I Love Train Signal!

My wonderful Train Signal just got a brand new laptop for me with … Windows 7! 

Remember how I gave my boss a little hint in my upgrading from XP to Windows 7 article?  I guess he reads my posts after all, because first thing yesterday morning I get a package with a brand spanking new laptop!  I was so happy I was in tears! (Quite hormonal, yes — but there’s not much you can do when you are about to have a baby AND you get a new laptop you’ve been wanting for months).

Bragging About My New Windows 7 Laptop

Most of the day yesterday I spent setting up my Windows 7, copying files and programs, configuring my preferences, etc., and I must say, Windows 7 makes all of this really easy.  I am not a Windows 7 pro and I haven’t done much training on it either but I was able to figure out almost everything on my own — it’s so easy to use. 

I love the new look and feel and the speed is amazing — I really think I can get used to it quickly.  Now, just so you know, I haven’t used Windows Vista that much.  I know Windows 7 is supposed to be just like Vista and all, but I made the jump to 7 from Windows XP. 

I still love XP and will miss it dearly, but it’s time for me to move on and “go with the flow”.  So, if any of you are still on Windows XP and are afraid of installing Windows 7 — don’t be.  It’s easy and you will have no problem getting used to it.

Redirecting Your Documents Folder in Windows 7

Ok, enough bragging about my new laptop and the awesome Windows 7.

What I want to show you today is how to redirect your Documents folder to a different location on you Windows 7 PC.

I like to keep my Documents folder on my D drive and as of now the default is C:\Users\Public. So, how do I change the default? Here are the steps.

1. To start, click on the start orb, point to Documents and right click. You will get a pop-up menu.  Point and select Properties.

2. In the Documents Properties window, select the Library location you want to remove (in my case it is the C:\Users\Public folder) and click Remove.

3. You can remove them all or you may leave the ones you would like to keep.  I am going to leave the “My Documents” location that is in my profile, in case I want to save files in that location someday.  To add a new location, click on the Include a Folder button.

4. Select the folder you want to include for your Documents and then click Include folder.

5. That folder now shows in your library locations.  To set it as your default save location, select it and then click on Set save location.

6. Make sure to click Apply and OK before you close that window.

7. That’s it!  You can see now that I have two locations for my library.  One is on my C drive and the other — the default one, is on my D drive.

8. I think we should test it.  I created a word document and I am going to click on Save As.  Let’s see where it is going to take me.

9. I’m not going to select anything, just type in the name and click Save.

10. Now I’m going to open up my Documents library and see where the document was saved.

Woo Hoo!  It worked!  The document is on my D drive!

Just like the folder redirection, everything seems to be super easy and common sense in Windows 7.  Is there anything you want to know how to do? 

Let us know and we’ll try to help out!

Related posts:

• My Journey from Windows XP to Windows 7
• How to Create a New Virtual Machine with Hyper-V
• Server 2008: How to Setup a Remote Desktop on Windows Vista

Windows 7 Minimum Hardware Requirements

• 1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
• 1 GB of RAM (32-bit)/2 GB of RAM (64-bit)
• 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit)/20 GB (64-bit)
• DirectX 9 graphics device with Windows Display Driver Model 1.0  or higher driver

These are the big 4 requirements but Microsoft has a list of additional feature based requirements also.  

Looking at this screenshot of my Toshiba Tecra M3 laptop’s hardware specifications you can see that I am in pretty good shape for general hardware requirements. There is also a tool called the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (only a Beta version is currently available) that will tell me if all my devises will work with Windows 7 as well.

The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

I downloaded and installed the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. This tool also requires .NET framework 2.0 or higher. I didn’t have it so I was automatically prompted to download and install it before continuing with the upgrade advisor install. 

The upgrade advisor told me to make sure I install all my devices before running the tool so that they can be checked for compatibility. That reminds me. What about my USB adaptor for my Play Station controller? I better still be able to use that.

Success! I am Windows 7 ready! Sort of. While there was no mention of my game controller this message was given for my wireless card:

I wonder why it wants me to download the driver upgrade first before installing Windows 7. If I download it now I would have to have an external device to save it to (I do have one but that’s not the point).  I decided to just ignore this advice and see it if bites me later.

There are several programs that the upgrade advisor is asking me to uninstall before upgrading to Windows 7. I will not be upgrading to 7 from XP as that is impossible. So I don’t need to bother uninstalling anything – everything will be wiped anyway. Did I mention that this tool is a beta?

File Backup

All I need to backup is My Documents, my browser favorites, and my Thunderbird profile. With those all safely copied and pasted onto a USB drive, I am ready to go.

