Installing Windows 7
A start-to-finish, step-by-step guide to
properly installing Windows 7.
Please read through this entire guide before doing anything.
Before Purchasing Windows 7
You’ll see articles/posts/blogs around the web talking about the minimum
requirements to run Windows 7. Geeks have always considered Microsoft’s
minimum req’s to be a joke, the general rule of thumb for Geeks has
been take the minimum and double it. Note the word MINIMUM, bottom line
is the faster machine you have the better Windows 7 will run.
-1 gigahertz
(GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
-1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
-16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
-DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver
1 – Check Your Hardware and Software
Download and run
Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor on the
computer you intend to install Windows 7 on. This will give you a
general idea on what hardware/software will work and the ones you may
have problems with.
2 – Which Edition?
Well,
here is the page that compares
all the features of each version. My recommendation,
use Windows 7
Home Premium. You’ll be tempted to
get “Ultimate” because of the name. (I’ve got Ultimate because I need to
test all the features. )
3 – Do I need an Upgrade or Full version?
If you intend on installing 7 on a machine that already has a Windows
operating system, and you intend to upgrade (install over it) then get
an upgrade version. Otherwise the license requirement says you need a
full version. Yes you can do a clean install using an upgrade disk
(instructions below). Please note, the Windows 7 license agreement
states that if you use an upgrade version then the OS you installed
Windows 7 over is no longer valid. This may or may not be a technicality
based on your own set of morals.
4
– 32-Bit or 64-Bit?
There are 3 determining factors here.
1 – Can your system use a 64-bit Operating System? To find out:
- Download SIW and run it. In the left pane
expand the Hardware section and click on CPU Info. In the right pane
look at the line Number of CPU(s). At the end of that line you should
see “32 bits” or “64 bits”. If it is the latter then you can run a
64-bit OS.
- One thing I have noticed when using the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor.
While it doesn’t straight up say you can run Windows 7 64-bit it will
mention 64-bit in the Hard Drive Free Space and RAM sections if your
computer is 64-bit capable. It does not mention 64-bit if it is not
capable.
2 – How much memory do you have? 2GB of memory is the minimum for
Windows 7 64-bit, I would recommend 4GB.
3 – Check to see if your hardware the programs you want to install under
Windows 7 will work under Windows 7 64-bit. Windows 7 does a very good
job at hardware and program compatibility but there are cases where
hardware lacks 64-bit drivers and software does not work correctly on a
64-bit system. Check the vendors support site or to a Google search to
find answers.
64-bit will
perform better if you have the correct driver and enough memory.
Before
Installing Windows Seven
1 – Download all your drivers.
To find out all the specifics of your computer and its hardware download
SIW and run it.
You can get the drivers from the website of the manufacturer of you
computer and/or hardware (Google is your friend).
If you cannot find a specific Windows 7 driver for your hardware then
download the latest one for Vista (it is possible it may work).
Once you’ve got them all, burn them to a CD and/or a USB drive.
2
– Backup any and everything you may want that is currently installed on
the computer. This means to a location other than the computer that 7
is to be installed on.
3 – Optional but highly recommended, Wipe the target
installation drive. No self-respecting Geek would ever do an upgrade
install to a new OS. If you insist on doing an upgrade then skip this
step. I usually use an
Acronis Disk Director boot disk for this but there are other
tools available. Please note, I do not recommend using any method other
than the installation disk to
format the drive. I’ve heard
scattered reports of problems using other methods.
My preferred method is to backup all my files to an external hard drive (
this is what I have). Then boot
computer with either an
Acronis
Disk Director boot disk or
UBCD4Win disk. Once I boot these
up I delete and wipe the partitions, then create new ones (ensure the
partition you install 7 on is an
active partition). I format
the partitions again from the Windows 7 disk during the install.
Advanced users who aren’t afraid of the command line see Windows 7
Installation Advanced Drive Formatting below.
*Avoiding the 200MB partition: Folks
have discovered that on an unpartitioned drive Windows 7 will create a
200MB system partition. This is easily avoided
by creating a partition before attempting to install Windows 7 (see
above). (for some this partition will be 100MB)
*Bitlocker requires this partition. (thanks
to eaglewind for the tip!)
TrueCrypt is a better
alternative.
**Exception for SSD drives to avoid the 200MB
partition and partition / format the drive.
Partitioning is a little different for SSD (Solid State Drives). This
is because of something called NTFS partition alignment. Basically this
refers to where on the drive the partition starts. Vista and 7 will
create a single partition optimally for SSD’s. XP and most program boot
disks will not. If possible you should partition the disk under an
already installed Windows 7 or Windows Vista machine and then proceed
with the usual installation steps. If not then this is the way to do it:
Windows 7 Installation
Advanced Drive Formatting
1 – Boot up from the Windows 7 installation disc.
2 – Choose Repair your computer.
3 – In the System Recovery Options screen, choose Use recovery tools…
and click Next.
4 – Open the Command Prompt.
5 – Type diskpart and hit Enter.
