Windows 7 reinstall

[lolgame123]

Hi there! For the last few months I had problems with my windows 7 home premium 64-bit. It was slow, had blue screens and system restore and startup repair didn't really work. So I installed ubuntu 16.04 lts alongside windows and was able to use pc again. But I prefer windows so I decided to reinstall it. I know that I can download it from microsoft's official site and make bootable usb or dvd but I don't know whether or not I need new product key to do that or I have to buy a new one.

Side note...I bought lenovo y560 with preinstalled windows and product key is under it.

[AlTech]

1 minute ago, lolgame123 said:

Hi there! For the last few months I had problems with my windows 7 home premium 64-bit. It was slow, had blue screens and system restore and startup repair didn't really work. So I installed ubuntu 16.04 lts alongside windows and was able to use pc again. But I prefer windows so I decided to reinstall it. I know that I can download it from microsoft's official site and make bootable usb or dvd but I don't know whether or not I need new product key to do that or I have to buy a new one.

Side note...I bought lenovo y560 with preinstalled windows and product key is under it.

Sidenote - Why are you using Windows 7 anyways? Why not Windows 10?

 

OT: You don't need a new product key if you're trying to re-install the same version of Windows.

[gtx1060=value]

just install windows with the product key

 

[Guest]

If you haven't got the key, because it was an ISO disk install or something like that, there are keyfinders... They can find the serial key which was used to install windows. With a thing like that, you can recover your serial.

[AlTech]

1 minute ago, Dutch-stoner said:

If you haven't got the key, because it was an ISO disk install or something like that, there are keyfinders... They can find the serial key which was used to install windows. With a thing like that, you can recover your serial.

OP meant to say the product key was on the underside the laptop.

[Jasun]

Just get the Windows 10 installer from the Microsoft website and install Windows 10. Windows 7 is way too old.

[Redsun20]

Personally, I just enjoy windows 7 more. Yeah, benchmarks show an improvement in performance, but in the real world its not really noticeable except for startup times. What's the point of a faster OS if it isn't usable? (Not saying Windows 10 is unusable, I have it on my laptop and can use that just fine.)

[ShadowTiger]

Ditto with the Windows 7 preference.  I end up installing it a lot for people that request it, assuming the drivers are available.  We have all the versions at our disposal.

 

The tricky part is the updates.  On a new install, the Windows Updates tend to take forever.  Occasionally, quite literally forever.  It's been an ongoing problem in places that find themselves needing to install updates often.  Here's an article.

 

If you wind up having to do a bunch of updates, look for a program "Windows Offline Installer" - WSUS.  It'll download as many updates as it can, then cram them all in within the order necessary.  It's pretty useful.  Let it run its course, and it'll do you right.