Hello, Brand new here, and this looks like a place I can get a good answer to my question, because the people at Microsoft sure were no help. I have an ASUS A53 laptop that I use for my Exede internet installs. It rides in my truck every day, and I think the vibration/movement is taking a toll on the HDD. I have an Intel SSD coming tomorrow, and I'm hearing all different opinions on how to deal with the OS. I was considering cloning the HDD to the SSD, but as you already know, a clean install is better, and will rid my computer of the crap that ASUS installs, that I don't need. I was also told that the hidden recovery partition won't clone over, which wouldn't bother me, but seems like it would cause problems, but not sure. All that being said, my understanding is....since I have Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit on the laptop now, and as long as I'm not changing my motherboard, that I can simply download the Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit ISO, install it on the new SSD, and I can use the product key that is on my COA sticker. One potential problem I see is...the sticker says Windows 7 Home Premium OA. I called Microsoft, and the guy told me that the OA simply means that the OS was preloaded at the factory. He also said, for what I want to do, I need a Windows 7 Home Premium OEM ISO, in order to use my product key. Is he right? If so, I can't find a Win 7 Home Premium OEM ISO anywhere. I'm tempted to just clone it, but I don't see a reason why I can't do a fresh install, and use the same product key. Any advice/input greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Thank you very much! That's how I looked at it.....as long as I use an ISO that is the same version, that it wouldn't matter. My COA sticker does indeed say Home Premium, so I'm downloading a Home Premium ISO as I type. So that "OA" is irrelevant? I found that utility a while ago that deletes the EI.CFG from an ISO, and I used it on my Windows 7 Ultimate ISO. I copied the ISO from my disc to my desktop, used that utility, and then burned that image to another disc. My understanding is that I can select any of the Windows 7 versions from that disc now, correct?
If we are talking about the same program that deletes EI.CFG then no. As far as I know, that program deletes the EI.CFG from ISO's, not folders. What you can do is copy the files to desktop, manually delete EI.CFG and then burn that to DVD (or place on a USB.) As long as the EI.CFG is gone from the sources folder then YES you can select what version that you would like to install during the setup.
Ok....gotcha. Yeah, it deletes it from an ISO. Which also means that the Windows 7 Home Premium ISO that is just now finishing downloading, was a waste of time, since I could have selected that from my altered Windows Ultimate ISO. Oh well.
Oh......I don't get the SSD until tomorrow, along with the Apricorn cloning kit. I doubt I will clone it now, even though it might be the "easier" way, so to speak. I'm going from a 5400rpm 320Gb HDD to a 120GB SSD. I don't have much on the laptop, because it's mostly for work, and I don't use more than a browser, but ASUS, like many others, puts a lot of useless utilities and other crap most people don't need or want. I think a fresh install is smarter.....just have to get the drivers from ASUS. There is a ton, but some I won't need. I'm after the motherboard drivers mainly, and I'll go from there. I was going to clone, as I didn't want to risk anything, and not have my laptop for work.....murphy's law. But, cloning isn't guaranteed to be problem free either. I built my first computer last year, and while not even close to an expert, I'm fairly comfortable with stuff like this. Hopefully it goes smooth. I may have to wait until Saturday, depending on work.
My COA sticker says Windows 7 Home Premium OA......that key will work on a Windows 7 Home Premium fresh install, correct? Just double checking. Like I said, the guy at Microsoft said I had to get a Windows 7 Home Premium OEM ISO, which didn't makes sense to me.
Dude why bother with the key? you have a legit copy just use the Daz loader when you have installed the system,and what SSD have you bought? some of em are right flakey like the OCZ brand had three die on me in 12 months in the end went back to good old platters !
I bought an Intel 520 series 120gb. Anything can fail, but they have a good reputation. I'm using the same SSD in my desktop as a boot drive. I'm new here....what is the Daz loader?
Well, if they DO have the correct SLIC in BIOS, the ''loader'' part of the Loader won't install, it will only insert the certificate and key required. So what's the issue?
I guess I should have said using their own key, whether it be COA, Retail, etc, in my opinion is the best way to go. As DAZ has done a fine job creating the loader, from the amount of post in the forums on its support, it seems far better to me if the user was to use their key.
Yes I agree if key availiable best way to go. MS obviously now do not ship COA with w8 equipment to stop the old practice of `Key swiping`