Install Windows 7

I waited all morning on Thursday for the RTM downloads to show up on TechNet. Sometime around noon (CDT) I hit refresh and there they were – the  versions of Windows 7 in all their shining glory. I chose the 32 bit version of 7 Ultimate and started the download.

I also got a key from TechNet and made sure it was saved in a .txt file on my USB drive. What? Did you expect me physically to write it down? How barbaric.

After 3 hours and still no completed download I saw a tweet form Keith Combs with a tip to use the Akamai Technologies Download Manager Browser add-on at TechNet’s Top Downloads.  This was much faster!

My second attempt at downloading the ISO file finished in only 42 minutes. However, and this is a huge however – I simultaneously discovered that my DVD/CD-ROM drive on the Toshiba does not work. When was the last time I even tried to use it? I can’t be certain. This puts a damper on things.

Well, if I am going to embark on trying to make a bootable USB drive I might as well make it for my netbook instead and just get the Toshiba’s DVD/CD-ROM fixed/replaced. Now the focus switches to my Acer Aspire One A150X. This means a quick trip back to TechNet to get Windows 7 Home Premium instead of Ultimate (a new key too).

Create a Bootable USB to Install Windows 7 From

After some Googling I found a guide at IntoWindows.com for making a bootable USB drive.  This guide shows the steps for making the drive bootable using Vista so I used a different (yes a third) computer to actually create the bootable drive.

I was using a 400GB external HDD instead of a little USB key. Therefore the line in the instructions that says “Format process may take few seconds” was a wee bit of an understatement. After an hour and a half the format was only at 18%.

Instead, I just used the normal Windows GIU method to do a quick format after assigning the drive a letter. This time, after an actual few seconds passed I just went back to the command prompt and continued on to step number 6. This worked for me just fine, but I would suggest sticking to the written directions if possible.

At this point I was getting impatient. I didn’t bother with the Upgrade Advisor, I just checked to make sure the netbook had the minimum hardware requirements (it does), backed up my needed files, and went for it.

My first trip into the BIOS to change the boot order did not list USB as an option – not all computers can do this. However, after trying it again … with the USB drive actually plugged in to the computer, the option was available.

Custom Windows 7 Installation

I then followed the install wizard as it did its business:
A custom install is a clean install.

I left the XP restore partition on the netbook (hey you never know), and chose not to further partition the drive. The third drive you see here is actually the bootable USB hard drive.

Besides asking for a computer name, username, time zone, and other expected configurations — the custom install asked me for my network information.  You could always skip this step if you want, but why not set it up now.

Tada! Windows 7 on my netbook! That was easy.

All that is left is to get it configured just how I want. Sliding scale UAC controls here I come! Windows 7 sure has some wacky standard desktop backgrounds available.

So how many computers does it take for Lisa to install Windows 7?

The answer is 4. I know you probably only counted 3. In a momentary act of stupidity, I actually tried another ridiculously old machine I have that is running Windows ME. Needless to say it wouldn’t even open the Windows 7 install disk.  So the final tally is:

• 2 broken/obsolete computers that were nothing but distractions from my true quest (you can’t polish a turd)
• 1 current Vista machine on which to create the bootable USB drive
• 1 slick little Acer netbook that eventually did run 7

Oh and don’t forget the 400GB external hard drive and my trusty Nikon D200 for all the awesome photos of the install.

Well, I hope your upgrade/custom install journey goes significantly better than mine did. I guess it was worth it in the end.

Share Your Journey: How did your Windows 7 install turn out?

Related posts:

• Windows 7 — Downgradable But Not Upgradable
• How to Redirect Your Documents Folder in Windows 7
• W00T! Window 7 and Server 2008 R2 RTM

Vista sales still down — and Microsoft knows it!

Vista sales since its first release date have never been what Microsoft anticipated.  Microsoft thought that this is going to be the most popular Operating System yet — with a new look, new features, awesome security, etc.  Unfortunately as soon as Vista came out problems started arising. We’re all pretty much aware of these issues so I won’t list them here.

Today, Vista sales are still quite low. Some people think that Vista is not being adopted due to the fact that there is an increase in sales of systems with base-level OS that boot into an online access (check out Brian Nelson’s article on skipping Vista).

In my opinion this isn’t the case.  I think that Vista is still just not that popular.

