Repair Install

How to Do a Repair Install to Fix Windows 7​

   Information

This will show you how to do a repair install (aka: in-place upgrade install) to fix your currently installed Windows 7 and preserve your user accounts, data, programs, and system drivers.

   Note

Do a Repair installation if:

• A System Restore did not help fix your Windows 7.
• There is no other easier option left that can fix your Windows 7.
• You DO NOT want to do a Clean reinstall of Windows 7.
• You DO want to preserve your user accounts, data, programs, and system drivers.

   Tip

ITEMS THAT WILL BE RESET TO DEFAULT OR AFFECTED:

• Sounds
• Services
• Visual Effects Settings
• Device Drivers - Be sure to have these handy to reinstall. They do not always remain after the repair (upgrade) install.
• You may lose the ability to sign on to MSN Messenger, to solve this problem have a look at this thread Unable to sign in to WLM.
• You may lose your custom themes due to not having permisions set on the old themes. Go to the hidden themes folder at C:/Users/(User-Name)/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Themes, then Take Ownership of the themes folder and you will now have all your themes back.
• It has been reported that you may also lose your Media Center gadget after doing the repair install.
• Windows Updates will need to be checked and reinstalled again.

   Warning

• You can only do a repair install with the same edition Windows 7 installation disc for the same edition of Windows 7 that you have installed.
• You cannot use a OEM Windows 7 "Factory" Restore/Recovery type of installation disc that came with or created from a store bought computer to do a repair install with. These can only be used do a clean install instead.
• You can do a repair install on a factory OEM installation with the latest official Windows 7 with SP1 ISO file here: Microsoft: Windows 7 Direct Download Links, and use Windows 7 USB-DVD Download Tool to create a bootable DVD or USB flash drive with the ISO to do the repair install from within Windows 7.
• You can use a retail OEM Windows 7 installation disc to do a repair install with.
• You can use a retail (full or upgrade) Windows 7 installation disc to do a repair install with.
• You cannot do a repair install with a System Repair Disc. A System Repair Disc is not a installation disc, and will only boot to the System Recovery Options screen.
• If you have a 32-bit (x86) Windows 7 currently installed, then you must use a 32-bit Windows 7 installation disc to be able to do a repair install with.
• If you have a 64-bit (x64) Windows 7 currently installed, then you must use a 64-bit Windows 7 installation disc to be able to do a repair install with.
• You can use a retail Windows 7 SP1 installation disc (ex: Technet (available), MSDN (available), or retail (when available)) to do a repair install with on a currently installed Windows 7 SP1.
• You can use a Windows 7 SP1 installation disc (ex: Technet (available), MSDN (available), or retail (when available)) to do a repair install with on a currently installed slipstream Windows 7 SP1.
• You cannot use a slipstream Windows 7 installation disc to do a repair install with on a currently installed Windows 7 SP1.
• You cannot use a slipstream Windows 7 installation disc to do a repair install with on a currently installed slipstream Windows 7 SP1.
• You can only do a repair install from within Windows 7.
• You cannot do a repair install at boot or in Safe Mode.
• You must be logged into Windows 7 in a administrator account to be able to do a repair install.
• You must have at least 8.87 GB + what is currently being used of free space (more if you have a larger installation) on the hard drive/partition Windows 7 is installed on to do a repair install.
• If you changed the default location of a user account's profile folder, then you will need to change it back to the default C:\Users location first.
• If you moved the default location of a user folder, then you will need to change it back to the default C:\Users\(user-name) location first.

Here's How:
NOTE: Be sure to back up anything that you do not want to lose first to be extra safe.1. Start Windows 7, and log on to an administrator account.

2. Disable any 3rd party firewall, antivirus, or other security program to avoid it from possibly preventing the repair in-place upgrade installation of Windows 7.

3. Do either step 4, step 5, or step 6 below depending if your retail Windows 7 installation ISO/DVD/USB has SP1 or not, and if your currently installed Windows 7 has SP1 installed or not.

