of install you are performing, "you tell Windows a little lie. You choose the 'upgrade' option."



This installs a fresh copy of Windows without affecting anything else. Also, it is possible to do it with Windows booted, because it is in effect an upgrade, though not really. I have used this method successfully in the past.


So, is this the same as a repair? It doesn't sound like it to me, as the repair option has you doing it with a live CD. Although the result may be the same.

 

[michael diemer]

SIW2: I am using the Linux Grub bootloader. But if it doesn't boot, I can probably fix it with a boot repair disc, which I have done successfully in the past. Also, I said I have Zorin on the drive. Actually, it's Solus. Although that doesn't make much difference.



As for cleaning the partition, I have pretty much already done that, I like to keep things stripped down pretty lean.

 

[Megahertz07]

OK, I'm a bit confused. Langa says, at the point where Windows asks you what kind of install you are performing, "you tell Windows a little lie. You choose the 'upgrade' option."

This installs a fresh copy of Windows without affecting anything else. Also, it is possible to do it with Windows booted, because it is in effect an upgrade, though not really. I have used this method successfully in the past.

So, is this the same as a repair? It doesn't sound like it to me, as the repair option has you doing it with a live CD. Although the result may be the same.

Langa is right. There is no Repair option on Win 7. What you do is "upgrade" installation from one version to same version. It will reinstall Win 7 and keep your data and programs (and unfortunately al the garbage it has collected over the years). You will have to reinstall all updates.
My suggestion is to use Simplix.
MS releases SP2 for Windows 7

I normally do a fresh install (delete everything) every two years to get performance increase.

 

[michael diemer]

Thanks Megahertz. I'm nor sure I'll do this; I will first see if I can optimize things. I just want a reasonably fast system by the time January rolls around. This W7 install will be essentially a relic, there to access files, use Office, etc. but staying offline. I'll be using Linux for daily online stuff. also, this computer is my test machine, to help me figure out what will work on the wife's laptop, which also has W7-HP. I also have a third rig with W7-Pro, but that's my music machine, and it is basically already in W7-EOL mode, as I rarely take it online.


It looks then like I can do this, that is, do a non-destructive reinstall on a dual boot system. I will refer to this thread if I decide to do it, so I can prime it per SIW2's instructions.


Thanks everyone, this forum is the best!

 

[SIW2]

OK, I'm a bit confused. Langa says, at the point where Windows asks you what kind of install you are performing, "you tell Windows a little lie. You choose the 'upgrade' option."



This installs a fresh copy of Windows without affecting anything else. Also, it is possible to do it with Windows booted, because it is in effect an upgrade, though not really. I have used this method successfully in the past.


So, is this the same as a repair? It doesn't sound like it to me, as the repair option has you doing it with a live CD. Although the result may be the same.

Doing an upgrade install onto the same version of windows is called a repair install, for obvious reasons. It can only be done when booted into windows.

There is no "repair option" in windows 7 boot media. There are system recovery options.

 

[michael diemer]

Thank you for clarifying that!

 

[Paul Black]

Hi michael diemer,

OK, I'm a bit confused. Langa says, at the point where Windows asks you what kind of install you are performing, "you tell Windows a little lie. You choose the 'upgrade' option."

This installs a fresh copy of Windows without affecting anything else. Also, it is possible to do it with Windows booted, because it is in effect an upgrade, though not really. I have used this method successfully in the past.

So, is this the same as a repair? It doesn't sound like it to me, as the repair option has you doing it with a live CD. Although the result may be the same.

When you perform a Repair Install, when you get to the section that says, Which type of installation do you want screen, you MUST click Upgrade.

A Repair Install [Upgrade] differs from a clean install in the fact that it ONLY replaces the corrupted OS with a new fresh copy. This means that ALL your User Accounts, Folders, Files, Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, Data Files, Icons, and any installed programs are left intact. It does however, delete ALL the Window updates, and can affect, sounds, services, visual effect settings and device drivers by re-setting them to default. You cannot do a repair install at boot, in Safe Mode, using a system repair disk, or using an integrated Windows update disk. Basically, this process can ONLY be performed from within the LIVE OS.

I hope this clarifies things!

 

[michael diemer]

Yes, it does clarify things. Now I know why I was not able to do this all those times I tried to use a repair disc or the original install CD to fix W7, when it would not boot. All I would get is "Repair cannot fix this problem" or some such. I ended up having to do clean installs on those occasions. I did not know that you could only do the repair/reinstall option with W7 booted. And now I know that the repair option is the same as what I think of as the in-place or non-destructive reinstall.