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Windows 7 upgrade no good -- want to do a clean install and need help

post #1 of 15
3/28/11 at 7:02pm
Thread Starter 
Hello everybody:biggrin:

My laptop came with Vista when I bought it in May 2009. Like most of them nowadays, mine didn't come with an OS disk, and I didn't image the system right away. I bought the W7 Home Premium upgrade disk, and installed it in December 2009, after first removing some MS and Acer bloatware. This included MS Office "trialware" and some Acer Arcade games. When I first tried to copy the Acer backup to DVD in February 2010, the first few disks completed, but none would finalize after that. And, it's been like that ever since. I can't even read DVDs on this drive.

Do I need a Vista OS disk to do a clean install, or is the W7 upgrade disk enough?
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post #2 of 15
3/29/11 at 5:34am
So I'm assuming Acer has their own backup system built into some software when you buy the notebook.

Why not back up your data manually? Or are you looking for a full restore DVD set?
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post #3 of 15
3/29/11 at 2:30pm
Thread Starter 
Well, I've switched over to the MS backup scheme, but manual backups are certainly a possibility in the future.

My primary concern right now is the non-functionality of the CD/DVD RW. The built-in device won't write or read DVDs at all, and even CDs are iffy. For instance, I just tried to make a boot recovery CD for use in conjunction with the MS backups. It wouldn't complete the first 4 attempts, each with a different CD, and the 5th took a long time and didn't complete normally but MAY work OK. I don't know how you're supposed to check that.

The thing is, I think the whole program is corrupted, and that the best thing may be to do a clean install. Which gets back to my original question: Do I need a Vista OS disk + my W7 upgrade disk to perform a clean install, or can this be done with just the upgrade disk?
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post #4 of 15
3/30/11 at 2:13pm
You can do the clean install with the upgrade disk - there is really no such thing as W7 upgrade disk

cheers ...
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post #5 of 15
3/30/11 at 3:39pm
Thread Starter 
From the invoice "Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade" DVD-ROM
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post #6 of 15
3/30/11 at 4:07pm
You only need the upgrade disc, since you can "upgrade" Windows 7 to Windows 7 with the disc as long as your DVD drive can read correctly.

However, I would suggest trying to find different drivers or updated firmware for your DVD drive before reinstalling the OS. It's possible that it's a driver or firmware problem that doesn't require an OS reinstall.
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post #7 of 15
3/31/11 at 12:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pickles View Post

From the invoice "Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade" DVD-ROM

That's what it says, an oxymoron term since you still can use that upgrade disk for a clean installation. So to me, there is no such thing as Windows 7 upgrade disk by itself - especially if you go from XP to Windows 7 winknudge.gif

cheers ...
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post #8 of 15
3/31/11 at 11:26am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Djembe View Post

You only need the upgrade disc, since you can "upgrade" Windows 7 to Windows 7 with the disc as long as your DVD drive can read correctly.

However, I would suggest trying to find different drivers or updated firmware for your DVD drive before reinstalling the OS. It's possible that it's a driver or firmware problem that doesn't require an OS reinstall.
Thanks Djembe -- you may have saved me from some real grief, since this whole issue is about my faulty CDDVDW. azz.gif I haven't been able to locate any reference to firmware for this device (TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-L633A ATA according to Belarc Advisor).

Can you look at this link for Drivers Finder and determine if it looks reliable?
http://driversfinder.net/drivers/tsstcorp-cddvdw-ts-l633a-ata-device

Thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by qhn View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by pickles View Post

From the invoice "Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade" DVD-ROM

That's what it says, an oxymoron term since you still can use that upgrade disk for a clean installation. So to me, there is no such thing as Windows 7 upgrade disk by itself - especially if you go from XP to Windows 7 winknudge.gif

cheers ...
Hi qhn -- this upgrade was from Vista to W7.
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post #9 of 15
3/31/11 at 12:32pm
I've looked at Drivers Finder/Driver Genius before and it's not worth it. 90% of the time, the driver Microsoft can find in their database works. The remaining 10% of the time, a program like that isn't going to help you, since you'll have to download the drivers directly from the company that made the device.

And speaking of said company...

Their firmware/support site is http://www.samsungodd.com/Eng/ so if there's a more recent firmware version for your drive, they'll have it.

It also possible that there's a mechanical or electrical problem with the drive, which would mean that it cannot be restored to functionality via software or firmware and needs to be replaced.
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post #10 of 15
3/31/11 at 4:53pm
Thread Starter 
Hi Djembe - unfortunately Samsung doesn't support this particular drive.

500


Some screenshots from Device Manager

500500500500500500
Edited by pickles - 3/31/11 at 5:04pm
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post #11 of 15
3/31/11 at 7:04pm
Honestly, it's looking more like your DVD drive is defective. You can call Acer to see if they have any suggestions (since it's not supported directly by Samsung) or you can buy a replacement drive. But I really don't think it's a software problem, so re-installing Windows won't do you any good.
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post #12 of 15
4/1/11 at 12:30pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Djembe View Post

Honestly, it's looking more like your DVD drive is defective. You can call Acer to see if they have any suggestions (since it's not supported directly by Samsung) or you can buy a replacement drive. But I really don't think it's a software problem, so re-installing Windows won't do you any good.

What leads you to the conclusion that this is probably a hardware problem?

Is there a way to identify the firmware for this device and check it? Can the driver be checked?

Acer Arcade was removed with other bloatware before the W7 upgrade. There was some linkage with WMC. Could that be part of the problem?

Could there be a registry problem or conflict with this device and WMP and/or WMC? Would something like CC Registry Cleaner help, or could it make the problem worse, or could it repair possible conflicts and/or broken or missing links?

Can the MS Boot Recovery CD that I made be tested without causing irreversible changes? Can it be tested along with the current MS Backup without causing irreversible changes?
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post #13 of 15
4/1/11 at 1:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pickles View Post


What leads you to the conclusion that this is probably a hardware problem?

Is there a way to identify the firmware for this device and check it? Can the driver be checked?

Acer Arcade was removed with other bloatware before the W7 upgrade. There was some linkage with WMC. Could that be part of the problem?

Could there be a registry problem or conflict with this device and WMP and/or WMC? Would something like CC Registry Cleaner help, or could it make the problem worse, or could it repair possible conflicts and/or broken or missing links?

Can the MS Boot Recovery CD that I made be tested without causing irreversible changes? Can it be tested along with the current MS Backup without causing irreversible changes?

What led me to think it's a hardware problem? Process of elimination. Everything else works, which makes it unlikely that the OS is at fault. Your current drivers allow you some functionality and Windows self-check indicates they're working properly. No firmware update available from Samsung means there's either no update or it's been outsourced to Acer. OS, driver, & firmware are thus comparatively unlikely to be at fault. Burning program and hardware are the options remaining. Perhaps I was foolish to assume that you've used different disc burning programs, but I did make that assumption that discs wouldn't burn with any program. So if it's not likely to be OS, driver, disc burning program, or firmware, hardware is the most likely choice remaining.
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post #14 of 15
5/29/11 at 10:11am

A clean install is always best. I was never a fan of upgrades.

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post #15 of 15
5/31/11 at 4:19am
Backup what's left of data Restore form Pqservice,check cdrom. Have you tried cleaning lense on cdrom drive?
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