4. Repair Installed Windows 7 SP1 using Windows 7 with SP1 ISO

   Note

If you do not have a Windows 7 with SP1 ISO, then you can download an official ISO with your retail product key from Microsoft at the link below.

:ar: Microsoft Software Recovery

You can also download the latest official Windows 7 SP1 Media Refresh (SP1 U) ISO file at the link below, but this link is not always available for download.

:ar: Microsoft: Windows 7 Direct Download Links

A) If you have not already, you will need to install a program like 7-Zip that supports extracting a ISO to a folder.

B) Using the program (ex: 7-Zip) from step 1, extract the Windows 7 SP1 ISO file to a folder on a partition or HDD other than the current Windows 7 partition. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: For example with 7-Zip, right click on ISO, click on 7-Zip, Extract files, browse button, select where you want to extract to, and click on OK twice.
C) While in Windows 7 SP1, open the folder that you extracted the ISO into, and run the setup.exe file.

D) Go to step 7 below.
5. Repair Installed Windows 7 SP1 using Windows 7 with SP1 DVD/USB

   Note

If you do not have a Windows 7 with SP1 ISO, then you can download an official ISO with your retail product key from Microsoft at the link below.

:ar: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-recovery

You can also download the latest official Windows 7 SP1 Media Refresh (SP1 U) ISO file at the link below, but this link is not always available for download.

:ar: Microsoft: Windows 7 Direct Download Links

Afterwards, you can use Windows 7 USB-DVD Download Tool to create a bootable DVD or USB flash drive with the ISO to do the repair install from within Windows 7 using this step.

A) While in Windows 7 SP1, insert your retail Windows 7 SP1 installation DVD into the DVD drive, or connect your Windows 7 with SP1 installation USB thumb drive, and click on the Run setup.exe option in AutoPlay. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: If the AutoPlay window does not open, then open the drive folder in Computer and run the setup.exe file.
B) Go to Go to step 7 below.
6. Repair Installed Windows 7 without SP1 using Windows 7 without SP1 DVD/USB

   Note

If you do not have a Windows 7 without SP1 installation DVD/USB, then you can download the latest official Windows 7 Professional or Home Premium without SP1 ISO file here: Microsoft: Windows 7 Direct Download Links, and use Windows 7 USB-DVD Download Tool to create a bootable DVD or USB flash drive with the ISO to do the repair install from within Windows 7 using this step.

It is preferred to have SP1 installed on your PC and to use step 4 or step 5 above to do a repair install with instead though.

A) While in Windows 7 SP1 installed, insert your retail Windows 7 installation DVD into the DVD drive, or connect your Windows 7 installation USB thumb drive, and click on the Run setup.exe option in AutoPlay. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: If the AutoPlay window does not open, then open the drive folder in Computer and run the setup.exe file.
B) Go to Go to step 7 below.
7. If prompted by UAC, then click on Yes.

8. Click on the Install Now button to start the installation. (see screenshot below)
9. If prompted, uncheck the I want to help make Windows installation better box (unless you would like to ), and click on the Go online to get the latest updates for installation option. (see screenshot below)
A) Windows 7 will now check online for and install any available installation updates. (see screenshots below)



10. Check the I accept the license terms box, and click on Next. (see screenshot below)
11. Click on the Upgrade option. (see screenshot below)
12. Windows will now check for any compatibility issues. If any are found like in the example below, click on the red X to cancel the repair install and close this "Install Windows" window, take care of any found issues (ex: uninstall any incompatible program), then restart the repair install process over again.
13. The installation of Windows 7 will now begin. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: During the installation process, your screen may flash and computer will restart a few times.
14. After the final restart, you will see this screen for a moment. (see screenshot below)
15. Type in your Windows 7 product key number. (see screenshot below step 16)

16. Uncheck the Automatically activate Windows when I'm online box unchecked, then click on the Next button. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: You can activate Windows 7 later after you make sure it is running properly. (see step 23 below)
If you chose to automatically activate Windows online when you set up your computer, automatic activation begins trying to activate your copy of Windows three days after you log on for the first time.
17. Click on Use recommended settings. (see screenshot below)

:note: You will always be able to change your Windows Update settings at anytime in Windows 7.


