Reinstall windows 7 without installation disc. How to reinstall Windows without a disk or flash drive. Reinstalling from disk

To install Windows 7 on computers that do not support a disk drive (for example, netbooks), you can use a flash drive, the volume of which must exceed 4 GB to completely accommodate all the distribution files necessary for correct installation and subsequent operation of the system.

Before installing Windows 7, you will need to download an operating system image. This can be done both on the official Microsoft mirror and on third-party resources. After downloading the image, you will need to install a program that will allow you to format the flash drive into the desired format and record all the files in the image. Among the most convenient programs for recording Windows 7 is the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. The program is available on the official Microsoft website and allows you to write a licensed image to removable media.

Flash drive recording

Insert the USB flash drive into the device and run Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. A simple program interface will appear in front of you, through which the already downloaded image is recorded. Click on the “Browse” button and specify the path to the ISO system image file that you downloaded earlier. Once selected, click "Open".

After specifying the path to the image, click on the Next button to proceed to writing the image to removable media. In the next menu, select USB Device. In the list provided, select the name of your flash drive, and then click Begin copying. Next, click Erase USB Device, and then confirm the information. After this, recording the image to the USB flash drive will begin, the process of which you can monitor in the main program window. Once the record status line is 100% full, you will see the Backup Completed message. The image recording is complete and you can begin installing the system.

Actions after recording

Before reinstalling the system, save all important files on separate media, as documents may be deleted during the installation process. After this, go to the computer's BIOS by pressing the Start Setup key (F2 or F4) when the computer boots. Go to the Boot section and select the name of your flash drive as First Boot Device. Save your changes and restart your computer. If the image was recorded correctly and the BIOS settings were specified correctly, installation and initial configuration of the operating system will begin.

Problems with Windows occur most often due to the user's fault.

This could be due to:

  1. viruses that corrupt system files;
  2. software glitches;
  3. banal cluttering of the system disk, causing the computer to work slower and often crash.

Completely reinstall Windows 7 will not be difficult, because The installation program is intuitive. In the process of preparing and, in fact, reinstalling the system, it is important not to lose files and at the same time improve the performance of the computer. And how to do this as correctly as possible will be discussed below.

What to do before removing the system

Of course, the very first step in the reinstallation process will be downloading the new distribution. This can be done on any torrent tracker or file hosting service.

The following is the process of writing the installation program onto a bootable USB flash drive or disk. To write the installation program to a flash card, you will need a working version of Windows 7 and the Win2Flash program. It is very easy to learn and does everything automatically. We just need to select the distribution in the Explorer menu and the flash drive, which will become bootable. If you already have a distribution package recorded on disk, skip this point.

Photo: Window for selecting the path to Windows and the required flash card

After automatically recording the operating system to the media, it’s time to move on to the next point - saving all important files.

This procedure is best carried out if you have spacious storage: an external hard drive, a large flash drive, or several large-capacity disks. On them we copy all the files we need (photos, videos, text documents, files with passwords, etc.). You can also save all the files in cloud storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, Yandex.Disk, etc.), and after the reinstallation is complete, you can download all the necessary files back, thus avoiding data loss.

Don’t forget to download the necessary drivers (for the network card/wi-fi module, video card, etc.), because it is possible that without them the computer will not allow you to access the Network and work fully.

Video: Installing Windows 7

Preparing for reinstallation

Before reinstalling the system yourself, it would be a good idea to create a backup copy of Windows in case something goes wrong. This can be done using Acronis True Image.

Download the program and write it to a disc, after setting up the BIOS (see the next point), reboot the computer with the disk in the drive. When loading, the True Image window will launch, in which you need to select “backup”, mark the drive that we will transfer (the one on which the system folders are stored, usually drive C). Next, select the destination - another logical partition, or an external hard drive or flash drive, and complete the process.

