Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

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hello!

My old hard drive's S.M.A.R.T. is showing up with warnings and there is malware on there, a combination of the two meaning I'm unable to run anything on it due to explorer.exe getting into a restart loop.

I have another drive now and am planning a reinstall onto this new drive.

Is there anything I should know to modify your instructions if I'm carrying it out on a brand new empty drive?

Thanks in advance,
Tim

Not unless you're using a retail Upgrade version key, Tim.

Otherwise make sure the Product Key is readable on your COA sticker and that you use the latest official installer with SP1 and Media Refresh for your licensed version from Step 1.

During the actual Clean Install Windows 7 create and format your partition(s) using the Drive Options shown in Steps 7 and 8. Just ignore the small boot partition it creates.

Let us know how it goes. Stick with the tools and methods in the tutorial to assure you get and keep a perfect install.

Ok, thanks. I'll give it a go this weekend.

I'm trying to do this with a Dell computer. The COA key is clear enough but I've not been successful.
I'm using a Digital River download (this is Windows 7 Home Premium 64).
When I do the install, the install won't accept the COA key.
If I extract a key from the registry, then I *can* install with that one.
But, later, Authentication won't accept the COA key and MS has been no help. The telephone method rejects also.
I've been told that I must have an OEM DVD so I'm pursuing that but I think you probably know something that would help me.

You can use a retail DVD to Clean Reinstall Factory OEM since XP.

If you have a readable COA key and you're sure its for the same version (not with an N or any other suffix) then it will always work as long as the characters are inputted correctly - an 8 looks like a B. This is the problem in every case I've seen. We've never had one flatly refuse to activate. So I would ask someone to proofread the key for you.

i have a Cisco E4300 router so i brought up CONNECT program and created a new key on my other desktop and put it on a flash and it worked perfectly including installing a new copy of CONNECT on my new laptop.

gregrocker: Thanks for the suggestion re: a proofreader. After many times doing this successfully and after many times checking the key in this one case, I followed your advice and indeed engaged a proofreader. I had to conclude that I'm perhaps slightly dyslexic!

I bother to respond not only to thank you but to underscore the suggestion. It really *is* possible to mess up on copying the key no matter how careful one might be nor how many times one checks it.

gregrocker: You said "since XP". So these instructions pretty much work with a retail XP disk? This has never come up in my research on the subject and would have saved me a whole lot of time over the years!

Not that one should be advised to rebuild an XP system these days but the world demands unusual things at times.

Thanks for a great tutorial!

"Since XP" is not meant to include XP, which requires an OEM channel installer to Clean Reinstall Factory OEM.

If you go online to find the lastest OEM SP3 installer for the licensed XP version, make sure nothing is added to it. To be certain I would include "untouched" in the search string, e.g. "XP Professional OEM SP3 untouched download."

I'd also read any torrent comments to assure it is legit, and not use any which includes a crack or anything else.