6 – Type list disk . Find the disk you
wish to install Windows 7 on. If you only have one disk then it will
show as disk 0. If you have multiple disks find the drive you wish to
install 7 on.
7 – Type select disk 0 (or use the
number of the disk you wish to install Windows 7 on)(note – that is a
zero)
8 – Type list partition. There
shouldn’t be any.
9 – Type create partition primary.
10- Type select partition 1.
11- Type active.
12- Type format quick.
13- When finished reboot and begin your installation.
( DiskPart Command-Line Options )
*The above section must have really been
good. It has been ripped off around the web.
Example of diskpart (click on thumbnail for a larger
image)
Please note:
This is for a single partition setup. If you need multiple partitions on
the SSD then you can shrink the Windows 7 partition after you install.
3a
– How I Partiton My Hard Drives
Single disk system – Operating System on first partition – Docs
(libraries) on the second partition made from the remaining space.
Multi-disk system – OS on first drive – Docs (libraries) on
second – Other drives for storage.
Multi-disk system (advanced) – OS on first drive – Second
drive, a second Page File on the first partition (only if it is as fast
as the OS drive), Docs (libraries) on second partition – Other drives
for storage.
- Video Card – A
512MB card would put you in excellent position to enjoy Windows 7. A
good place to start looking for which card to buy would be AnandTech.
Check their Guides / System Buyers Guides
and pick your price range. For the more high end minded folks, you can
check [H]ardOCP
and AnandTech for those reviews and
recommendations (good computer hardware advice can also be found in
their forums).
*You can do the
above upgrades yourself. They are not complicated, can be done in a few
minutes, and usually involve little more than a screwdriver. Take your
time and read the guides that come with the hardware (we Geeks call that
RTFM). If that guide leaves you confused simply do a Google search,
i.e. “how to install a hard drive”.
5 -
Clean The Inside Of Your Computer. As anyone who works on others
computers can tell you, the inside of a computer can get quite nasty.
I’ve worked of computers that have left me sneezing and longing for a
shower. Cleaning your computer can reduce heat inside the box allowing
it to last longer (heat is the enemy of a computer). Bleepingcomputer has a good
guide.
Installing
Windows Seven
Installing Seven is almost idiot proof. I will show just a few select
screenshots. Pop in the DVD and let’er rip. The few questions you have
to answer are straight forward.
Partition Sizes: Officially listed as 16 GB available hard disk space
(32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit). I would recommend 30 GB as a good size for a
partition, more if you have the space. Remember once multiple
partitions are set up, it is easier to make the partition larger than
you think you need at the beginning and shrink it than it is to make a
minimum size partition and have to enlarge it later. (please see How I
Partiton My Hard Drives above for how I do my partitioning)
I would
recommend doing it as he describes in Method #1:
1 – Wipe drive/partition (see above for partitioning recommendations)
2 – Install Seven. If using an upgrade disk, DO NOT ENTER YOUR KEY
3 – If using an upgrade disk. On first boot,install your drivers then
run Windows Update until there are no more updates.
4 – In the start menu search box type activate
, enter your key and then activate Windows.
Choose Upgrade or Clean Install.
To do a clean install click on Custom (advanced).
As stated above I highly suggest a clean install. See the backup
warnings???
Click on Drive options (advanced) to be able
to format your partition.
Got RAID or is your disk not showing up? Click Load Driver.
Here are your drive options.
See above for partition recommendations (I’ve got 19.5 here because the screenshots were taken from a
virtual machine).
You should at least format the partition.
First
Boot
If you are going to disable UAC the do so now (see below for how).
Uninstall stuff you
aren’t going to use.
Open the Control Panel:
- From the default screen – Go to Start > Control Panel > Programs
> Uninstall a program > Turn Windows Features on or off
- Better option, switch view to Large Icons (look on the upper right of
the Control Panel window for “View by:” Then go to Programs and Features
> Turn Windows Features on or off.
- Fastest way – Press the Windows + R keys and type appwiz.cpl > Turn Windows Features on or off.
Deselect (uncheck) things you don’t want. What is available depends
on the edition of 7 you have. If you see something listed here that
isn’t in your list don’t worry, you don’t have it. I choose to
uninstall:
-Games (all)
-Print and Document Services (all) (careful, check out the individual
parts)
-Remote Differential Compression
-Tablet PC Components
-Windows Search (only if you aren’t going to use indexing)
Click OK and then reboot if prompted
Install Drivers
tip #1 – To quickly access Device Manager, hit the Windows + R keys
and type devmgmt.msc
tip #2 – In Device Manager, if an item has an exclamation icon then
it needs a driver.
The order I use to install
drivers is:
-Chipset
-RAID and/or other drivers involving storage
-Graphics
-Sound
-LAN
Setup Advanced
Cleanup
Press the Windows + R keys, type cleanmgr
/sageset:50 .
Select the options you desire, I choose them all. Click OK and close out
the window.
Press the Windows + R keys, type cleanmgr
/sagerun:50 .
