My original operating system was Windows 8 but whoever gave it to my friend downgraded it to Windows 7. Which is why I couldn't do a clean install before, according to others who were helping me. I'm not sure by what you mean by copy? Like on a USB too? I don't have the CD for Windows 7 Professional unfortunately. Will this be a problem?
And great! I have 8GB USBs right in front of me, I thought I needed one with at least 20gb and that's sadly the one I have probably lost. :/
I believe you have windows 8 in a hidden recovery partition were by if you ever want to reinstall windows 8 back to factory setting ( how it was when you bought it ) you can . what does Disk Management show ? Do you see a recovery partition ? As for windows 10 yes you need at least 20gb to install on the hard drive but not the windows 10 software, the software is around 4gb. Again curious why did you downgrade from 8 to 7 ? Also, take a look at Microsoft website about Windows 10 below
Windows 10 Specifications - Microsoft
I didn't downgrade from Windows 8 to 7. This computer was a gift to me and the individual who gave it to the person who gave it to me (I know it's a little complicated), downgraded it to Windows 7 but didn't do anything else to it. We aren't sure why they did. It was part of a school program so I'm guessing it was because most prefer Windows 7 over Windows 8.
This is what Disk Management shows. I don't think there is a recovery partition.
Because it is getting a little late here, I'll do the clean install for sure tomorrow. I'm just a little nervous. If something goes wrong, what do I do?
Something doesn't seem right with your laptop and no offense but your windows 7 could be a non legit system, yes I know your is activated but it still doesn't mean it's legit and I'm curious whether it is . Your laptop came with windows 8 and from the pic you're showing in disk management that is not the case . A few thing isn't right, either someone installed a new hard drive or someone totally deleted the windows 8 partitions . Does the laptop show windows 8 license key on the bottom cover ?
If it wasn't a legal copy, how come Windows 10 updated? Idk. It was a program, an official program for students and many students got the same laptops. I would think it'd take a while to downgrade it to illegal copies of Windows 7 but who knows.
Is is this going to be a problem when updating? I don't really care about going back to Windows 7 or 8 since I enjoy Windows 10 very much but I would like to have some reassurances like being able to go back to Windows 7 if something goes wrong or go back to something.
my laptop has a Windows 8 sticker underneath. I don't see a key on that sticker though, but a lot of ASUS numbers/keys for probably different thing.
First off I'm not saying your windows 7 is illegal or not . I'm just going by what I can see from your Disk Management . This laptop supposedly should have windows 8 recovery partition but it's not there . Do you have a windows 7 software with the key or 8 ? If you do a clean installation of 10 how do you expect to downgrade if there isn't another windows 7 or 8 install . A clean installation means only having that windows install ( W10 ) You might be better off not doing a clean installation . Can you expand the C drive and see if you see a Windows old folder ?
I didn't mean to come off as angry or rude. I wasn't.
I'm not really looking to downgrade back to Windows 7 or 8. I love Windows 10. I wanted to see if a clean install would solve my problems. I do not want Windows 7 or 8, I just want a reassurance of it anything goes wrong with my clean install, that I have something to go back to, whether that's Windows 7 or Windows 10 that I currently have with all the programs, etc. Like when you do a system restore to a particular date.
Could the Windows 8 recovery partition be wiped because a clean install of Windows 7 was used? I do not have the software key for 7 or 8 because I never had the CD for them. This laptop was a gif and all I got was the laptop, the charger, and laptop bookbag for it.
If a clean install is risky then maybe it's my laptop battery causing the problems. Because it freezes up completely when I move my laptop, I would say while holding it near the battery or when I drag it lightly across the table. Would changing my battery possibly fix this issue? I don't get BSODs anymore but when I did, it said it was a hardware issue but I was told it could be a software issue too. My laptop has been opened up and inspected and I've been told nothing is wrong with it on the inside by some reputable computer technicians. Whether they were lying, I can't really say but I don't think so. They cleaned it out of dust and it was running even better (but it was never really slow) and that's all they did.
