Wiping out and Reinstalling Windows 7

[tigersbaseball1]

I bought a HP G60 Laptop about a year and half ago. I have been wanting to wipe the computer out and re-install Windows 7. When I bought the laptop it didn't come with an install disc.

My question is, is there any possible way to wipe out my laptop and re-install windows 7, and use the same product key thats on the bottom of my computer?

Thank you

 

[andyparks]

Do you no if it has got any way to factory reset it as most laptops and pc that have no discs come with away to reset it

 

[andyparks]

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110613135329AAAFaB2

UNTESTED! Press F11 at boot up, and that takes you into the Recovery Manager. Answer the questions, and in about 20 min. your computer will be restored to factory default.

One more thing make a back up of the laptop in case something happens in the future

 

[tigersbaseball1]

I will give that a try, thank you for the help, much appreciated.

 

[AddRAM]

I bought a HP G60 Laptop about a year and half ago. I have been wanting to wipe the computer out and re-install Windows 7. When I bought the laptop it didn't come with an install disc.

My question is, is there any possible way to wipe out my laptop and re-install windows 7, and use the same product key thats on the bottom of my computer?

Thank you

Yes. Use the above method or download the Iso (your version) and burn it to dvd using ImgBurn at 4x speed or less. This will way will not include anything the pc maker has installed.

Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO from Digital River « My Digital Life

If you have not done an install I`d advise you to do alot of research before you even think about doing it. It is not difficult at all and there is plenty of great help here. Ask anything you like.

And Welcome

 

[LittleJay]

Have you tried calling HP Customer Support? I have an HP laptop myself and when I called HP and they sent a set of installation DVD's out to me for free.

 

[Gromit1710]

If there's a sticker on the bottom of the laptop with a product key, then you should be able to re-install windows from any installer package (CD or ISO burn). Heck, if you have a friend with a copy of the same windows version as what is on your product key, you can use their disc. It's the sticker that matters these days...not the CD.

 

[tigersbaseball1]

Gromit1710 are you sure about the product key being able to work? I only ask because I have read online that it doesn't work when you reinstall windows 7, so Im just curious because if I do that and it doesn't work I'm screwed lol.

 

[AddRAM]

Credit for this goes to Jumanji:

1. If you are trying to reinstall Windows from any media other than the OEM's Recovery CD or OEM's Reinstall Disk for your laptop, you will require the COA key on the sticker to activate.

2. The key extracted by any of the keyfinders will be the OEM-SLP key which is used by the OEMs to do the token-based activation and with that key alone you will not be able to activate your new Windows installation.

Contact your OEM for the recovery Disks or Reinstall Disk. These will have the OEM SLP-key and the digitally signed Microsoft Certificate which coupled with the BIOS check on your laptop will auto-activate the Windows install as empowered to the OEMs by Microsoft.

 

[Gromit1710]

Gromit1710 are you sure about the product key being able to work? I only ask because I have read online that it doesn't work when you reinstall windows 7, so Im just curious because if I do that and it doesn't work I'm screwed lol.

Well, All I can say is that I haven't had any issues with it. Activating windows requires a product key to be entered when you install the software. That product key should be on your sticker on your laptop.

Unless things have really changed, the product key isn't tied to a specific disk. As long as you purchased it legally and have the product key's license number, any installation disk (provided it is the same version as the one you purchased) will get you to the point where you type in the product key.

But just to be sure, make a system recovery disk first. That way, you can always go back. If you need help with that, Google or other places on this forum can help you.

AddRAM's advice is basically the same.

 

[Gromit1710]

Credit for this comes from Jumanji:

1. If you are trying to reinstall Windows from any media other than the OEM's Recovery CD or OEM's Reinstall Disk for your laptop, you will require the COA key on the sticker to activate.

2. The key extracted by any of the keyfinders will be the OEM-SLP key which is used by the OEMs to do the token-based activation and with that key alone you will not be able to activate your new Windows installation.

Contact your OEM for the recovery Disks or Reinstall Disk. These will have the OEM SLP-key and the digitally signed Microsoft Certificate which coupled with the BIOS check on your laptop will auto-activate the Windows install as empowered to the OEMs by Microsoft.

Just so we don't confuse him COA= Certificate of Authenticity = Product Key

 

[gregrocker]

Follow these steps to get a perfect Clean Reinstall Windows 7 Factory OEM.

Use the Product Key on COA sticker, which may require making a robocall to MS the first time to marry the hardware signature to Product Key in MS Activation Servers.

 

[Bertison]

I agree with Gromit, on the basis that I have done the very same with 3 machines - 2 laptops, one with Win7/64, (my own) one with Vista Home Basic. And a PC with Win7/64. Each time, I used the same Windows disc as the original, in the case of the Win7 machines, it was a full retail copy and the same disc for each. The Vista Home Basic was an OEM copy. I used the original Product Key from each machine.

A tip: if you need activation and online does not work, use the Microsoft phone service.

The Win7 laptop was my HP Pavilion DV7. I backed it up, reinstalled via the full retail disc and used the lappy's Product Key. This removed all the HP Krap and unnecessary partitions and allowed me to set my own. THIS DOES NOT AFFECT THE WARRANTY, no matter what anyone else says - the warranty covers the hardware, not the software. That information is from a HP technician, btw.