[SOLVED] My laptop didn't come with Windows install disc: How can I do clean Windows install without installation disc?

you on dial up or slow dsl ?

Ya I would say at a bare minimum, make sure you grab your wireless driver before you format so you can get on the interent to download the rest of the drivers. just add it to the flash drive that you will use to install windows 7 if you go that route.



also goto Device Manager to see if you are missing drivers after you think you have installed everything. You will see a yellow exclamation by anything that the computer cannot find drivers for on its own. You can get here by using the search bar in the start menu if you didnt already know that.

Quote from redmaxx : Activation...?

personally, it doesnt get much easier than googling "windows loader by daz" i dont even bother with looking under my laptop to type in serial number

Quote from random32 : personally, it doesnt get much easier than googling "windows loader by daz" i dont even bother with looking under my laptop to type in serial number

Why would you give him that advice when he has a valid Windows license and can just type the key from the sticker on the bottom of his laptop? I can almost understand it if he was trying to give himself a free upgrade or something, but really, is saving a few keystrokes worth whatever risk downloading a crack tool incurs?

Quote from carmen617 : Why would you give him that advice when he has a valid Windows license and can just type the key from the sticker on the bottom of his laptop? I can almost understand it if he was trying to give himself a free upgrade or something, but really, is saving a few keystrokes worth whatever risk downloading a crack tool incurs?

I don't think the sticker will work with a retail ISO. And a crack isn't worth it, since those are always subject to being deactivated by Microsoft.

Quote from carmen617 : Why would you give him that advice when he has a valid Windows license and can just type the key from the sticker on the bottom of his laptop? I can almost understand it if he was trying to give himself a free upgrade or something, but really, is saving a few keystrokes worth whatever risk downloading a crack tool incurs?

The OP didnt ask the question of activation, and my response to the person who did ask about activation began with the word, "personally," which offers my point of view. No where in my answer did I recommend this to the OP, or else you would have seen this in my first post. (I actually told the OP to download the version his computer came with, so he would not have problems with activation.) I was assuming he had a valid license since his initial question never made activation an issue. and by the way, the daz loader is regarded as safe and doesnt crack anything. It just makes windows assume a OEM install rather than a retail install. If you bought a computer, it would have been the same thing Slic 2.1 in bios, proper certificate installed, and OEM key. As long as you install the version you paid for, my conscious is clear of any wrong doing, so thats the route I choose to take.

Quote from redmaxx : I don't think the sticker will work with a retail ISO. And a crack isn't worth it, since those are always subject to being deactivated by Microsoft.

The sticker will work with the downloaded ISO - Microsoft stopped being jerks about that with Vista. As long as the flavor of the operating system matches the sticker on the computer, he can use any source he can find for the media - retail, upgrade,downloaded ISO, or even an OEM disk from another vendor. Microsoft apparently finally realized that it's really poor customer service to not let people with valid Windows licenses reinstall their operating just because their computer vendor doesn't care to provide them with media.

I do this all the time with the ISO's from Digital River. The worst case scenario is that automatic activation won't work and he'll have to do a phone activation. If the system came with SP1 and he uses a disk without it, he won't be able to activate until he upgrades to SP1. However, there is NO reason to use a crack, he'll be just fine with the downloaded ISO.

Quote from carmen617 : The sticker will work with the downloaded ISO - Microsoft stopped being jerks about that with Vista. As long as the flavor of the operating system matches the sticker on the computer, he can use any source he can find for the media - retail, upgrade,downloaded ISO, or even an OEM disk from another vendor. Microsoft apparently finally realized that it's really poor customer service to not let people with valid Windows licenses reinstall their operating just because their computer vendor doesn't care to provide them with media. I do this all the time with the ISO's from Digital River. The worst case scenario is that automatic activation won't work and he'll have to do a phone activation. If the system came with SP1 and he uses a disk without it, he won't be able to activate until he upgrades to SP1. However, there is NO reason to use a crack, he'll be just fine with the downloaded ISO.

takes 10 mins to phone activate with MS on any of my Windows

Well, the install went smoothly. Carbonite is now restoring files.

However, the activation isn't going as smoothly. Windows activation is saying the key is invalid. When prompted during the installation three days ago, I simply entered the key from the sticker on the bottom of the laptop.

Any ideas? Should I do the automated phone option or will I get the same error message?

Quote from Brian1 : Well, the install went smoothly. Carbonite is now restoring files. However, the activation isn't going as smoothly. Windows activation is saying the key is invalid. When prompted during the installation three days ago, I simply entered the key from the sticker on the bottom of the laptop. Any ideas? Should I do the automated phone option or will I get the same error message?

did you install the windows 7 version that your computer came with? Your sticker will tell you what version the key is valid for. If you did nothing wrong, then by all means go ahead and call them.

Quote from random32 : did you install the windows 7 version that your computer came with? Your sticker will tell you what version the key is valid for. If you did nothing wrong, then by all means go ahead and call them.

Success. I called and it worked. It is now activated. Thanks to everyone for your help.