About to attempt Windows 7 repair install

[Allen Drake]

I am about to attempt my first windows 7 repair install. I have read
several explanations and everything seems straight forward but one
thing. I have several full disk versions(retail?) of Home Premium that
I purchased for different machines all of which but one I have
upgraded online to Ultimate so I have to ask how this will play out in
the end. What is the procedure to restore this install from the Home
Premium disk I will be using to the Ultimate version I downloaded? Do
I need to find the Ultimate key before I start and have it ready to
type in of will the repair install know which version I will be
restoring from/to? One explanation tells me to back up drivers and
another says I don't need to.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

Which is true? I have downloaded and used a driver backup app called
Double Driver and have them saved so will I need to have a CD ready to
use and need to go through the whole "found device" procedure again?

I have a clone of this system drive in case there are any
difficulties so the only thing I will lose is time but that is worth
more than money to me these days.

I was hoping to have some human contact before I do the deed rather
than read different versions at sites.

Thanks.

Al.

 

[Stan Brown]

One explanation tells me to back up drivers and
another says I don't need to.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

Which is true?

"Prepare for what the enemy can do, not what you think he will do."

In this case, the application of that principle is that since your
drivers *might* be lost, you should back them up. If they in fact
are not lost, all you've lost is a little time. If they are lost, you
have them ready to hand.

Of course it's not just the drivers: you should back up *anything*
that would be inconvenient to recover.

You might say, but I can always download the drivers from the
manufacturer's Web site. Well, perhaps -- if your Internet driver is
not one of the lost ones, and if you can figure out how to navigate
your manufacturer's Web site. (I could not download drivers for my
Dell laptop from Dell's Web site because one of the missing drivers
was the Internet, and when I tried using another computer Dell wanted
to download drivers for that computer, not mine. Yes, I did enter
the service tag of my computer.)

 

[Allen Drake]

"Prepare for what the enemy can do, not what you think he will do."

In this case, the application of that principle is that since your
drivers *might* be lost, you should back them up. If they in fact
are not lost, all you've lost is a little time. If they are lost, you
have them ready to hand.

Of course it's not just the drivers: you should back up *anything*
that would be inconvenient to recover.

You might say, but I can always download the drivers from the
manufacturer's Web site. Well, perhaps -- if your Internet driver is
not one of the lost ones, and if you can figure out how to navigate
your manufacturer's Web site. (I could not download drivers for my
Dell laptop from Dell's Web site because one of the missing drivers
was the Internet, and when I tried using another computer Dell wanted
to download drivers for that computer, not mine. Yes, I did enter
the service tag of my computer.)

Hi Stan and thank you for you reply.

As I mentioned I have a clone of this system drive ready and have
used software to create backup folder of my drivers so I think I am
prepared so the important question left would be how do I restore my
OS to the Ultimate version that I purchased and downloaded from
Windows Anytime Update?

Al.