windows 7

hi guys i was just wondering if its possible to completely erase my hdd and then install window 7. i want my pc to be like new when i install windows 7.

Of course it is possible to completely change Operating System (OS), but to do it properly you will have to completely erase/format the HDD, which will mean destroying anything. Which means backing up all your work, pictures, videos & music onto DVD disks or onto another HDD, to then be copied back after the install of the new OS.

In my semi-professional opinion, I'd wait for a few months at least before installing Windows 7, as then any major bugs, (if there is any), will surely be solved by then. I won't be upgrading from XP, until I know two things:

1) Will it actually be faster, better and more reliable than Vista? (The early signs say yes, but I want to see the proved!)

2) When will Service Pack 1 be release for Windows 7?

Once Service Pack 1 is release and I'm fairly sure it will be better than Vista, then I will spend £200+ on it. Might get a OEM version, if I'm lucky!

How to install a Windows OS?

Stage One: Preparation
This is by far the most important stage of the process, cos if everything goes pair shaped, you'll have anything saved. You need to back all your "My Documents" folder up. Now take your time doing this, because you do not want to miss anything. Also make sure you haven't put ant other stuff into other parts of the C Directory and you also want to save things like your favourites or bookmarks from your Web browser. Remember that each user on the computer has his or her own "My Documents" folder, Desktop items and Favourites/Bookmarks.

Now back up any gave save files e.g. Call of Duty 4, Command & Conquer etc. Don't worry to much about your Steam files as these are saved online for you. You may find you have to do a few achievements again. The ones involving your Steam friends e.g. uber charge 10 steam friends etc.

Make sure you have all the hardware drivers disks, (or download the Windows 7 version first), have all you other program disk ready e.g. Microsoft Office, Power DVD etc. Also make sure you have the serial number/CD key for every program you own.

If you can't find all of them, then use Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder, this will retrieved your Product Key (CD key) used to install Windows from your registry. It allows you to print or save your keys for safekeeping. It works on all version of Windows, Office 2003, and Office 2007 family of products. It also has a community-updated configuration file that retrieves product keys for many other applications, (Cyberlink PowerDVD). Another feature is the ability to retrieve product keys from unbootable Windows installations. So a very useful program if you start to have problems.

Stage 2: Preparation - Part 2!
Now check to make sure you have anything back up! Just take your time doing it and don't be afraid to take a couple of days of saving everything and checking it.


Stage 3:Formatting a Secondary partition
On some systems there is a second partition which is used as a recovery, if your the main partition became unbootable. This Recovery Partition will reset you system back to how it was when the PC left the factory, with Windows as it was and all you pre install programs. So it may be wise to check what software came with the machine and retrieved any CD keys etc.

As your installing a new OS, you will no longer need this partition. Right-Click on the “My Computer” icon either on your desktop or in the Start Menu and select “Manage.” A new window titled “Computer Management” comes up. Select “Storage” from the left hand side by clicking it once, then select “Disk Management(local)” from the right side by double-clicking it.

Now in the lower part of the main frame (right side) of the window you should see a nice visual of all your hard drives. Each line is a different drive. Each box on a line (with a colored bar at the top and a size displayed in MB or GB) is a partition on the drive. Partitions are separations of space on a drive. Unless you are doing something specific that requires multiple partitions, you only want one partition per drive.

First you must delete any existing partitions on the drive you are going to format. Do this by right-clicking on the partition's box and selecting “Delete Partition...” Since you already know that you will be deleting everything on the drive, and have already backed everything up, you can safely say yes to any warning the computer presents you with.

If there are multiple partitions make sure you have saved everything off them since they might each have different drive letters (i.e. “D:” or “F:”). Then repeat the above step for each of them. If you only want to format one partition that is OK and you can continue to the next step without deleting the other partitions.

The box for the drive to be formatted should now have a black bar at the top of it and should say “Unallocated” under its size (see picture). Right click on it and select “New Partition...” The New Partition Wizard comes up.

In the New Partition Wizard click next. On the next page make sure “Primary Partition” is selected and click next. Now make the size equal to the maximum (it should already be set to it), and click next again. On the next page the computer will automatically choose the first available drive letter for the new drive. However, if you like you can choose another drive letter from the drop-down menu, and then click next.

Finally the New Partition Wizard asks if you would like to format the new partition and if so what format. Choose “NTFS” as it is faster and more secure. Leave the “Allocation unit size” as “Default.” In the “Volume label” field enter whatever name you want the drive to have. Simple is better. Avoid using spaces. Lastly, if the drive is brand new and has never been used before check the “Perform a quick format” box. If the drive has been used before leave this box unchecked. Leave the “Enable file and folder compression” box unchecked and click next. Then on the next page click finish.

The wizard will now spend a little while formatting the drive. On old or large drives this may take a while. Do not close the “Computer Management” window until it finishes. You will know it is done when the word under the size of the drive changes from “Formatting” to “Healthy” and the name and drive letter you chose for the new drive show up. After it is finished you can proceed to use your newly formatted drive.

