Clean install of Win7 on my T430s - please advise!

My new ThinkPad came with Windows 7 Professional installed on the HDD, but no Win7 installation disc. I want to install a new SSD and perform a Clean Install of Windows 7.

I have a legit Windows 7 Home Premium installation disc and license/key (bought a 3-pack last year, have one license left). Can I just use this disc to install Windows 7 onto the SSD? If so, will I be forced to use my final license or can I re-use the product key that was shipped with my ThinkPad and Win7 Professional?

All of my previous laptops have shipped with Windows installation discs, so I've never really had an issue like this before. Any advice will be appreciated!

 

Tada:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/len...uide-clean-installing-windows-7-thinkpad.html

 

You can legally download a Windows 7 Professional installation .ISO file and burn it to a DVD.

You can also make a set of Lenovo Factory discs, then restore the factory image onto the SSD.

You can also image directly from the stock HDD onto the SSD via a SATA-USB cable and with the appropriate software.

Possibly. Read further.

If your ThinkPad comes with Windows 7 Professional, then the COA key (printed on a label located in the battery bay) will not work with your existing Windows 7 Home Premium installation disc. You must use one of the license keys sold with the Home Premium disc.

Consider my first statement regarding the .ISO file.

There should not be any "issue."

It helps to read the Hearst's Guide. It also helps to copy the C:\SWTOOLS folder (on the stock HDD) to a USB flash drive.

 

you can backup your Windows 7 Pro activation on your new thinkpad and restore it later after clean install using ABR (Activation Backup and Restore) here's the LINK
you can switch from 32bit to 64bit vice versa, using the same activation as long as it has the same edition (pro 32bit to pro 64bit, home premium 64bit to home premium 32bit) provided you have the installation disk/.iso image.
I find ABR tool effective instead of entering win7 key and activate it over internet or calling microsoft, especially if you clean installing windows in regular basis

 

yes, if you're staying with the same edition (i.e., professional), then stick with the ABR. It's simple and easy to use.

Or if you're lazy and want to be able to use any edition, then learn about Windows 7 SLP activation. You can install any edition of windows, provided that you have the following:
1. lenovo.xrm-ms file, which is easily found on the net
2. windows 7 key for OEM installations (search the web)
3. two command line commands

 

You should be able to create the Windows Recovery disk 4 DVD (1 boot + 3 data). Pull out your original drive, put in your new drive, boot and recover.

Or you can get one of disk cloning software like Acronis Disk Director, make a windows repair disk (important), clone your drive, remove the original drive, repair the cloned drive (sometime the boot stuff is not clone correctly).

I have not found reinstalling everything from scratch (Microsoft Win7 install) is really useful, unless you have a distribution with all the patches already merged in.

You can always remove / uninstall the cruft that lenovo has added that you don't need. Some things like WinDVD cannot be installed by download.

In any case reinstalling took me 2 hours.

 

Definitely use the ABR method for your COA key. No need burning up a perfectly legit purchased key when one is embedded in your computers BIOS to begin with.

Put the ABR backup/restore program on a USB key. While you have your current OS running, run the backup.exe. Do a fresh install. Once everything is booted up, run the restore.exe. You're good to go.

 

The per-owner key (unique to a machine) is printed on that label in the battery bay.

The per-manufacturer key (unique to a manufacturer, used for its products) is automatically assigned by Lenovo manufacturing. You could use ABR to retrieve it, but you don't have to. Use the key readily available in the battery bay.