Windows 10: proper way to reinstall having Windows 7 dvd and getting back to 10?

I did the free upgrade to windows 10 however many months ago on my computer.
I have the oem Windows 7 Pro install dvd that i purchased from newegg.
I plan on gifting my current rig to family and would like to reformat my hard drive and do a clean install of windows.
But I would like windows 10 to be on the computer.
How do I accomplish that having only a windows 7 installation disk where you can no longer do the free online update to 10? thanks.

:)

 

HOW DO I GET RID OF WINDOWS 10 ON MY MACHINE

No, the option you are looking at means to not preserve your programs and files and continue with the Windows 10 install. It does not mean get rid of Windows 10.

The proper way to revert back from a failed upgrade that won't even boot up is to use your Windows 7 reinstallation media, be it a DVD, flash drive or recovery partition.

Most of the time a failed upgrade will revert itself to the previous OS, but not always.

So I think your best bet is to use your Windows 7 DVD to reinstall the previous OS.

You might want to try the upgrade one more time after doing a fresh Windows 7 install, sometimes that helps. You can create a Windows 10 DVD with the media creation tool. Then do a fresh Windows 7 install, make sure it is activated, then run setup.exe
from the Windows 10 DVD from within Windows 7.

If it fails a second time, then it isn't going to work and reinstall Windows 7 one more time and you are done.

Hope that helps.

 

Windows 7

Have a Dell laptop that came with Windows 7. Upgraded to Windows 10. Now DVD will not work. If I reinstall Windows 7 will I get DVD back?

 

You can prepare a bootable DVD or USB installation drives using the Media Creation Tool. You can use that to do a clean install. Start here:

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1...n-install.html

(Don't be intimidated by the detail. Scroll down to "Here's How".)

If you upgraded to Win 10, Microsoft's activation servers have retained a "digital entitlement" which will allow you to activate Win 10 online again on the same hardware.

 

"would like to reformat my hard drive and do a clean install of windows.
But I would like windows 10 to be on the computer."

Even easier, if you have 10 Anniv ver 1607 - Verify your current activation via Action Center/ Settings, like screen. If you have digital entitlement, then go to Recovery options, choose one at bottom and tool will take care of everything else, no need to enter product id or Skip. This also properly reformats the drive, keeping intact your OEM Recovery partition, if still intact, and creating proper RE partitions. Brink Tutorial here -
Fresh Start Windows 10

 

...and to the same version as your previous free upgrade - Home or Pro. I assume it was the Pro version of 7 you upgraded to 10, so your activation should be automatic.

 

in response to 3rd post above by Mr.Geek my Activation window states "Windows 10 on this device is activated with a digital entitlement." And for the Recovery window I do NOT have the link to "Learn how to start fresh with a clean installation of windows."

I am about to read the post 2 by bobkn for "windows 10 clean install"

but i'd like to ask... after some reading i found the MediaCreationTool.exe which i downloaded from Microsoft. I ran that and downloaded a Windows10.iso file which is 3.38gb in size. That's as far as i got with it so far, but does anyone know if i just burn this iso to a dvd will it let me reinstall windows 10 which i assume will need online activation {which is fine} to determine the existing hardware and whether it will be home or professional version based on a previous activation (i.e. digital entitlement ?) or give me the option to purchase windows directly as i install?

 

"And for the Recovery window I do NOT have the link to "Learn how to start fresh with a clean installation of windows.""
Your Win10 version then, is 1511. You need to update to Anniv for this option.

"does anyone know if i just burn this iso to a dvd will it let me reinstall windows 10 which i assume will need online activation "
You can burn it to DVD to save as a bootable recovery disc in case your system does not start (think of it as the same as the DVD your orig computer came with except this ISO is constantly updated unlike your orig system DVD which only takes you to the day you bought it).

However, in your case, if you want to do a clean install and not keep any programs and settings, incl the ones that came with your computer, go to this page (the one you're taken to, had you had the option on the prev post's Recovery screen) and hit 'Download tool now' and the small tool will automatically download the latest Windows 10 and perform the clean install on it's own. -

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/soft...ws10startfresh

You will be prompted that you understand nothing will be kept and just let it run itself for about 1.5 hrs. It will restart itself a few times and you'll know when it's finished. You can roll back for 10 days if you change your mind.

" i assume will need online activation {which is fine} to determine the existing hardware and whether it will be home or professional version based on a previous activation"
Activation is automatic, as is version install based on prev install. You will only be prompted to purchase a key if you are upgrading from Home to Pro which is not your case.

 

so with the RefreshWindowsTool.exe {which is a 300kb download} that you mention, this can work fine in this one instance where i am gifting my computer and will let the family member keep this one hard drive. I would not be keeping any settings or previous programs... as I am looking for a clean install where preferably the hard drive partitions are all deleted then windows is reinstalled from a clean slate.

But let's say i have a new hard drive so it's new out of the box or i run dban on my existing drive to fully wipe it because i want to be safe before i gift the computer to someone else, then this RefreshWindowsTool.exe would be of no use correct?

So going back to the windows10.iso i downloaded which you say is used as bootable recovery disk. Are you saying it would not be able to install win10 on a new out of the box hard drive?


... Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 10565 | Windows Experience Blog

so it sounds like i should be able to do a clean install from my downloaded win10.iso,
and then enter my product key from my oem win7 dvd i purchased and had previously done the free upgrade to 10 with:

and i see that's also stated in bobkn's link *Redface

 

You can boot from the disk you make from the iso and do a clean install on a blank hard drive. You don't need a key provided you install the same edition (Home or Pro) and your Settings shows under Update & Security - Activation that 'Windows is activated with a digital licence'...



...(or a digital entitlement if it's running 1511). This shows the licence is tied to the hardware. The hard disk is ignored for licencing purposes, so it will activate automatically. I have done this and it worked.

If however it says 'Windows is activated with a digital licence linked to your Microsoft account' as shown in post #3 then you would leave personal details (ie. your MS account info) on the machine. Best use you Win7 key to activate it in that case.

 

"If however it says 'Windows is activated with a digital licence linked to your Microsoft account' as shown in post #3 then you would leave personal details (ie. your MS account info) on the machine. "

If the device activation is linked to his MS acct, then IF he is asked to enter a product key, he can hit Skip or Activate later. When he sets up the initial user account, he can activate by entering his MS account details on the new drive when it asks 'Who will be using this PC'/'Sign in with MS account'. No need for Win7 key or leaving prev sign-in info on device.