Photo: Acronis True Image main screen

BIOS setup

Now you need to make sure that the PC takes files to turn on from the drive on which the system is recorded; this can be done through the BIOS.


Do not forget to return all BIOS settings after reinstalling Windows; if you forget to do this, when you turn on the PC with a disk or flash drive inserted, an error about boot files not found will be displayed. But you don't always need to change BIOS settings.

You can also select the location for priority loading of files manually; to do this, when you turn on the computer (approximately between the 1st and 2nd screensavers), press a special key (usually the F8, F10, F11, F12 or Escape buttons), and select CD/DVD, or Flash drive.

Step-by-step reinstallation of Windows 7

All preparatory procedures are completed, and we will learn how to reinstall Windows 7 on Windows 7 step by step, without formatting the system drives.

Instructions:



  • Next, select the logical partition that is considered the system partition and continue the installation. It is important to remember that the PC may reboot during installation, and because... If we boot from media, then when you turn it on again, the installation program will start again.

To avoid this, you need to enter the BIOS settings during the first reboot and return the boot device back to the “HDD” column. Or simply remove the flash drive or disc during the reboot, not forgetting to insert it back, because the installation is not yet completed;


Important! For successful installation and to protect your PC from threats, obtain the latest version of the update. This is easy to do by connecting to the Internet and going to the official website of the company. Next, go to the “Obtain important updates for installation” page.

  • Further Select installation type paragraph Update. A compatibility report appears;
  • The last step will be to set up the time zone in which we select the desired one, and now - the main part of the work of reinstalling the Windows operating system is completed.

Completing and installing drivers

It is unlikely that after reinstalling Windows, your PC will immediately be fully functional; to do this, you need to update the drivers for your hardware.

If you listened to the recommendations, then you probably downloaded all the necessary drivers onto a flash drive or blank. It is better to download drivers for a specific brand and model of equipment, preferably the latest version (almost certainly can be found on the manufacturer’s official website).

It is also recommended to download and install components for comfortable browsing on the Internet (Flash Player, browser, etc.). Sets of codecs for adequate operation of system and third-party applications (NET Framework, DirectX, C++ libraries) will also not hurt.

Reinstalling Windows is not a difficult task, but if you miss the smallest detail, you can render your PC unusable.

It is important to properly prepare for the system change process by copying the necessary files so that their loss does not come as a surprise to you.

The setup procedure after installation is also important; it is very important to install the latest versions of drivers so that all computer components work smoothly and without failures.


To prevent virus programs from destroying your system, install an antivirus and turn on a firewall - it helps block malicious content on sites.

The best way to get rid of viruses and constant crashes in the operating system is to install a new OS. Most often, installation occurs by creating a bootable USB flash drive or using a disk with a new system, but there are several quick methods that will help you install a new copy of Windows without using third-party digital media.

The following OS replacement options are suitable for personal computer users who:

  1. The drive is broken, damaged or missing.
  2. No DVD.
  3. It is not possible to use Flash media.
  4. There is no external HDD drive.

Installing Windows via Hard Drive and computer command line

Hard drive is a hard drive (HDD) of a personal computer or laptop, which is designed to store user files and programs. Using the hard drive, you can install a new operating system.

Installation of the new OS occurs through the command line when the computer is turned on. This OS replacement option will allow you to clear all old disk partitions and create new ones. In order to begin the process of replacing the operating system, you need to download an iso image of the desired version of Windows. This can be done on the official Microsoft website or through a torrent client. The image will be downloaded to your computer in archive format; you need to unpack it to drive C. Then follow these instructions:

  1. While starting the computer, hold down the F8, Space or ESC button (depending on your computer model). After a few seconds, a custom menu of additional OS boot options should appear on the screen.
  2. The next step is to select “Troubleshooting”. The selection is made by pressing the Enter key.


