Preparing your computer's hard drive for installing Windows XP. Preparing your computer's hard drive for installing Windows XP Install Windows 7 from disk

We use the easiest way to download - using the “Boot Menu”. To call the “Boot Menu” on different motherboards and laptops, the “F8”, “F9”, “F10”, “F11”, “F12” or “Esc” keys can be used. Often this key is indicated in the prompts that appear when you turn on the computer.

Immediately after turning on the computer, press and hold the “Boot Menu” key until the boot device selection menu appears.

Use the down and up arrows to navigate to the DVD drive or flash drive and press Enter.
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If the call key is not indicated in the prompts at the initial stage of booting the computer, then you can find out this information from the instructions on the manufacturer’s website motherboard or laptop, searching on the Internet or at random.

The first thing you should see after the BIOS messages is a line like “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD...” or “Press any key to boot from USB...” (“Press any button to boot from USB...”) if you are booting from a flash drive.

When you see this message, you should press any key on your keyboard within a few seconds, I usually press Spacebar. If you miss this moment, the Windows installation will not begin and you will have to restart the computer again from the old operating system using the “Ctrl-Alt-Del” key combination or the “Reset” button on the system unit.

Please note that during the installation process Windows computer reboots several times and each time such a message may appear, but pressing “any key” on the keyboard is no longer NECESSARY, otherwise you just repeatedly reinstall Windows from the beginning and you will never finish it!

Sometimes a message like the one in the screenshot below may also appear.

In this case, you just need to press the “Enter” key on your keyboard. And by switching with the “Tab” key to the “Windows Memory Diagnostic” item, you can check RAM computer for serviceability.

Wait for the blue “Install Windows” window to appear.

Installing Windows 7 begins with choosing languages.

3.1. Language selection

At this stage you are asked to select languages.

“Installed language” is the language in which all messages will be displayed in the operating system. If the version of Windows is multilingual, then you will have a choice. Most editions of Windows have only one operating system language and it is advisable that you understand it well.

“Time and Currency Format” – defines the names of months, days of the week, main currency, digital separators accepted in your country (period or comma), etc. What does it mean? Well, for example, if you select “Ukrainian”, then in programs for typing and tables, days of the week, months and monetary units will be automatically entered in Ukrainian, regardless of the language of the entire document. Therefore, choosing a national format only makes sense if the majority of your documents will be in the national language. However, this can be easily changed in Windows at any time.

"Keyboard Layout" is just the default input language that will be used when Windows startup and all programs. It makes sense to install the one on which you communicate and write. If you will use the computer primarily for programming, it may be more convenient to select the “US” (English) layout. After installing Windows, you can add and set any language as default.

For Russian-speaking residents of the CIS, I recommend leaving “Russian” everywhere, since when installing some programs that have a multilingual interface, they may not be in Russian, but in the language that you specified in one of the fields when installing the system.

To continue the installation, click the “Next” button.

3.2. Starting the installation

In the next window, click the “Install” button under the “Windows 7” logo.

3.3. License Agreement

Check the box “I accept the license terms” and click “Next”.

4. Windows 7 installation type

We offer two types of installation.

“Update” – allows you to update a previous version of Windows (Vista) to new Windows 7 with saving files, programs and settings. Windows XP cannot be updated this way. In any case, I do not recommend using this installation method, since it inherits the problems of the previous operating system and it is likely that the computer will slow down and malfunction.

“Full installation” - installing a new copy of Windows on a new or existing partition hard drive. When installed on new computer partitions are created on the hard drive, and when installed on old computer partitions are either deleted and recreated, or a partition is selected that has enough space for installation. With this type of installation, you can also install Windows 7 as a second operating system, for example, alongside your existing Windows XP. In this case, when you turn on the computer, you will be asked which operating system you want to load.

We select “Full installation” and a window for selecting a disk for installing Windows 7 will open in front of us.

5. Disk configuration

Disk configuration is the process of creating, deleting, formatting hard disk partitions for installing Windows on it.

5.1. Disk configuration on an old computer

If you are reinstalling Windows on an old computer, then it already has one (“C”) or several partitions (“C”, “D”…). I hope you haven't forgotten from drive "C" to external drive, because in the process Windows reinstallation drive "C" will be cleared.
Hard drive Transcend StoreJet 25M TS500GSJ25M 500 GB

If your disk has only one partition, then it is better to delete it and create two new ones - one of small size for the operating system and programs, the second for all the remaining space for your files. This disk configuration will be more convenient and reliable in terms of backing up and restoring the operating system and your files.

