Planning the Installation
As with any OS
installation, we must first plan the installation process. When you run the
Windows 7 Setup program, you must provide information about how to install and
configure the operating system. Thorough planning can make your installation of
Windows 7 more efficient by helping you to avoid potential problems during
installation. An understanding of the configuration options will also help to
ensure that you have properly configured your system.
Here are some of the
most important things you should take into consideration when planning for your
Windows 7 installation:
·
Check System
Requirements
·
Check Hardware and
Software Compatibility
·
Determine Disk
Partitioning Options
·
Complete a
Pre-Installation Checklist
Microsoft states the
minimum recommended specs for Windows 7:
·
1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit
processor
·
1 GB of system memory
·
16 GB of available disk
space
·
Support for DirectX 9
graphics with 128 MB memory (to enable the Aero theme)
·
DVD-R/W Drive
·
Internet access (to
activate and get updates)
32-bit or 64-bit Version?
You need to decide
whether to install the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows 7. The Windows 7
installation disc package includes both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows
7. Basically, the 64-bit version of Windows handles large amounts of random
access memory (RAM) more effectively than a 32-bit system. So if you plan on
using Windows 7 on a computer with more than 3 GB or RAM, I would strongly
suggest to use the 64-bit version. Most programs designed for the 32-bit
version of Windows will work on the 64-bit version of Windows, and if they
don't, you can always use Windows XP.
Note: Either way, you cannot use an existing 32-bit
version of a previous OS to perform an in-place upgrade to a 64-bit version of
Windows 7, and you'll need to format and install a fresh copy. Also, you cannot
use an existing 64-bit version of a previous OS to perform an in-place upgrade
to a 32-bit version of Windows 7.
Type of Installation
Basically, there are 2
approaches to installing Windows 7:
Upgrade (In-place upgrade) - This option replaces your current version of Windows with Windows 7, and keeps your files, settings, and programs in place on your computer.
Custom ("fresh" installation) - This option replaces your current version of Windows with Windows 7, but doesn't preserve your files, settings, and programs.
Upgrade (In-place upgrade) - This option replaces your current version of Windows with Windows 7, and keeps your files, settings, and programs in place on your computer.
Custom ("fresh" installation) - This option replaces your current version of Windows with Windows 7, but doesn't preserve your files, settings, and programs.
It's sometimes referred to as a clean
installation for that reason.
As always, a fresh
installation is much better and I strongly recommend taking that track. Even if
you've got an existing Windows XP/Vista OS on your computer, I would strongly
recommend that you format it and install a fresh copy of the OS.
This article will focus
on a fresh installation of Windows 7.
Beginning the Installation Process
When installing on a
physical computer insert your Windows 7 DVD media into your DVD drive and
reboot your computer. If you're asked to press a key to boot from DVD or CD,
press any key. A black window will appear momentarily while the DVD content is
read.
Note: These screenshots are taken from a Windows 7
Ultimate installation performed on a virtual machine running on VMware
Workstation. I will be using an .ISO file mounted on the VMs CD/DVD drive.
Next, a Starting
Windows screen will appear.
Note: If the Windows installation page doesn't
appear and you're not asked to press a key to start from DVD or CD, you might
have to specify that your computer uses its DVD or CD drive as the startup
device.
Installation Process
Like in Windows Vista
and Windows Server 2008, and unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows 7
does not have a noticeable text phase of the setup process, and it will boot
directly into the Graphical User Interface (GUI) mode.
After a few moments you
will see the first prompt:
Click "Next"
unless you want to change some regional settings for the installation process.
Click Install Now
Click Next, accept the license terms and click on "Next".
Next, unless you're
upgrading an existing Windows installation, press the Custom (Advanced)
installation type button. Note that in this case, the Upgrade button is
disabled because this specific installation if performed on a new computer without
any previous operating system on it.
The next phase is to
pick the installation partition. Since this computer has a new hard disk that
hasn't been formatted before, you will only have the option to create a new
partition on it.
If you don't want to specify
a specific partition to install Windows on, or create partitions on your hard
disk, click Next to begin the installation. If you already have another
existing partition with enough free space and want to install the Windows 7 on
that partition to create a multiboot configuration, select the partition you
want to use, and then click Next to begin the installation. If you want to
create, extend, delete, or format a partition, click Drive options (advanced),
click the option you want, and then follow the instructions.
Since I don't need to
perform any additional task I will just click on the "Next" button.
The installation process will then create a partition on all the available disk
space, and format it.
The setup process will
now begin to copy files from the installation DVD media to the hard disk.
Process could take a
while depending on the type of hardware your computer uses. In my VM test
sample I've used for this demo, the entire process finished before I could
finish writing the previous 3 paragraphs, so it could be pretty quick.
The computer will
reboot, and the next thing you'll see is the prompt to set the user's and
computer's name. By default, the computer's name will be username-PC, where
username is the username you've entered.
Note: The user you're creating will be the only user
currently available on the system. Like Vista, the built-in Administrator's
account is disabled.
Click on
"Next".
Enter the user's
password. Remember this password, as it will be the ONLY user on the system,
and unless you create an additional user or enable the built-in administrator
account, if you forget this password you'll need to crack it to gain access to
the system. The best option would be to choose a complex password made of at
least 7 characters or more (something like Pssw0rd or MYpa$$w0rd). You must
also enter a password hint.
Click on
"Next".
Next, type in your
product key. If you do not have the product key at hand you can still click
"Next", and proceed with the installation. You will be asked to enter
the product key after Windows is installed.
Choose what sort of
protection your computer gets. The recommended settings are best for someone
that doesn't plan to hide their computer behind a corporate firewall (and even
then, in some cases, this would be the best option). If you plan to install a
3rd-party firewall later you can opt to be prompted later. Note that this
setting will also have effect on how the computer uses the Microsoft Windows
Update (Automatic Updates) features.
Choose your time zone
and location and click on "Next".
Select your network
location type. This setting can be changed later, but do note that choosing a
profile will have effect on the Windows Firewall and sharing settings. Click on
"Next".
Windows will finalize
the settings and your desktop will appear.
This concludes the
Windows 7 installation. Next, you would probably want to update your computer
with the latest hotfixes and/or patches from Microsoft.
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