Windows 7 Clean Install Disc

I just bought a W510, and separately bought a 256GB Crucial SSD, which I plan to install as my primary drive (moving the 500GB drive that comes with the W510 into the Ultrabay port). I'd like to do a clean Windows 7 install on the Crucial drive (rather than replicating the image from the drive included with the machine), but I can't figure out how I'll get the discs to do a clean Windows install. I've searched Windows 7 help (on another Windows 7 machine that I have), these forums, and all over the web. There seems to be conflicting info about whether Rescue & Recovery will allow for a true clean Windows 7 install, or if it only allows for installing an image. I also can't tell if Windows 7's "recovery disc" includes the files necessary to reinstall the OS, or if it only allows fixing problems with an existing install.

Can anyone confirm how I can create a disc to do a true clean install of Windows 7 on a replacement hard drive? Thx.

 

Use instructions from this thread - http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-7-download-links-just-like-vista-before.html

 

There's 64 pages to that thread. Can you be a little more specific on which post in the thread has the relevant information?

 

How hard can it be?
a) Use links in the first post to download image
b) Burn the image to DVD
c) Boot from DVD and do install clean
d) Install the drivers from Lenovo website (you may want to download at least the network drivers before you start the clean install)

This is the way that will get you cleanest install possible (save for actual Lenovo device drivers you will have to install just to make all hardware running).

 

I'm nervous about downloading from a website that isn't MSFT's. Is there not a method of producing a clean install disk that the computer itself is capable of doing? Also, is there an option to buy an install disk from Lenovo or Microsoft without buying another full copy of the OS?

 

You can buy a Lenovo recovery DVDs, but they will have original install modified by Lenovo, so it will not be technically "clean".

 

Digitalriver links are safe as it gets, you could say it is practically Microsoft's webshop.

 

A completely safe and legit alternative is to have a friend download the appropriate .ISO file from their TechNet or MSDN subscription. Burn the DVD from the .ISO and install clean from it. Then use the Windows 7 product key in the battery bay of the W510.

When you activate, you will need to use the telephone activation system but it only takes about 5 minutes. I just tested it with Win7 Pro. Worked fine for me. I don't mind burning an activation for this test because I'll never use Pro.

 

I'm just really not willing to download these files an try to burn DVD image from them. While I don't know how to do that, I could probably figure it out, but I'm concerned it will just not be quite right down the road.

What I want to do is, when I get my W510 and new SSD, install Windows 7 on the SSD with proper alignment, without the rescue and recovery partition, and without my computer having erratic driver and other issues resulting from an imperfect install. Where my head is now is that I should just buy a new copy of Windows 7 and install that (crazy as it sounds), but if there's another way to do this, would love to know. Please exclude all methods that involve .ISO files and burning my own images.

 

As I posted in another thread earlier, I did exactly that. After reinstalling from the recovery dvds on your SSD, you want to go to Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management. Right click on your C drive and select Mark Partition Active. Reboot. Now go back to disk management and it's safe to delete your recovery partitions. From there you should boot into a gparted disc (you have to download it off the net, search for it). From there you can realign the C partition and expand it to fill the entire disc.
After that go back to windows and just clean up all the programs you don't want. After which I'd go to windows backup and restore and create a full system image.
It's a lot of steps but that's how I did it and it worked well. That's basically your only choice if you don't want to use a windows 7 disc to do a clean install. If you do decide to do a clean install, you could use Orev's Activation Backup and Restore utility to backup your key and activation file.
Good luck!
And I'll tell you, Digital River is safe. With the exception of technet and msdn, Microsoft uses them for digital distribution. It's safe.

 

It's not worth buying a new copy of Windows 7 as you have already paid the license that came with the W510 so you just be paying extra for the same result. What counts in the end is your license key for activation, there is nothing shady using your legitimate OEM key on to the Windows 7 disc images. Microsoft even allows you to install Windows 7 without a key legally for 30 days as a trial.

I'm a MSDN member and Microsoft officially distribute their operating systems and software in ISO format, there are very little alternatives. If you really dislike the idea of burning DVD's for some reason then the next best method (which is one I actually recommend) is to create a bootable USB stick where the results are exactly the same but installs much faster than the DVD method. But even so you still need an ISO to work with (and yes this is from Microsoft themselves) to create a bootable USB. Further instructions can be found here.