If your disk has several partitions, then the first one, on which Windows is installed, can be deleted and a new one created in its place, and the second one with your files can be left as is.

5.2. Disk configuration on a new computer

When installed on a new computer, your disk is completely empty and has no partitions. The best option will create two partitions - one of small size for the operating system and programs, the second for all the remaining space for your files. This disk configuration will be more convenient and reliable in terms of backing up and restoring the operating system and your files.

5.3. Dual drive configuration

If you have two hard drives, or one SSD and one regular disk, then it is advisable to create one partition on each of them and install Windows 7 on the one that is faster (SSD) or smaller in volume, and the second one is completely dedicated to storing your files.

If both disks are large, then you can create two partitions on the first one - one small for the system, one for storing your files. On the second disk, you can create a partition for the entire volume and use it to install programs and games, or you can also create two partitions - the first for programs and games, the second for files. This configuration will ensure maximum loading speed for programs and games, since Windows and the page file will be on one drive, and programs and games on another.

6. Disk setup for Windows 7

The screenshot below shows a computer with a 500 GB disk.

Don't be surprised that the real size is 465.7 GB. Manufacturers round up sizes hard drives to a larger round number. A table with actual hard drive sizes can be downloaded at the end of the article in the “” section.

SSD drive It’s better not to divide it into several partitions, but to give it entirely to the “C” drive for installing Windows, programs and games. Then you will get unrivaled computer speed!

Hard drive A-Data Ultimate SU650 120GB

Click on “Disk Setup” and additional buttons will appear.

The optimal size of the system partition is 10-20% of the total hard drive volume. For Windows 7, I recommend a partition size of at least 40 and no more than 200 GB.

I usually take 10% of the declared disk capacity, that is, 50 GB from a 500 GB disk and 100 GB from a 1000 GB disk. Since this is enough to install basic programs, it is better to install games on the second partition along with other files, since they take up a large amount of space and make it difficult to backup and system recovery, which we'll talk about later.

But if you like to experiment and plan to install a lot of serious programs and games, then it is better to make the system partition larger, about 20% of the disk capacity or 100-200 GB in physical terms. Since some of the data still ends up on the system partition and in the future there may be a lack of space on it.

Let's make everything sure, create a system partition of 100 GB in size. To do this, click the “Create” button and enter the size in megabytes.

Please note that 1 GB = 1024 MB. In addition, Windows 7 takes 100 MB of this volume to create a hidden boot partition.

I like everything to be beautiful and the system to display a 100 GB disk, not 97.6 GB, so I calculate the volume in megabytes as follows:

100 GB x 1024 + 100 MB = 102,500 MB

This number must be entered in the “Size” field and click the “Apply” button.

Here is the result of the performed operation.

As you can see, two sections have been created. “Partition 1”, which is only 100 MB in size, is used for the operating system bootloader and we will not see it in Windows. “Partition 2” has a size of exactly 100 GB and we will install Windows 7 on it.

There is still “Unallocated space…” with a volume of 365.6 GB, on which we will create another partition for storing user files.

By default, all remaining space is allocated for it. It can be divided into several more sections if you know what you need it for. But we will leave everything as it is by simply clicking the “Apply” button.

As a result, we get “Section 3”, which took up all the remaining space. Now you need to click the “Format” button and confirm this action.

You can create this partition after installing Windows, but you will have to perform more steps and possibly change the drive letters. We will also consider this option after installing Windows.

7. Nuances of marking and large-volume disks

A 100 MB hidden boot partition is created when a new partition is created. If you install Windows 7 on an existing partition, the bootloader files will be located on it and a separate partition will not be created.

This configuration will occur if Windows installer 7 will partition the disk using the old MBR system. If Windows Installer partitions the disk in new system GPT, then several service partitions can be created.

MBR is an older partition type that supports disks up to 2 TB. GPT is a new type of partition that supports disks larger than 2 TB and requires support from the motherboard.

