Factory reset windos 7 laptop

[BoxTurtle]

So I am trying to factory reset a windows 7 laptop to factory setting. Since this laptop came with windows 7 pre installed to reset the laptop you have to reinstall windows useing a windows instiallation disk. The problem is this laptop has windoes 7 pro but microsoft only has a windows 7 disk. Will it work if I just in stall windows 7 not windows 7 pro?

[3 Lions]

You should be making the move to Windows 10 anyway. 

[BoxTurtle]

1 minute ago, 3 Lions said:

You should be making the move to Windows 10 anyway. 

well wouldn't i have to buy it

[3 Lions]

Just now, turtlecraft said:

well wouldn't i have to buy it

No

[BoxTurtle]

2 minutes ago, 3 Lions said:

No

so would i just download it iso files from microsoft's website?

[3 Lions]

Just now, turtlecraft said:

so would i just download it iso files from microsoft's website?

Yep, since you're not changing the physical hardware of the laptop it should activate using your Windows 7 licence. 

[vanished]

Yes.  If/when it asks for a key, just use the Win 7 key you already have.  It should accept it and perform the free upgrade seamlessly in the background.

[BoxTurtle]

1 hour ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

Yes.  If/when it asks for a key, just use the Win 7 key you already have.  It should accept it and perform the free upgrade seamlessly in the background.

 

1 hour ago, 3 Lions said:

Yep, since you're not changing the physical hardware of the laptop it should activate using your Windows 7 licence. 

Thanks now I have windows 10 downloaded

[shoutingsteve]

1 hour ago, 3 Lions said:

You should be making the move to Windows 10 anyway. 

I couldn't disagree more.  The laptop came with a particular operating system for particular hardware, and likely the drivers they will be able to find for this hardware off the manufacture's website will be predominately for windows 7 as that is how it shipped.  For reasons of performance (even if you could find all the drivers for windows 10) alone, older hardware should not be updated (notice I say "updated" not "upgraded") to windows 10 from windows 7.

Are there security risks?  Very few if you keep your virus definitions up to date.  Is there a "future-proofing" advantage?  No, the hardware will be obsolete before programs are no longer able to run on 7.

 

Keep in mind that I am cranky old man, but I also have two machines with 7, one with 8.1 (we can all agreed that was nearly as bad as windows ME), and one that has 10.  Of those two 7 machines, one shipped with 10 and i downgraded it to 7.  I was never able to find the driver for the laptop's touchpad, but I still do not regret the decision: it is THAT much faster.