reinstall of windows 7 pro 64-bit

[shankle]

My startup/shutdown times has become unbearable. I have tried
everything I can think of to improve it.
During a reinstall I will loose all my settings and if you are anything
like me you have long forgot what they are. Of course I will do a
backup before attempting this. Masm32 and GoAsm are in separate
partitions so that shouldn't be a problem.
Then there is the Microsoft activate problem. Since I have a legit
copy, I guess this will not be a problem.
Yes I do regular maintenance in fact you could call me a fanatic
about maintenance.
I will take a photo of the desktop as a guide and make a list of all
programs in Windows that are not part of Masm32 or GoAsm.
It's what I haven't thought of that worries me.
Your thoughts would be appreciated........

[sinsi]

Clean up Windows (uninstall stuff you don't need or use).
Get a Windows disc the same as your install (if you're running SP1 then get an image with SP1).
Start setup.exe from the installed Windows 7 and do an upgrade (not custom).
Installing from a bootable USB stick will cut the time.

[shankle]

Thanks Sinsi for helping.
I keep windows cleaned up.
Since I have one of those bloody HP Pavilions, I have no
Windows 7 pro 64-bit disk. Only backups that I have made
over time....
I am confused by your next statement. Correct me if I am wrong
but an upgrade means giving Microsoft more money.
The version that I have now is fine.

[dedndave]

no CD - i would guess you have a hidden rebuild partition with all the files
see if there isn't an option at boot
what model pavilion ?

[GoneFishing]

My startup/shutdown times has become unbearable...

What exactly are startup/shutdown times ? If I didn't know your updates approach I'd say that your OS is performing search for available updates or some other task (but which? - that's the question!). 
So I suggest you to check Scheduled Tasks in MMC Task Scheduler snap-in. First of all see for the most common tasks like  Windows Update, Disk Diagnostic etc. The Trigger tab in the lower panel is the place where you should look for "At startup", "At log on" strings.

[shankle]

To Dave: I deleted all those files and the model is P7-1380t

To Vertrograd: see the attached zip file for the things I found in the
scheduled tasks. Looks to me like some of the stuff I can do without.
Have no idea how to disable it though.

Since I have no Windows 7 pro disk I guess all this is a mute point.
I long ago accidently deleted the 1st image from HP. It was a mess
anyway with all their garbage in it.
Looks like Microsoft is going to make another $70 from me as that's
the only way I can see to get a fresh copy installed.

Thanks Guys

[Vortex]

Hi shankle,

Legal Download from DigitalRiver: Windows 7 SP1, 13 languages :

http://forum.notebookreview.com/windows-os-software/604187-legal-download-digitalriver-windows-7-sp1-13-languages.html

[dedndave]

ouch - sorry to hear that, Jack
i didn't know you could get win7-64 for $70, though

still, before i spent the bucks, i'd verify the hidden partition is really gone
if you re-partitioned the drive, it may be gone, as you say
if you re-formatted, it may not be

you can examine the partitions by using the admin tools, computer management, disk management snap-in
if you have a small partition (something less than 15 gb, i would think) that isn't otherwise visible, it may still be there

Vortex has the right idea
if you can get a copy - your OEM license should still be good and valid   :t

another way to see if the partition is available....
try the F11 key several times while re-booting   :P

[shankle]

I have attached the zipped file I forgot to include in my previous message. :redface:

To Dave: Sorry that partition is long gone. Full of Hp junk anyway.

To Vortex: I checked the address you gave and I have to have a subscription
number to be able to download anything. I called the number posted there
and it was Microsoft which wanted a ridiculous amount of money for the
subscription number.

[sinsi]

repair install: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html
legal download: http://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/14-windows-7-direct-download-links

[GoneFishing]

I have attached the zipped file I forgot to include in my previous message. :redface:
...

Ok, thank you
Looking at the image I see several interesting things which I'd like to investigate in more detail .
First , I'd like to know all info about tasks started from Hewlett-Packard\HP Support Assistant location , especially about HP Support Assistant Quick... called at each logon .
My idea is that HP Support software looks for hidden partition and when the later is not found tries to figure out what's wrong with it and what it's supposed to do in this case .

Another points of interest are
- Proxy task started from Microsoft\Windows\Autochk location
- LPRemove        -           Microsoft\Windows\MUI       location
both executed at system startup

EDIT: to disable the task click RMB on it and choose Disable from the context menu:

[shankle]

Thank you Sinsi and Vertograd.
I will hold up on the update of Windows until I try Vertograds suggestions.

See the zipped file of the HP support Assistance. It is a .jpg file.

Hp has thousands of files on my computer most of which I would like to
delete but am wary of a blanket delete. For instance they have a Beats
sound program that I hesitate to delete.

I have not gotten into Microsoft\Windows\autochk and Microsoft\windows\mui
as yet. For starters I have no idea where they are. My search on windows
has stopped working. One thing at a time I guess.

[GoneFishing]

Well, this one looks quite harmless but who knows ...
try to disable all those tasks (HP's ones and executed "At system startup")
if it won't help you can easily enable them again
A few days ago I helped  one of my neighbors with his XP machine. He also wanted to re-install OS complaining on very slow boot / shutdown time.
I used Sysinternals Autoruns to minimize the quantity of processes  (there were 54 of them initially!)
Then I ran CCleaner to cleanup the system (there were 2 Gb of useless stuff found !) 
That's all !
BTW how many processes do you have after system startup?

[Vortex]

Hi shankle,

No need of any subscription. Did you see the msft.digitalrivercontent.net links in that page? You can download the ISOs directly.

[shankle]

Thank you vertograd and Vortex.

to Vortex: I have succeeded in downloading the OS from Digital Rivers.
to Vertograd
       11-20-2013
      These are the files I have disabled in the Task Schedular.
      Shutdown time is about 40 seconds
      Start up time is about 55 seconds
      if you can think of any others I can live without please advise.
      
       update check
       pc health analysis
       warrenty checker_devicesc
       hp support assistant quick
       lp remove
       extractor definitions update
       proxy
       sqmupload
       proxy
       scheduled defrag
       hotstart
       remote assistance task      

    I ran Sysinternals and found WinZip all over the place. I never
    use it so I disabled all of them.  Still checking Sysinternals out
    so maybe i'll find something else