There are usually fewer problems with disks marked in MBR, but this is not essential. If you install Windows 7 on a disk with a capacity of 3 TB or more, then you need it to have GPT partitioning, otherwise not all of its capacity (about 2.3 TB) will be used.

The problem is that the Windows 7 installer does not always partition large drives in GPT partitioning, even with support from the motherboard. In this case, check that in the BIOS settings of your motherboard or laptop, in the “Boot” section, UEFI boot devices are given priority.

In modern graphical interface the motherboard's "Setup" program it may look like this.

Write this folder onto a USB flash drive and insert it before turning on the computer to install Windows. In this case, the Windows 7 distribution can be located either on the installation DVD or on this flash drive.

When you reach the hard drive selection window, in which it is not displayed, click on the “Download” button and specify the location of the driver files (folder on the flash drive).

If the driver is suitable, the installer should detect your hard drive and it will appear in the window for selecting the disk to install. After this, you can create partitions on the disk and install Windows on them.

9. Copying and unpacking files

Now select “Partition 2” with a size of 100 GB, on which we install Windows 7 and click “Next”.

Copying and unpacking of files begins, which will take some time.

Sometimes this process may stop at 0% or any other place for a while, and then quickly end. Please be patient and do not touch your computer. You may need to wait 15-30 minutes. If after 30 minutes of waiting nothing happens, then most likely the computer has frozen or the installation disk is hard to read. You'll have to start all over again and if it freezes again, perhaps replace the installation disk. The problem may also be caused by a malfunction of the hard drive, RAM, or motherboard.

After copying and unpacking the files, the computer will restart several times and the installation process will continue, requiring user interaction.

Let me remind you that when the message “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD...” appears, there is NO NEED to press anything.

10. Configuring Windows 7 settings

Settings Windows settings 7 starts with entering your username.

10.1. Entering your username and computer

In the next window, you need to enter the name of the main user, who will be the computer administrator, and the name of the computer on the network.

I recommend entering a name in English letters without spaces, since the user profile folder will have the same name, into which program and game settings can be saved. And some, even modern, programs and games cannot save files to folders with Russian names.

Names can have capital letters and numbers, and the input language can be switched using the Alt-Shift key combination.

As for the computer name, my recommendations are the same, but you can use a hyphen (minus sign) in the name. For example, for the main home computer, you can name it PC-1, PK-1 or Home-1, for a second computer - PC-2, PK-2 or Home-2, for a laptop - HP, ACER, Samsung, etc. If you have several laptops at home, you can add a username to the computer name, for example, Notebook-Vera or Misha-PC. This will make it easier for you to navigate later, but in principle it doesn’t really matter and you can always change the computer name. Please also note that the username and computer name must not be the same.

10.2. Entering your password

The next window prompts you to enter the password for the user whose name was entered in the previous window, as well as a hint for this password in case you forget it.

I recommend on this step do not enter a password, since during the process of setting up the computer it will reboot more than once and you will simply get tired of entering it. It is better to do this after completely setting up the computer and creating a backup copy of the system. In principle, if no one will use the computer except you, you have nothing to hide and you do not plan to exchange files via local network, then you don’t have to use a password at all. In other cases, using a password is highly desirable and we will talk about this in one of the articles on setting up Windows. For now, just click Next.

10.3. Entering the key and activating Windows 7

In the next window you are asked to enter your license Windows key 7.

If you have officially purchased the operating system and are sure that this key has not been used on another computer, then enter the 25-digit code indicated on the disk or certificate sticker. In this case, you can leave the “Automatically activate Windows when you connect to the Internet” checkbox and click “Next”. Activation will occur 3 days after the first login.

If you don't have it yet license key or you are installing Windows 7 for evaluation purposes, then do not enter anything. Check mark automatic activation in this case, you need to uncheck and click “Next”. After installation, you will have a 30-day trial period. In the future, you can extend it 3 times, thereby increasing the time of familiarization with the operating system to 120 days.

10.4. Setting up Windows 7 updates

In the next window, you need to select one of three modes for installing Windows updates.

“Use recommended settings” – all important and recommended updates will be installed automatically. Important ones include security updates and bug fixes. Recommended ones include updating drivers, software components and much more. Most experts advise using this mode.

“Install only the most important updates” – only security updates and bug fixes will be installed automatically.

“Postpone decision” – does not enable automatic updating, but configures it later in the operating system.

