Can I install oem Win7 on a new HDD?

bigben

bigben

Master Poster
Hi guys,
My mate has a 500gb WD Caviar Blue which is full of rubbish and runs slow, he wants a higher capacity drive so I suggested getting a 1tb Caviar Black and formatting the Cav. Blue to get rid of all the junk.
If he is getting a Caviar Black it makes sense to have it as the boot drive so that booting is faster.
I understand that oem restricts you to 1 machine, how would I do it? Do I have to uninstall Windows from the Caviar Blue first?

Thanks
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
bigben said:
Hi guys,
My mate has a 500gb WD Caviar Blue which is full of rubbish and runs slow, he wants a higher capacity drive so I suggested getting a 1tb Caviar Black and formatting the Cav. Blue to get rid of all the junk.
If he is getting a Caviar Black it makes sense to have it as the boot drive so that booting is faster.
I understand that oem restricts you to 1 machine, how would I do it? Do I have to uninstall Windows from the Caviar Blue first?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Just do a clean installation if it is the same pc.
 
vanthus

vanthus

Member Resting in Peace
bigben said:
Thanks, so it'l know that it's the same pc even though its a different HDD?
Click to expand...
You shouldn't have any problems installing the OEM version on the same PC.
I would suggest you disconnect the Caviar blue drive before installing OS on the new drive,this would avoid any problems with dual boot and the system reserved partition,then with PC disconnected,reconnect the old drive.
Boot to the OS on the new drive,you can then copy any data wanted from the old drive then in "Computer" you can right click on the old drive and Format.
 
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bigben

bigben

Master Poster
He has lost the Win7 disc that came with his pc, can I do it from the win7 disc that came with my pc?

Thanks again, never done this before...
 
Boozad

Boozad

Prolific Poster
Does he still have his key code for the original disc? If he does you can download an ISO file from Microsoft (from here) and install from that. Don't use yours because I believe that as soon as he activates it it will bugger your install up.

EDIT: If he hasn't got it his key code I'm sure there is way to find within his OS, presuming it's still running at the moment, I just can't remember it off the top of my head.
 
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ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
bigben said:
He has lost the Win7 disc that came with his pc, can I do it from the win7 disc that came with my pc?

Thanks again, never done this before...
Click to expand...

Most vendors put the OS on a hidden partition so that a particular key combination at boot lets you boot into this recovery partition to do a factory restore. Some vendors also provide a tool to cut recovery DVDs using this recovery partition. Perhaps you could do that before you remove the existing HDD? You can also contact the computer vendor and request a DVD of the originally installed OS, though you may have to pay a handling charge for that. That will, in addition, give you all the original drivers as well.

I have in the past used a retail Windows disk and an OEM key to successfully install Windows to the PC to which the OEM key belonged, but you have to make sure that the retail version of Windows is identical to the OEM version. You'll have problems installing Windows 7 Home Edition on a machine with only a Starter Edition key for example. But providing the versions are the same you should be able to use the OEM key. If there is a registration problem Windows will highlight it and warn you that this copy of Windows is already installed on another computer, so you won't affect your PC - unless you ignore the warning and continue to activate of course... :)
 
bigben

bigben

Master Poster
Ok thanks, was trying to avoid the bloatware but nevermind :/
When I did the factory preset on my old HP laptop it took about 2 hours to get all the rubbish off of it..

Thanks anyway :)

edit:
Boozad said:
Does he still have his key code for the original disc? If he does you can download an ISO file from Microsoft (from here) and install from that. Don't use yours because I believe that as soon as he activates it it will bugger your install up.

EDIT: If he hasn't got it his key code I'm sure there is way to find within his OS, presuming it's still running at the moment, I just can't remember it off the top of my head.
Click to expand...

Excellent. I saw his windows key when I was at his the other day, thanks for the link
 
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