 

Using an .ISO file to burn it to CD or DVD is the easiest way to ever use a CD or DVD burner. There's nothing evil at work here or anything to worry about assuming you get the .ISO from a trusted source. The MSDN and TechNet subscriber download areas are THE trusted source for the Windows 7 .ISO file.

You can also create your own .ISO file which is an exact copy of the Windows 7 disk using a tool like WinImage. Then you can take the ISO file you created and burn a DVD for your personal use.

It's really simple and easy to learn.

Good luck

 

Sheesh, people nowadays... Afraid of their own shadows

 

If I follow this approach, will the SSD be "aligned" properly?

 

If you make a clean install on the empty SSD (letting Windows setup create the partitions), it will be aligned properly.

 

What about Roger's method -- will that produce an aligned drive? It has the advantage of using the Lenovo Recovery disks to do the install, which is a plus in terms of drivers, etc.

 

Using gparted will make drive misaligned.

Personally I see manufacturer recovery disks not being "advantage" at all. In most cases drivers there are outdated and you need to download new ones anyway. Also manufacturers do like to "improve" default distribution by putting in the registry/setup tweaks which often cause compatibility problems on the long run. The only way to be sure that you install original non-tweaked 100% clean Windows, is, well, install it from original Microsoft installation disk (or hash-verified image).

 

That's why gparted has an "align to megabyte" option.

 

If you can borrow a Windows 7 disc from anyone, you should be good...just decide if you want to install the 32-bit or the 64-bit version. Your steps would be:

1) Borrow a 32-bit/64-bit retail disc (any windows 7 disc has the bits for all versions. Your install type (home premium/professional/ultimate etc) depends on the license key)
2) use Orev's ABR (link posted on an earlier post) to back up your license key and oem activation certificate)
3) remove the original HDD and install your SSD
4) boot from the windows 7 disc and do the isntall. Do not enter the product key or activate it as part of the install process. The installer will ask you to select the version of install when you decline to enter the product key
5) when the install is complete, use the ABR utility to restore the product key and activation.

don't waste money for something you already own. If you have questions - feel free to ask!

 

Why would anyone run an executable file from an unknown source? That's just crazy. Please don't teach people to do that.

I already stated you can use the key that is on the certificate of authority (coa) that came with the machine, to activate with a valid and legit matching Windows install disk. It won't automatically activate with the Microsoft public internet KMS servers, but it will prompt you to use telephone activation. That works and it's a legit supported method.

That is a much safer method and considering the risks, is zero hassle. Takes 5 minutes to activate.

 

Please don't speak nonsense. People several times pointed out that sources like MSFT or DigitalRiver (MS distributors) are not "unknown" by all means.

And have you ever heard of hashsum checks? You can verify any image that you have that this is indeed original unaltered Microsoft distro by verifying it's hash.

 

I'm not, and don't try to insult me either. Running a hash checking utility from a TRUSTED source is perfectly fine, but not from some random link in a forum. Now that is nonsense.

 

And now who suggested you run it from some random link? Or are you considering links in NBR forum stickies "random"? They would be killed ages ago by mods if they'd pose any harm.

 

You are mistaken. The random link I was referring to is in http://forum.notebookreview.com/5656873-post2111.html.

 

I see, sorry about that.
The ABR itself is harmless, though I would recommend downloading it from ABR webpage.

 

The ABR webpage says ABR for Windows 7 is only in beta version. Is there any reason I can't just enter the product key when the Windows installer asks for it? I see the process outlines here suggest not entering it, and doing this ABR approach, but if I can do it by entering the product key that seems easier. What's the disadvantage?

 

not trying to be a troll, but how about give Ubuntu a try? It blows w7 by miles IMO.

 

Not permitted by my employer to run any system other than Windows

 

Disadvantage is that key on sticker on the bottom is retail key, it will require online activation.

The key saved with ABR will be original OEM key, which is differrent - it will not require online activation.

Minor thing but useful sometimes, always better not to be tied to internet access in case it decides it needs re-activation.

 

I thought the key at the bottom is an OEM key provided by Lenovo not Retail? In my experience retail keys are a lot more easier to activate than OEM keys, i'm using such key and activated online without much hassle. OEM keys are slightly different though.

