Reinstall windows7

[nandudb]

Hi All,

I am upgrading my laptop W510(4318) Touchscreen Laptop to SSD and would like to re-install windows 7 instead of cloning existing windows as i have numerous issues.

Many says that factory recovery would not work and i dont have CD/DVDs of factory recovery.
When i try to make create recovery disc, it says that i have only one microsoft windows 7 image in the laptop, this may be due to backup taken to my external hard drive and i could see the recovery in my external hard drive.

My Questions is,

1. How do i install windows 7 from external drive of factory recovery image? will this work?
2. Can i install my personal windows 7 (ISO Image) and install lenovo drivers on top of it? Will this work with all lenovo features(simple tap,finger print, and all other lenovo softwares/apps)??
3. Can i install wiindows 7 from my personal ISO image and use windows key from lenovo (i could see key available in battery area)??
4. Also, suggest whether i can install windows from external drive (either ISO image or factory recovery ) when i boot up with emty ssd? will external drive detect to install windows 7?? Is there any specific BIOS setup required??

Please help

[Temetka]

If your copy of Windows 7 is an OEM copy, then yes you can install it. It will use the key in the battery bay. I have noticed from personal experience that it will activate about 50% of the time. If not, not worries it's a super quick call to Microsoft to get the activation code. If they ask how many copies have been installed, say zero.

Secondly plug into ethernet (as it probably won't have loaded the wifi driver).

Download the system update utility from Lenovo. Let it do it's thing. It should re-install all your drivers for you.

After this get some anti-virus on there.

Run Windows Update.

Enjoy.

[ZaZ]

I've never had an OEM Windows disc fail to activate using the key on the machine. You could just download the Windows WiFi driver beforehand if you don't want use Ethernet port.

[pianowizard]

The images from Microsoft's Digital River site are guaranteed to work:

64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium x64 ISO Digital River: http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net ... -65733.iso

64-bit Windows 7 Professional x64 ISO Digital River: http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net ... -65805.iso

[Temetka]

got links to the 32-bit versions?