How to Install Windows 7

How to Install Windows 7 (seven) 

Step by step guide on installing Windows 7 on your PC.

Installing and re-installing Windows 7.

There are two options to choose from during the Windows 7 installation process:

• 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. 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.

In this article you'll find detailed instructions for installing Windows 7 and reinstalling Windows 7.

This step-by-step guide demonstrates how to install Windows 7 Ultimate. The guide is similar for other versions of Windows 7 such as Home Premium.

The best way to install Windows 7 is to do a clean install. It is not difficult to perform a clean installation. Before you start the installation process I recommend that you check Windows 7 System Requirements list to ensure that your hardware is supported by Windows 7. If you don't have Windows 7 drivers for all your hardware, it is a good idea to download all the drivers from the hardware manufacturers website and save all the necessary drivers on a CD-R or a USB drive before you start the installation.

Windows 7 DVD is bootable. In order to boot from the DVD you need to set the boot sequence. Look for the boot sequence under your BIOS setup and make sure that the first boot device is set to CD-ROM/DVD-ROM.

Step 1 - Place Windows 7 DVD in your dvd-rom drive and start your PC. Windows 7 will start to boot up and you will get the following progress bar.

Step 2 - The next screen allows you to setup your language, time and currency format, keyboard or input method. Choose your required settings and click next to continue.

Step 3 - The next screen allows you to install or repair Windows 7. Since we are doing a clean install we will click on "install now".

Step 4 - Read the license terms and tick I accept license terms. Then click next to continue.

Step 5 - You will now be presented with two options. Upgrade or Custom (Advanced). Since we are doing a clean install we will select Custom (Advanced).

Step 6 - Choose where you would like to install Windows 7. If you have one hard drive you will get a similar option to the image below. You can click next to continue. If you have more that one drive or partition then you need to select the appropriate drive and click next. If you need to format or partition a drive then click Drive options (advance) before clicking next.

Step 7 - Windows 7 starts the installation process and starts copying all the necessary files to your hard drive as shown on the image below.

Step 8 - It will go through various stages of the setup and will reboot your system few times.

Step 9 - When your PC reboots it attempts to boot from DVD as its the first boot device. Do not press any key during the boot prompt so Windows 7 will continue with the installation by booting from the hard drive.

Step 10 - After the reboot your computer will be prepared for first use.

Step 11 - At this stage you need to choose a user name and computer name. Click next to continue. The user account you create here is the Administrator account which is the main account for your Windows 7 that has all the privileges.

Step 12 - Choose your password and password hint just incase you forget your password and need to jog your memory.

Step 13 - You can now type the product key that came with Windows 7 and click next. If you do not enter the product key you can still proceed to the next stage. However Windows 7 will run in trial mode for 30 days. You must therefore activate Windows within 30 days otherwise you can not access your computer after 30 days.

Step 14 - Help protect your computer and improve Windows automatically. Choose Use recommended settings.

Step 15 - Review your time and date settings. Select your time zone, correct the date and time and click next to continue.

Step 16 - Select your computer's current location. If you are a home user then choose Home network otherwise select the appropriate option.

Step 17 - Windows will now finalize the settings for your computer and restart.

Step 18 - After the final restart Windows 7 will start to boot up.

Step 19 - Finally you have the logon screen. Just type your password and press enter or click on the arrow to logon to Windows 7 for the first time.

Step 20 - After you have logged on to Windows 7 for the first time, you will see similar desktop to the image below. At this point you can start using your computer. However it may not be fully configured. You need to make sure that all the hardware is detected correctly and the necessary device drivers are installed. This can be done from the device manager.

Step 21 - To go to device manager click - Start Menu -> Control Panel -> System and Security -> System -> Device Manager. You will see all your hardware listed as shown on the image below. You need to check if you have any yellow exclamation marks next to the name of the devices, similar to "Multimedia Audio Controller" on the image below. This indicates that the driver has not been installed for this device.

At this stage you can install the driver for this device. To do so, Right Mouse click on Multimedia Audio Controller -> Update Driver Software...

Step 22 - You can choose to "Search automatically for updated driver software" or "Browse my computer for driver software". If you have the driver CD or if the driver is on a USB drive then choose "browse my computer for driver software". Window 7 will search and install the driver from the CD or you can locate the driver manually.

Once you have removed all the yellow exclamation marks from the device manager your Windows 7 configuration would be fully complete.

Step 23 - Finally check if you have successfully activated Windows 7. Click Start Menu -> Control Panel -> System and Security -> System. You will get a window similar to the image below. Towards the bottom you will see Windows is activated followed by your product ID. This shows that your copy of Windows 7 is fully activated.

