Reinstalling windows 7 starter on gigabyte notebook

[cafwen]

Hi guys, hope you can help!

I have a Gigabyte notebook which came with Windows 7 Starter installed. It's become slow and prone to viruses and adware and I want to completely reinstall Windows 7 Starter and start from scratch - I don't need any of the old files or software at all; I just want to wipe it clean and start anew basically. As a notebook it doesn't come with CD drive.

My oldest restore point is from one month ago which doesn't help much.

Advice please? <3

Cat

 

[Ztruker]

Do you have a Windows 7 install disc? If not does the notebook have a recovery partition? If yes, you should be able to access it via the Start menu to do a restore to factory state.


What is the complete model number of the notebook? How to restore to factory should be explained in the online users guide.

Edit: Just found this:

Step 1 Power on or reboot the ASUS laptop. When the ASUS logo screen appears, press "F9" to access the hidden partition.

Step 2 Press "Enter" when Windows Boot Manager appears. Choose your language from the options and

 

[alphanumeric]

You can create a bootable Windows 7 install thumb drive with this tool, https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool. You need a Starter ISO though. If you know anybody with a 32 bit Windows 7 DVD, doesn't matter what version as long as its 32 bit, you can then do this to make it a universal disk. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/85813-windows-7-universal-installation-disc-create.html. 64 bit does not contain Starter, that's why you need a 32 bit DVD.

 

[gregrocker]

Everything is compiled here to get and keep a perfect Clean Reinstall Windows 7.

It discusses in Step 1 how to locate reinstallation media, unlock all versions if need be, create flash stick installer.

 

[alphanumeric]

Hopefully the Microsoft Software Recovery site works for him. I could never get it to work for me.

 

[cafwen]

Sheesh!

My goodness this does seem to be complicated - but thank you so much for all the help, truly appreciated!

Last question is that my product code on the back has become unreadable over time - is this going to pose a problem?

Thanks again guys!

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Last question is that my product code on the back has become unreadable over time - is this going to pose a problem?

Yes, if you do a clean install and are referring to the 25 character "Product Key" found on a "Certificate of Authenticity" sticker. You'd need that code to activate Windows. Otherwise, it won't run beyond 30 days.

No, if you can do some type of repair or recovery that doesn't involve a clean install.

I'm assuming Starter works like any other version of Windows 7.