Need to reinstall Windows 7 ???

41Stan41

HI
i have a Dell Inspiron laptop , granted its a few years old now(3 or 4) and over the course of time quite a few problems have popped up , as in little things stopped working and stuff like that . Too many to mention at this stage .

Oh yes and now there is a virus which i cannot get rid of (PUP-FNQ)

So i think it is time to back up data and reinstall Windows 7 Home premium which i think is the version i am running .
Problem is it came installed on laptop with NO cd so what do i have to do to reinstall it ??
Any advice , step by step instructions or links to website to guide me thru the process would be appreciated

Thanks in advance for any info offered

5uspect

The product key should be on the case somewhere with a hologram MS sticker. If you don't have a recovery partition you can download a Win7 ISO from here:
32bit
http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-58996.iso
64bit
http://msft.digitalrivercontent.net/win/X17-58997.iso

Ideally 64 bit if you've more than 4 gigs if RAM.

bonzodog2

Product key might be under the battery too. Failing that, get "magic jellybean keyfinder" to get the code, assuming it still starts up

41Stan41

Ok
i already have the first one downloaded and save on a usb stick
how do i find out what i have as in 62 or 64 and my Ram
Am reasonably computer literate but would need a bit more of a talk thru or a website to guide me

Thanks again

Nowso

or do a factory reset

5uspect

Of course you could simply do a repair install form the recovery partition. Google for your particular device.

However with a virus you may want to take the nuclear option just to be safe.

Perhaps take the opportunity to throw in a cheap SSD with a fresh install of Windows. This is probably the best thing you could do for an old machine in terms of performance.

5uspect

41Stan41 wrote: »

Ok
i already have the first one downloaded and save on a usb stick
how do i find out what i have as in 62 or 64 and my Ram
Am reasonably computer literate but would need a bit more of a talk thru or a website to guide me

Thanks again

You only need to download the one you need. Does the machine work? If so, click the Start menu button, right click on 'Computer' and select properties. It should tell you all you need to know there.

Here you can see a machine with 4GB running x64 Windows 7.


Here is a Dell guide.

bonzodog2

Assuming the machine will boot from USB, there's a MS tool to put the Win7 ISO onto a USB stick. It will erase the stick's contents.

edit: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool

5uspect

Why make multiple threads on this?