On a personal note, I want to say that if the protection of your data is important to you and you don’t know how to protect yourself from security threats on the Internet, then important updates need to be installed. On the other hand, multiple updates eventually lead to a slowdown of the computer, and along with recommended updates, a large number of unnecessary components are installed into the operating system. If you use your computer mainly for games, your security is well set up, you have a backup copy of the system and all your personal files, then in principle you can do without updates and your computer will work as quickly as possible. But I still recommend installing at least the most important updates.

10.5. Setting the date and time

The next step asks you to select your time zone, date and time.

There is nothing complicated about this and although it can be configured after installing the system, it is better to do it right away. First you need to set the time zone, and only after that the time. If your locality is not in the list of time zones, then choose any other one that is in the same time zone with you, for example, for Kyiv the time zone is UTC +02:00 as in Athens.

If you live in Russia, then uncheck " Automatic translation to summer time and back,” since time change has been canceled in Russia. In other cases, follow the accepted regulations in your country. For example, in Ukraine, the time change is still in effect and the checkbox must be left. The computer clock will be automatically adjusted to the correct time and day. Click the "Next" button.

10.6. Computer location

If your computer is connected to a network and during Windows installation you were able to install required driver For network card, the “Select the current location of your computer” window will appear.

“Home network” - select this item if your computer or laptop is now at your home, connected to the Internet via a router, and you want to exchange files with other home computers.

“Work network” - select this item if your computer or laptop is currently located at your work, where there is computer network to share files with other work computers.

“Public network” – select this item if your computer or laptop is connected to the Internet directly by cable. In this case, it will be used additional protection from attacks from the Internet.

10.7. Home group

This functionality was introduced in Windows 7 to simplify file sharing between home computers, but in principle it is not necessary. You need to check the boxes for the folders with which types of data you want to provide access to. You can also enable general access to a printer connected to this computer. You can check all the boxes, it won't harm you.

If a computer with Windows 7 or higher was detected on the network, you will be prompted to enter the homegroup password, which can be viewed on that computer. After entering your password, click Next. If you don’t have a lot of time, you can skip entering the password and click the “Skip” button, and enter the password later.

If a homegroup was not detected, it will be created on this computer and you will be given a random password. You can record it, or you can watch it later in Windows at any time. But it’s better to write it down or take a photo and click the “Next” button.

11. Login

After this, the user should automatically log in and the main page should be displayed. Windows screen, called "Desktop". This completes the installation of Windows 7.

12. Links

Hard drive A-Data Ultimate SU650 240GB
Hard drive Transcend StoreJet 25M3 1 TB
Sandisk Cruzer

Modern hard drives (HDDs) are becoming more spacious and less expensive, and many people believe that it is better to buy one large drive - 2 - 3 - 4 terabytes - than several small ones. But not everyone realizes what difficulties they will encounter when installing an operating system on such a disk. The fact is that disks larger than 2 TiB use a non-standard, new type of data organization - the GPT partition table. It contains “surprises” that await the inexperienced user.

The main differences between GPT (new) and MBR (old) disks

Disk partitioning according to the MBR standard cannot address space exceeding 2.2 TiB, and for GPT disks there are no restrictions (or rather, their limit is an astronomical number by our standards - 8.6 billion TiB).
Only 64-bit versions of Windows, starting with Windows Vista x64, can be installed on GPT disks. Windows XP 64-bit and all x86 versions since Vista can write to and read data from GPT partitions, but cannot boot from them. Windows XP x86 and higher versions do not support the GPT platform.
The GPT partition table is part of the UEFI interface - the new BIOS, so to speak. Computers with traditional BIOSes do not support the GPT structure.

But this does not mean that modern, capacious GPT hard drives cannot be used the old fashioned way - on computers without UEFI or for installing 32-bit systems. You can: to do this, the GPT partition table just needs to be converted to MBR. Part of the volume - that which is beyond 2.2 TiB - will be inaccessible, but nothing can be done about it.

Convert partition table from GPT to MBR

Work with hard drive up to 2 TiB

When installing Windows 7 x86 (32-bit) on a GPT disk, an error message appears clearly indicating the reason:

If your hard drive is less than 2 TiB, a full format and deleting all partitions will solve the problem. This can be done through the “Disk Setup” option from the distribution kit.

