[violator]

how do i totally wipe my laptop, tried to do it with windows 7 when i installed it, it removed everything but it left the same amount of data on my hd...but i cant find the data,,,like a ghost image...help lol

[Leeky]

Are you running several partitions on your hard drive, or is it one continious partition? The vast majority of new laptops (Vista onwards) now come with a seperate recovery partition which contains the entire OS to enable you to re-install the operating system should any problems arise.

If this is the case and you do have this recovery/OS partition, then you have two options. You can delete the partition (only if you have media backups of it) or you can leave it be. Strictly speaking it will do absolutely no harm where it is, but will allow you to restore the previous operating system at a later date. That said, my Dell Vostro laptop (my 2nd one. lol) uses XP Professional and I dont plan to upgrade that just yet. lol.

On another note, if you haven't got proper media backups (on disc) of your laptops default operating system I strongly advise you make them immediately. You can usually do this by finding the manufacturer's name as a menu inside the start menu in windows. If you have the proper discs, and you don't have a recovery partition then dont worry. lol.

If you have no critical data (e.g. you are happy to lose everything) on your hard drive, you can do the following to completely remove all data:

1. Insert your W7 install DVD.
2. Boot your laptop and start the W7 install.
3. Select custom install, not upgrade (which should be disabled from a boot install anyway leaving you only one option to install W7)
4. when you get to hard drive section, you need to select the partition you want to format, then in the below boxes you need to click on the format option. This will delete and format the partition with absolutely no data at all.

The install is typical in every respect prior to choosing your default install drive, and after selecting, and formatting the hard drive and continuing the installation.

I'm now running dual boot W7 Ultimate x86 and x64 on all my computers, so if you get stuck I'll help you out.

[violator]

thanks lee, i went to install x64 as we both said, it installed fine...but the wireless wouldnt work at all, had to install x32 to get online lol...any ideas on that one buddy ??

[Leeky]

Yeah, you need the 64bit driver for your wireless hardware mate. Its fairly common for a installation from disc to lack some critical hardware drivers.

Go to your laptop manufacturers website, click on support and find your way to your laptop model, at which point it will likely offer a menu with hardware support drivers for each different windows installation. You need 64bit W7 drivers, as 32bit ones will not work with 64 bit operating systems.

Your ethernet port should work ok though, so you always have the option of going through windows update using your ethernet port, then downloading the correct wireless driver from there and installing it that way.

I run my main laptop, and my quad core pc with 64 bit W7, and in both cases the wireless was recognised instantly without any problems. I havent had to install a single wireless driver on any installation of W7 on any of our computers or laptops thus far luckily.

If you get stuck finding it, post the make and model of your laptop, and build code if it has one and I'll locate the driver you need for you.

[violator]

acer aspire 5535...where would the build code be ??

p.s once again thnaks lee

[Leeky]

	Quote:
	Originally Posted by violator acer aspire 5535...where would the build code be ?? p.s once again thnaks lee

Its usually on the bottom of the laptop on the model number label.

Having searched Acer's support site, you have 3 possibilities.. I would choose the first of the three at the bottom of the below page. It seems to be the most upto date driver.

ftp://ftp.work.acer-euro.com/noteboo...vista/Drivers/

If this doesnt work, then use an ethernet lead and get the correct driver through windows update instead.

[violator]

ok, thanks a lot for that boss..i installed 7 again (x64) and this time formatted all the drives, and it installed fine but also, the wireless worked fine...could it be vista was causing it to mess up ??

[Leeky]

	Quote:
	Originally Posted by violator ok, thanks a lot for that boss..i installed 7 again (x64) and this time formatted all the drives, and it installed fine but also, the wireless worked fine...could it be vista was causing it to mess up ??

It might have just been a glich to be honest with you buddy. As much as I hate Vista, but my main laptop and quad core pc both run Vista / W7 as dual boot and I haven't come across any problems yet. The only reason I have Vista is because XP is no longer supported unfortunately and that to me, posses in my opinion, security risks for some of the activity on my computers. lol.

I'll be changing that all soon on my PC though, as I plan to go fully Windows 7 x64 Ultimate, and use Sun Virtualbox to allow me to run XP Pro, and linux virtually to cover my other software needs.

I did think it was slightly odd that W7 didn't recognise your wireless, as I've not seen an install not recognise it yet thankfully.

[violator]

u gettin ur 7's cheap mate ??

[Leeky]

There is no such thing as cheap when it comes to M$ ! lol.

But I was lucky enough to get x number of academic licenses at a very reduced price. I got my officer 2007 Ultimate in the same way about 18 months ago.