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It's time to get your new OS in order
Windows Update does a pretty good job of automatically downloading and installing the drivers your system needs, but that doesn’t mean you’ll never need to manually download a driver again. We recommend that you start (as always) by installing your motherboard’s chipset/NIC drivers. It’s also worth it to manually install the latest drivers for your videocard. Even though Windows update will most likely find drivers for your GPU, it probably won’t be the most up-to-date version available. Use Windows 7 drivers whenever they’re available, but if they aren’t, we’ve had good luck using Vista drivers on Windows 7.
In Vista, one of the first things you had to do with any install was disable UAC to prevent those incessant “Do you really want to install this?” prompts. Fortunately, Microsoft has tweaked the default UAC setting in Windows 7. Now, it strikes an excellent balance of keeping you safe with minimal annoyance, popping up alerts only when programs attempt to install software or alter your settings. If you want a higher level of security, you can open the UAC manager (in the control panel under Security) and raise the UAC to the maximum level, which is similar to Vista mode and will trigger an alert for pretty much anything. Alternately, you can disable notifications entirely by setting UAC to its lowest setting.
If you took our advice and started with a fresh hard drive, all you’ll have to do to restore your old data is connect your old HDD to a secondary SATA port and transfer over all your old files. Copy over all the important data we mentioned earlier, but be sure not to simply copy your old user profile directory over to your new one. Instead, fish out all the documents and media you need, remembering to collect important files from the hidden AppData folder, which usually includes your browser profiles and Outlook data.
Comments are closed on this article
ambros
August 02, 2011 at 2:48pm
I've been told that installing Windows 7 is significantly easier than the other Windows versions, apparently this is the case. The installation is not my biggest worry, how you handle all the drivers and the new programs exe files is what we should be interested more in.
nicholassimon
June 06, 2010 at 3:01am
If you are new to Windows 7 or installing Windows 7 this is a good place to start -
http://ninjarabbits.blogspot.com/2010/06/windows-7-abcs.html
chaosdsm
October 24, 2009 at 9:16am
It's very simple.
1> with computer unplugged, install your new hard drive
2> plug in computer, turn on computer, insert Windows 7 CD into CD/DVD drive
3> follow the prompts, when asked, provide your proof of upgrade eligibility
4> finish Windows 7 install, & install drivers then programs as needed
5> enjoy your new Windows 7 installation
BC1130
October 24, 2009 at 8:31am
This was asked by Rocketman_2004 and I did not see an answer. I would like to know also...
if the upgrade version needs an existing copy of vista how can i install it on a brand new hard drive? does it just need a valid vista key-code, meaning i can pull my existing hard drives, insert new ones, install win7 from upgrade-disks, type in my old vista code, type in my new win7 code?
evilanimator
October 24, 2009 at 2:22am
the smoothest OS installation procedure every thanks in part to MaximumPC's timely article on turning the distribution files into an ISO. After turning those downloaded files into an ISO file and burning that ISO to a DVD I was able to successfully boot off the DVD and install Windows 7 Professional x64. The entire installation process is the smoothest Microsoft has ever done so props to them on that one. I am running Windows 7 right now and am enjoying the smooth and snappy performance that I was getting with the RC. The Remote Desktop feature even seems snappier from my Windows Vista Home Premium x64 laptop. I friggin love Windows 7 and am surprised at how many people are having trouble with it. I will admit that Microsoft should've worked a lot closer with Digital Rivers in how they distributed the student copies, but eh, MaximumPC had my back on that one. Can't wait to get my free Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade for my laptop from HP.
Desktop System Currently Running Windows 7 Professional x64
ASUS P6T Deluxe Mobo
Intel Core i7 920
9GB Corsair PC1600 DDR3 (6 modules in triple channel mode)
(1) Seagate 500GB SATAII drive. (1) Seagate 1TB SATAII drive. (2) 80GB IDE drives (for old animation project backups.
(2) Pioneer SATA DVD Writers
eVGA Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum (next future upgrade much to my chagrin)
Apps that I've installed and have used on Windows 7 Pro already:
Autodesk Maya 2010 x64: runs like a charm and I've seen a significant boost in render times from Windows XP. I rarely need to do a playblast since playback in Maya is so much smoother than the 32-bit builds.
Adobe Photoshop CS4 x64: runs smooth with the OpenGL acceleration. Created normal map texture last night and, after disabling Win7's built in tablet feature, was able to get really smooth and responsive performance with my Wacom tablet.
World of Warcraft: Just works. Loads between worlds are quick. Constant 60fps even in the middle of Orgrimmar.
Steam: Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2: Similar performance to what I was getting with the RC, which is pretty damn good. I do notice a 40fps count in some maps at certain times, which I never saw in Windows XP Pro, but that'll get better as drivers improve for Win7.