When, during the installation of Windows 7, you get to the selection of the partition where to install the system, and you see an error message, click the “Disk Setup” button.

Select each section, starting from the bottom, and delete by clicking the button of the same name. You should end up with one total unallocated space equal to the size of the entire hard drive.

Now you need to create each partition again. To do this, click the “Create” button, set the desired partition size and click “Apply”. Repeat the operation as many times as you want to obtain partitions. The system will ask you to allocate an area for its needs (boot partition 100 mb), it is advisable to agree.

Formatting of newly created partitions is done by clicking the “Format” button. After these steps, the hard partition table GPT disk will be converted to an MBR suitable for 32-bit installation Windows versions 7. Further installation proceeds without any special features.

Working with a hard drive larger than 2 TiB

To create an MBR on disks of such large capacity, you will need a utility DiskPart, part of the seven distribution kit. It starts and works through command line.

Having reached the choice of installation location, launch the command line by pressing “Shift” + “F10” on the keyboard. In the black window that opens, enter: diskpart and press Enter.
Next command: list disk– to view all hard drives installed on your computer.
Select the disk on which you will create the MBR. If he is alone, enter the command select disk 0, if there are several, substitute zero serial number the disk you need.
Next, delete all data and all markings from the selected HDD with the command clean.
Team convert mbr converts GPT table to MBR.
To close the console, enter: exit.

Then you can proceed to installing Windows 7.

Preparing a disk for installing Windows 7 using third-party programs: partitioning, formatting, etc.

You can mark and format the HDD before installing Windows 7 using third party programs such as “ Acronis Disk Director”, “Paragon Partition Manager”, etc. There are enough applications for these purposes, but these two are familiar to many and are the best in their class, so we will consider them.

Acronis Disk Director

Powerful disk management tool. Available in two versions - for working in Windows environment and as boot image. The second allows you to repartition, format, delete, move and restore volumes, and transfer data from partition to partition without booting into Windows.

The principle of using Acronis Disk Director is intuitive - each of its options has a clear, unambiguous definition. Interface – English and Russian.

In order to divide the HDD into partitions and format it in any of the proposed file systems (their list is quite extensive), select “Create partitions” and follow the wizard’s instructions.

Acronis Disk Director has one very useful function– Partition Recovery Wizard. It allows you to restore deleted volumes to disk with all their data. Unless, of course, the information was overwritten.

Paragon Partition Manager

Another full-featured set of disk management tools. It is a boot image with which you can do a lot of things: split disks into volumes, format them in various file systems, do boot menus, create installation packages for OS distributions (not only Windows), manage system bootloaders, etc.

As for partition management functions, Paragon Partition Manager allows you to create, delete, divide, copy, restore, merge, make them backups and transfer to external media. You can even transfer everything to another contents of hard disk. In addition to the above, the application has network functions that make it possible to create a connection with other computers on the local network.

Despite the English-language interface, Partition Manager is quite easy to manage. Most options launch a built-in wizard that guides the user through all stages of the selected operation. It doesn’t take much time to master the program, and the result of what is done is always good.

Managing partitions, formatting and other operations through the disk manager

You can also redistribute disk space from under a running system through “Disk Management” - your own Windows tool 7. The tool is located in the “Computer Management” set.

Launch Control Panel and open the Administrative Tools application. From the list administrative tools select “Computer Management”.

Next select “Disk Management”.

You will see a “map” of hard drives and other storage devices installed on the computer - flash drives, memory cards, etc., if they are connected.

If the disks are divided into parts, each partition, otherwise called a volume, will be displayed on the map with its letter, size and type designation: primary or logical. At the top is a table of the properties of each volume. Here you can see which of them your system boots from - the boot partition has the “Active” attribute.

The active partition in Windows 7 is a 100 MB partition at the very beginning of the hard drive (MBR standard). It does not have a letter and does not appear in Explorer.

Right-clicking on one of the partitions on the disk map opens a list of available commands: what operations can be performed on this volume.

So, on logical partition D of our only hard drive, you can do the following:

open (via explorer);
change letter;
change the disk path;
format;
expand;
squeeze; squeeze
delete;
view properties;
read the help.

