Windows 7

[XPTO]

When I reboot my PC with Windows 7 CD in the driver it isn't recognized to run from the CD. What must I do to activate this facility?

[Brainiac]

I assume you mean that your computer won't boot from the cd? If so, then go into your bios and change the boot order so that the computer boots from the cd before it boots from the hard drive or any other drive. Save changes and reboot.

Brainiac

[XPTO]

Brainiac, this doesn't is enough. I always proceed so but the CD Win XP is recognized but the CD Win 7 is not.
I'm desperate because I can't install Windows 7 and I bought yesterday a new computer and I can't use it because I can't install OS 7 from the CD.

Any more suggestion? Any program or method to apply to activate the CD?

[october262]

put the CD into the drive then shut down the computer then turn the computer
back on. see if that works. what OS does the new computer have installed??

[sophisticles]

When I reboot my PC with Windows 7 CD in the driver it isn't recognized to run from the CD. What must I do to activate this facility?

In addition to the BIOS needing to be configured to boot from the optical drive, the iso needs to be burned by an app that will allow you to make it bootable. But optical installation media are frankly antiquated, I only use thumb drives to install OSes, there's a bunch of apps for creating bootable thumb drives, like rufus and unetbootin. Using this approach I have installed Win 7, 8, 8.1, 10, as well as various Linux and Unix variants and it's much faster as well.

Pick up an 8gb thumb drive for cheap, if you don't already have one, you'll be happy you did.

[XPTO]

Thanks for all answers that I have already tested.
The sole maybe is a solution is the suggested by sophisticles. I want experiencing this but I'm a newbie and your explanation is chinese for me. Is it possible explain again but step by step for me to understand all the steps well? Thank you.

[jagabo]

You have a Windows 7 upgrade disc -- it's not bootable. You have to have an OS already installed so it can read the CD to perform the upgrade.

[sophisticles]

Thanks for all answers that I have already tested.
The sole maybe is a solution is the suggested by sophisticles. I want experiencing this but I'm a newbie and your explanation is chinese for me. Is it possible explain again but step by step for me to understand all the steps well? Thank you.

You need an iso of the OS in question, you then use one of the apps I mentioned to create a bootable thumb drive.

Before we get into any details (and frankly there's very few), do you have a valid Win 7 license? Even if you do you can dowload the iso from here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7

If you don't have a valid license you can still download the iso legally from here:

http://getintopc.com/softwares/operating-systems/windows-7-ultimate-free-download-iso-32-64-bit/

It will allow you to try it for a while without activating it but eventually you will to activate it with a valid license key.

Depending how adventurous you are you can also try other OSes like this, such as Win 8.1:

http://getintopc.com/softwares/operating-systems/windows-8-1-download-iso-32-64-bit-free-official/

Win 10:

http://www.howtogeek.com/186775/how-to-download-windows-7-8-and-8.1-installation-media-legally

Or you can even give Linux a test drive via a Live USB, meaning you download the iso, install it to a USB drive and then run the OS from the thumb crive itself without needing to install it, as a way of seeing if you like it. There many distros that are nice but the one I currently use and highly recommend is Ubuntu MATE:

https://ubuntu-mate.org/

This last one was the distro that made me stop using Windows at home and switch over to Linux and I can't imagine going back.

The last option I gave you is 100% legally free, runs like stink on a monkey on even modest hardware and is highly customizable.

[roma_turok]

Windows 7 setup comes with DVD media, not CD

[sophisticles]

Windows 7 setup comes with DVD media, not CD

May be possible that the OP doesn't have a dvd drive, just a cd drive, depending on how old his computer is.

[joeandmarg0]

Restart your computer and use the "Pause/Break" key to allow you to read each page of the bios methodically and carefully.The bios ,somewhere,will tell you what the permitted bootable media is for that motherboard.Older models do not allow booting from a usb stick,which is why "antiquated" installation discs are still in use.

[XPTO]

Sophisticles, it was my mistake. Windows 7 ( and the others ) come with a DVD and not a CD, of course.

With regard to your answer I used the link ...

http://getintopc.com/softwares/operating-systems/windows-7-ultimate-free-download-iso-32-64-bit/

... but I didn't succeed my objective : The file downloaded doesn't run automatically from the Cd with the reboot of the PC.

[october262]

does your computer have / meet the necessary specs to run windows 7 ??
what is the OS of your computer now that you are trying to upgrade windows 7 to ?

[Keyser]

does your computer have / meet the necessary specs to run windows 7 ??
what is the OS of your computer now that you are trying to upgrade windows 7 to ?

That is absolutely irrelevant. Regardless of what system is installed (or no system at all, for that matter) and machine specs, the Windows 7 bootable media should always boot.

Start your computer and see if there's a message in the lines of "Press (some key) to select boot device". This allows you to choose optical media as boot device without changing it in BIOS setup.

[davejavu]

What is the brand name and model number of the PC that won't boot the Windows 7 disc? We will have a better chance to diagnose problems if we know what hardware you are using.

[KidVid]

FYI The windows 7 disk is UDF format not ISO9660. I had an old machine that the BIOS would not let it boot UDF disks.

