Windows 7 Installation Tutorials And Notes

Step By Step Guide To Installing Windows 7

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Define Windows 7?

Windows 7 is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs, and media center PCs. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available for retail worldwide on October 22, 2009, less than three years after the release of its predecessor, Windows Vista. Windows 7's server counterpart, Windows Server 2008 R2, was released at the same time. Windows 7 is succeeded by Windows 8.

Unlike Windows Vista's many new features, Windows 7 was an incremental upgrade designed to work with Vista-compatible applications and hardware. Presentations given by Microsoft in 2008 focused on multi-touch support, an updated Windows shell with a new taskbar, referred to internally as the Superbar, a home networking system called HomeGroup, and performance improvements. Some standard applications that have been included with prior releases of Microsoft Windows, including Windows Calendar, Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker, and Windows Photo Gallery, are not included in Windows 7; most are instead offered separately at no charge as part of the Windows Essentials suite.

Features

New and changed

Among Windows 7's new features are advances in touch and handwriting recognition, support for virtual hard disks, improved performance on multi-core processors, improved boot performance, DirectAccess, and kernel improvements. Windows 7 adds support for systems using multiple heterogeneous graphics cards from different vendors (Heterogeneous Multi-adapter), a new version of Windows Media Center, a Gadget for Windows Media Center, improved media features, XPS Essentials Pack and Windows PowerShell being included, and a redesigned Calculator with multiline capabilities including Programmer and Statistics modes along with unit conversion for length, weight, temperature, and several others. Many new items have been added to the Control Panel, including ClearType Text Tuner Display Color Calibration Wizard, Gadgets, Recovery, Troubleshooting, Workspaces Center, Location and Other Sensors, Credential Manager, Biometric Devices, System Icons, and Display. Windows Security Center has been renamed to Windows Action Center (Windows Health Center and Windows Solution Center in earlier builds), which encompasses both security and maintenance of the computer. ReadyBoost on 32-bit editions now supports up to 256 gigabytes of extra allocation. Windows 7 also supports images in RAW image format through the addition of Windows Imaging Component-enabled image decoders, which enables raw image thumbnails, previewing and metadata display in Windows Explorer, plus full-size viewing and slideshows in Windows Photo Viewer and Windows Media Center.

The default Windows 7 taskbar

The taskbar has seen the biggest visual changes, where the old Quick Launch toolbar has been replaced with the ability to pin applications to taskbar. Buttons for pinned applications are integrated with the task buttons. These buttons also enable Jump Lists to allow easy access to common tasks. The revamped taskbar also allows the reordering of taskbar buttons. To the far right of the system clock is a small rectangular button that serves as the Show desktop icon. This button is part of the new feature in Windows 7 called Aero Peek. Hovering over this button makes all visible windows transparent for a quick look at the desktop. In touch-enabled displays such as touch screens, tablet PCs, etc., this button is slightly (8 pixels) wider in order to accommodate being pressed by a finger. Clicking this button minimizes all windows, and clicking it a second time restores them. Additionally, there is a feature named Aero Snap, that automatically maximizes a window when it is dragged to the top of the screen. Dragging windows to the left/right edges of the screen allows users to snap documents or files on either side of the screen for comparison between windows, such that the windows vertically take up half the screen. When a user moves windows that were maximized using Aero Snap, the system restores their previous state automatically. This functionality is also accomplished with keyboard shortcuts. Unlike in Windows Vista, window borders and the taskbar do not turn opaque when a window is maximized with Windows Aero applied. Instead, they remain translucent. Windows 7 includes 13 additional sound schemes, titled Afternoon, Calligraphy, Characters, Cityscape, Delta, Festival, Garden, Heritage, Landscape, Quirky, Raga, Savanna, and Sonata. Internet Spades, Internet Backgammon and Internet Checkers, which were removed from Windows Vista, were restored in Windows 7.