If you remove the volume letter, it will not appear in Windows Explorer, like the rest hidden sections. Such as SYSTEM - where is it located Windows boot loader 7, and the RECOVERY section. This protects the files stored there from accidental damage and deletion.

The “format” command will destroy all information, the “expand” and “shrink” commands are intended to control the size of the partition. “Delete”, accordingly, will turn the selected area of the hard drive into unallocated space.

In short, working with the disk manager is not difficult, but it requires attention and caution from the user.

Installing or reinstalling the Windows 7 operating system may be necessary if, for example, you purchased a new hard drive (hard drive), the old operating system is unstable, or you just want to update old version new system. This article will talk about preparing to install the Windows 7 operating system, since today it is most popular among users personal computers and laptops. Preparing to install Windows 7 is the initial stage of system installation, which should never be skipped. Especially if you value time and information.

Not every beginner is able to independently install or reinstall Windows system 7 without detailed guide and the necessary preparation. And despite the fact that there are already a lot of instructions on how to install Windows 7 on the Internet, I still decided that my site simply cannot do without a guide written by me, based on my own experience, on preparing for the installation and installing Windows 7 itself. I will try in detail and clearly, step by step, explain and describe everything connected with this. For some, this description may seem a little drawn out, but it is intended for users who have just begun to take their first steps in mastering a computer.

So, first of all, you need to prepare any storage medium, be it a DVD or a flash card (flash drive), with the Windows 7 operating system of the version you need. You can learn more about creating a boot disk or bootable flash drive from the articles “” and “”. I want to say that today there are many different so-called assemblies of the Windows 7 operating system, to which advanced users have made certain changes. I recommend that you install the original Windows 7 SP1 x64 system.

SP1 (Service Pack 1) is a system update package aimed at optimizing its operation. Roughly speaking, this package eliminates shortcomings and corrects errors made in the previous version of the system, which allows it to work faster and more stable. X64 is the bit depth of the system hardware platform. It was designed to be able to run 64-bit applications. The question involuntarily arises, so what came first - the egg or the chicken?.. Well, oh well. All you need to know from this is that 64-bit operating system Supports both 32-bit and 64-bit processors and an amount of RAM that significantly exceeds the amount of memory available on 32-bit systems. 32-bit operating systems (x86) support slightly less than 4 GB of RAM. I hope everything is clear to you.

We will assume that you managed to create bootable USB flash drive or a disk with the Windows 7 operating system according to the instructions I suggested. Or you simply bought a ready-made disk with the system in the store. The next step before installing Windows is to save all important data from “Local Disk C” to any other local disk. Indeed, if “Disk C” is formatted (and this action is necessary for a clean installation of the operating system), all data from this local disk will be erased.

I’ll probably stop at this point and talk about formatting in more detail. When formatting a specific local disk, all data is erased from it. If, for example, your hard drive (hard drive) is divided into four local disk"C", "D", "E" and "F". And you need, as, for example, in our case, to format drive “C”. All data from the disk being formatted will be erased, but data from other logical drives (“D”, “E” and “F”) will remain intact. Basically, it is for this reason that the hard drive is divided into several logical ones. It is also worth noting that all files in the “Desktop” area are files stored on “Disk C”. Therefore, if you need them, be sure to save them to another local drive.

If the above is completed, you can proceed to the next step. Installation instructions for Windows 7 set out in the article "".

In this article we will look at how to install the Windows 7 operating system from a disk. The instructions were prepared as clearly as possible and accessible even for beginners.

The entire process of installing the “seven” will consist of the following steps:

BIOS setup to boot your computer from a boot disk;

Recommendations for partitioning a hard drive;
Definition of the system partition;
Windows 7 installation and initial setup.

Step 1: Set up the BIOS to boot your computer from a boot disk

If you don’t know how to boot from disk, then by following the link you will learn how to do it:

Step 2. Start installation

After exiting the BIOS and having previously saved the settings made, the computer will reboot and if any operating system was previously installed on it, then after a while the message “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD” will appear on the screen. boot from a CD/DVD) which is what you should do.

Be careful as you will only have five seconds to enter the system installation. If the current operating system starts loading, it means that the opportunity to start the installation was missed and you should restart the computer again for the next attempt.

If you are installing the system on a new computer or a blank hard drive, you will not see the previous window, Windows 7 installation will start automatically.