Overall I am really happy with Windows 7 and haven't been this satisfied since Windows XP. Keep 'em coming like this Microsoft!
cubesteak
October 23, 2009 at 10:09pm
1) can anyone confirm if the upgrade disk is bootable or not? Question 10 and the subsequent answer on this post (http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7install/thread/a503099a-aac1-4e46-b454-2aa2f154ec33) seem to indicate that it isn't. That seems really stupid. What do you do the first time your install is toast? Is the disk basically useless after the first time its used? I figured it would at least be good until SP1 comes out and it would be time to slipstream... Besides, while you can legally BUY an upgrade from XP to 7, you MUST do a reinstall because there is technically no direct upgrade path from XP to 7. How the heck does that work if the upgrade disk isn't bootable? What on earth could they possibly gain by NOT making it bootable?? Seems like a really stupid decision if it is indeed true.
2) Does anyone know if reactivation works like it did with XP - meaning that pretty much any change to the hardware will reactivate with no problem as long as it has been 30 days since the last activation? I want to do the right thing and buy a copy for my PC at home rather than just use a VLK from work, but its really gonna piss me off if I have to pick up the phone and call MS every time I want to futz around with my PC. XP was a good balance between protecting the software and giving the lawful owner the technical freedom to excercise their EULA given rights. I hope they haven't fixed the OS only to break the licensing mechanism.
evilanimator
October 24, 2009 at 2:25am
is definitely bootable. At least it should be. The download I got from Digital Rivers is allegedly Windows Professional x64 Upgrade edition and after creating an ISO from the files in the download using MaximumPC's guide, the disc booted into the installation program. Oddly enough, at no point during the installation procedure was I asked to verify a previous version of Windows. Not so much as a prompt for my Windows Vista Home Premium disc.
sotoa
October 23, 2009 at 9:04am
I had put Win7 on a separate partition at first to make sure it works fine on my laptop.
Next step is to install it on my new Intel SSD. Nice and cleanly.
Ghostryderflyby
October 22, 2009 at 9:35pm
With every MS OS in the past, I've waited until the SP1 to take the plunge. Until now that is and I'm already regretting it. I was running Vista Ultimate 64 bit and it was working terrific. Got flamed by all the RC users about how miserable Vista was though and how I had to try 7 cause it was oh sooooo awesome. Now I've got a system that's running dog slow on everything from file transfers to opening internet pages. I even bit the bullet and did a completely clean install so there is no excuse for it running lousy. I spent $120.00 and all day on this??!! Should have left well enough alone and waited for SP1 like I was originally going to. *sigh*
Sentiment so far? 7 blows! Should have stuck with Vista since it was done with it's growing pains and they'd fixed it.
fry
October 22, 2009 at 9:29pm
I bought a home premium upgrade copy, and after booting off the DVD it let me do a clean install on a PC that had nothing but Win7 RC. I thought it was supposed to verify an activated copy of Vista or XP.
Odd.
If I had known it would that easy, I would have ordered three copies when they had the $50 deal going.
Fiercedeity
October 22, 2009 at 12:14pm
Do I need to do a fresh install when upgrading from the RC client to Win 7 Pro? I was hoping I could just change the key...
evilanimator
October 24, 2009 at 2:27am
Unfortunately you do need to do a fresh installation. I was hoping for the same thing, but after perusing Microsoft's FAQ page, they do indeed confirm that a full fresh installation is mandatory. Kind of asinine if you ask me. Should've been a simple executable or prompt for the new license key.
popstop785
October 22, 2009 at 8:05am
Those who are doign the digital river download... you can take teh installation file and turn it into a ISO and run it that wa and it works fine. At least that is what I did and everything seems to be in working order.
samduhman
October 22, 2009 at 7:47am
If I understand it correctly to go from Windows 7 32 bit to 64bit requires a fresh install which I'm not in the mood to do at this time. I figure I could wait till I need to do a fresh install instead. Unless I'll get a huge benefit going to 64bit.
kenkinder
October 22, 2009 at 6:11pm
I have tested three OSs on same box and booted the OS I wanted - CMOS order of boot (3-drives xp, win7_32 and win7_64). I have taken about every game I have (AOE - AOEIII, Call of duty - Call of Duty, World at War, AOM, FEAR and many more) and installed them on the three different OSs. The Win7 64 bit sucked up all of them and they played fine, can't say the same thing for Win7 32 bit on a couple of the installs. The XP-mode will not cut it when you install there - WAY to slow, not playable. I am an XP user and bypassed Vista because it sucked (before SP came out). Win7 has impressed me enough that I am up-grading to the new OS-64 bit and will never look back.
thefuzz4
October 22, 2009 at 7:52am
One thing that Windows7 allows you to do is install a copy of it to a Virtual HD so since you would need to reinstall it just reinstall it to a VHD that way you leave your existing setup in tact and you can try out the 64bit release and then when you deem it worthy just blow away the VHD and reload your box. Or you could always just leave the VHD in place since it won't hurt anything. Also even though it is a VHD and it is technically a VM running with this route the VM gets direct access to your hardware unlike running in say VMWare.
