is there a way to format my computer without formatting the os on my premade toshiba laptop

[Triflexer]

is there a way to format everything except the os because my laptop is premade so i dont have a windows 7 cd or activation key. is there a way to find out my activation key?

 

[USAFRet]

is there a way to format everything except the os because my laptop is premade so i dont have a windows 7 cd or activation key. is there a way to find out my activation key?

You can't 'format everything except the OS'.

Let's back up a step or two...
What are you trying to accomplish?
What OS is it?

 

[Triflexer]

is there a way to format everything except the os because my laptop is premade so i dont have a windows 7 cd or activation key. is there a way to find out my activation key?

You can't 'format everything except the OS'.

Let's back up a step or two...
What are you trying to accomplish?
What OS is it?

this laptop was initially my moms so and its really slow cause she jampacked it with stuff. so i just want to delete everything as if it was new. it has windows 7 home premium (sp1) on it and id like to upgrade that to windows 10 as well

 

[USAFRet]

is there a way to format everything except the os because my laptop is premade so i dont have a windows 7 cd or activation key. is there a way to find out my activation key?

You can't 'format everything except the OS'.

Let's back up a step or two...
What are you trying to accomplish?
What OS is it?

this laptop was initially my moms so and its really slow cause she jampacked it with stuff. so i just want to delete everything as if it was new. it has windows 7 home premium (sp1) on it and id like to upgrade that to windows 10 as well

Well, you can do one of two things:
Find and invoke the Recovery partition. This will bring it back as it came from the store. With all the associated bloatware
or
Upgrade to Windows 10, and when it asks what you want to keep, select Nothing. This should give you a mostly pristine Win 10 OS, with none of the preceding junk.

Start here for the Windows 10 option:
http/windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/media-creation-tool-install

 

[Triflexer]

is there a way to format everything except the os because my laptop is premade so i dont have a windows 7 cd or activation key. is there a way to find out my activation key?

You can't 'format everything except the OS'.

Let's back up a step or two...
What are you trying to accomplish?
What OS is it?

this laptop was initially my moms so and its really slow cause she jampacked it with stuff. so i just want to delete everything as if it was new. it has windows 7 home premium (sp1) on it and id like to upgrade that to windows 10 as well

Well, you can do one of two things:
Find and invoke the Recovery partition. This will bring it back as it came from the store. With all the associated bloatware
or
Upgrade to Windows 10, and when it asks what you want to keep, select Nothing. This should give you a mostly pristine Win 10 OS, with none of the preceding junk.

Start here for the Windows 10 option:
http/windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/media-creation-tool-install

which would you suggest i do? are there any risks to doing the recovery partition

 

[USAFRet]

which would you suggest i do? are there any risks to doing the recovery partition

The only risk to the Recovery is if it fails partway through and leaves a borked up install.

So...
First:
In the Recovery function, there should be a function for you to create a DVD set. If you can, do this.
Secondly, find the existing Windows license. You may not need this, but it doesn't hurt to have written down.
Belarc Advisor can retrieve this.
Third, save off anything you may want to keep. Save it elsewhere.

Boot from that Recovery DVD you made, and see what it does.
If you can't create that DVD set, then just invoke the Recovery partition and this will do the same thing.

This should leave you with a system just as it came from the store.

 

[jaguarskx]

The Windows 7 product key should be on a sticker on the underside of the laptop. Is the sticker missing?

 

[Triflexer]

which would you suggest i do? are there any risks to doing the recovery partition

The only risk to the Recovery is if it fails partway through and leaves a borked up install.

So...
First:
In the Recovery function, there should be a function for you to create a DVD set. If you can, do this.
Secondly, find the existing Windows license. You may not need this, but it doesn't hurt to have written down.
Belarc Advisor can retrieve this.
Third, save off anything you may want to keep. Save it elsewhere.

Boot from that Recovery DVD you made, and see what it does.
If you can't create that DVD set, then just invoke the Recovery partition and this will do the same thing.

This should leave you with a system just as it came from the store.

The Windows 7 product key should be on a sticker on the underside of the laptop. Is the sticker missing?

i ended up doing the partition recovery and it went smoothly. thanks for your help on the matter