The only disadvantage of not using the ABR method is that by just typing the serial number from the sticker in the installer directly without backing up the certificate is that you will need to phone up Microsoft to verify the activation instead, not by online. The process will work as many people have gone through this but if you reformat frequently then phoning up all the time can be a bit of a pain. The ABR backs your activation certification along with the serial key and saves time from phoning Microsoft to activate (and probably helps saves the phone bill along the way too).

 

Keys on the bottom always has been retail to my knowing - mostly because OEM key will never work when typed in on clean instal without special extra steps (which ABR does on restore).

Point of OEM keys that it does not need online activation at all. It just verifies key against BIOS and distrib OEM certificate, which is instant operation without internet access.

 

Though I'd post an update here:

I went with the clean Windows install using a disk burned from an imagine of the Digital River files. Install itself was painless. I opted to just enter the product key from the sticker in the battery slot (expecting to need to activate by telephone), but just for kicks I left the "online activation" box checked. It never asked me to activate by telephone and seems to be all set now -- so for some reason this worked without my doing the ABR thing and without a telephone activation.

First hiccup was that the new drive, with Windows installed on it, didn't have a generic driver that would power the WiFi card (so couldn't download other drivers) and also didn't have a generic driver that could read a USB memory stick. I ultimately burned the wireless driver and System Update to a DVD, and it could read that. But a bit of frustration there.

I also spent a few hours dealing with Lenovo tech support because the HueyPro software isn't on the W510 drivers/software page. It is elsewhere the on the Lenovo page, but I wasn't able to find it at first (because I didn't know it was called HueyPro). Lenovo wasn't at all easy to deal with on this (lower levels of service told me that since I had reinstalled Windows they wouldn't support me), but once I had escalated it high enough they helped and pointed me to the right file (incidentally -- a few moments after someone on this board did so, which led me to believe they might have looked on this board for the answer!).

All in all, it was not an easy experience (took probably about 6 hours all in). If I had known about some of the difficulty I might have just installed the Lenovo image and taken my changes on drive alignment. But I seem to be fine now.

 

Sorry to hear the trouble you have with the Lenovo tech, the excuse of not supporting you because of a reinstalled OS is a load of baloney to me and should've done better but glad it worked out in the end.

Windows 7 doesn't detect all the hardware natively (especially recent models) so you will need to reinstall some drivers manually. You will need to backup the Wi-Fi, possibly Graphics and System Update on a separate source as a precaution to save time. However i'm pretty sure Windows 7 does have a generic USB memory stick driver (it always detects my SanDisk Cruzers, even during install when loading the drivers). Did you by chance plugged this in the USB 3.0 port instead of the USB 2.0 ports?

 

Thats' why I did say in my first post in this thread

 

Glad I was able to help you figure that out. For future reference, look closely at the specs for your model at http://www.lenovo.com/psref/pdf/tabook.pdf

In the specs you'll see "huey™PRO Colorimeter by X-Rite® color calibration sensor in palm rest" and "huey™PRO Monitor Color Correction by Pantone®/X-Rite® (color calibration models)"

There are always good clues in the specs.

Back in January and February, the drivers and software for the sensor weren't on the download center. They've been there a while now. Lenovo has not excuse for their helpdesk not knowing it. Should have been a 5 minute call.

 

Always have wireless drivers ready, even though you can still use RJ45 to connect as well. Just curious, which wifi card do you have that windows 7 wouldn't have generic working drivers for? As far as I know, windows 7 pro, enterprise and ultimate have just about everyone. I only used/use ultimate, so I really don't know about the others.

 

Even Window 7 doesn't have drivers for latest-gen Intel AGN that a lot of Thinkpad models use.

 

That's because the chipset shipped after Windows 7. Therefore, it would be prudent to pull all the drivers from the Lenovo downloads area BEFORE you flatten a working machine.

 

You mean the intel 6200 and 6300 wifi cards? I pretty sure I updated a lenovo with 6300 to windows 7 ultimate without the need to download any drivers before hand, and it had no problem getting online.

 

I have the 6300, and my clean Windows 7 install wouldn't make a wireless connection and the error listed was something like missing driver for WiFi connection.

On the HueyPro software -- what made it tough for me was that they don't list this on the big page that lists all W510 drivers and software (they list about 100 other things, but not this). For some reason, HueyPro is on a different page.

 

How much is the recovery disc from Lenovo? I might order one if it's under $20.

 

around 50 USD.

 

Ugh, no dice then.