Users are also able to disable or customize many more Windows components than was possible in Windows Vista. New additions to this list of components include Internet Explorer 8, Windows Media Player 12, Windows Media Center, Windows Search, and Windows Gadget Platform. A new version of Microsoft Virtual PC, newly renamed as Windows Virtual PC was made available for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions. It allows multiple Windows environments, including Windows XP Mode, to run on the same machine. Windows XP Mode runs Windows XP in a virtual machine, and displays applications within separate windows on the Windows 7 desktop. Furthermore, Windows 7 supports the mounting of a virtual hard disk (VHD) as a normal data storage, and the bootloader delivered with Windows 7 can boot the Windows system from a VHD; however, this ability is only available in the Enterprise and Ultimate editions. The Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) of Windows 7 is also enhanced to support real-time multimedia application including video playback and 3D games, thus allowing use of DirectX 10 in remote desktop environments. The three application limit, previously present in the Windows Vista and Windows XP Starter Editions, has been removed from Windows 7. All editions include some new and improved features that originated with Vista, such as Windows Search, Security features, and some features new to Windows 7. Optional BitLocker Drive Encryption is included with Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise. Windows Defender is included; Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus software is a free download. All editions include Shadow Copy, which—every day or so—System Restore uses to take an automatic "previous version" snapshot of user files that have changed. Backup and restore have also been improved, and the Windows Recovery Environment—installed by default—replaces the optional Recovery Console of Windows XP.

Windows 7 includes improved globalization support through a new Extended Linguistic Services API to provide multilingual support (particularly in Ultimate and Enterprise editions). Microsoft has also implemented better support for solid-state drives, including the new TRIM command, and Windows 7 is able to identify a solid-state drive uniquely. Native support for USB 3.0 is not included due to delays in the finalization of the standard. At WinHEC 2008 Microsoft announced that color depths of 30-bit and 48-bit would be supported in Windows 7 along with the wide color gamut scRGB (which for HDMI 1.3 can be converted and output as xvYCC). The video modes supported in Windows 7 are 16-bit sRGB, 24-bit sRGB, 30-bit sRGB, 30-bit with extended color gamut sRGB, and 48-bit scRGB.

For developers, Windows 7 includes a new networking API with support for building SOAP-based web services in native code (as opposed to .NET-based WCF web services), new features to simplify development of installation packages and shorten application install times. Windows 7, by default, generates less User Account Control (UAC) prompts because it allows digitally signed Windows components to gain elevated privileges without a prompt. This behavior has been criticized for allowing untrusted software to be launched with elevated privileges by exploiting a trusted component. Microsoft's Windows kernel engineer Mark Russinovich acknowledged the problem, but noted that malware can also compromise a system when users agree to a prompt.

Removed

Certain capabilities and programs that were a part of Windows Vista are no longer present or have been changed, resulting in the removal of certain functionalities. These include the classic Start Menu user interface, some taskbar features, Windows Explorer features, Windows Media Player features, Windows Ultimate Extras and InkBall. Four applications bundled with Windows Vista – Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Calendar and Windows Mail – are not included with Windows 7, but applications with close functionality are instead available for free in a separate package called Windows Live Essentials which can be downloaded on the Microsoft website.

Hardware requirements

Minimum hardware requirements for Windows 7

Architecture             32-bit                                  64-bit
Processor                 1 GHz IA-32 processor     1 GHz x86-64 processor
Memory (RAM)      1 GB                                    2 GB
Graphics card          DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM driver model 1.0
                                (Not absolutely necessary; only required for Aero)
HDD free space      16 GB of free disk space     20 GB of free disk space
Optical drive           DVD-ROM drive (Only to install from DVD-ROM media)

Additional requirements to use certain features:

    Windows XP Mode (Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise): Requires an additional 1 GB of RAM and additional 15 GB of available hard disk space. The requirement for a processor capable of hardware virtualization has been lifted.
    Windows Media Center (included in Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise), requires a TV tuner to receive and record TV.