Even though most of the problems and issues have been fixed, many people still think of Vista as nothing but problems (I know I do).  It’s still a little slow, if you ask me, compared to XP.  So when someone is out shopping for a new system and sees that there is an option to get Windows XP, many go for it.  Check out Dell.com — I was able to pick a nice gaming system and have them install XP Pro on it.  There must be a reason for it. Microsoft knows that a lot of us still prefer XP over Vista.

Windows XP problems

My good friend Dave posted a comment to one of my previous posts saying that Windows XP also had problems.  Of course it did.  And guess what Dave, Windows 7 is going to have lots of problems too. 

All Microsoft products have little kinks and smaller or bigger problems that need to be worked out before the products become decent. My point about Vista was that it was supposed to be this best thing ever — and unfortunately Microsoft fell flat on it.  Many people will agree with me.

Sure Vista is better now and a lot of people use it. But I am not going to buy it, just so I can buy Windows 7 again in few months. And by the way, I did learn Vista (my desktop has Vista on it) and I even passed Vista certification so that is just not the point.

The future of Windows XP

I, as well as many other XP users, don’t need to worry about using XP until Windows 7 gets released.  Why?  Well, because Microsoft already confirmed that they do not plan on cutting the support anytime soon. In fact Microsoft stated: “We plan to provide support for Windows XP until 2014.” That’s plenty of time, if you ask me. You will have time for the Windows 7 to be released, fixed (we all know there will be bugs, right Microsoft? hehe), and tested before you move over to the new OS.

Who should upgrade to Vista right now?

If your company buys you a new system and it has Vista installed on it — you should start getting use to it.  Windows 7 is going to be quite similar to Vista (hopefully with fewer problems) so if you have no choice but to use Vista, then I think you should do it. Who knows, maybe I am going to be “forced” to use Vista too on my new laptop.

Skipping Vista — is it a good idea?

There’s nothing wrong for some of us (hardcore XP users) to wait for Windows 7. XP still works fine, it is quite stable, and it is going to be supported for at least 4 more years.

We need to understand that it may not be a good idea to move over to the new OS until second quarter of 2010, or later, but that’s only about 12 -16 months away.  That’s nothing, right?  That is just the right amount of time to plan for our new system, because you will more than likely need a new hard drive, video card, processor, etc.

One more thing to keep in mind if you are going to be buying a new system with XP on it — make sure it is “Vista ready” as the system requirements for Windows 7 will be very similar.

Good luck and hopefully I will see you on the other side in a year!

Related posts:

• Downgradable Windows 7 — Downgrade Not Just to Vista, But XP Too
• Why I hate Vista and can’t wait to start using Windows 7
• Performance Shootout: Microsoft’s XP, Vista, and Windows 7

  •   Vista is So Slow

You install Vista, then you wait for it to boot up … and wait … and wait … you drink your coffee and wait some more — oh and finally it’s up! Now you try to open up Word and you wait… and wait… and wait…

What the heck is taking so long?

  •   UAC is Annoying

Now you’re ready to download and install a new program but before you can do that Vista needs to make sure that you know what you’re doing so you get the “Do you really want to install this?” message. Once you click yes, Vista says “Are you sure?” — yes! “Positive?” — YES!!!

How annoying.

  •   Everything is in the Wrong Place

I consider myself to be quite knowledgeable about my ways around XP. I’ve been using it for years and when I need to do something I know exactly where to go and how to do it.

But when I installed Vista I was lost! I found myself unproductive, annoyed, and at some point I thought I was losing my brain cells. Microsoft completely changed the location of every important thing.

Needless to say, after all the disappointments with Vista I went back to XP.

Damn you Vista!

And the fact that I’m not the only one who hates using Vista just proves my point. There are lots of people out there dedicated to pointing out the different Vista shortcomings. Like this (really funny) blog post: Who Gave You Permission to Restart?? from the Why Vista Sucks blog.

Why I can’t wait to start using Windows 7

I’m also not the only person out there who can’t wait to start using Windows 7. Don’t get me wrong, I love my XP but I’m ready for a new OS and Vista just doesn’t do it for me — so I’m getting ready for a Windows 7 upgrade.

Here’s what I’m looking forward to:

  •   Windows 7 is Faster

Microsoft has reduced the amount of data needed to boot and shut down the computer, and multiple tests have confirmed that Windows 7 is at least 20% faster than Vista. Applications and programs also seem to run faster and smoother in Windows 7.

  •   Windows 7 has Improved UAC

Windows 7 UAC will be improved in two major ways:

1. You will have more control over the UAC notifications — so as an administrator you can determine the range of notifications that you receive.
2. UAC notifications will be less annoying and more valuable — they will actually provide you with relevant information so that you can understand what the situation means so you can make an informed decision and not just a blind choice.

