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 Mode (read my “How to Install Windows XP Mode on
Windows 7” article).

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:

1. 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.
2. 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. Please read my

“How to Upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7” and “Upgrade from
Windows Vista to Windows 7” articles for more information on those paths.

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.
The 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. Hebrew users should read my “Installing Hebrew on
Windows 7” article.

Click on the “Install now” button.

Note: If you’re using the installation media to repair an existing installation

of Windows 7 you should also read my latest article on the Windows
Recovery Environment.

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.
Read my article on how to enable the Windows 7 Administrator’s
account article for more information.

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.
 1
Backup your files. The installation process will delete all data on your hard drive. It
is recommended that you back up all files you want to keep before installing a new
operating system. You can backup your files to another hard drive, an external hard
drive, a flash drive, or a cloud-based service like Google Drive, or Dropbox.

2
Restart your computer. Press the power button on your computer and then
click Restart in the power options menu.

3
Immediately press Del , Esc , F2 , F10 , or F9 when it restarts. Depending on the
make and model of your computer, pressing one of these buttons immediately after
you power on your computer will enter the system BIOS.
 Some computers tell you which button to press to enter the BIOS as the computer
starts up.

4
Find your BIOS's boot options menu. The boot options menu of your BIOS may
vary in location or name from the illustration, but you may eventually find it if you
search around.
 If you can't find the boot options menu, search the name of your BIOS (most likely
located in the BIOS menu) online for help.

5
Select the optical disk drive as the first boot device of your computer. Although
this method may vary among computers, the boot options menu is typically a menu
of movable device names where you should set your CD, DVD or Blu-ray drive as
the first boot device. It can also be a list of devices that you can set the order of their
boot on. Consult a manual or the internet for help if you're stuck.

6
Place the Windows 7 Installation disc in the disc drive. Press the button on your
CD, DVD, or Blu-ray drive. Then place the Windows 7 installation disc in the disk tray
and push it back in the drive.
 7
Save the changes in the settings. Press the button indicated on the screen or
select the save option from the BIOS menu to save your configuration.

8
Shut off your computer. Either turn off the computer by choosing the shut-down
option in your current operating system, or hold the power button until the computer
powers off.

9
Start your computer from the disc. After you have placed the disc into the disc
drive, start your computer. When the computer starts, press a key if you are asked if
you would like to boot from the disc by pressing any key. After you choose to start
from the disc. Windows Setup will begin loading.
 If you are not asked to boot from the disc, you may have done something wrong.
Retry the previous steps and make sure you have selected the correct drive in the
BIOS boot menu.

10
Choose your Windows Setup options. Once Windows Setup loads, you'll be
presented with a window. Use the drop-down menus to select your preferred
language, keyboard type, and time/currency format, then click Next in the lower-right
corner.

11
Click the Install Now button. It's the blue button in the center of the screen

12
Accept the License Terms. Read over the Microsoft Software License Terms. Then
click the checkbox next to I accept the license terms, and click Next in the lower-right
corner.
 13
Select the Custom installation. This option allows you to do a clean install of
Windows 7. This will erase all your files on the installation drive.
 If you do not want to erase all your files, select Upgrade instead. This option
requires an existing Windows installation. You can only upgrade from one Windows
edition to another. For example, if you have Windows Vista Home Edition, you can
only upgrade to Windows 7 Home Edition. You would not be able to upgrade to
Windows 7 Premium.

14
Select a hard drive and partition you want to install Windows on. A hard drive is
a physical part of your computer that stores data, and partitions "divide" hard drives
into separate sections. Click the hard drive or partition you want to install Windows 7
on.
 If the hard drive has data on it, You'll need to use the following steps to Delete or
Format the drive. Be aware that this will permanently erase all data from the disk.
 Select the hard drive from the list of hard drives.
 Click Drive options (advanced).
 Click Delete or Format from Drive options.
 If your computer doesn't have any partitions yet, create one to install Windows on it.
 Select the hard drive from the list of hard drives.
 Click Drive options (advanced).
 Select New from Drive options.
 Select the size, and click OK.

15
Install Windows on your preferred hard drive and partition. Once you've decided
on where to install Windows, select it and click Next. Windows will begin installing.
Your computer may start and restart several times during the installation process.[1]
Replika 1973

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