  1. Next, a system recovery options window will appear. In it you need to select input via the keyboard.
  2. Select a computer user from the list and enter a password, if one was set when logging in.
  3. From the proposed installation options, you need to select “Command Line”.
  4. After opening the command line window, you should type several commands. Input is via the keyboard. You can print a new command by pressing Enter. Navigate to the drive where the system installation file is located using the following command: “X:windowssystem32C:” (without parentheses). Press Enter (If the installation file is not on drive C, replace the letter in the command with the desired one).
  5. Enter the following command: ">setup.exe" (without parentheses).
  6. In a few seconds, the installation of the new OS will begin, which is no different from installing using a disk or flash drive.

This method is suitable for operating systems Windows 7, Win 8/8.1, Windows 10.

Note: Please note that the installed and downloaded OS must have the same bit depth (32 or 64 bits).

Using the installation image and virtual drive

The easiest way to install Windows is to download a system image from the Internet. The process of downloading the image archive is exactly the same as in the previous section of the article, however, you do not need to unpack it. The disk image allows you to install any program, game, utility or operating system without using a disk drive.

Users of OS Windows XP/7 must install additional software to work with images. In newer versions of Windows, you can work with images without using additional software (such files are recognized as archives; in order to install the image, you need to open it with an archiver and run the installation file).

Some tips for downloading an OS image:

  1. Do not download files from suspicious sites and resources.
  2. Refrain from choosing various modified OS builds. They almost always contain a lot of viruses and spyware that can steal your personal information, passwords or credit card numbers.
  3. Choose only trusted resources (Microsoft websites or specialized utilities for installing a new OS).

In the imaging utility, create a virtual disk with the new OS (read more about the most popular and reliable programs for creating virtual disk drives in the next section of this article). To create a new disk, select the desired ISO image in the program. Next, the program will provide all the necessary instructions. The disc creation process will take less than a minute. Next, double-click on the created disk, thus launching the OS installation window.

Programs for quickly creating a virtual drive

If you are using OS Windows XP/7, then you should select a program to work with virtual optical drives. The list below shows the most popular programs and their features:

  1. Daemon Tools. One of the very first and most popular programs on the market of similar software. The program is shareware - Lite and Premium versions are available to users. Working with existing virtual disks is organized in a very convenient way; the user can quickly create and delete disks. In the free version of the software, it is possible to create only 4 images at a time. The program supports iso, img, dmg, vdf, mds, mdf formats.
  2. The program is distinguished by its ability to create a large number of virtual disks simultaneously. There is also the ability to record to a removable CD. With this program, users will be able to store all their disks virtually in case the physical disk gets damaged. It is also possible to download images from the Internet and mount them for further installation using this program.
  3. Software that works exclusively with ISO images. Images are mounted quickly and execution time is kept to a minimum. It is possible to convert images of other formats directly to ISO.
  4. The utility is free and available for download. The function of creating disk images yourself is available.
  5. Virtual CloneDrive. A program with a minimum of settings, high speed of execution and disk reading. The OS recognizes the created disk as a physical CD/DVD-ROM.

Free OS updates

Microsoft regularly provides users of licensed versions of the OS with the opportunity to upgrade to newer versions of the software for free. Windows 7 Home Edition users can upgrade to the Professional or Premium version through the official Microsoft.com website or through the Update Center, which is located in the control panel of each computer. Installing new software is as simple as pressing a few buttons. Basically, installing a new system takes from half an hour to 120 minutes, depending on the speed of the computer or laptop's central processor.

It is possible to replace Windows 7 with Windows 88.1 for free. Follow the instructions to find out about the possibility of updating the OS:

  1. Download the Update Assistant from Microsoft here
  2. Run it and wait for the installation to finish. This will take a few minutes.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions to find out which new OS version your system is compatible with. Next, the program will offer to download new software and install it.