Windows 7 System Requirements

Windows 7 (seven) System Requirements:

If you want to run Windows 7 on your PC, here's what it takes:

• 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
• 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

Additional requirements to use certain features:

• Internet access (fees may apply)
• Depending on resolution, video playback may require additional memory and advanced graphics hardware
• Some games and programs might require a graphics card compatible with DirectX 10 or higher for optimal performance
• For some Windows Media Center functionality a TV tuner and additional hardware may be required
• Windows Touch and Tablet PCs require specific hardware
• HomeGroup requires a network and PCs running Windows 7
• DVD/CD authoring requires a compatible optical drive
• BitLocker requires Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2
• BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive
• Windows XP Mode requires an additional 1 GB of RAM and an additional 15 GB of available hard disk space.
• Music and sound require audio output

Product functionality and graphics may vary based on your system configuration. Some features may require advanced or additional hardware.

PCs with multi-core processors:
Windows 7 was designed to work with today's multi-core processors. All 32-bit versions of Windows 7 can support up to 32 processor cores, while 64‑bit versions can support up to 256 processor cores.

PCs with multiple processors (CPUs):
Commercial servers, workstations, and other high-end PCs may have more than one physical processor. Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate allow for two physical processors, providing the best performance on these computers. Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium will recognize only one physical processor.

List of Popular Linux OS Distros

List of Popular Linux OS Distros

Popular Linux Distributions

Popular Linux Ditros






64 Studio Ltd. produces bespoke GNU/Linux distributions which are compatible with official Debian and Ubuntu releases. Specialising in multimedia and digital content creation platforms which we develop for our OEM partners, we also offer support, documentation services and consultancy. Our software is already included in several shipping products in the professional audio market, with more to follow. In addition, we offer a free download product which has won critical acclaim for its stability and high performance.

http://www.64studio.com/download







Absolute is a x86 Linux distribution based upon Slackware. It concentrates on "desktop" use so that it is ready for internet, multimedia, document and general home use out of the box. Absolute is lightweight -- meaning 2 things: that it can run on on older hardware and that the OS interface stays out of your way. 

It is version-compatible with Slackware so you can use almost any package from the same version of Slack on Absolute. Development libraries (headers) for everything installed are always included, so you can code and/or build almost anything from source. 

It is what I use all day, every day, and I am very thankful for Linux and Slackware and I hope others find benefit from my work on Absolute.

http://www.absolutelinux.org/download.shtml

Arch Linux, a lightweight and flexible Linux® distribution that tries to Keep It Simple.

Currently we have official packages optimized for the i686 and x86-64 architectures. We complement our official package sets with a community-operated package repository that grows in size and quality each and every day.

Our strong community is diverse and helpful, and we pride ourselves on the range of skillsets and uses for Arch that stem from it. Please check out our forums and mailing lists to get your feet wet. Also glance through our wiki if you want to learn more about Arch.

https://www.archlinux.org/download/

AUSTRUMI (Austrum Latvijas Linukss) is a business card size (the current size is 93MB) bootable live CD Linux distribution. It is based on Slackware. The current official release of Austrumi Linux is 1.8.0. It requires limited system resources and can run on any Intel-compatible system with a CD-ROM installed.

http://cyti.latgola.lv/ruuni/






AV Linux is a free custom shop modded and rodded 32bit computer Operating System designed to turn a regular old (or fairly new) PC or Intel Mac into an Audio/Graphics/Video workstation appliance. An appliance..? Yes, imagine your Workstation computer being as reliable as that old Frigidaire in the garage! 

AV Linux features a complete customized Debian Linux LXDE Desktop Environment with the added bonus of a handpicked selection of pre-tested and pre-configured Audio, Graphics and Video content creation software demonstrating the excellence of Open-Source and also includes many unique Commercial Demos. Great care has been taken to represent mature and productive applications many with custom builds to enhance their reliability and best show how far Linux has come as a Content Creation platform. A veritable treasure chest of Linux and Cross-Platform favourites are pre-installed, Ardour, Audacity, Blender, Cinelerra, Handbrake, Hydrogen, Kdenlive, LinuxDSP (demos), LMMS, Mixbus (demo), MuseScore, Openshot, Renoise (demo) and VLC Media Player are just the tip of the iceberg. 

http://www.mymusicexchange.us/torrent/torrents-details.php?id=4






BackBox is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu. It has been developed to perform penetration tests and security assessments. Designed to be fast, easy to use and provide a minimal yet complete desktop environment, thanks to its own software repositories, always being updated to the latest stable version of the most used and best known ethical hacking tools.

http://www.backbox.org/downloads






BackTrack is intended for all audiences from the most savvy security professionals to early newcomers to the information security field. BackTrack promotes a quick and easy way to find and update the largest database of security tools collection to-date. Our community of users range from skilled penetration testers in the information security field, government entities, information technology, security enthusiasts, and individuals new to the security community.