18. Select your time zone and set your time and date settings, then click on the Next button. (see screenshot below)
19. Click on the option for your computer's location to select the correct network location type settings to be applied for that location. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: It is best to select Public location for the best security.
20. Windows 7 will now prepare your desktop to startup. (see screenshots below)



21. If you used a DVD or USB to do the repair install with, then you can remove the DVD or USB when the repair install has successfully completed and you are logged in to Windows 7.

22. Check to see if you are missing any user files. If you are, then you can copy them from the C:\Windows.old or the hidden protected operating system C:\$INPLACE.~TR and C:\WINDOWS.~Q backup folders. (see screenshot below)
23. If everything checks out in step 21, then you can run Disk Cleanup (step 5 at this link). You will need to click on the Clean up system files button first, and then could check the Files discarded by Windows upgrade, Previous Windows installations, and Windows upgrade log files boxes. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: This will delete the C:\Windows.old, C:\$INPLACE.~TR and C:\WINDOWS.~Q folders from step 21 above.
24. Refresh your Windows Experience Index (WEI) score.

25. When finished, activate Windows 7, and make sure that your 3rd party security programs (if applicable) are enabled again.
That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Do an Upgrade Installation with Windows 7
• How to Do a Clean Installation with Windows 7
• How to Do a Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version
• How to Activate Windows 7 Online
• How to Run a Startup Repair in Windows 7
• How to Do a System Restore in Windows 7
• How to Repair Windows 7 System Files with System File Checker
• How to Extract Files from the Windows 7 Installation DVD
• How to Boot to the Advanced Boot Options in Windows 7
• How to Boot to the System Recovery Options in Windows 7
• How to Create a Windows 7 System Repair Disc
• How to Run Disk Check in Windows 7
• How to Create a Windows 7 Installation USB Key
• How to Install Windows 7 FAST without a DVD or USB Device
• How to Do a Custom Installation of Windows 7
• How to Create a System Recovery Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Slipstream Windows 7 SP1 to Create a Installation DVD or ISO File
• Fix "The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded." Error in Windows 7

 

[rbassman98003]

Oh Well

I have been preparing myself for this ever since the Windows Media
Center fiasco... I appreciate all the attempts to recover.. I've been running with the RTM build from MSDN. Guess I'll wait for the 22nd
release and install that one.. Thanks for all your help and patient.

 

[Travelin]

Hello Brink,

My Windows 7 x64 upgrade is activated. Is there anything I should do differently?

Thanks,

T.

 

[Brink]

Hello Travelin,

I'm not sure what you mean, but you can still do a repair install if your Windows 7 is activated without having to do anything different.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Travelin]

Shawn,

In Step 12, you say to uncheck the Automatically activate Windows when I'm online box. I was curious if I should check or not check this box, or perhaps, since my Windows 7 is already activated, that will not appear.

Thanks,

Paul

 

[Brink]

Oh, ok. Yes, it will still appear during installation, and you will need to activate again after the install as well.

I recommend to always leave that box unchecked, so instead of Windows 7 trying to automatically activate in 3-days, you can have 30 days by default to activate manually in case you wanted or needed to activate later than 3 days. That's all.

 

[Travelin]

Oh, ok. Yes, it will still appear during installation, and you will need to activate again after the install as well.

Thanks, that's what I was curious about, whether Windows 7 will need to be activated again.

 

[Brink]

You're welcome.

 

[zx81]

Very nice tutorial Brink!

