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**Official** Windows 7 Compendium of Knowledge Thread

J

JJChicken

Diamond Member
This is to consolidate all the information on using Windows 7 contained in multiple threads and provide useful links for users. This thread has three sections:

1. Guides
2. FAQs
2. Tips & Tricks & Useful Links

I'll update this thread every other day.

1. Guides
-------------------------------

#1 How to install Windows 7 (Beta Build 7000) as a dual-boot setup on a hard drive that has only one active partition
1. Download the Windows 7 Beta .iso file and register yourself through a Live! account to obtain a license key at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx .
2. Burn the .iso to DVD. The program I used was http://www.imgburn.com/.
3. Obtain a partioning software to create a partition in your hard drive. Essentially you are going to split your hard drive to separate the files you currently have from the Windows 7
installation. The program I used was http://gparted.sourceforge.net/ . Download the .iso for the live CD of this program and burn it to disk
using imgburn.
4. Reboot your computer and boot through the live CD for gparter. Shrink your existing hard drive to a certain amount to create space for your Windows 7 installation. For example,
if you have a 160gb hard drive and want to install Windows 7 on a 20gb partition, shrink your hard drive to 140gb. Windows 7 requires a minimum of 16b hard disk space so the
partition for it must exceed it. I'd say 25gb is a reasonable size.
5. Create an NTFS partition on the unused space through gparter. Once steps 4&5 are complete, you are ready to install Windows 7.
6. Reboot your computer and boot through the Windows 7 DVD. This will begin the installation process which is fairly simple. The most important thing to remember is to INSTALL
WINDOWS 7 ON THE NEWLY CREATED PARTITION and NOT INSTALL IT ON YOUR SHRUNK PARTITION. Failure to do so will DELETE ALL YOUR DATA.
7. Enjoy!

However, blurredvision has this to add:

Originally posted by: blurredvision
Ummm, I'm gonna have to disagree with your response and the FAQ up top. I have two hard drives in my system, the first of which houses my Vista Ultimate install along with all my files and media. I have a second hard drive installed which is basically never used, and it houses some master video files that I've used to make a couple of videos.

Drive 1 and 2 are both formatted NTFS, each drive only contains one primary partition taking up the entire drive's space. I booted to the W7 DVD, choose to install on hard drive 2. I did NOT repartition anything, nor did I choose to reformat anything. I simply installed W7 on the drive alongside the files I already had there.

W7 installed fine, all my junk video files are still accounted for on this drive. I had to go into Computer Management and Drive Management to assign my Vista drive a drive letter since it didn't originally see it, but now I see all files on that drive, also, and can move over whatever I want.

So in closing, I did not repartition anything, I did not reformat anything. The W7 install does not touch anything unless you tell it to. If your drive isn't formatted correctly, then you might have to format it, but with mine already being formatted NTFS, W7 was fine with it, and used it as is.

EDIT: Forgot to say that my dual-boot works fine, also. The W7 install took care of everything. I can go into and out of Vista and W7 at will.
Click to expand...

I still suggest the above guide if you are unsure because there may be a chance of the W7 installation erasing your data otherwise. If you know what you are doing then its up to you which method to use.
Click to expand...


#2 How to Clone an Existing Vista partition and Perform an *Update* to W7 on a Vista Clone by flexy
I cloned a partition with existing Vista to another partition with Acronis Disc Director. this as very easy since i alredy had another partition after my Vista partition.

So i made that second partition the same size as the Vista partition, then in Acronis DD i right clicked original Vista partition and copied it to the new partition. (New one needs to be unallocated as far as i remember)

Goal was to have two "Vistas" and perform an upgrade on the clone without losing the Vista install.
Goal: Dual Boot Vista or "W7 (upgraded)" with all programs INTACT.

() got BootIt NG OS selector and bootmanager for selection of boot partition and optiona hiding of partitions.

() Boot onto the Vista CLONE and perform an update to W7 on the clone. The old, original Vista partition was hidden for security purposes.
I had problems with drive letters first, booting onto the clone Vista before install of W7, those could be solved by a regedit and delete LKLM/System/Mounted Devices. I deleted all entries except "default". Goal was that no matter what Vista partition i booted, the boot partition needed to be C:

After i worked this out i upgraded to W7 from the Vista clone, this happened with no problems whatsoever (except that it took LOOOOONG +/3-4 hrs w/ approx 1.000.000 files) and now i can chose between my original Vista install and the upgraded W7 partition and all my programs are intact and accessible from either OS.