Feedback from all industries and skill levels allows us to truly develop a solution that is tailored towards everyone and far exceeds anything ever developed both commercially and freely available. The project is funded by Offensive Security. Whether you’re hacking wireless, exploiting servers, performing a web application assessment, learning, or social-engineering a client, BackTrack is the one-stop-shop for all of your security needs.

http://www.backtrack-linux.org/downloads/

The goal of Project Byzantium is to develop a communication system by which users can connect to each other and share information in the absence of convenient access to the Internet.  This is done by setting up an ad-hoc wireless mesh network that offers services which replace popular websites often used for this purpose, such as Twitter and IRC.

These services and web apps were selected because they are the ones most often used by activists around the world to find one another, exchange information, post media, and organize.  They were also selected because they stand the best chance of being easy to use by our intended userbase, which are people using mobile devices like smartphones, MP3 players, and tablet PCs.

Unlike most mesh implementations, a Byzantium Mesh requires no specialized equipment that may not be easy to get during an emergency, just an x86 computer with at least one 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless interface.  It will run on just about any x86 computer, including later generation Macbooks.

http://project-byzantium.org/download/

distribution created as a project of Digital Forensics 

Currently the project manager is Nanni Bassetti. 

CAINE offers a complete forensic environment that is organized to integrate existing software tools as software modules and to provide a friendly graphical interface.

The main design objectives that CAINE aims to guarantee are the following:

an interoperable environment that supports the digital investigator during the four phases of the digital investigation

a user friendly graphical interface

a semi-automated compilation of the final report

We recommend you to read the page on the CAINE policies carefully.

CAINE represents fully the spirit of the Open Source philosophy, because the project is completely open, everyone could take the legacy of the previous developer or project manager. The distro is open source, the Windows side (Wintaylor) is open source and, the last but not the least, the distro is installable, so giving the opportunity to rebuild it in a new brand version, so giving a long life to this project .... 

http://www.caine-live.net/page5/page5.html

CentOS is an Enterprise-class Linux Distribution derived from sources freely provided to the public by a prominent North American Enterprise Linux vendor.  CentOS conforms fully with the upstream vendor's redistribution policy and aims to be 100% binary compatible. (CentOS mainly changes packages to remove upstream vendor branding and artwork.)  CentOS is free.

CentOS is developed by a small but growing team of core developers.  In turn the core developers are supported by an active user community including system administrators, network administrators, enterprise users, managers, core Linux contributors and Linux enthusiasts from around the world.

CentOS has numerous advantages over some of the other clone projects including:  an active and growing user community, quickly rebuilt, tested, and QA'ed errata packages, an extensive mirror network, developers who are contactable and responsive, multiple free support avenues including IRC Chat, Mailing Lists, Forums, a dynamic FAQ.

This site makes use of Javascript.  If your browser doesn't work with Javascript we recommend you use FireFox.

http://www.centos.org/modules/tinycontent/index.php?id=15

The Chakra Project brings a ground-up Linux distribution, a free software showcase project created by a bunch of people who like theKISS principles, the elegance of the Plasma Desktop and a special repository to support well known Gtk applications.

Our main goal is provide a fast, user-friendly and extremely powerfulLive ISOand/or Linux distribution specially made for the award winning KDE Software Compilationand the beautifulPlasma desktop.

Chakra is currently under heavy and active development, it features a graphical installer, automatic hardware configuration, and of course some more tools and extras.

http://www.chakra-project.org/get/

CrunchBang is a Debian GNU/Linux based distribution offering a great blend of speed, style and substance. Using the nimble Openbox window manager, it is highly customisable and provides a modern, full-featured GNU/Linux system without sacrificing performance.