Another weird thing that happens is when my computer completely freezes, sometimes when I restart it, the wifi icon on my start bar has a red "X" on it. I would restart it multiple times or take out the battery and put it in again after 30 seconds, which would sometimes work.
So what I've deduced (With my poor knowledge on computers), is that the issue may be with the battery with the wifi adapter/the driver for it, which tends to disappear from Device Manager and then reappear. But maybe a clean install can fix this issue but I've just never been able to do it.
And from the multiple scans I've done and of what the computer shop has done, I have no malware (the most I use my laptop for is just homework, youtube videos, itunes, drawing with software that are trial versions, sometimes a game or two, and reading).
I'm very sorry that this is long. I really appreciate the help
Edit: I will try to expand the C drive once I get home.
Edit 2: Isn't there a way for me to go back to Windows 7, which I upgraded from? It hasn't been a month since I upgraded. Maybe I could do that and get the key before it's too late and then upgrade back to Windows 10?
Okay I wasn't offended . I'm trying to figure out what's your best solution. It's kind of hard not knowing your system history . You see if you do a clean installation of Windows 10 then you can't go back to a prior windows version ( W7 or W8 ) The only way is unless you have the original recovery saved somewhere or you have a windows 7 or 8 disc . And if I'm correct you don't, right ? Right now you can downgrade because you have only done an upgrade from 7 to 10 . And to be sure you should have a Windows old folder to downgrade to . You see I don't want to tell you to do a clean installation if you don't have the above statement and lets say you wanted to go back to 7 or 8 you couldn't . To be honest I think doing clean installation Windows 10 would probably be your best better towards your laptop working better . At this point I would say make a back up image of your hard drive with Macrium Reflect free edition onto your spare / external hard drive . This way if you don't like windows 10 from a clean install you can also go back with the backup image and downgrade to 7 before the time limited . Below is the website for Macrium Reflect. Once you have the backup image then go for the clean installation ...
Macrium Reflect Free
Just to clarify a few things.
Just because the laptop came with windows 8/8.1, doesn't mean that the recovery partition is going to persist after a downgrade.
The person who installed Windows 7 on the laptop likely wiped the hard drive to gain back the space of the recovery partition. To assume that the partition would be there is a mistake, and could be a costly one.
To suggest that the user's Windows could be pirated without any reason to suggest that, is frankly rude.
On the other hand, a pirated version of Windows 7, using a "loader" will even fool Windows 10 into believing that the machine is activated. This will cause an illegitimate copy of Windows 7 to upgrade to a fully legitimate copy of Windows 10, and is by design!
Microsoft doesn't directly state it, but very obviously allows this, as the losses for pirated Windows 7 copies are long since written off, and the more people using Windows 10, the better things are for Microsoft.
Now for a solution to this problem. It sounds like to me you have some problems happening in kernel space. ( Something is going wrong with the internals of Windows, and likely isn't hardware related. )
Since you're not a computer geek, troubleshooting it will just be a waste of time. I'd reinstall Windows 10.
First check that you're activated if you haven't yet. In the search bar/start menu, type "system" and press enter. Look at the bottom of the window. It either says "Activated", "Not Activated" or otherwise an error of some kind.
If you're activated, backup the bare minimum of whatever software you need. I believe you already did this.
Follow this link: TechBench
Download the proper Windows ISO version that your computer has. (Check that system page for Windows 10 or Windows 10 Pro, and 32bit or 64bit.
Once the ISO is downloaded, you can use it to fix your system in a variety of ways. If you have the flash drive, just prepare a windows installation media from the ISO. Then proceed with a full wipe of the disk while installing Windows.
After that, you should be set.
Be sure to download drivers before wiping and saving them to the external drive or the USB or wherever. You'll be up and running a little sooner this way. Download your ASUS and NVIDIA drivers at the very least. Don't rely on Windows Update for everything.
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