Window 7 Installation Guide / Tutorial Copyright @ techtalkz.com
The Windows 7 is finally here. It's released for beta testers a few days
ago and I am here with a small step by step picture guided tour through
the installation process. I downloaded the x86 version of the M3 build (
build No: 6801) from Microsoft Connect site, which is 2.72 GB ISO. The
x64 version is around 3.2 GB in size.
The installation process was just like vista setup and to my surprise
completed in just around 20 minutes in my low end Virtual hardware. This
surely indicates the performance improvements Microsoft has put on this
windows vista replacement.
The TestMachine
I decided to install Windows 7 in a VMware workstation first to make
sure that the DVD I burned is perfect. VMware is great for taking screen
shots and screen captures also.
VMWare Version: VMWare Workstation 6.5
Virtual HArddisk : 9 GB
RAM : 512 MB
Processor : Single Core
Windows Version : Windows 7 Ultimate M3 v6801-0-080913-2030
Preparing the DVD from the ISO image
Since most the people are installing Windows 7 in a real hardware, a DVD
should be burned from the downloaded ISO image. You will need a DVD
Burner, a DVD burning software and a blank DVD-R or DVD-RW to prepare
the installation disk. I used a Sony single layer DVD-R as media and
used Nero 8 as the DVD burning software. But for those who don't have
Nero installed, CDBurnerXP is a free Alternative.
So using the DVD burning software of your choice burn the Windows 7 ISO
image to the DVD. Make sure you choose the a very low burning speed, 4x
or 8x, for better results.
Setting up your Computer & BIOS changes ( If required)
Now reboot your computer after popping in the all new Windows 7 DVD you
just created in to the DVD Drive. In most cases if you do this you'll
automatically boot in to the Windows 7 Installation DVD. But in some
cases if the Boot device order is changed in the BIOS it may boot in to
your older OS, instead of our DVD. In that case you'll need to change
the BIOS settings to gt it done ( More details in a different tutorial).
Booting Up and First Installation Steps
Steps from here are pretty straight forward. Read the descriptions in
each pages before clicking the Next button to avoid any disasters. IF
there is options to choose in these steps you may find them with each
images.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]You may choose your Language options by selecting the dropdowns
'Language to install', 'Time and Currency format' and 'Keyboard or input
method' here. I decided to leave everything to 'US' but it would be
better for selecting the correct settings here for non-english users.
[Image: Windows7-2008-11-04-14-54-23.jpg]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]This screen is where the installation wizard begins. The install now
options will leads to the advanced install options. For repairing a
corrupt installation the 'Repair your computer' button located at the
bottom-left can be used. For fresh installs just click the Install now
button.
[Image: Windows7-2008-11-04-14-54-30.jpg]
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Tick the 'I accept the license terms' checkbox and click 'Next' to proceed.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]This screen provides two options, Upgrade and Custom (advanced). The
upgrade option is for those who wish to upgrade an existing installation
of older version of Windows to Windows 7. It is confirmed that Windows
Vista can be upgraded to Windows 7 with out any issues, but Windows XP
is still a problem.
We will opt for the second option here, the Custom install.
Where do you want to install Windows?
Clicking on the 'Custom' button brings the install location selection
screen. In the test machine we have an un-partitioned empty disk. But in
the case of a normal installation all your hard drive partitions (e.g.
C:\ , D:\ etc.) will be listed here. Choose the drive as you like (a 15
GB size is recommended). Make sure the drive don't have any important
data or the Windows 7 installation will wipe-out the contents of that
partition. You can backup the data to another partition (e.g. for
installing in D:\ drive move important files from there to say E:\ drive
or to an external usb drive) for safe keeping.
Partitioning /Creating or Modifying Partitions
The 'New' option provides a text box to enter the size of the partition
you wish to create in MBs. A 15 GB (15*1024 = 15360 MB) is recommended.
In this case I opted for the full size of my virtual drive, i.e. 9216
MB. Click the Apply button to continue. You may be greeted with a
message To ensure that all Windows features work correctly, windows
might create additional partitions for system files. . This is a new
feature in Windows 7 to have a small boot partition for system files.
Click Okto continue.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]So here we are, A new primary partition of 8.8 GB is created along with a
System type partition of 200 MB. Select the partition you just created
and click Next to continue.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]All right, we are all set. The Windows 7 installation begins. time to
grab a cup of coffee for and wait for 15 - 30 minutes for the a