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Windows 7 setup secrets

By Ed Bott | May 1, 2009, 12:24am PDT

Summary

For the past week or so I’ve been installing and upgrading the Windows 7 RC code on a wide variety of systems, documenting the process as I go. In this post, I share seven of the lessons I’ve learned along the way, including a few setup secrets that even some Windows experts don’t know about.

Topics

Folder, Disk, Microsoft Windows 7, Clean Install, Installation, Driver, Partition, Secret, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott

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Ed Bott

Biography

Ed Bott

Ed Bott

Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. He's served as editor of the U.S. edition of PC Computing and managing editor of PC World; both publications had monthly paid circulation in excess of 1 million during his tenure. He is the author of more than 25 books on Microsoft Windows and Office, including the recently released Windows 7 Inside Out.

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As of May 5, the general public is finally allowed to download the official Windows 7 Release Candidate. It’s been up on BitTorrent networks since mid-April, and developers with MSDN or TechNet subscriptions have had access to it since April. But those groups constitute a tiny fraction of the people who are seeing the Windows 7 release candidate for the first time with its public release. (You can find downloads and installation instructions at Microsoft’s website.)

For the benefit of the early adopters and those who patiently wait, I’ve been gathering information on the right and wrong ways to set up Windows 7. For the past week or so I’ve been installing and upgrading the RC code on a wide variety of systems—notebooks and desktops, with and without touch and tablet capabilities, with and without TV tuners and Blu-ray drives, as clean installs and upgrades, in x86 and x64 flavors, documenting the process.

In this post, I want to share seven of the lessons I’ve learned along the way, including a few setup secrets that even some Windows experts don’t know about.

Secret #1: Choose the right Setup option

Secret #2: Start with a clean disk

Secret #3: Back up your old drivers first

Secret #4: Do a nondestructive clean install

Secret #5: You need less disk space than you think

Secret #6: Unblock the upgrade path for Windows 7 beta

Secret #7: Unlock those extra editions

Choose the right Setup option –>

Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications.

Disclosure

Ed Bott

Ed Bott is a freelance technical journalist and book author. All work that Ed does is on a contractual basis.

Since 1994, Ed has written more than 25 books about Microsoft Windows and Office. Along with various co-authors, Ed is completely responsible for the content of the books he writes. As a key part of his contractual relationship with publishers, he gives them permission to print and distribute the content he writes and to pay him a royalty based on the actual sales of those books. Ed's books are currently distributed by Que Publishing (a division of Pearson Education) and by Microsoft Press.

On occasion, Ed accepts consulting assignments. In recent years, he has worked as an expert witness in cases where his experience and knowledge of Microsoft and Microsoft Windows have been useful. In each such case, his compensation is on an hourly basis, and he is hired as a witness, not an advocate.

Ed does not own stock or have any other financial interest in Microsoft or any other software company. He owns 500 shares of stock in EMC Corporation, which was purchased before the company's acquisition of VMWare. In addition, he owns 350 shares of stock in Intel Corporation, purchased more than two years ago. All stocks are held in retirement accounts for long-term growth.

Ed does not accept gifts from companies he covers. All hardware products he writes about are purchased with his own funds or are review units covered under formal loan agreements and are returned after the review is complete.

Biography

Ed Bott

Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. He's served as editor of the U.S. edition of PC Computing and managing editor of PC World; both publications had monthly paid circulation in excess of 1 million during his tenure. He is the author of more than 25 books on Microsoft Windows and Office, including the recently released Windows 7 Inside Out.

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Talkback Most Recent of 176 Talkback(s)

  • Good tip on the File Repository...
    You learn something new every day happy
    ZDNet Gravatar
    BitTwiddler
    05/01/2009 12:58 AM
  • Gee...
    more secrets and tweaks....

    Did we not see too many of these on Vista.

    Was W7 not supposed to be easy to use WITHOUT all the secrets and
    tweaking and secrets and tweaking?

    How about an OS that does not require all this nonsense?

    If one buys a high end automobile, does one expect that there will be
    hours of "training" to use it?

    This medieval cult of priesthood is incomprehensible for any modern
    product sold by a responsive manufacturer.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Jeremy W
    05/01/2009 05:53 AM

  • ZDNet Blogger

    Like a broken record
    Would you like me to point you to the thousands and thousands of similar pages for OS X, Jeremy? Here are 1.44 million pages to get you started:

    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=tweak+setup+%22os+x%22

    Come back when you've read them all, mmmkay? (Or don't. That would be fine too.)

    The reality is that Windows 7 and OS X and Ubuntu Linux all work pretty well out of the box these days. But an expert can always find a better way, and that's especially true when you are evaluating a new OS to see whether it's right for you. I know I benefited greatly from some of those OS X pages when I was evaluating OS X.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Ed Bott
    (Edited: 05/01/2009 06:01 AM)
  • He has a valid gripe...
    It may not be your fault but the fanboys on this site love to claim that Windows needs no tweaking whatsoever and you have to spend time tweaking an OS like Linux. Your articles helpful as they may be discredit that notion so you're going to see people point that out. I agree...you can use any of the three out of the box or tweak to your hearts desire.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    storm14k
    05/01/2009 06:15 AM
  • Windows doesn't need any tweaking
    but you can if you want.
    OSX is the same.