The primary aim of the CrunchBang project is to produce a stable distribution offering the best possible out-of-the-box Openbox experience. To achieve this goal, CrunchBang pulls many base packages directly from Debian's repositories, which are well-known for providing stable and secure software. Packages from CrunchBang's own repositories are then customised and pinned to the system to produce what is known as the CrunchBang distro.

http://crunchbang.org/download/

Dax OS is a lightweight distro, uses enlightenment as desktop and window manager, the resources consumed are minimal, 128 MB of RAM minimum and recommended 256-512 MB hard disk space 3GB, 5GB recommended.

http://daxos.org/en/index_en.html

Dreamlinux is a Brazilian distribution based on Debian GNU/Linux. A live CD with a graphical hard disk installation option, it boots directly into an Xfce or GNOME desktops which provide access to a good collection of desktop applications and a central control panel for system configuration.

http://distrowatch.com

Fedora is a Linux-based operating system, a collection of software that makes your computer run. You can use Fedora in addition to, or instead of, other operating systems such as Microsoft Windows™ or Mac OS X™. The Fedora operating system is completely free of cost for you to enjoy and share.

The Fedora Project is the name of a worldwide community of people who love, use, and build free software. We want to lead in the creation and spread of free code and content by working together as a community. Fedora is sponsored by Red Hat, the world's most trusted provider of open source technology. Red Hat invests in Fedora to encourage collaboration and incubate innovative new free software technologies.

http://fedoraproject.org/en/get-fedora

FreeBSD is an advanced computer operating system used to power modern servers, desktops and embeddedplatforms. A large community has continually developed it for more than thirty years. Its advanced networking, security and storage features have made FreeBSD the platform of choice for many of the busiest web sites and most pervasive embedded networking and storage devices.

http://www.freebsd.org/where.html







Frugalware is a general purpose linux distribution, designed for intermediate users (who are not afraid of text mode). We have a current and a stable branch. The current branch is updated daily, and we update our stable branch around every 6 months.

http://frugalware.org/download








gOS is an easy-to-use, Ubuntu-based distribution designed for less technical computer users. Its main features are the use of Enlightenment as the default desktop and tight integration of various Google products and services into the product.

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=gos







KahelOS is the first and remains to be the only Filipino Linux Distro with the rolling release model on Arch Linux + GNOME. In the community, it is the first to release (non-beta) such Linux OS on Arch Linux + GNOME. 

KahelOS is not just an Operating System so to speak. IT is not just a Technology Product on a Linux and Open Source Platform added to the thousands of FREE Distros already available in the community. IT does not explicitly want to be different or to be set apart from the rest. However, among others, we simply would like Kahel OS (just like our team) to be the embodiment of our IT Values and Philosophy.

http://www.kahelos.org/#downloads

Knoppix is suitable even for Linux beginners and we encourage you to try it and use the extensive help on our site if you need it. If you would like to learn more about Knoppix, you could look at the FAQs and Documentation, discuss it in the Forum, or just try it out!

You can download for free the latest version of the CD (700 MB) or DVD (4.14 GB). You can also save yourself the trouble of downloading this large file and it burning to disk by buying it for as little as $1.95 (worldwide shipping). Simply follow this link: download / buy page. When you buy a disk we get a small commission that goes towards paying for and running this Knoppix.net site.

Knoppix.net is a resource for users, developers, and testers of Knoppix. The official website for Knoppix is on Klaus Knopper's website at knopper.net.

http://knoppix.net/get.php

live.linuX-gamers.net is a Linux live distribution: "boot 'n play". The idea is for you to be able to carry a decent amount of high-quality Linux games with you where ever you go for purposes of demonstration, gaming or parties. Your computer will remain completely unchanged as everything will run live.

http://live.linux-gamers.net/?s=download

The purpose of Linux Mint is to produce a modern, elegant and comfortable operating system which is both powerful and easy to use.

Started in 2006, Linux Mint is now the 4th most widely used home operating system behind Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS and Canonical's Ubuntu.

Some of the reasons for the success of Linux Mint are:

• It works out of the box, with full multimedia support and is extremely easy to use.
• It's both free of cost and open source.
• It's community-driven. Users are encouraged to send feedback to the project so that their ideas can be used to improve Linux Mint.
• Based on Debian and Ubuntu, it provides about 30,000 packages and one of the best software managers.
• It's safe and reliable. Thanks to a conservative approach to software updates, a unique Update Manager and the robustness of its Linux architecture, Linux Mint requires very little maintenance (no regressions, no antivirus, no anti-spyware...etc).

http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

LinuxShark is based on opensuse 11.2 and The Linux Kernel Version 2.6.32.2, It is regularly updated with the latest security patches and Kernel upgrades. You are always safe.

LinuxShark has all the multimedia applications that make Linux fun to use for all !

 

Some of the applications are :

Mozilla FireFox

Mozilla Thunderbird

and more......

http://linuxshark.linuxfreedom.com