Restoring Win7 with no image/no disc

LS1Fan74 · May 13, 2013

Hey everyone, quick question about restoring everything to factory settings with no recovery disc and no restore image on the HDD (it's a refurb computer)

Searching teh interwebs, found a few different ways, one of the more popular being what I did, loaded the .ISO file for Win7 64 Bit, onto an SD card and tried to change the boot order in BIOS but didn't see an option for that drive. Tried just loading the Windows Setup from the SD card, but it crashes with a "corrupt file" error after about 2 minutes into install. Should I go get blank DVD's, or is there a way to do it with the card?

New to Anandtech but not online forums in general, so any help would be appreciated - Thanks!

edit: Forgot to type what it was - Asus X53E i3 2310 and Win 7 64 Bit Home Premium SP1.

2nd edit: Not sure if this is in the right section, mods feel free to move if not.

thestrangebrew1 · May 13, 2013

Try a different ISO file then try a usb stick. If not, maybe try a dvd.

Matt1970 · May 13, 2013

What did you use to get the Windows 7 ISO to the flash drive?

Ketchup · May 13, 2013

It depends on the computer, but a USB stick should work with Windows 7. Mainly depends on what options are available in the BIOS. A DVD would be the easiest way to ensure it works on the first shot. Make sure the Windows 7 version you are installing matches the version the Windows the laptop came with.

Bubbaleone · May 13, 2013

Excellent freeware for creating bootable Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 USB flash drive installation media from ISO file: WinToFlash. (Be sure to view the short video tutorial).

AnonymouseUser · May 13, 2013

You can use Microsoft's USB/DVD download tool to burn the Win 7 ISO to the USB drive.

LS1Fan74 · May 14, 2013

Matt1970 said:
What did you use to get the Windows 7 ISO to the flash drive?

That USB/DVD tool, mentioned below

ketchup79 said:
It depends on the computer, but a USB stick should work with Windows 7. Mainly depends on what options are available in the BIOS. A DVD would be the easiest way to ensure it works on the first shot. Make sure the Windows 7 version you are installing matches the version the Windows the laptop came with.

DVD is best then, so DVD-R or +R? Or RW?

Bubbaleone said:
Excellent freeware for creating bootable Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 USB flash drive installation media from ISO file: WinToFlash. (Be sure to view the short video tutorial).

Thanks I'll check that out

Ketchup · May 14, 2013

LS1Fan74 said:
DVD is best then, so DVD-R or +R? Or RW?

-R

LS1Fan74 · May 14, 2013

Okay so burn the .ISO and change the BIOS order to boot the optical drive 1st

Ketchup · May 14, 2013

LS1Fan74 said:
Okay so burn the .ISO and change the BIOS order to boot the optical drive 1st

should work. God luck!

Matt1970 · May 14, 2013

Some BIOS's have an Enable USB Device Booting option. It may not be worded exactly like that.

XavierMace · May 15, 2013

SD cards do not work well at all, you really want to use an actual flash drive. Also, if your computer has USB 3.0 ports, you may have to use the non-USB 3.0 ports to boot.

LS1Fan74 · May 15, 2013

I did the DVD boot, but it.....wasn't quite what I was looking for, haha all it did was install a second version of Windows, leaving the original the way it was..

Ketchup · May 15, 2013

LS1Fan74 said:
I did the DVD boot, but it.....wasn't quite what I was looking for, haha all it did was install a second version of Windows, leaving the original the way it was..

Yeah, if you did not format the drive first, this is what I would expect as well.

LS1Fan74 · May 16, 2013

ketchup79 said:
Yeah, if you did not format the drive first, this is what I would expect as well.

Oh,yeah I didn't - that's in Disk Management, right?

Ketchup · May 16, 2013

LS1Fan74 said:
Oh,yeah I didn't - that's in Disk Management, right?

You should be able to format the drive during setup. Did you boot from the DVD, or start the installation from within the previous installation?

LS1Fan74 · May 16, 2013

Booted from DVD,and it didn't ask to format I don't think

LS1Fan74 · May 16, 2013

So how do I delete the other version of Windows now? Also, would screenshots help??

Ketchup · May 16, 2013

LS1Fan74 said:
So how do I delete the other version of Windows now? Also, would screenshots help??

Do the installation again, but this time format the drive or delete the existing partition during the install. If you boot of the DVD, it will ask.

LS1Fan74 · May 17, 2013

It gave me the option of "Upgrade" install, or "Custom" install, which was a full/overwrite version, except it put it on my D drive and I have two Windows copies now....hmmmm haha

velis · May 17, 2013

Initial problem: as was mentioned before, SD card support is flakey, so you must use an USB stick or a DVD
The drive format issue: You have to go with custom install and then when it asks you where you want to install your Windows, you must click on "drive options (advanced)" to see all the delete partition / create partition shortcuts. Then delete all partitions and create new ones. Only then will it install a fresh and clean copy.

LS1Fan74 · May 18, 2013

I just didn't have DVD's, went and got some and made a boot disc with an ISO file. And I don't think I tried the "delete partition" thing....obviously it won't let me format the C drive with Windows already ON it, so..try the DVD thing again

John Dime · May 19, 2013

LS1Fan74 said:
I just didn't have DVD's, went and got some and made a boot disc with an ISO file. And I don't think I tried the "delete partition" thing....obviously it won't let me format the C drive with Windows already ON it, so..try the DVD thing again

When you reach this step, select the Drive Options (Advanced) alternative and afterwards a table with the existing partitions will be displayed. Delete everything, if you only intend to preserve one partition, format the newly-amassed unallocated space and install Windows 7 on the newly-created partition.

It should be this simple.

JD

LS1Fan74 · May 20, 2013

John Dime said:
When you reach this step, select the Drive Options (Advanced) alternative and afterwards a table with the existing partitions will be displayed. Delete everything, if you only intend to preserve one partition, format the newly-amassed unallocated space and install Windows 7 on the newly-created partition.

It should be this simple.

JD

It IS this simple, haha I formatted and installed, but -

No drivers! Formatted both drives as you guys said, with the DVD, reinstalled Win 7 with the .ISO file and product key on the back of the laptop...but...it won't recognize any internet hardware

Whoops...it starts up fine, but says no internet connection available, no wireless adapter, even plugging in an Ethernet cat5 cable it doesn't see it....

& Appreciate the replies so far, BTW

Ketchup · May 20, 2013

1. Go to this site:

http://support.asus.com/download.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=3&s=114&m=X53E&os=&hashedid=mDFYFQWEpTitMwA6

2. Select your OS

3. and you should find all the drivers you need.

Restoring Win7 with no image/no disc

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