I have one question, if you have a activated version of Windows 7, why should you activate it again after the Repair Install upgrade?

Kind regards,

zx81

 

[Brink]

Hi zx81,

Anytime you install, you will have to activate. It's just Microsoft's way of making sure that you are not a Captain Blackbeard pirate. That's all.

 

[crnv88]

This is great what if you cannot boot into Win 7 in the first place? Then how do you do a "repair"?
In XP, you can boot up from your XP disc, go thru the various prompts and eventually select "repair install". Is this possible with Win &?
Thanks.

 

[Brink]

Hello Crnv88, and welcome to Seven Forums.

Depending on the reason why you cannot boot into Windows 7, you could also boot to the System Recovery Options instead to try and fix Windows 7 to be able to startup from it again.

 

[isaaclopez]

Will I have to re-input my key to do this or will it automatically recognize that I already had put in a key?

 

[Brink]

Hello Isacc,

Yes, you will need to re-enter your product key number and activate Windows 7 again afterwards.

 

[isaaclopez]

But can't you also repair the OS by putting in the DVD restarting the computer and choosing repair or something similar?

 

[Brink]

Hello Isaac,

You can enter the System Recovery Options screen by doing that, but it is not the same as a repair install. Depending on what is wrong with your system, you may be able to use of those options to repair your computer with instead though.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[streetwolf]

Thought I'd post my first experience with doing a Repair Install. The reason I did it was because I had errors trying to configure the XBOX 360 extender. All suggestions I found didn't help. So I figured, what the heck, let's give RI a try.

I was pleasantly surprised that only two drivers came up missing afterward. Both were easily corrected. And best of all the Extender problem was gone.

The only other thing of significance was having to reinstall all the updates that came in via Windows Update. No big deal especially since there aren't that many of them.

So 2 thumbs up for Repair Install.

 

[ATC Rogue]

I've been reading this thread to see if it's the right process I should be doing at the stage I'm at, currently I'm getting a hell of a lot of Explorer crashes (random points when I try to either open folders or copy things from one place to another and recently (past 3 days) when I boot up I'm having to go through a startup repair about 3/4 of the times I boot up, added to this not all of my icons are showing up (bottom right), although they are loading they are taking a long time and don't show up properly. Therefore I think this repair install is probably the best way to go about my problems. I'm an avid gamer with a lot of games installed on my secondary hard drive so will I have to install them all over again, or will the repair install pick up everything properly and I won't have to spend the next couple of days installing things again, if I have to install all of my games again I might aswell just do a reformat of my OS drive and start from fresh, can someone clarify or give me a general idea that the repair install will prevent me from having to do a painstaking install of games / programs.

Thanks in advance

ATC Rogue

edit - I forgot to mention I'm currently running Windows 7 64 bit profesional

 

[Mars1]

Hi Brink,

I needed to Repair Install and followed your tutorial, however after step 5), i received the following error:

"Windows could not retrieve information on the hard discs drives of this computer."

I am stucked also previously by unsuccesful access to system restore:
http://www.sevenforums.com/performa...ice-error-when-i-tried-restore-my-system.html

any ideas?

thank you in advance,

 

[Brink]

Hello Mars1,

It seems that you may need to do a Custom Install instead. This will be like a clean (format) install, except that everything from this current installaton will be placed in the "C:\Windows.old" folder during the new installation.

 

[ATC Rogue]

Well I've just completed the repair install step by step and I'm glad to say so far I think it's eliminated the issues I was having, the only thing that seems to have any errors was EIO'dll couldn' tload but I've nailed that down to the ASUS Nvidia graphics card I have, I think it's the smartdoctor program related to the g-card so I'll just reinstall that, also I would like to note my windows live messenger has no issues logging me in. All I'm left with is to say a big thankyou for the extremely useful information on this repair install, if anyone else has any issues that I know of with windows 7 I will be surely pointing them in the direction of this forum.

Thankyou again

ATC Rogue