Using a Windows 7 recovery disk for a Netbook with no DVD-Drive

Question

A while back, I decided to put Windows 8 developer preview on my Samsung NC110-A09AU, a trusty little netbook I use a ton. It doesn't have a DVD drive, and I foolishly allowed Windows 8 to install ontop of Windows 7 Starter.

I don't want Windows 8 anymore, and would rather revert it back to Win7, as it's hopelessly slow. I have a System Recovery DVD from Samsung that shipped with the netbook....but I can't use it...because I have no DVD drive.

So, here's my question - can I use that DVD to create a bootable USB drive, so that I can then re-install Windows 7. Will that even work? Will I be able to install over the top of Windows 8 (or replace Windows 8)?

I've read other things on the net, regarding Windows.old and such, and was hoping for an easier route. I don't want to download any torrented or dodgy recovery discs online, because I have my own legitimate version!

Thanks in advance for your help!

Edit: If possible, can I avoid using an external DVD drive?

The structure of the DVD is: Directories are /BOOT, /EFI, /SOURCES, /SUPPORT, /UPGRADE and has AUTORUN.inf, BOOTMGR and SETUP.EXE in the root.

Solution 1

You can make an ISO of the disc using a tool such as ImgBurn http://www.imgburn.com/ and, if you have a large enough USB drive, copy it to the USB disk using a tool like ISO to USB: http://www.isotousb.com/ and then use that to boot from.

The recovery disk will almost certainly do an install by completely wiping out the contents of the drive and installing a "factory state" copy of Windows. Back up absolutely everything you want off the Windows 8 installation before letting Windows Setup loose.

Solution 2

You can use external USB DVD drive to install from recovery disk. This by far the safest method to reinstall windows 7 in your situation.

Comments

[Chetan Bhargava]

@user-Unknown It is good idea to keep one handy for DIY; otherwise use geek squad.

[Singular1ty]

Directories are /BOOT, /EFI, /SOURCES, /SUPPORT, /UPGRADE and has AUTORUN.inf, BOOTMGR and SETUP.EXE in the root. Tried Samsung website, doesn't look like I can download it. They went to a lot of hassle of making my Recovery disk all shiny and holographic, so I'm guessing they don't want people randomly downloading Windows 7 copies.

[Singular1ty]

Is there a good program for DVD-to-ISO? I already have iso-to-usb, actually (just found it laying around on my PC then). And the DVD itself is 2.9 Gig, my largest flash drive is 4gig, so hopefully that would work.

[avirk]

You can use NERO, to make ISO image of the DVD.

[Karan]

@avirk: Ugh, Nero is probably one of the most bloated programs out there. I believe the Express/Lite editions have been discontinued, but ImgBurn was still a fraction of their size (leave alone the full version), and yet far more functional.

[avirk]

@Karan I agree and I completely forget about Imgburn which is very powerful. :)

[Chetan Bhargava]

>Very Simple... >Create a bootable USB Stick. HOW?

[Chetan Bhargava]

I hope that the efforts in creating a USB recovery stick are better than keeping USB DVD handy. Good luck. I would like to create such an easy recovery disk for myself.

[Singular1ty]

Phew! After a lengthy four hour process, I managed to convert my Recovery DVD to an ISO, then burn the ISO to a USB, boot from a USB and install Windows 7, then recover my drivers from an external HDD that I had to create when I first got the netbook a while ago. Thanks everybody for your help, it's much appreciated! Tick goes to K.A. for the two links. Thanks!

[Andrew]

Ok, so this looks just like a normal windows install/setup DVD. So you need to copy those files onto a USB stick after following the instructions Oliver Caldwell mentioned above. Or use something like wintobootic.com If you can't access the DVD, then you can't access those files.