On Thu, 27 Aug 2015 09:18:48 -0400, Keyser Söze
wrote:

My wife got a new desktop computer, and I'm "preparing" her old Dell
desktop as a giveaway. So, I'm installing a "fresh" version of Win 7 on
it. I just know it will crash halfway through or fail to install drivers
or, well, the usual Windows crap.

"Your computer will restart several times during installation."

Until it stops restarting altogether.

Why don't you have an image of the machine when it was new?

Always make an image of a freshly loaded machine after you get
everything working and put it away. It will usually fit on a DVD.