Windows 7 RC Essentials: Getting Started Guide – Part 1

Windows 7 puts up with me, my obscure software, and my nerdish habits. It takes everything that was good about Vista and runs like Server 2008. It’s happy on any Pentium 4, Atom or Core processor, providing you have at least 1GB of RAM. This is absolutely the trump card for Windows and it’s the reason why I think Microsoft should bring back switcher ads, but targeted at the antiquated Unix-based OS-X. Windows 7 RC really is that good!

Microsoft has made a near-complete version available to everybody and while it’s not intended for the family computer, it’s far-enough above and beyond Vista for the typical recreational nerd to give it a go. It’s free until spring 2010, and rumours suggest that there will be a direct upgrade option to the final version (paid, of course). If you’re comfortable with partitioning or installing hard drives, here’s a rough and ready guide, presented in 3 parts, to getting up and running with the best version of Windows yet, without loosing your current Vista installation.

Part 1: Getting Ready

• Microsoft distributes Windows 7 RC as an .iso image. You will need to burn the file to a DVD using appropriate software, such as Nero Burning Rom, or any free utility (such as CDBurnerXP) that can be found on TuCows or CNET. You will be given a product key as part of the registration process. (Oh by the way, for the love of god, please don’t write this key down on the back of an envelope and then show it to a PC technician, expecting it to mean something.) Anyway, suffice to say, you will need it.




• Ideally, you need two fixed hard discs. If this is not possible, you can use any drive which is 20GB or larger, which is bootable from the BIOS, such as a USB drive. I do not recommend partitioning a single drive in to two bootable partitions. Many PCs now come with two hard drives, one of which may have the “system restore” partition. Make sure that you have created system restore discs and also a recent back-up of all your important files before attempting anything described here.




• Within Vista, download and use the excellent free disc utility “SwissKnife” to create a primary DOS partition on your second drive, as large as it will allow. Make sure the drive is formatted in FAT32.




• Make sure you have a wired Ethernet connection to broadband internet. A wireless connection will probably work (it did with my Acer netbook), but just make sure you’ve got a network interface card (NIC) that was made by a company who’s name you can pronounce. In any event, you will need broadband, because so much of the “just plug it in and it works” marvel of Windows 7 relies on it’s ability to quickly and silently pull-down drivers for you. It’s a neat trick, but it reveals how little is actually on the install DVD, and possibly why you can be surfing the web 20 minutes after booting to a blank partition. To summarise, without broadband, you’re basically fucked.

So now you’ve got your blank, bootable partition, your print-out of the product key, your wired Ethernet connection, your restore discs, your files backed-up, and a DVD-R in your sweaty little hands.

I think you’re ready to take the red pill…continued in Windows 7 RC Essentials: Getting Started Guide – Part 2.

The Average Windows Nerd.

Related Pages:

1. Windows 7 RC Essentials: Getting Started Guide – Part 2
2. Windows 7 RC Essentials: Getting Started Guide – Part 3
3. Windows 7 RC Download
4. Windows 7 Beta Released
5. Windows 7 Cheap Price Deals! (UK)

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