THIS helped a lot too:

http://www.multibooters.co.uk/cloning.html
Click to expand...

FAQs
--------------------

[Questions to be Answered]

Q. by thescreensavers well, I basically have a device that keeps unplugging and plugging its self in I keep hearing the audio alert, is there a log to were I can see what devices that have been plug/unplugged? (http://forums.anandtech.com/me...2266290&enterthread=y)



[Questions Answered]

Q1. My program doesn't run in Windows 7?
A: A very useful tool provided in Windows 7 is the program compatibility mode. You can use it to run programs that otherwise would not run. It is located in Control Panel > Programs > Use an older program with this version of Windows.

Q2.Has Software Explorer been removed in Windows 7? If so, what are the alternatives?
Thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2265939&enterthread=y
Answer (by Dahak):
Originally posted by: Dahak
Probably the other alternative would be Autoruns from systernals which is now part of microsoft.
Click to expand...


Tips & Tricks & Useful Links
--------------------------------------
Originally posted by: Innamoramento
some tips for win7
http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/arc...windows-7-secrets.aspx
Click to expand...
 
How to Clone an Existing Vista partition and Perform an *Update* to W7 on a Vista Clone

I cloned a partition with existing Vista to another partition with Acronis Disc Director. this as very easy since i alredy had another partition after my Vista partition.

So i made that second partition the same size as the Vista partition, then in Acronis DD i right clicked original Vista partition and copied it to the new partition. (New one needs to be unallocated as far as i remember)

Goal was to have two "Vistas" and perform an upgrade on the clone without losing the Vista install.
Goal: Dual Boot Vista or "W7 (upgraded)" with all programs INTACT.

() got BootIt NG OS selector and bootmanager for selection of boot partition and optiona hiding of partitions.

() Boot onto the Vista CLONE and perform an update to W7 on the clone. The old, original Vista partition was hidden for security purposes.
I had problems with drive letters first, booting onto the clone Vista before install of W7, those could be solved by a regedit and delete LKLM/System/Mounted Devices. I deleted all entries except "default". Goal was that no matter what Vista partition i booted, the boot partition needed to be C:

After i worked this out i upgraded to W7 from the Vista clone, this happened with no problems whatsoever (except that it took LOOOOONG +/3-4 hrs w/ approx 1.000.000 files) and now i can chose between my original Vista install and the upgraded W7 partition and all my programs are intact and accessible from either OS.

THIS helped a lot too:

http://www.multibooters.co.uk/cloning.html

 
When you're downloading something and you minimize it, the IE icon in the taskbar will fill with green from left to right, indicating the percentage complete. My favorite new feature so far 🙂.
 
So, to save me the time it takes to backup 100GB of data. If I have a D drive with just files like movies and music on it and I choose to install W7 on that will the files be deleted?
 
Originally posted by: firewolfsm
So, to save me the time it takes to backup 100GB of data. If I have a D drive with just files like movies and music on it and I choose to install W7 on that will the files be deleted?
Click to expand...

If there is only one partition on the drive, yes. Use something like Gparted to get an extra partition out of the free space on your D drive. See the Win7 FAQ thread for more details. Follow the instructions for dual booting.


edit: nvm, this IS the FAQ thread. Just read the OP!!!!!!!
 
Originally posted by: Hyperlite
Originally posted by: firewolfsm
So, to save me the time it takes to backup 100GB of data. If I have a D drive with just files like movies and music on it and I choose to install W7 on that will the files be deleted?
Click to expand...

If there is only one partition on the drive, yes. Use something like Gparted to get an extra partition out of the free space on your D drive. See the Win7 FAQ thread for more details. Follow the instructions for dual booting.
Click to expand...

Ummm, I'm gonna have to disagree with your response and the FAQ up top. I have two hard drives in my system, the first of which houses my Vista Ultimate install along with all my files and media. I have a second hard drive installed which is basically never used, and it houses some master video files that I've used to make a couple of videos.

Drive 1 and 2 are both formatted NTFS, each drive only contains one primary partition taking up the entire drive's space. I booted to the W7 DVD, choose to install on hard drive 2. I did NOT repartition anything, nor did I choose to reformat anything. I simply installed W7 on the drive alongside the files I already had there.