Hardware support limits

Physical memory

Maximum limits on physical memory (RAM) that Windows 7 can address vary depending on both the Windows version and between 32-bit and 64-bit versions. The following table specifies the maximum physical memory limits supported:

Physical memory limits for Windows 7

Version                                   Limit in 32-bit Windows     Limit in 64-bit Windows
Windows 7 Ultimate
Windows 7 Enterprise                                                         192GB
Windows 7 Professional        4GB
Windows 7 Home Premium                                                16GB
Windows 7 Home Basic                                                      8GB
Windows 7 Starter                 2GB                                       N/A

Processor

The maximum total number of logical processors in a PC that Windows 7 supports is: 32 for 32-bit, 256 for 64-bit.

The maximum number of physical processors in a PC that Windows 7 supports is: 2 for Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate, and 1 for Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium.

Updates

Service Pack 1

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) was announced on March 18, 2010. A beta was released on July 12, 2010. The final version was released to the public on February 9, 2011. At the time of release, it was not made mandatory. It was available via Windows Update, direct download, or by ordering the Windows 7 SP1 DVD. The service pack is on a much smaller scale than those released for previous versions of Windows, particularly Windows Vista.

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 adds support for Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX), a 256-bit instruction set extension for processors, and improves IKEv2 by adding additional identification fields such as E-mail ID to it. In addition, it adds support for Advanced Format 512e as well as additional Identity Federation Services. Windows 7 Service Pack 1 also resolves a bug related to HDMI audio and another related to printing XPS documents.

Some programs have compatibility issues with SP1 and a limited number of programs may experience a loss of functionality.

In Europe, the automatic nature of the BrowserChoice.eu feature was dropped in Windows 7 Service Pack 1 in February 2011 and remained absent for 14 months despite Microsoft reporting that it was still present, subsequently described by Microsoft as a "technical error". As a result, in March 2013 the European Commission fined Microsoft €561 million to deter companies from reneging on settlement promises.

According to Paul Thurrott, Microsoft is not planning another service pack.

Windows Management Framework 3.0

Windows Management Framework 3.0 is an update package that includes updated versions Windows PowerShell (v3.0), Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) and Windows Remote Management (WinRM). It was released on December 3, 2012.

Platform update

A platform update for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 was released on February 26, 2013 after a pre-release version had been released on November 5, 2012. It is also included with Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7.

It includes enhancements to Direct2D, DirectWrite, Direct3D, Windows Imaging Component (WIC), Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform (WARP), Windows Animation Manager (WAM), XPS Document API, H.264 Video Decoder and JPEG XR decoder. However support for Direct3D 11.1 is limited and the update does not include significant features from Windows 8 which depend on DXGI/WDDM 1.2, such as stereoscopic frame buffer or feature level 11_1 and related APIs.

In March 2013 a 'Slow Boot Slow Login' Hotfix Rollup was released via Microsoft Upgrade Catalog, providing increased performance, however mainly in relation to enterprise setups.

Goals

Bill Gates, in an interview with Newsweek, suggested that this version of Windows would be more "user-centric". Gates later said that Windows 7 would also focus on performance improvements. Steven Sinofsky later expanded on this point, explaining in the Engineering Windows 7 blog that the company was using a variety of new tracing tools to measure the performance of many areas of the operating system on an ongoing basis, to help locate inefficient code paths and to help prevent performance regressions.

Senior Vice President Bill Veghte stated that Windows Vista users migrating to Windows 7 would not find the kind of device compatibility issues they encountered migrating from Windows XP. Speaking about Windows 7 on October 16, 2008, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed compatibility between Windows Vista and Windows 7, indicating that Windows 7 would be a refined version of Windows Vista.

Editions and market focus

Windows 7 is available in six different editions, of which the Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate editions are available for retail sale to consumers in most countries. The other editions are not available in retail. The Starter edition is only available preinstalled by OEMs on new PCs, the Enterprise edition only by volume licensing, and Home Basic only to certain developing countries' markets. Each edition of Windows 7 includes all of the capabilities and features of the edition below it.