(note – there is a space between the r and the /)
* You can use this command at any time for regular disk cleanups. I
use the number 50 because it is easy to remember, you can use any number
you want.
*tip – this works in Safe Mode too.
Windows Update
Run it and keep running it until all Critical Updates are installed and
any Optional Updates you want are installed. Updated drivers may be
available too.
Backup – Make An Image (I used an Acronis TI Boot Disk)
(please note I did not say install a backup program (yet). Both Acronis
True Image and Norton Ghost have the ability to make
boot disks)
Install Your Programs
***Very important.
If you intend to disable User Access Control (UAC) as I have then you
should do this BEFORE YOU INSTALL ANY PROGRAM. Not doing so can lead to
problems later.
To Disable UAC:
- Type or copy and paste UserAccountControlSettings.exe
into the Start menu search box.
- In the resulting window, move the slider all the way to the bottom.
- Reboot
PAY ATTENTION
to what you are installing (in other words, don’t keep clicking Next).
Don’t install more than you need. Don’t install toolbars or let it
change your home page either. Decide what apps you want to do what. For
instance:
I use Winamp Lite (and I use a very basic install for that) as the
Default for playing .wav and .mp3 files because it opens faster and with
a smaller footprint than say Windows Media Player or iTunes. Also, I
have no application launching when I insert a music CD or DVD either.
Major Applications
I recommend you install the major applications first (i.e. anti-virus,
software firewalls, Office, and the applications that come with your
hardware). Always use the custom or advanced installation method and pay
attention to the options screens. I install all the applications to the
same drive as the OS. That is because I use backup program, and use it
often! Pick and choose the parts you install carefully. If you don’t
install it. Avoid allowing anything that isn’t necessary to “load at
startup.” As you install each application, download (if you haven’t
already) and install all updates and patches before you move on to the
next application. I prefer to load my backup program first and make an
image before I go further. The very next thing I install is anti-vrus
software.
Minor Applications
Next install the minor applications (Sound, graphics, utilities, etc.)
Check for the most recent versions first. Before you install them,
decide which applications you want to perform what. If you have multiple
applications that can do or play the same thing, decide which you
prefer. For example; I have Windows Media Player, Winamp, MediaMonkey,
and iTunes all wanting to be the default player for many of the same
files. If not configured properly, they will fight for dominance. Giving
each player it’s own default settings doesn’t mean you can’t ever play
it in another application. After you install each application, open them
and double check configuration settings, some applications don’t play
nice!
Use cleanmgr /sagerun:50 again!
Move Your Libraries
This is a critical step in the way I set up computers. A problem free
backup / restore process depends on you having your docs, music, pics,
etc. on a drive or partition other than the one Windows 7 is on. Using
this method you do not have to worry that some issue (virus, crash,
hardware failure, etc) will mean losing your data.
How To Move
Windows 7 Libraries
Decide where you want to move these to.
A second disk is your best option but in a single disk system a second
partition will do.
Right-click on your User Name in the Start Menu and choose Open.
Select the libraries you wish to move and copy / paste them to the new
location.
Pick the stuff you wish to be safe from any problems.
I would do at least: Contacts, Downloads, My Documents, My Music, My
Pictures, My Videos.
Once you have finished copying the files. Go back to the original
Library, right-click on each folder you moved.
Choose Properties from the menu. In the resulting window, click on the
Location tab, and then the Move… button.
Browse the the location you copied the files to.
Click once on the folder you want it moved to and then click the Select
Folder button (bottom right of the screen).
This screen will pop up. Click Yes.
Repeat this step for all the folders you copied.
Add new
folders to your Library
All your files
do not have to be in the actual library folder. Windows 7 lets you add
folders from other locations to your library without actually moving
them into the actual library location.
To add a folder to a library. Right-click on that
folder and choose Include in library > and choose the appropriate
library.
Configure
Your Email
If your ISP software didn’t do it, configure your email now.
Configure
Programs That Start With Windows 7
Get everything you possibly can out of the System Tray (by the clock in
the lower right hand of the screen). The best way to do this is in the
applications options. If that fails, use Autoruns.
Autoruns
Download Autoruns.
Extract the folder to your root drive (usually C). Open the Autoruns
folder and double-click autoruns.exe. Click on the Logon tab, Uncheck
anything you do not want to start with Vista. The fewer things the
better. If you don’t know what it is, leave it alone. Advanced users may
want to go to the SERVICES tab and make modifications there.
Autoruns (click on image for a larger picture)
CCleaner (click on image for a larger picture)
Final Cleanup & Defrag
- Start up in Safe Mode and use cleanmgr /sagerun:50 again!
- Run CCleaner.
Next, go to START > ALL PROGRAMS > ACCESSORIES > SYSTEM
TOOLS > DISK DEFRAGMENTER. Highlight the drive you installed Windows 7
on, click the DEFRAGMENT
button. This will take a while.
When finished shut down and restart.
Get there faster: type dfrgui in the
Start Menu search box.
Backup
Whatever backup method you prefer, make a backup.
You’re done!
11:53:00 AM
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