W7 installed fine, all my junk video files are still accounted for on this drive. I had to go into Computer Management and Drive Management to assign my Vista drive a drive letter since it didn't originally see it, but now I see all files on that drive, also, and can move over whatever I want.

So in closing, I did not repartition anything, I did not reformat anything. The W7 install does not touch anything unless you tell it to. If your drive isn't formatted correctly, then you might have to format it, but with mine already being formatted NTFS, W7 was fine with it, and used it as is.

EDIT: Forgot to say that my dual-boot works fine, also. The W7 install took care of everything. I can go into and out of Vista and W7 at will.
 
For anti virus, am using the free beta version of Norton 360 3.0 for Windows 7 (based on the super-lite nav/nis 09 codebase). If you click the find antivirus on the internet link in action center, it links you to free windows 7 editions of kaspersky and norton.
 
Originally posted by: Finalnight
For anti virus, am using the free beta version of Norton 360 3.0 for Windows 7 (based on the super-lite nav/nis 09 codebase). If you click the find antivirus on the internet link in action center, it links you to free windows 7 editions of kaspersky and norton.
Click to expand...

In my experience, it also links you to paid versions of AVG, but you can navigate through a couple of links to grab the free version, which integrated nicely with W7.
 
Originally posted by: Finalnight
For anti virus, am using the free beta version of Norton 360 3.0 for Windows 7 (based on the super-lite nav/nis 09 codebase). If you click the find antivirus on the internet link in action center, it links you to free windows 7 editions of kaspersky and norton.
Click to expand...

Norton 360 is a 14 day trial and Kaspersky is a 91 day trial.
 
Originally posted by: Finalnight
For anti virus, am using the free beta version of Norton 360 3.0 for Windows 7 (based on the super-lite nav/nis 09 codebase). If you click the find antivirus on the internet link in action center, it links you to free windows 7 editions of kaspersky and norton.
Click to expand...

Avira free personal edition works fine with Win7 beta,I'm using it on Win7.
 
Originally posted by: nitromullet
Originally posted by: Finalnight
For anti virus, am using the free beta version of Norton 360 3.0 for Windows 7 (based on the super-lite nav/nis 09 codebase). If you click the find antivirus on the internet link in action center, it links you to free windows 7 editions of kaspersky and norton.
Click to expand...

Norton 360 is a 14 day trial and Kaspersky is a 91 day trial.
Click to expand...

Nope, norton 360 is a beta till 3/31. The 15 day thing is renewable, I have heard its to make sure you have the latest build.

http://community.norton.com/no...=N360_PB&thread.id=245
 
Originally posted by: Mem
Originally posted by: Finalnight
For anti virus, am using the free beta version of Norton 360 3.0 for Windows 7 (based on the super-lite nav/nis 09 codebase). If you click the find antivirus on the internet link in action center, it links you to free windows 7 editions of kaspersky and norton.
Click to expand...

Avira free personal edition works fine with Win7 beta,I'm using it on Win7.
Click to expand...

Anti Vir 4 life! Works indeed
 
Originally posted by: Finalnight
Originally posted by: nitromullet
Originally posted by: Finalnight
For anti virus, am using the free beta version of Norton 360 3.0 for Windows 7 (based on the super-lite nav/nis 09 codebase). If you click the find antivirus on the internet link in action center, it links you to free windows 7 editions of kaspersky and norton.
Click to expand...

Norton 360 is a 14 day trial and Kaspersky is a 91 day trial.
Click to expand...

Nope, norton 360 is a beta till 3/31. The 15 day thing is renewable, I have heard its to make sure you have the latest build.

http://community.norton.com/no...=N360_PB&thread.id=245
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I prefer Symantec A/V (habit I guess), so maybe I'll give 360 a shot again.

Originally posted by: Innamoramento
some tips for win7
http://blogs.msdn.com/tims/arc...windows-7-secrets.aspx

For example those who have a hard on for old quick launch bar check number 13...
Click to expand...

Nice. Thanks.

...

To add to some of the tribal knowledge: If you've had your Gadgets stop working (like me), perhaps UAC is the culprit:

http://www.mydigitallife.info/...led-in-windows-7-beta/
 
Try this on for size:

Shift+F10 during install
diskpart
create vdisk file=c:\vhd\win7.vhd type=fixed maximum=65536
select vdisk file=c:\vhd\win7.vhd
attach vdisk
exit
exit
Install on the new "disc" (ignore the warnings)

Now you can install and dual-boot Win7 without making a partition for it.
 
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