Windows 7 Installation Guide

The Windows 7 is finally here. It's released for beta testers a few days ago and I am here with a small step by step picture guided tour through the installation process. I downloaded the x86 version of the M3 build ( build No: 6801) from Microsoft Connect site, which is 2.72 GB ISO. The x64 version is around 3.2 GB in size.

The installation process was just like vista setup and to my surprise completed in just around 20 minutes in my low end Virtual hardware. This surely indicates the performance improvements Microsoft has put on this windows vista replacement.

The TestMachine

I decided to install Windows 7 in a VMware workstation first to make sure that the DVD I burned is perfect. VMware is great for taking screen shots and screen captures also.

VMWare Version: VMWare Workstation 6.5
Virtual HArddisk : 9 GB
RAM : 512 MB
Processor : Single Core
Windows Version : Windows 7 Ultimate M3 v6801-0-080913-2030


Preparing the DVD from the ISO image

Since most the people are installing Windows 7 in a real hardware, a DVD should be burned from the downloaded ISO image. You will need a DVD Burner, a DVD burning software and a blank DVD-R or DVD-RW to prepare the installation disk. I used a Sony single layer DVD-R as media and used Nero 8 as the DVD burning software. But for those who don't have Nero installed, CDBurnerXP is a free Alternative.

So using the DVD burning software of your choice burn the Windows 7 ISO image to the DVD. Make sure you choose the a very low burning speed, 4x or 8x, for better results.


Setting up your Computer & BIOS changes ( If required)

Now reboot your computer after popping in the all new Windows 7 DVD you just created in to the DVD Drive. In most cases if you do this you'll automatically boot in to the Windows 7 Installation DVD. But in some cases if the Boot device order is changed in the BIOS it may boot in to your older OS, instead of our DVD. In that case you'll need to change the BIOS settings to gt it done ( More details in a different tutorial).

Booting Up and First Installation Steps


Steps from here are pretty straight forward. Read the descriptions in each pages before clicking the Next button to avoid any disasters. IF there is options to choose in these steps you may find them with each images.