Will Fresh install erase pre-installed software?

TheEliteReaper · 8 Nov 2012 at 00:35

i know formatting erases everything, but i dont have any discs(if i had when i brought laptop i dont now lol) and everything was pre-installed, i have laptop in sig running win7 64bit home premium and ive been making talk on here about doing up a better pc for the missus and get her a laptop, but im thinking as i want the pc(not so much hers just in general) i might just give her my laptop, be cheaper and its plenty capable of what she wants, but even if i back things up i would want it to be fresh for her which involves buying win7 64bit which begs the question of basically....

what happens to the pre-installed stuff? in my case the acer stuff and norton/office stuff etc whatever comes installed..

s452 · 8 Nov 2012 at 00:43

It will depend on the media you use to re-install windows
if you use the recovery CD/partition, then most likely you will get all the preinstalled software and associated drivers , unless the software was on a separate disk.

if you use a clean OS disk, i.e. a retail copy of windows you brought at the shops, you will only have the OS

TheEliteReaper · 8 Nov 2012 at 03:18

okay then thanks for the reply..

are a lot of the acer software important because i dont have any discs, ive been moving about, so got lost in packing or something, ive had the laptop like 2yrs plus, so to fresh install i would have to purchase a OS..

im going to try the back up feature see what that does, if i can clear a lot of crap of it and lower my processes from over 90(oops) to a acceptable level then i can give it her as is..

s452 · 8 Nov 2012 at 03:29

most if not all of the acer software should be available on the ACER website, as for buying a new OS, you could just get hold of any windows DVD that is the same edition as your current one and use current license code from your laptop for the reinstall

BigBoy · 8 Nov 2012 at 08:21

No need to buy windows just download the Win7 ISO from MYDigitalLife and use the Key on the bottom of the laptop (sometimes hidden under the battery). format and reinstall all the software from the manufactures website. Job Done!

demonix · 8 Nov 2012 at 15:20

There should be software on the laptop that allows you to create recovery media (it should be in the acer folder on the start menu).

There should also be a recovery partition that will allow you to restore the laptop to factory settings (doing that can be done either at startup (requires a BIOS setting to be turned on) or through the recovery software on the laptop).