Check out this link
http://forums.techarena.in/guides-tutorials/1175447.htm
putthepinback
October 22, 2009 at 7:16am
I downloaded my copy from digital river. Worked fine, did a clean install from Vista Ultimate 64 bit to Profesional 64 bit.
razr90
October 22, 2009 at 7:03am
I am in the process of downloading the student discounted version from Digital River. I noticed some comments about problems people are having when downloading from digital river. I downloaded the 64 bit Home Premium version and I had Vista Home Premium 64 bit on the computer.
So what are we supposed to do if we cannot get Windows 7 to work if we downloaded from digital river?
I need my computer to work, I'm an IT student and I go to college online. It has to work!
razr90-IT Student
popstop785
October 22, 2009 at 8:03am
Well you can take the file and create an ISO out of it and install it that way. That is what I did and it worked like a charm.
If there are any serious issuse with the installation itself, I have yet to find them. So I think it was jsut an error with the distribution server. Either way, I am running my Win7 jsut fine now. :) (it only took me 5 hours to get it going! )
Code_Man65
October 22, 2009 at 6:12am
Might I suggest that people use Windows Easy Transfer? You can transfer your data from you old OS to your new OS along with program settings and all the other important stuff. It will even grab the folders you create on the c drive that are not part of a default windows install. It puts everything right where it goes in the new OS install, puts your personal settings back on (provided they are still available) and makes things generally easier.
Frameboy
October 22, 2009 at 7:19am
Is there a reason this wasn't suggested by MaxPC? It appears to transfer everything over.
Frameboy
October 22, 2009 at 7:19am
Is there a reason this wasn't suggested by MaxPC? It appears to transfer everything over.
rocketman_2004
October 22, 2009 at 5:11am
if the upgrade version needs an existing copy of vista how can i install it on a brand new hard drive? does it just need a valid vista key-code, meaning i can pull my existing hard drives, insert new ones, install win7 from upgrade-disks, type in my old vista code, type in my new win7 code?
zstadt
October 22, 2009 at 5:16am
I'm pretty sure it just needs you to drop the Vista install disc into the drive when it prompts you to.
popstop785
October 22, 2009 at 2:54am
It appears that Win7 copies downloaded via Digital River, do not work. After a little web searching, a lot of people are having problems running the Win7 they paid for.
Fantastic. Leave it to MS to allow something they have worked for a few years on, to be screwed up.
xchrissypoox
October 22, 2009 at 12:00pm
I downloaded it from digital river and used the following guide to make an iso and now I'm installing it on my other computer.
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7install/thread/13450eb9-b158-4c95-be1e-a13fe03f0632
zstadt
October 22, 2009 at 5:15am
Now that's just GREAT. I'm at 5% on my Digital River download right now...
popstop785
October 22, 2009 at 2:09am
I went with teh Student upgrade download for $30. . I downloaded the OS and I get an error unloading it every time (I've downloaded it 2 times so far)
So needless to say.. I'm not all that happy right now.
dph1077
October 22, 2009 at 6:01am
I have the same issue too. It seems to stem from downloading the 64 bit version and trying to unpack it on a 32 bit machine. I found this thread which has instructions to fix it. I'm at work so I hope to try it when I get home later.
Lincolnton
October 21, 2009 at 11:20pm
I'm downloading my copy of 7 from microsoft now.
Just one question, I'm using an Alienware m15x previously loaded with Vista. If I do a clean format, will alienwares drivers posted on their site for Vista X64 work with win7 x64? Alienware doesn't really seem to have any drivers updated for windows 7.
I can always just try it out and put windows 7 on my desktop if this dosen't work out.
arch20002013
October 21, 2009 at 10:56pm
I am one of the lucky ones that are hosting the launch parties. I have had Windows 7 installed for a little over a week now and LOVE IT! Microsoft really should have skipped Vista and gone straight to this! It has been rock solid and is very easy to figure out the differences between it and Vista. It boots up quickly and runs smooth. If your on the fence on if your goin to get it, you really should.
arch20002013
October 21, 2009 at 11:00pm
Oh yeah...nothing fancy but:
C2D E8400 OC'ed 3.6Ghz
4Gb Dominator DDR2 @ 1066Mhz
RAID 0 w/2 Segate Baracuda 7200.12
BFG GTX 280
Creative X-Fi xtreme Gamer
LG Bluray Player
thefuzz4
October 22, 2009 at 7:56am
Yep I got choosen too. My party is tonight.
Kinda Ironic a Linux Lover like me hosting a MS party
adib
May 26, 2010 at 10:52am
Thankyou so much for your hearted guidance and instructions.
I had a trojan and some malware on my pc and i tried to install windows 7 many times and i had so much trouble untill i read your instructions,thankyou once again and the trojan is gone,
Adib
