How to create windows 7 "Reinstallation disc"?

[jinjin12]

ok so years ago, i bought an Dell inspiron 1520 which i still have today. it came with a windows xp "re-installation disc" from microsoft, which does what it says, allows me to reinstall the OS. this is different from a "recovery disc" since it only installs the OS and not the factory settings and drivers, which is exactly what i like, a fresh install. i've used this disc to reformat and reinstall XP on multiple dell computers and even on HP and lenovo laptops as long as i had the genuine product key entered. this was very useful for me.


now i just recently bought a asus laptop and it does not come with any windows reinstall disc at all..wth. i feel cheated because the money i paid for the laptop should include the OS itself, so they should have given me an OS disc. the asus laptop is running windows 7. now is there any way for me to make my own "re-installation Disc" so i can use to reformat and reinstall windows 7?

thanks in advance.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Check the laptop documentation. There should be a recovery partition (usually hidden) on the hard drive that will restore to factory condition. There should also be a way to create a set of restore DVD's in the event the hard drive has to be replaced and the system restored. Keep in mind that these are usually all or nothing restores, you can not install just the OS, though there might be an option to restore the factory software load alone.

 

[jinjin12]

Check the laptop documentation. There should be a recovery partition (usually hidden) on the hard drive that will restore to factory condition. There should also be a way to create a set of restore DVD's in the event the hard drive has to be replaced and the system restored. Keep in mind that these are usually all or nothing restores, you can not install just the OS, though there might be an option to restore the factory software load alone.

i don't need to restore anything or restore factory settings. i need something that i can use to reformat and reinstall a fresh copy. it's ridiculous that they didn't give me an OS with the laptop.

 

[TommyGunDam]

Don't want to get into any trouble so a little disclaimer first. I don't know if the following is legal or not, just passing on information found from a Google search. And now, the news....

You can still download Windows 7 SP1 ISO from Digital River, I won't post any links but as you know, Google is your friend.

 

[TommyGunDam]

Oh another thing, I don't know about Asus but my Acer laptop that I just bought a few weeks ago has a program that allows me to make a re-installation file/disk/thingamajig onto a 16GB flash drive. 16GB is needed to have all the OS files along with all of their "bloatware" I suppose. Haven't tried it yet and I don't know if it will save to a USB HDD either. If Asus doesn't provide one of those then suppose you could ask customer support.

 

[mbreslin1954]

If you search for "Windows 7 download" or "Windows 7 ISO" you should be able to find sources to download the DVD image file (ISO) for Windows 7. I'm afraid I might get my hands slapped if I provide a link, as Tom's is owned by a big company now and they seem paranoid about letting anything be posted that could be somehow viewed as an attempt at violating someone's copyright. Although the Windows install disc doesn't do you any good without a valid license key.

 

[nukemaster]

mbreslin1954, You will not. The ISO's have no keys.

http://www.w7forums.com/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-image-downloads-t12325.html

 

[unksol]

Official ISOs are free to download below. A always you need a legal product key to activate

Http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/software-os/w/microsoft_os/3316.2-1-microsoft-windows-7-official-iso-download-links-digital-river.aspx

 

[TommyGunDam]

mbreslin1954, You will not. The ISO's have no keys.

http://www.w7forums.com/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-image-downloads-t12325.html

Yah, those are all Digital River's hosted files...

 

[jinjin12]

Don't want to get into any trouble so a little disclaimer first. I don't know if the following is legal or not, just passing on information found from a Google search. And now, the news....

You can still download Windows 7 SP1 ISO from Digital River, I won't post any links but as you know, Google is your friend.

LOL. yea, right after i typed this, i was googling and found out about digital river too but i didn't want to say anything on this topic since
1) i wanted to see if you guys have any other suggestions
2) i didn't know if there iso were trustable.

anyways i'm download and i'll try it, THANKS! they should have just given me an OS disc in the first place

 

[nukemaster]

Digital River is a [strike]payment/distribution company[/strike] e-commerce site.

They are used by many other companies to take orders and deliver software.

First other thing that comes to mind is TrendMicro(antivirus) uses them too(or at least has in the past.)

They are actually ISO's you get from MS when you buy Windows online.

Fully safe.

anyways i'm download and i'll try it, THANKS! they should have just given me an OS disc in the first place

OEM's tend not to give anything but a recovery disc(along with all the stuff that came on the computer) or partition on the drive for that purpose. I know it sucks.