[XPTO]

1 - I had a DVD with Windows XP. During years I reinstalled it from the DVD after select the boot device, with success.

2 - I have a DVD with Windows 7. I installed it several times from the partition where is Windows XP. But now I want to install it from DVD as I did in 1) with XP, but I don't succeed. At this moment I have no OS installed and the PC blocked. I only can run BIOS but like in 1) I don't succeed to run from DVD.

What must I do? I hope this time anyone understand my real problem.

Thank you to everybody that have answered me.

[davejavu]

We can't help more unless we know more about the PC without the OS installed.

What computer are you using to write in this forum? Does the Windows 7 disc boot on the PC you are using to write here?

If it does not boot then there is something wrong with the disc. If it does boot there is something about the new PC that needs to be checked or changed.

What hardware does it have? Is is using legacy or UEFI BIOS? Does it have a DVD drive? Is the disc one you have created yourself or did you buy it in a shop?

[XPTO]

Davejavu at the end of November I'm going to buy Windows 8.1 64bits in a shop for 104.90 € when I have this money.
But the present DVD with Windows 7 is a copy and it doesn't run neither in the old PC nor in the new. Is it guaranteed the genuine next DVD will run always from it? And the present DVD doesn't run because it is a copy?

[aedipuss]

as long as you have a valid genuine key you can download the iso image and burn it to dvdr. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7

[bendixG15]

as long as you have a valid genuine key you can download the iso image and burn it to dvdr. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7

Worth repeating ..........

[davejavu]

Davejavu at the end of November I'm going to buy Windows 8.1 64bits in a shop for 104.90 € when I have this money.
But the present DVD with Windows 7 is a copy and it doesn't run neither in the old PC nor in the new. Is it guaranteed the genuine next DVD will run always from it? And the present DVD doesn't run because it is a copy?

There are no guarantees with computers/discs. Things should work and normally do, but there is always a risk of problems.

The fact that the copy disc you have doesn't work in either PC would suggest that there is something wrong with that disc, perhaps badly copied or a faulty disc.

Do what aedipuss and bendixG15 suggest and download a new ISO image from Microsoft and burn it to another DVD, not the disc you already have just in case that one is faulty. Also, burn the disc at the slowest speed you can select to reduce the risk of burning errors.

If your new PC is set to UEFI mode only in the BIOS you will have to make sure you get a 64-bit copy of Windows 7 or change the BIOS to allow legacy or compatibility mode so you can install the 32-bit version.

[XPTO]

Davejavu, BendixG15 and Aedipuss thank you for your help and advices.

Today a friend of mine said not to buy Windows 8.1 because it is very bad. He advised to buy Windows 10 because it's better and almost the same price. What's your opinion?

[sophisticles]

Today a friend of mine said not to buy Windows 8.1 because it is very bad. He advised to buy Windows 10 because it's better and almost the same price. What's your opinion?

Stop it, I near choked laughing at this line. He advised you that Win 10 is better than Win 8.1? I don't want to go off on a rant so do yourself a favor, follow the links I provided earlier and download iso's for all 3 Windows OSes, Win 7, Win 8.1 and Win 10, you can legally download the iso's from the links I gave you, legally install the OS without a license and evaluate it for 30 days before you have to activate it (actually I think with Win 7 it's more like 90-180 days, I don't remember the exact number).

I would never, ever, ever, one more time, ever run Win 10 on a pc I own, in fact Win 10 is what made me switch to Linux permanently. I don't know what your usage patterns are, for instance are you a heavy PC gamer, but Win 10 usage carries with it some serious privacy issues.

Do a search on Win 10 privacy, there's articles all over the net, before you decide to spend a dime on that OS.

[darkknight145]

1 - I had a DVD with Windows XP. During years I reinstalled it from the DVD after select the boot device, with success.

2 - I have a DVD with Windows 7. I installed it several times from the partition where is Windows XP. But now I want to install it from DVD as I did in 1) with XP, but I don't succeed. At this moment I have no OS installed and the PC blocked. I only can run BIOS but like in 1) I don't succeed to run from DVD.

No you had a CD that had Windows XP on it, Windows XP was only about 530mb on a disk, unless it was a copy someone made onto a DVD.

You claim you have a DVD with a copy of Windows 7 on it, how was this made? If it was made by just copying the files from a genuine Windows 7 DVD, then no it won't boot. The copy has to be made by using the disk copy function of your DVD burning software, this will copy all the necessary booting files from the original DVD allowing it to be bootable.

[XPTO]

Sophisticles I'm going to follow your advice and to buy Windows 8.1.

In the meantime I'm going to download Windows 8.1 for evaluation from your link and if I have any problems I return to you.

Thank you very much and you too darkknight145.

[XPTO]

Sophisticles : I used your link for W8.1 and I downloaded the file. But

after download is finished I can't find where the file is!

[sophisticles]

Sophisticles : I used your link for W8.1 and I downloaded the file. But

after download is finished I can't find where the file is!

It should be in whatever the default download folder your browser is setup to use. The file will have a .iso extension, you then follow the instructions I posted earlier, download a program called Rufus, it's pretty self explanatory to use or you can also use unetbootin, both work equally well.