Windows 7 upgrade cd/download?

Question

Hi,

I have a Dell Studio 15 1555. I purchased it with windows vista on it but ordered the free windows 7 upgrade cd which I received and installed. I want to do a full restore using the cds but only have the vista cd and driver cd's.

Does anyone know if I download the update if I retrieve the windows 7 user key or if I can get hold of a replacement cd and what this would likely cost in the UK?

Thanks in Advance

Mary G · Answer

Explain why you have to reinstall windows and maybe someone can suggest a better alternative. That laptop is quite old now and restoring might be useless if your problem is hardware related. First thing to do is to check the hard drive for bad sectors or a failing drive and also run all the diagnostics on all the hardware. If the drive checks out OK, you would have to first reinstall vista from the disks you have and then update to windows 7 again and then do all the windows updates. The windows 7 disk is an upgrade disk and requires vista to be on the drive and you have all the necessary disks.

Philip_Yip · Answer

If you have a system which can boot then install Berlarc Advisor to retrieve the 25 digit product key for Windows and Office if you have Office installed:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/gathering-information-about-your-pc/belarc-advisor/

You may use the product key again with a retail .iso. which you can get from Digital River.

Alternatively as this system was sold by Dell with Windows 7, the Dell Windows 7 System Locked Preinstallation Key will activate this system if it is at the latest BIOS. See here for details on downloading a retail version of Windows 7 and applying Dell OEM SLP activation:

More details here:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-microsoft-windows-and-office/download-microsoft-windows/windows-7-sp1-iso-download/

See here for details on updating the Dell BIOS:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/updating-the-bios/

Its recommended for you to run full F12 preboot diagnostics and securely wipe your system before proceeding with the installation:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/f12-preboot-diagnostics/

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/securely-wipe-your-hard-drive-with-dariks-boot-and-nuke-dban/

Follow my A Clean Install of Windows for optimum results:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/a-clean-install-of-windows/

Once Windows is installed and fully updated along with the system drivers, install the latest version of Dell Backup and Recovery which will make factory settings of the clean install:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/dell-backup-and-recovery/

Windows General

Windows 7 upgrade cd/download?

Was this post helpful?