Format w/ retail Windows 7

[csnyder1582]

Before I risk the process I wanted to make sure this would work. I have an Acer Aspire 7741G-6426 that, over the years, has become painfully slow. I'd like to start over from fresh however I've misplaced the discs I made when I purchased it. Last year I built a new desktop so I have a retail copy of Windows 7. Can I just format using this? Or will Acer's hardware prevent it from working?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

You can use the CD you have but not the Windows key Code that came with it. use the original key that Acer should have affixed to the PC.

And also Acer's disk was likely a Rescue CD not a Windows install CD ,,, go to their web site and get ya drivers.

 

[egilbe]

I downloaded an OEM .iso of win7 when I reinstalled on my laptop. There were enough drivers included to get it up and running. I just used the CD key on the laptop and it was good to go. Yes, I had to call Microsoft to activate it. I've tried using retail versions for OEM installations and have had version conflicts when trying to activate.

 

[bryonhowley]

As long as you get a OEM version that matches the version that was installed on your laptop you should be fine. So if you had Windows 7 Professional installed that is what you would need to use. Because the activation was most likely done though the BIOS you will need to call the activation in but it does not take long ans is fairly easy to do.