So, if the computer started to boot with installation disk, then the system installation start window will appear on the screen, in which you can see the process of downloading the initially necessary files.

If this window does not appear, but the old operating system starts loading (if it was installed) or messages appear stating that boot disk is not found (if installed on a new computer or hard drive), this means that your computer was unable to boot from the disk and you should return to the previous step for setting up the BIOS.

After downloading the main files, you should see a window for setting up language settings, date and time format, as well as keyboard layout, in which the default settings for Russia will be set.

System Restore may be useful to you in the future if problems arise with installed system, for example, due to damage, deletion or unauthorized modification of its system files. As a rule, this leads to Windows 7 becoming unstable or refusing to boot at all. In this case, you can restore the original system files from the installation disk using the above point.

In general, the “System Restore” section in Windows 7 is enough powerful tool to fix various kinds of problems that arise during its operation, and we will definitely devote a separate publication to it, and within the framework of this article, click the “Install” button to proceed directly to the installation.

In a few minutes, a window with a license agreement will appear in front of you, the terms of which must be accepted by checking the appropriate box and clicking the “Next” button.

In the next window you will have to select the installation type:

As you can see, here we can choose two options: update and full installation. The “Update” item can be used if you want to update your old operating system to Windows 7, while maintaining all installed programs and settings. True, for this, the installation of the “seven” must be launched directly from your already installed OS. It should also be remembered that this is only possible from Windows Vista, and the update is not applicable to operating systems of older generations, including Windows XP. In general, this type of installation is not the best solution. The fact is that not only the settings of the previous system will migrate to the new Windows, but also all its problems, brakes and glitches. And in general, stable operation of the system before installed programs in this case are not guaranteed. Therefore, the preferred type is the full installation, which is what you should choose.

At the next stage of installation, we have to select a partition on the hard drive to install Windows 7. Here, I would like to do small retreat and give some useful recommendations for partitioning your hard drive into system partitions:

Don't allocate all of your hard drive space to one single partition. This could cause you a lot of trouble in the future.
Modern hard drives have quite large capacities for storing data and therefore it is advisable to divide them into several thematic sections.
It is recommended to set aside a separate section for installing the operating system and necessary software and not fill it with your personal data.
You should choose the size of the system partition with a margin, taking into account that for correct Windows operation, 15% of the space in this section should be left free.
Don't create too many sections. This will complicate navigation and reduce the efficiency of distributing large files and folders

Step 4. Identifying the system partition

Now, let's get back to the installation. From this point on, the installation can proceed in two ways:

Option 1: You have a new computer and the hard drive has never been allocated. In this case, a window with the following content will appear in front of you:

To partition the hard drive into partitions, you must select the item: “Disk Settings”. In the additional options that appear, select “Create” and enter in the window next to required size section. Please remember that you must specify the size in megabytes. Calculate it based on the fact that 1 gigabyte = 1024 megabytes. As a rule, for Windows7 and related software, 60–100 GB is enough, but you have the right to make it larger if necessary.

Having specified the required size of the future system partition, click the “Apply” button. Next, to use all its capabilities, Windows will ask you to create an additional partition for it. Don't be alarmed, it will only take up 100 MB of free disk space and will be invisible to you.

By clicking “OK” we will return to the screen for selecting a partition for installing Windows.

As you can see, there have been changes here. Now we have a partition reserved by the system for its own needs, a newly created partition and the remaining unallocated area. From the unallocated space on the disk, in the same window you can create additional partitions in the same way that we used above, or you can postpone this action until later and finally partition your drive in Windows.

Having made the necessary decision, select the part of the disk on which we plan to install the operating system and click “Next”.

Option 2 - If your computer already has an operating system installed. Then your hard drive is already divided into logical areas, and you will see a window listing all found partitions on it, for example:

Attention! All further manipulations with the found partitions may lead to the loss of your data, so be very careful in your actions.

If current splitting hard If you are not satisfied with the disk, you can delete existing partitions in whole or in part by selecting the appropriate part of the disk, and then the “Delete” option. You have the right to split the unallocated space on the disk that appears after this at your discretion using the above method, discussed in option 1.

If you are completely satisfied with the current disk layout, then you need to decide in which of the existing partitions you will install Windows 7 and whether you want to save the information available there. In that case, before moving on, let's first take a look at possible options installation, after which you can make an informed decision without pointing your finger at the sky.

