Installing Windows 7 OS on wiped HDD.

[Dan4042]

Years ago I bought new a Compaq Presario CQ62 that had a Windows 7 OS. Over the years MS upgraded it with windows 10 till it was unusable. I put it away and now (I'm an 80 year old man working on my computer) want to use it again but I need to reinstall Windows 7. I located the MS site where I thought I could download 7 but when I put in the product key [Personal Information Removed] I was informed that I must contact the equipment manufacturer which is HP.

I wiped the HDD last night so now there is no operating system.

[WAWood]

@Dan4042 

The problem you are facing is that you need an HP OEM version of Win7 and Microsoft will not provide those.

But, HP does not either because they stopped carrying Win7 Recovery Media some time back.

You can try using Windows images downloaded using the tool from this site:

https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/67-microsoft-windows-iso-download-tool

Click the Download: Windows-ISo-Download.exe link. This will download that file to your PC. Double-click that file to run it.

Download the tool, run it, and do the following:
1) Select Windows 7 at the upper right
2) Under Select edition, select SP1 OEM -- this is the same as the HP OEM edition
3) Click the Confirm button
4) Select the product language, click confirm button
6) Select either the 64-bit or 32-bit download
7) Select a folder to save the file -- it's downloading 4GB or so of data, so that will take a while depending on the download speed. The progress bar might not show any progress but when the download is nearly done, a window will pop open indicating the ISO file is being moved from a temporary download directory to the folder you selected. The screen will then say Download Complete.

Once you have this, you have a choice of media to create:
1) If you can boot from CD, download and install ImgBurn and use the Write Image to Disk option to create a bootable DVD.
2) If you can boot from USB, download and install RUFUS and use the option to create a bootable USB stick from the ISO file.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi, @Dan4042 

The Heidoc site is indicating that no W7 downloads are available until next month.

Here is the link to the W7 Home Premium 64 bit ISO file from the Heidoc site (August 2018) version.

The link will be good for 24 hours from the time of this reply.

https://download.microsoft.com/download/E/A/8/EA804D86-C3DF-4719-9966-6A66C9306598/7601.24214.180801...

You can use the Microsoft tool that I zipped up and attached below that you will need to transfer the ISO file to a DVD or USB flash drive, or you can use Rufus as WAWood indicated.

Since the ISO file is a retail file and your notebook's product key is OEM, you may need to use the automated Microsoft phone activation system to activate the installation, but usually you don't.

[Dan4042]

Thanks. I'll try it tomorrow.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

[Dan4042]

I downloaded the disc image on a good computer and tried to put it on a 128 gb usb drive to use on the computer I want W7 on. The size of the file is less then 6 gb but I received the notification that the 128 stick is to small. I tried a second usb drive with the same results. Any suggestions?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

When you use the Microsoft tool I attached yesterday, it should automatically format the drive and transfer the ISO file to it so that the drive is bootable.

If you are using the Microsoft tool and are getting that error, the only suggestion I can offer would be to use an 8 GB USB flash drive.

If you still get nowhere, another option is to download the W7 Home Premium 64 bit ISO file from the link below and with this one you can either use the microsoft tool to burn it to a USB flash drive or DVD, since the file is less than 4 GB.

This file was the original size.  The file link I gave you was the last update to the ISO file that included more security updates and whatnot.

The file download is toward the bottom of the page.

Windows 7 Home Premium Free Download ISO 32 Bit 64 Bit (getintopc.com)

Or you can use a DVD burning program that has an option to burn an ISO file to a DVD so that it is bootable.

[Dan4042]

Thank you again. I used the first option you had and my old computer is running again. It will be a good machine as standby.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.

[Dan4042]

I now have the problem that I cannot access the internet on my Compaq computer due to a driver was not installed. Can I get the driver for my Compaq computer and down load it a usb drive and install it?