A situation often arises when the issue of reinstalling the operating system becomes urgent. Let's take a specific case. There is a laptop purchased with Windows 7 already pre-installed. Windows itself is still, one might say, in working condition, but the user is quite worried about some circumstances. What exactly? Due to external virus attacks, as well as during operation, errors accumulate over and over again, which leads the computer to a rather slow boot process, and other software tools are not pleasing with their previous performance. At the same time, cleaning the registry, anti-virus measures and returning to a previously recorded recovery checkpoint do not give the expected results. There is only one way out - reinstalling the system. How does this process happen?

It is worth noting that a laptop with a pre-installed system is good because its manufacturer took care of the operating system distribution, which is stored in a hidden section of the device’s hard drive. Drivers and source programs are also located there. All this provides an excellent opportunity to reinstall, if there are good reasons for doing so. There are two specific situations. If things are really bad and the system does not want to start, then the recovery starts by pressing a certain key when turning it on. What it is depends on the specific manufacturer. You can find it out in the user manual.

But our case is different - the OS is in working condition. Let's proceed step by step to reinstalling Windows 7 without a boot disk or flash drive.

Step 1. Click the Start button and launch Control Panel. If it is in the “Categories” viewing mode, then you should go to “Large Icons” or “Small Icons”. In this case, it is easier to find the “Recovery” tab.

Step 2. Let's open it. We are interested in the very bottom option “Advanced recovery methods”.

Step 3. Let's launch it. A window appears reminding you that when you restore the system partition, which is usually the entire working disk, all data and documents created by the user will be erased.

Care and accuracy should be exercised when copying all necessary data onto storage media (disks, flash drives, external USB drives).

If the data has been copied in advance, you should press the “ Skip“, then the computer will prompt you to reboot, which will start the system installation process.

At the bottom there is a button “ Exit” in order to return to the system again before installation to continue copying important information.

Step 4. After successful completion, Windows will have factory settings and the original programs when you purchased the laptop. By the way, you do not need to enter the serial number of the licensed software and activate it. All this, in most cases, is already integrated into the actual installation process. The user can only install the software he needs and configure the desktop at his discretion.

As you can see from this short instruction, the process of reinstalling Windows 7 without a disk or flash drive does not require special knowledge and is available to everyone completely free of charge. Anyone can handle it if they are careful and attentive.

If for some reason you were unable to install Windows 7 yourself, you can contact us for help or try.

In this article, you will learn how to reinstall Windows 7 yourself. The material is intended for users who will be installing Windows on a computer or laptop for the first time. No matter how scary it may sound, reinstalling Windows is very simple. In the days of Windows 95 and 98, to an inexperienced person, the procedure of reinstalling the operating system could seem like a mystical rite. The person who was invited to do this was necessarily called a programmer and was considered a guru in the computer field.

For their part, such gurus, inflating their value, intimidated their clients in every possible way with scary computer terms and stories about viruses and burned-out computers. In this guide, you will see that this is not at all true and that installing or reinstalling Windows on your laptop or computer is very simple and accessible to almost anyone who knows how to use a computer mouse.

I will make a small reservation. This article will tell you how to install Windows 7 yourself using a DVD. If your computer or laptop does not have a DVD drive, then you will need to install Windows from a USB flash drive or from a memory card, I will talk about this in another lesson.

Before you start reinstalling Windows, read the entire article to the end, and if you have a printer, print it out.

Reinstalling Windows 7 consists of several steps:

  1. Preparing your computer for installing Windows 7;
  2. Preparing an installation disk with Windows 7;
  3. Setting up the computer's BIOS to boot from a DVD;
  4. Installing Windows 7;

Now let's go through all the stages in detail.

1. Preparing to install Windows 7

Before reinstalling Windows, you need to do a little preparation.

First, you need to copy all the valuable information from drive C. Of course, you know better, but I’ll still tell you where to look. There are not so many places where your useful information can be located on the “C:” drive, usually the desktop and “My Documents”. It’s also worth looking at the root of the “C:” drive; sometimes people, in a hurry or simply out of ignorance, save files there. Copy all the files you need to another drive (for example, “D:”), DVD drive or flash drive.

