How to install Windows 7 on a Netbook

Install the newest version of the Windows Operating System, 7, on your netbook now with little effort. Download directly from Microsoft and load on your favorite Netbook.

Go to the following web link, scroll down the page and select the 32-bit version of Windows 7.

http://windows7.iyogi.net/insight-series-windows-7-installation

Sign in with your Windows Live account (Have an MSN Hotmail, MSN Messenger, or Passport account? It's your Windows Live ID.)

After you sign in you will get a individual Windows 7 Beta 32-bit Product Key (which you will need later) and Download Now link at the bottom of the page. Select to save the file to somewhere common, Desktop, My Downloads.

Go have some coffee, a meal, heck go to work and come back and maybe it will be finished. Nah it's not really too bad. I'm on a 7 Megabyte download connection and it took about 45min - 1 hour. The files size should be around 2.43 GB's.

After the download is finished you will have a single ISO file that will need to be burned using Nero or BurnAware (Free Download) as I have suggested before.

When you have the completed burned disk we will move on to step 2.

Insert the disk in your optical drive and boot up your computer. On my Dell Mini 9 I press the number 0 to pull up the boot options menu but your start up splash screen may differ. The point is you want to pull up the boot menu and select CD/DVD-RW Drive and hit Enter.

After that Windows will ask if you want to boot from the CD/DVD hit any key...Hit Enter to start the setup.

After the media loads the first setup screen will come up for Windows 7. Select the Language, Time & Currency, and Keyboard or input method here. (English, English (United States), US is the default settings.

Select Next to proceed with the setup.

Select Install now from the center of the screen.

Look over the License Terms then select I accept the license terms from the check box below. Select Next to proceed.

On the Which type of installation do you want? screen select Custom (advanced)

On the Where do you want to install Windows? Select the disk you want to install on, in my case there is only one and it is 7.2GB Select Drive Options from below. Then you want to select Delete, a warning window will come up and you want to select OK. Select Next from the bottom to continue.

Now you will get the Installing Windows screen. The setup will go through the process here and copy files, expand files, install features, install updates and complete the installation. Let the setup work and give it some time. It will look very similar to the Vista Installation setup if you have been through that before. This part took about 45 minutes on my system.

Enter your User & Computer Name when prompted then select next. Enter your your Product Key when prompted then select Next. Select your update settings. Change Time & Date settings if necessary then select Next. Select your Wireless network from the list and security key if applicable. Select Next. Select your computers current location, Home for most users. From the Homegroup screen record the password if you plan on setting this system up with others in your house. Select Next.

Windows 7 will prepare your desktop for first time use and you will be up and running.



Tweak Windows 7 for Netbook Use:

Go to Start => Computer. Right click on Local Disk (C:) and select Properties. In the Properties window select Disk Cleanup from the General Tab. Place check marks in the following boxes; Hibernation File Cleaner, Setup Log Files. Select Clean up system files below. Disk cleaner will open again, make sure the following check boxes are still marked; Hibernation File Cleaner, Setup Log Files, and System queued Windows Error Reporting files. Select More Options from the tab above, Under System Restore and Shadow Copies select Clean up... A warning window will pop up asking, Are you sure you want to delete all but the most recent restore point? Select Delete to continue. Select the OK button below and then Delete Files in the Pop up. Now you should have about 1.49 GB free that you did not have before.

Download & Install Updates from Microsoft.

Right Click on the Windows Taskbar at the bottom of the desktop. Select Properties, select the check box to Use small icons then OK.

Go to Start then Right Click on Computer then select Properties. In the System Properties select Advanced System Settings from the left tab. Under Performance select Settings. Now your in the Performance Options window, select the Advanced Tab and under Virtual Memory select Change. Un-check the Automatically manage paging file size for all drives. Select Custom size below and enter the following:
Initial Size (MB): 200
Maximum Size (MB): 512
Select Set then OK. Now you need to Restart to apply the settings, this will save around 400-500 MB on your hard drive and run Windows fine.

On my 8GB Hard Disk I now have 1.65GB Free and 5.30GB Used. Not bad for the newest version of Windows OS!