Stage 4: Installing Windows from Disk

Put your new Windows 7 disk into your disk drive, either restart the machine or boot it up and during the boot sequence was the key which will get you into the BIOS setup, either Del or the F2 key. MAke your way through the menus and find something called "Boot Device Priority" or something similar. In that option, select the CD-ROM/DVD-ROM as the first bootable device, (if it's isn't already), and make the HDD the second. Don't worry too much about the third or fourth device.

Save the change and exit BIOS and the machine will restart again. After POST look out for a message which will say “Press any key to boot from CD..” press Enter to do so. You have to be fast, as the message will only appear for about 5 seconds and if you don't press Enter in that time, the machine will then boot to the HDD and you'll will then have to restart the machine and do it again.

Give a few minutes for the computer to load the files from the disk for the install process and taking your time follow the instructions given to you. If your not sure ask someone who knows what they are doing. You can still quit the install that this point and your original OS will still be on your HDD for you to used.

After working your way through, you'll have to deleted the old partition/s to the drive and then create a new one. Please do a full format not a quick format, as you want to start afresh. A quick format is when a install process fail or there isn't very much on the drive in the first place. It's always a good idea to leave about 5Gb spare, so if you encounter any problem in the future, you will have some space on you HDD to run say a Linux program to get a unbootable partition working again.

On the new partition install the new OS and now the machine will format the drive and install Windows 7. The format part can take 45 - 60 minutes. The installation of Windows may take between 30 - 60 minutes, it just depends on how fast the machine is and how big Windows 7 is on release.

Install, update and restart, Install, update and restart etc..............

Once you gone through the installation of setting up username/s, password/s and language and keyboard settings, you're Windows will be installed. Now comes the longest part. Getting all your programs, software and documents back on.

First do all the drivers for the hardware. Motherboard, graphics card, internet, web-cam, printer etc. Get the most up to date drivers and for Windows 7.

Then get your anti-virus programs on, its a good idea to have them downloaded already, if you are using Firefox, AVG, Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D.

Then get your Windows Update and while the update are downloading, start tweaking the desktop to how you want it. Updates may only take 30 - 45 minutes. Then start putting on all you programs and games, install Steam and get that set back up and download the 30 odd Gb of stuff you need from them. Make sure all you programs are working right and get any updates. If you have any problems, Google it and see what fixes they are for them.

At last but not at least, start copying all you work, picture, videos and music onto the machine.

Done.

thank you man you made it really simple. all of my confusion is gone now. ur doing what my dad did, my dad switch from windows 98 when xp came out. i think microsoft learn its lesson and will bring out a os better then xp and the bloated but proven vista.

Macgta wrote:

kenny wrote:Install Steam and get that set back up and download the 30 odd Gb of stuff you need from them.

OR, backup your "steamapps" folder, located in the steam directory, then just copy that back in steam when you've reinstalled.

But is it worth burning 4 -5 dual layer DVD's (8.5gb each) just for your Steam games?

I suppose if you have another HDD you can copy the "steamapps" folder to that, but I would just back up the save game files instead.

Kenny wrote:First do all the drivers for the hardware. Motherboard, graphics card, internet, web-cam, printer etc. Get the most up to date drivers and for Windows 7.

then how can my pc be working without the driver already installed for the motherboard.
does my pc automaticly install updates to drivers.
is there a program that can tell me which drivers need updates cos i really dont know where to get the latest drivers for my dell.
dell has a support but they seem to have drivers for year 2007 only.

You're getting a bit confuse here. What I need from you is the model of your Dell, then I point you in the right direction.

When building a PC,the motherboard will have pre-install software in it to get it working and for you to be able to install an OS.

When you fire up a PC, that stuff you see at the begining of the process is called POST, (Power On Self Test). Which is a basic check of the hardware for the machine. If you press the key Del, (F2 on Dell's, I think), this will sent you into the BIOS, (Basic Input Output System), where you are able to modify the CPU, RAM and storage drives. This is where some overclocking can be done, e.g. increase the Voltage to the CPU.

NOTE
I do not recommend overclocking of PC hardware, if cause too many problems, which I will not list here.

After posting, the PC will then find an or the Operating System, which you have installed, in your case Windows 7. From here all your programs, games and applications are run under Windows. As I said before, the motherboard will have some pre-install software to get you to this point, but as internet programs and applications are run under Windows, you need to install Ethernet & network drivers. The same goes for your chipset, USB drivers, (which are usually now install under the chipset drivers these days) and also the sound drivers for the motherboard will need to be put onto the system, plus anything else for the motherboard.

In the last couple of years, some motherboard manufactures have created programs which you install under Windows, which when fired up will connect to the Internet and check for any updates for the motherboard e.g. BIOS updates and sound drivers etc. Similar to what Windows Update does for your Windows OS.

I know ASUS does a program for this, but I don't know which other manufactures, (like Dell), do a similar thing.



But as I said at the beginning of this post, I need to know which model you have and then I can have a look for you to find the latest drivers. BUT you have to remember Windows 7 isn't out yet and maybe Dell hasn't got around to do Windows 7 driver for your machine, that is IF they decide to do it at all. If there is Vista drivers for that board, then maybe they might work. But this is why I said to wait till Windows 7 is out for a while and then see if the manufacture actually support your model.

i have dell dimension 9200. on device manager in vista it actually finds the latest drivers for me, but it did not find th latest driver and instead installed an old driver