    Linux? I've had to fiddle a bit with every install. Often times not much, but a necessity.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    mdemuth
    05/01/2009 06:39 AM
  • Thanks for proving my point (nt)
    nt
    ZDNet Gravatar
    storm14k
    05/01/2009 08:36 AM
  • Windows doesn't need any tweaking
    With one exception:

    Encrypted File System Service.

    I turned it off and disabled it, and I freed up a nice little chunk of memory and CPU cycles. My system is a bit quicker and more responsive.

    (Running Win7 Build 7057)
    ZDNet Gravatar
    pauldoyle98@...
    05/01/2009 09:11 AM
  • But...
    You didn't NEED to do that...you chose to. It's not like it wouldn't work if you hadn't done that.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    quasilou
    05/01/2009 09:51 AM
  • No OS needs to be tweaked, I agree...
    Just throw bigger hardware requiring bigger hardware supplies at it.

    Microsoft makes fat piggy code.

    OSX does far more with far less.

    It's pathetic; my 2.93GHz dual core iMac with a 320GB 7200RPM drive and GTX120 video card and 4GB RAM runs rings around my Vista box (quad core Q9650, 8GB RAM, 320GB 10000RPM hard drive, GTX260 video). The iMac uses 200w, my Vista PC with monitor uses 850 (100w for the monitor, 750 for the rest).

    Oink oink. It's like Microsoft has the swine flu, is coughing it, and now we're all sick. grin
    ZDNet Gravatar
    HypnoToad72
    05/03/2009 02:25 PM
  • Must be hot
    in your living room or work room. 850Watts?
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Mahegan
    07/25/2009 06:37 PM
  • Your definition of *NEED* is way different than mine *nt*
    nt
    ZDNet Gravatar
    mikefarinha
    05/01/2009 07:33 AM
  • Nobody ever said that...
    Nobody I've ever seen who knows ANYTHING about Windows servers would EVER tell you that any idiot clicking next, next, next is going to set up a server properly.

    While building a PROPERLY CONFIGURED Windows server it is still much faster and easier than trying the equivalent Linux unit -- it still takes some degree of knowledge, skill and experience to do the job RIGHT.

    This is a big complaint I have against Linux geeks -- they click next, next, next -- end up with a Windows server that is improperly configured and insecure and then blame the O/S instead of their own ignorance and inexperience.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Marty R. Milette
    05/01/2009 10:49 AM
  • I think you told on yourself....
    I didn't say anything about servers unless you didn't intend to reply to me. And I can show you tons of Windows admins that thing clicking next next next is all they need to do. The ones that know better most often also know *nix administration. So I really don't see proof of your claim that Linux geeks click next in Windows. The Linux geek has a totally different mindset to begin with because they can't just click next next...often they don't even have access to a GUI to click next on. They must know what it is they are trying to do.

    As for building a properly configured Windows server being faster than Linux...well the multi system gurus I know would just laugh at you. The difference in the thickness of the hardening procedure docs for Windows vs Linux that I know of at one major hosting company tells the tale.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    storm14k
    05/01/2009 12:17 PM
  • Read more carefully...
    I said that anyone who KNOWS anything about windows... Yes, you can find unqualified, ignorant self-professed sys admins on both the Microsoft and Linux side of the house.

    To be completely honest, I've never seen a 'multi-system guru', and I doubt that such an animal exists. The simple reason is that EACH environment is so complex that I have yet to meet any person capable of absorbing one environment entirely -- let alone both.

    Yes, plenty of people consider themelves or tell other people that they are the second-coming-of-some-deity-multi-system gurus -- but when queried to any level of depth, they are generally only legends in their own mind.

    Even here on ZDNET, I recently did battle with a self-professed multi-system security expert who didn't know the first thing about Active Directory.

    If your ISP has issues with hardening, they need to get back to the books and learn what tools are available and built into the systems.

    With MSBA, group policies and the new features and tighter default settings of 2003 and 2008 server -- no PROPERLY TRAINED AND QUALIFIED sys admin worth their salt would have any problem building or securing live Internet-facing systems.

    Additionally, I'd not judge ANYTHING by the 'thickness of docs' -- Linux folks are notoriously lax in preparing documentation of any kind at all.
    ZDNet Gravatar
    Marty R. Milette
    05/01/2009 01:28 PM
  • You go, Ed!
    Too many bloggers let these foolish rants go unanswered, or worse, they answer them with some foolish diplomacy. It's nice to see someone finally tell them to STFU! My hat's off to you, Ed!
    ZDNet Gravatar
    MGP2
    05/01/2009 08:48 AM
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