How does the installation work?

Ok im back to write the guide which i am going to do as a general guide so if something is different for you just say and i will adjust it.

For this guide i will use numbers for steps and * for notes to be read before continuing.


1: First thing first find your motherboard model or if you have it the motherboard driver disk. If you don't have the disk then download CPU-Z (FREE) witch can identify most motherboards and download the Ethernet, sound, and USB drivers from the manufacturers website.. also you can use the CPU information to find out if your possessor can support 64bit Windows.

2: Now insert your windows 7 CD.
* You may have a choice of 32 bit or 64 bit Windows, if you have more than 4GB of RAM and your CPU can support it ( most modern cpus support both 32 and 64 bit) then take 64 bit ( RAM includes graphics memory ) or if you plan upgrade beyond 4GB RAM then take 64 bit.

3: When turning on your PC you should have a black screen with "press any key to boot from CD" press a key to continue. If you don't press anything your PC will boot as normal to XP.
* If you don't get the "press any key top boot from CD" message then you will have to restart your PC and enter the BIOS setup by pressing F2 or DELETE, then use your keyboard arrows to move to the BOOT menu or a menu with BOOT DEVICE PRIORITY where you can select your CD/DVD drive as the primary boot device.T he other devices may change as you select this but as long as 1st device is CD/DVD and 2nd is HDD you will be ok.

4: Once the CD is loading you will see windows is loading files followed by the Windows 7 start screen.

5: Your next prompt will be to pick your language and keyboard input, select your preferred language and your keyboard type then click next.

6: You will now need to read and accept the terms and conditions of Windows 7.

7: After this you will be asked to choose either an "upgrade" or "custom" install. Pick custom as upgrade can bring problems over from XP.

8: Now after selecting custom you will choose where to install Windows. Select the C drive and beneath the list of drives there will be a format option, pick format to wipe your drive for the best clean installation. After the format is done double click the C drive and install Windows.

This will be the longest part of the install taking up to half an hour depending on your system just take a break and wait for it to finish.

After the setup is done Windows will restart and perform more automatic task as well as check your PC performance to optimize Windows and load available drivers *(usually it will miss things like graphics cards and Ethernet drivers so make sure you have them).

9: Your next involvement will be entering the name you want as your user name and PC name. Then you can choose a password if you use one ( recommended but not 100% necessary).

10: Now you will enter your product key which will be 25 digits in blocks of 5 which will be inside your installation disk box. Then after entering it click the " activate windows when i am online" box for ease of activation.

11: After this step you will be ask about Windows updates , I advise selecting "install important updates only" but the auto update is fine just don't select "ask me later".

12: Now all that's left is to select your time zone and date which will "usually" be right but check it anyway.

13: Next is the network setup. You will need to choose if this is a home, work or public network. If it is your home internet connection and you don't share it with anyone e.g. neighbors then select home as this is mostly for your file sharing through your network.

* Next Windows will check your network connection ( if it fail then either you don't have internet access, are not plugged in or connected by WiFi to your router, or most likely your Ethernet drivers need updated/installed.

Click next and Windows will prepare your desktop by itself and after its finished your done.

14: You will need some finishing touches such as most important load your Ethernet drivers (if it wasn't done by windows) and anti virus. then windows updates (there may be up to 150+).

Now you have finished your setup you are free to install you programs and personalize your PC as you see fit.