For the future, keep in mind that it is best to store information not on the same disk partition on which the system is installed, and, of course, create backup copies.

If you just purchased a computer or are sure that there is no valuable information in it, then naturally you don’t have to bother

Another point that is worth considering before installing Windows is the drivers for the network card. If after installation it turns out that your Windows distribution did not have drivers for your network card, or for some reason they were not installed correctly, then you will find yourself without drivers and without the Internet. Therefore, download the latest drivers in advance, at least for the network card.

2. Preparing an installation disk with Windows 7

For those who already have an installation disk with Windows 7, you can skip this step. If you don’t have such a disc, then you need to burn it or purchase it. Those who want to download Windows on the Internet, look for clean MSDN builds.

This will protect you from possible errors in the operation of the installed system.

Installation disks with Windows 7 on the Internet are usually distributed in the form of disk images in the ".iso" format. I won’t say where to download because... promoting their spread is not entirely legal. I can advise you to read the release comments before downloading the image; problematic disks are usually quickly identified in the form of a bunch of angry reviews.

At this stage, you should decide which version of Windows 7 to install on your computer, 32-bit or 64-bit. I will not go into details, since a separate article can be written on this topic. I will only say that a 64-bit system can work with the entire amount of RAM, while a 32-bit system uses only about 3.25 GB at most. At the same time, a 64-bit system, thanks to 64-bit address pointers, requires more memory during operation. This increases the amount of memory consumed by applications.

Also in favor of a 64-bit system, it is worth considering that when using 64-bit applications there will be a fairly good increase in their performance.

Conclusion: a 64-bit system should be used if the amount of RAM in your computer is 4 gigabytes or more, which, in principle, is already becoming the norm for a modern computer.

After the image is downloaded, you need to burn it to a DVD disc, and you can begin installation.

3. Setting up the computer BIOS to boot from a DVD

To install Windows, it is not enough to simply insert a DVD into the drive; you also need to make sure that the computer starts booting from this disk when you turn it on. This is done in the BIOS. There is a BIOS in almost any computer or laptop; all sorts of important settings are stored in it, one of these settings is the boot order of devices. This setting is what interests us at the moment.

In order to get into the BIOS, you need to immediately press a certain key on the keyboard when you turn on the computer. Usually, when booting, it is written on the screen what exactly you need to press to get to the BIOS menu. Most often this is the Delete, Esc, or F2 key. You will know that you have entered when you see the BIOS menu in front of you.

The most common options are:

If the attempt is unsuccessful, then reboot the computer and try again. Below are tables with possible options for entering the BIOS.

A table with key combinations for entering the BIOS from various BIOS manufacturers.
BIOS Manufacturer Keys
ALR Advanced Logic Research, Inc. F2, Ctrl+Alt+Esc
AMD (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.) BIOS F1
AMI (American Megatrends, Inc.) BIOS Del
Award BIOS Ctrl+Alt+Esc, Del
DTK (Datatech Enterprises Co.) BIOS Esc
Phoenix BIOS Ctrl+Alt+Esc, Ctrl+Alt+S, Ctrl+Alt+Ins
A table with key combinations for entering the BIOS from various computer and laptop manufacturers.
PC Manufacturer Keys
Acer F1, F2, Ctrl+Alt+Esc
A.S.T. Ctrl+Alt+Esc, Ctrl+Alt+Del
Compaq F10
CompUSA Del
Cybermax Esc
Dell 400 F3, F1
Dell Dimension F2, Del
Dell Inspiron F2
Dell Latitude Fn+F1
Dell Latitude F2
Dell Optiplex Del, F2
Dell Precision F2
eMachine Del
Gateway F1, F2
HP F1, F2
IBM F1
IBM E-pro Laptop F2
IBM PS/2 Ctrl+Alt+Ins then Ctrl+Alt+Del
IBM Thinkpad from Windows: Programs >Thinkpad CFG
Intel Tangent Del
Micron F1, F2, or Del
Packard Bell F1, F2, Del
Sony VAIO F2, F3
Tiger Del
Toshiba ESC, F1

After you have entered the BIOS, you need to find the option responsible for the boot order of devices. As a rule, these settings need to be looked for in the menu, the name of which contains the word BOOT; of course, there are other options, but as they say - “Whoever searches will always find.”

