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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 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:
- 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. 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.
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