Reformatting & Reinstalling Windows 7

Reformatting your SSD or HDDs will not change the BIOS.

Unless you are converting between MBR formatted storage devices and GPT formatted storage devices you should not need to tinker with your BIOS at all. One exception being is if you change your boot drive from the SSD to one of your HDDs, then you may need to alter your BIOS so that your new boot drive will be allowed to boot the system.

There are several ways to go about reinstalling Windows depending on the media that you have available.

If you have a physical copy or image copy of your OS that was made shortly after your machine was set up by DS then restoring that image copy to your SSD will overlay everything on the SSD leaving you with a pristine copy of Windows 7.

If you have Windows installation discs, either OEM or retail, then booting the disk and running the installer will allow you to repartition and reformat your SSD and HDDs. IIRC selecting to do a manual disk partition and then pressing SHIFT+F10 opens an Administrator Command Window. You can then run DISKPART to build and format the custom partitions of your dreams.

*** Do some study on Windows partitioning before attempting manual partitioning or you may end up with disk storage that Windows refuses to play with. ***

If you restore from a physical image copy or perform a fresh installation of Windows 7 then you will need to reinstall all of your games and programs that did not come with the OS.

It is not necessary to reformat your other storage devices (HDDs). Deleting the games, programs, and data files will suffice. A quick format, however, will save you from deleting a bunch of stuff.
 
Data files, pictures, music, and video clips can be saved to an external drive and then copied back into their proper places once you've finished reinstalling your system.

FYI: I converted my SSD and HDDs from the MBR format to GPT using a retail copy of Windows 7 Ultimate and DISKPART. It took me a few attempts to get it right, but I'm rather pleased with the final configuration. Good luck with your endeavors, please keep us posted.


Edited by Theokritos - 16 Jul 2014 at 10:05pm

So I finally found the binder Digital Storm sent with my computer and reinstalled Windows 7.

This may be a bit silly, but I don't know which drivers/software to install from the Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 Chipset Support DVD. I'm assuming I need to install some drivers from this disc, since I can't connect to the Internet because no network adapter driver is installed.

Sorry if this seems like common sense, I've never gone through this process. There seems to be a fair amount of unnecessary software with this support DVD.

Here's a list of the "Drivers" (if it helps):
Google Toolbar
Google Chrome Browser
Intel Chipset Driver
Realtek Audio Driver
Intel Graphics Accelerator
Realtek LAN Driver
Management Engine Interface
Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver software
Intel USB 3.0 Driver
Norton Intel Security Solution

Obviously, the Google & Norton ones are unnecessary, but I don't know if some of the other ones are necessary, like the Management Engine and Intel Rapid Storage. Should I simply install everything with "Driver" in the name?

Also, would there be any other driver's that are not immediately obvious that I would need to install? I figured I would need the graphics and peripheral (mouse, keyboard, monitor) drivers. I don't have a sound card.

Thanks.

I also have the Intel Chipset and the Intel Rapid Storage Technology drivers installed.

ASRock provided a driver and utility program that helped install drivers, does ASUS have something similar on your DVD?

Once you have all of your drivers installed -- or it appears that you do, look in the Device Manager app for any hardware with an error. That is how I found that two USB 3.0 ports on my front panel did not have any drivers. Windows could not find suitable drivers on its install DVD or via the internet. Turns out the drivers were in a folder on the ASRock driver and utility DVD. I just had to jump through a few hoops to identify the hardware correctly so as to pick the correct driver. Good luck.