  •   Much Cooler Taskbar

This might not be a huge improvement for Vista users, but it’s definitely a huge step for those switching from XP to Windows 7.

The Windows 7 taskbar is resizable providing you with the ability to rearrange the icons as you see fit. You can also roll your mouse over the icons to see a thumbnail of the applications you have open (see below).

  •   Better Device Management

Windows 7 specifies which device is which easily with the use of large photo-realistic icons to help make it easier to find and fix possible problems.

Are you planning on making the move from XP to Windows 7?

Last week I heard my coworkers raving about Windows 7 beta, and you know what? I think I’ll be ok with leaving my XP for a much improved version of Vista. Are you planning on doing the same?

If you’re like me and can’t wait for Windows 7 to be officially released see how you can Make XP Look Like Windows 7.

Related posts:

• Downgradable Windows 7 — Downgrade Not Just to Vista, But XP Too
• Why Skipping Vista & Going Straight from XP to 7 is the Best Option – For Some of Us
• Performance Shootout: Microsoft’s XP, Vista, and Windows 7

In my post last week I got you all excited about being able to downgrade from Windows 7 to Windows XP if you ever find a need for it — woo hoo! 

Unfortunately those of you who planned on upgrading directly to Windows 7 from XP are going to be quite disappointed. I am going to crush your hopes and dreams now … please don’t hate me for it, I’m just the messenger.

Microsoft confirmed last week that this type of upgrade will not be available.  Here is a quote from the Engineering Windows 7 blog:

“… many have asked about upgrading from Windows XP. There’s no change here to the plan as has been discussed on many forums. We realized at the start of this project that the “upgrade” from XP would not be an experience we think would yield the best results. There are simply too many changes in how PCs have been configured (applets, hardware support, driver model, etc.) that having all of that support carry forth to Windows 7 would not be nearly as high quality as a clean install. This is something many of you know and already practice. We do provide support for moving files and settings and will prompt at setup time, but applications will need to be reinstalled. We know that for a set of customers this tradeoff seems less than perfect, but we think the upfront time is well worth it.”

Should we be mad at Microsoft for doing this?  I don’t think so. Here is why I think this is actually a good thing. Can any one of you tell me if all your upgrades worked and functioned perfectly? I have worked in technical support for many years and I must say that every time we did an upgrade from one OS to another, there was always something that did not work right, sooner or later caused a problem, or flat out failed to work.

Sure, you can do an upgrade of an OS and deal with all the problems, but c’mon — this is not what you want to do, right? You want our OS to work perfectly with all available functionality.

Throughout my IT career I found that a clean install of any operating system works a million times better.  In short, it gives us a lot less headaches.  All your applications seem to work a lot faster too.  You also get a chance to properly upgrade your hardware requirements for your new OS; add more RAM, add more hard drive space, get a better video card or maybe … even get a brand new computer!  Wouldn’t that be a great treat — having a brand new computer for our new Windows 7?  It’s like Christmas all over again. (*wink *wink Scott Skinger – Gosia needs a new computer for her Windows 7)

So, don’t get too sad and don’t flame Microsoft for not allowing this upgrade. I think they are actually doing us a favor.  We still have an option to downgrade to Windows XP if they fail to deliver with the new OS, right?

Related posts:

• Downgradable Windows 7 — Downgrade Not Just to Vista, But XP Too
• My Journey from Windows XP to Windows 7
• How to Redirect Your Documents Folder in Windows 7

Now, maybe not a lot of people will want to downgrade back to Vista, but the fact that we will be able to downgrade to XP is great (I’m still using XP on my system, so it’s good news for me).

This isn’t anything new as the downgrade rights were also available with Vista, but including these rights with Windows 7 Microsoft will definitely increase sales of its new OS. If you encounter any problems with Windows 7 and for some reason you won’t be able to continue using it, you will have the comfort to know that you can always downgrade to your favorite Windows XP (well, at least my favorite — ask my boss). 

This is quite important for both individual users as well as companies spending millions of dollars on upgrades.

What do you think about the Windows 7 downgrades?

Do you think Microsoft made the right decision to offer Vista and XP downgrade options in Windows 7? Do you think you’ll be taking advantage of the downgrade?

Some of us here at Train Signal are already testing out the beta version and from what I’ve heard Windows 7 beta is pretty good. That said, I don’t think a lot of people will be downgrading from Windows 7, but it’s always good to give users more options. Let me know if you are testing it as well and share your thoughts with us.