To make your search easier, here are a few examples of what it looks like in real life:

Selecting the device to boot first is usually done using the arrow keys on the keyboard, but there are other ways to navigate through the BIOS menu, so if you can’t figure it out, you can look at the help, which is usually visible in the BIOS.

Select your CD/DVD drive as the first boot device and exit the BIOS, saving all changes. To do this, use the Save and Exit Setup item. The computer will reboot and we have thus approached the next stage, for the sake of which everything was actually started.

4 Installing Windows 7

If the disk is written correctly and the settings in the BIOS are set correctly, we will see the following inscription Press any key to boot from CD or DVD, which means Press any key to boot from a CD or DVD.

It looks like this:

Press any key

If you don’t see such an inscription, then perhaps you did something wrong in what was written above. In this case, check the BIOS again to see if the boot from DVD setting is saved; if everything is set correctly in the BIOS, then most likely your disk is not bootable and you will have to look for another installation disk or download another Windows 7 image.

At this point I will make a small disclaimer. You may come across a Windows 7 installation disk that contains, in addition to Windows itself, additional utilities; in this case, to start the installation, you will need to select the desired item from the menu of your disk. It is also worth noting that in some disks, most of the operations described below will take place automatically, without your participation. There is no need to worry about this; all these settings can be changed if desired after the installation of Windows is completed.

To begin installation, click "Install"

You will be faced with a choice of which version of Windows to install. You need to choose the one for which you have the key. If you have a laptop, then often a sticker with a key and an indication of the Windows version is glued to the bottom. We will need the key itself at the end of the installation. In principle, it can be introduced not immediately, but within 30 days.

We agree to the license terms and click “Next”

Select the full installation.

Select the partition in which Windows 7 will be installed and click "Disk Setup"

An inexperienced person may have questions at this point, so let’s look at it in more detail.

Hard drive setup

Often on your computer's hard drive, in addition to the partitions that you know about (such as C: D: E:, etc.), there may be one or more hidden partitions. This is especially true for laptops that were sold with an operating system already installed. The manufacturer makes such sections in order to be able to restore the system and bring the laptop to its factory settings.

Also often found is a hidden partition of 100MB in size; it is created by Windows 7 itself. This partition is used to implement the BitLocker function; this function is designed to encrypt the system partition. So, in this section there is a program that, when loaded, decodes the encrypted system partition. If you wish, you can get rid of this partition by preparing your computer’s hard drive in advance for installing Windows 7. For this, it is best to use special programs, such as Acronis Disc Director.

Let's go back to the installation.

Click "Disk Setup" and "Format"

The installer will warn you that all data from this partition will be deleted, but we are not afraid of this, because we prepared for this and made a backup copy of all the information we needed in advance, so we safely agree by clicking the “OK” button.

After formatting is completed, click “Next”

Waiting for the installation to complete

After installation, you will be prompted to enter your username and computer name.

We enter the key, it can be glued to the bottom of the laptop, or in the form of a sticker on the system unit.

Set a security mode

Set the date, time and time zone

If your computer has a network connection and the system has a driver for your network card, Windows will prompt you to select a connection type

This completes the installation of Windows 7, and you can proceed to installing the drivers and programs you need.

Finally, don’t forget to return the BIOS settings that we changed in paragraph 3 our leadership. You need to set your hard drive as the first boot device in the BIOS, otherwise every time you start the computer it will try to boot from the DVD.


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