You have selected the partition on which your old operating system is currently installed, and you plan to save the data stored on it. In this case, after clicking the “Next” button, before starting the installation, you will see a warning window that the previous copy of Windows with all its files and folders will be moved to the “Windows.old” folder. The rest of the information will be untouched. Clicking "OK" in the warning window will begin the installation process.

There is one significant drawback to this setup. As a rule, after long-term use of the operating system, the partition on which it was installed becomes very littered and contains quite a lot of unnecessary files. Adding to all this a new operating system with the accompanying software, you will encounter, at a minimum, irrational use of hard disk space, file defragmentation, and even possible overflow, which will undoubtedly lead to a decrease in system speed.

If you have selected a hard disk segment that does not contain Windows as the future system partition and want to save all the stored information on it, then the installation will begin immediately after clicking the “Next” button.

If you plan to install Windows 7 on a blank partition (the preferred option of all) and you have either already saved the information on it in another place, or you do not need it, then you should format it before starting the installation. To do this, select “Format”. The installer will issue a warning that this partition may contain data that is important to you and it will be destroyed.

After clicking the “OK” button, the selected part of the disk will be completely cleared of the information stored there and to begin the installation, all you have to do is select “Next”.

Step 5. Installation and initial setup of Windows 7

So, after selecting the system partition, the system installation process will begin, during which files will be copied and unpacked, components and updates will be installed.

During installation, your computer will automatically restart several times, and the entire procedure may take from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on its power.

Finally, after the installation is complete and the computer restarts again, the first initial window will appear in front of you. Windows settings, in which you have to enter your username (the name of your account in the system) and computer (the name under which it will be visible to other users on the network).

On the next screen, you will be able to create a password for your account or postpone this action by leaving the fields blank and clicking the “Next” button.

The next step is to be able to select automatic Windows updates, designed to regularly check via the Internet for the availability of all kinds of system security patches, critical updates and service packs on the official website technical support. Enabling automatic update is desirable, but at this stage is optional, since you can configure this parameter more flexibly after installation from the control panel.

After you select your security options, Windows Initial Setup will prompt you to check your date and time settings. If everything is correct, click “Next”.

If network card drivers were installed during the installation process, you will see a window network settings, in which you will need to select the location of your computer.

After you make your selection, a window will appear to connect to the network and apply settings.

On this initial setup the system can be considered complete. After the final application of the settings, a welcome window will appear in front of you, then the system will prepare the desktop, the appearance of which will mark the completion of the installation of Windows 7.

Immediately after completing the Windows installation, you should install all the necessary drivers for the connected devices.

Remember! After installing Windows 7, you need to enter the BIOS again and return booting from the hard drive.

This article explains step by step how to perform clean install Windows 7. This method is suitable if the operating system (OS) has not yet been installed, you want to replace the existing OS or install Windows 7 with a second system in addition to a system of a different bit level or from a different manufacturer.

Minimum System Requirements

First of all, make sure that your computer meets the minimum requirements:

Processor: 1 GHz, 32-bit or 64-bit
RAM: 1 GB (32-bit) / 2 GB (64-bit)
Free disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) / 20 GB (64-bit)
Video adapter: DirectX 9 graphics support, 128 MB memory (to enable Aero theme)
DVD Reader/Writer/USB Flash
Internet connection (to download updates)

Media preparation

If you have a disk with Windows 7, go to.

If you have downloaded the OS image, read on.

Installation can be done:

from USB Flash (flash drive)
from DVD

Burning an image to a USB Flash drive or DVD

There are many recording methods, I offer several of them for you to choose from:

Preparing the hard disk partition (HDD) into which installation will be performed

It is advisable to transfer all important information and format (during the installation process).

To avoid confusion, you can set the volume label in advance:

Setting the boot in the BIOS

I assume that you know how to boot from a disk or flash drive. If not, follow the link to find out how to do it:

Installation

Insert a DVD or flash drive (if you have prepared one).

If the DVD is burned correctly and the boot priority is set correctly, this prompt will appear (press any key while it is on the screen):

This is done only 1 time, before starting the installation; during the installation process, just wait 5 seconds and the installation will continue automatically.