All editions support the IA-32 computer architecture; all except Starter edition support the x86-64 architecture. Retail copies of Windows 7 are distributed on two DVDs: one for the IA-32 version and the other for x86-64. OEM copies include one DVD, depending on the processor architecture licensed.

The installation media is the same for all consumer editions of Windows 7 that have the same processor architecture. Product license is used to determine which features are activated. License upgrades permit the subsequent unlocking of features without re-installation of the operating system. Users who wish to upgrade to an edition of Windows 7 with more features can then use Windows Anytime Upgrade to purchase the upgrade, and unlock the features of those editions. Some copies of Windows 7 have restrictions, in which it must be distributed, sold, or bought and activated in the geographical region specified in its front cover box.

Microsoft is offering a family pack of Windows 7 Home Premium (in select markets) that allows installation on up to three PCs. The "Family Pack" costs US$149.99 in the United States. On September 18, 2009, Microsoft said they were to offer temporary student discounts for Windows 7. The offer ran in the US and the United Kingdom, with similar schemes available in Canada, Australia, Korea, Mexico, France and India. Students with a valid .edu or .ac.uk email address could apply for either Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional, priced at US$30 or GB£30.

Windows 7 is also currently available as an embedded version to developers (previously Windows Embedded 2011).

The different editions of Windows 7 have been designed and marketed toward people with different needs. Out of the different editions (Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate), the Starter edition has been designed and marketed for lower cost notebooks, Home Basic for emerging markets, Home Premium for normal home users, Professional for businesses, Enterprise for larger businesses and corporations, and Ultimate for enthusiasts.

ITKiDuniyaa Explains Windows 7 In Simple Words

Windows 7 is an operating system released by Microsoft on October 22, 2009. It follows the previous (sixth) version of Windows, called Windows Vista.

Like previous versions of Windows, Windows 7 has a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows you to interact with items on the screen using a keyboard and mouse. However, Windows 7 is also includes a feature called "Windows Touch" that supports touchscreen input and multitouch functionality. For example, you can right-click a file by touching it with one finger and tapping it with another. You can also zoom in on an image by touching it with two fingers, then spreading your fingers apart. Windows 7 is bundled with several touch-ready programs that are designed for touchscreen use.

Windows 7 also includes several new multimedia features. One example is "Play To," a program that allows you to stream audio and video to different computers or devices within your house. The "HomeGroup" feature makes it easy to share media files and other data between computers. It also makes it possible to share printers on a home network. The "Remote Media Streaming" feature allows you to access the music, video, and photo libraries on your computer from remote locations.

The search feature in Windows 7, called "Windows Search," allows you to see results of searches as soon as you start typing in the search box. Windows Search categorizes the results by file type and displays text snippets that indicate where the search phrase was found in each result. After the search results are returned, it is possible to narrow the results by filtering them by date, file type, file size, and other parameters. You can search local drives, external hard drives, and networked drives all using the standard Windows Search interface.

Windows 7 is available in the following editions:

    Windows 7 Home Premium - the standard version installed with most home PCs and includes all of the features listed above.
    Windows 7 Professional - typically installed on business computers and includes all the Home Premium features as well as additional features such as Windows XP mode (XPM) and Domain Join.
    Windows 7 Ultimate - the most complete version, which has all of the Professional features as well as BitLocker data protection and additional language support.

The system requirements for Windows 7 are:

    1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
    1 GB of RAM or 2 GB of RAM for the 64-bit version
    16 GB of available hard disk space or 20 GB for the 64-bit version
    DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

ITKiDuniyaa Explains Windows 7 In Short Words

Windows 7 is the seventh version of the Microsoft Windows operating system. It follows Windows Vista and is designed to be a sleeker operating system than its predecessor, with faster performance and fewer compatibility issues. Windows 7 also include several new features, such as multitouch support for touchscreen interfaces, a simple home networking system called "HomeGroup," and an improved Windows Search feature.

Windows 7 is available in three editions in the United States, including Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate editions. There is also a Home Basic version available in other countries, as well as an Enterprise edition that is only sold to companies through volume licensing.

How To Install Windows 7