If you have installed Windows XP or Vista then you will be on familiar ground with Windows 7. Microsoft haven’t fixed what wasn’t broken, merely refined it a little. All of the choices and dialog windows are much the same as previous editions, which will alleviate the learning curve for a lot of users.
To begin the process you will need to select your DVD drive as the first boot device on the PC. After a reboot, a black dialogue window will appear asking you to "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD." After pressing a key you will be presented with another black screen as the setup program creates a RAM drive and loads the setup files into it.
Once completed you will be presented with the first Windows blue screen where you choose your region and language settings.
Choose the relevant options and click Next.
Here you have the option to check your system and perform other maintenance tasks that aren’t relevant to the install. Feel free to take a look around if you like, though. Click on "Install now" when you’re ready to begin the process proper.
You will have to accept the inevitable license agreement to continue further, but once you have it’s time to choose the type of install you require. You have two choices here, Upgrade or Custom. Upgrade speaks for itself really, and if you are installing the release Candidate or live in Europe this option won’t be available either in the Release Candidate or the final release.
Choosing the ‘Custom (advanced)' install leads to the "Where do you want to install Windows" dialog which allows you to specify which disk or partition to install the files.
Here you can create, format, or extend partitions dependent on your needs. Once you have specified where you want to install Windows, the program gets on with its job and begins the installation.
The "Installing Windows" screen will give you a running progress of the procedure. There will be reboots where you will be presented with various install and setup screens. Depending on your system this process can take between twenty minutes and one hour.
Most of the work will be done behind the scenes and won’t need any input from you until near the end.