I’m going to wait for the Windows 7 release and completely skip Windows Vista.  When is it going to happen?  Well, I’m not sure as Microsoft hasn’t announced a release date for Windows 7 yet.  The speculations are that Microsoft’s new OS might be available in October this year. I think I can wait 6 more months.

Related posts:

• Windows 7 — Downgradable But Not Upgradable
• Why I hate Vista and can’t wait to start using Windows 7
• Why Skipping Vista & Going Straight from XP to 7 is the Best Option – For Some of Us

Here are the main details of what was tested:

The experiment tested the following five operating systems:

• Windows XP SP3 32-bit
• Windows Vista SP1 32-bit
• Windows 7 beta 1 build  7000 32-bit
• Windows 7 beta 1 build  7000 64-bit
• Windows 7 build 7048 64-bit

There are 31 real world scenario tests. Here are some examples:

• Installing the operating system
• Booting up and shutting down
• Moving 100MB of JPEG files from one hard drive to another
• Opening a complex Excel document including formula and charts
• And even tests running video games like Call of Duty

Each test was done on two separate desktop systems:

• An AMD Phenom 9700 2.4GHz system fitted with an ATI Radeon 3850 and 4GB of RAM
• An Intel Pentium Dual Core E2200 2.2GHz fitted with an NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS and 1GB of RAM

The result of each test is scored with a simple point system:

• 1 point for the fastest OS
• 2 points for second place
• 3 points for third
• 4 for forth
• 5 points for last place

Are you brimming with anticipation to know what he found? Here are the results:

• Windows 7 is, overall, better than both Vista and XP.
• As Windows 7 progresses, it’s getting better (or at least the 64-bit editions are).
• On a higher-spec system, 64-bit is best.
• On a lower-spec system, 32-bit is best.

I think it the analysis itself is super interesting and the results exciting! I can’t wait to see Adrian’s next version done with an actual Windows 7 release candidate.

You can see a full list of 31 tests, charts detailing the results of each test, and more about the experiment on Adrian Kingsley-Hughes’s blog.

Related posts:

• Downgradable Windows 7 — Downgrade Not Just to Vista, But XP Too
• Why I hate Vista and can’t wait to start using Windows 7
• Why Skipping Vista & Going Straight from XP to 7 is the Best Option – For Some of Us

The purpose of this set compendium is to help systems administrators deploy and upgrade systems in a manner that is more efficient than has been possible in the past.

The WAIK has been promoted primarily as a means of deploying Windows Vista, but when combined with Windows Server 2008 Deployment Server it can be very useful in deploying Windows Server 2008 itself, as well as both Vista and XP for upgrades and installation on bare metal systems.

Getting the Windows AIK

The WAIK can be downloaded for free from Microsoft’s website. The current version for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 is available here:

Windows Automated Installation Kit

Microsoft has a habit of reorganizing its site and links so you can always find the Windows AIK through the download center at www.microsoft.com/downloads.

When you download the Windows AIK, you will notice that it is a DVD image (.ISO file). The WAIK is designed to be burned to a DVD but there are ways around that.

A tool like MagicISO will open up the iso file and allow you to extract all or part of it to your hard disk. So, just download the file and then pull out what you need. You can leave the rest of it compressed on a file server if you want.

However, it may be useful to send the DVD with every install technician into the field so that they are not caught without a needed tool.

Unfortunately, there is no way around downloading the entire 1375.9 MB regardless of how many or how few of the tools and resources you actually plan to use. So, plan ahead and download the WAIK now so that you aren’t waiting for it a 3:00 A.M. when a problem arises.

Inside the WAIK

Inside the Windows AIK are two types of help for system administrators:

1. The Windows AIK has numerous tools, some of which are standalone tools, and some of which are much more useful in conjunction with other Microsoft tools or systems such as Windows Server 2008 Deployment Services, or SMS Server.
2. The WAIK has a voluminous amount of documentation and more importantly samples that can be used as starting places for many tasks.

The tools included with the Windows AIK include Windows System Image Manager aka Windows SIM which is useful in creating and maintaining answer files for unattended installs.

This GUI based tool allows an administrator to not only create answer files without hacking through a text editor, but it also allows those files to be validated and checked without having to "just try it."

Another useful tool is ImageX which is a tool for capturing image files to be used in deployment. This is the tool that replaces Norton’s Ghost if you have been using that for your deployments.

Unlike other imaging tools, ImageX creates file based images which means two things:

1. If an image needs to be updated, it is not necessary to re-image the entire system. The tool can be used to simply modify the existing image by adding, deleting, or replacing the files inside the image.
2. If a file is duplicated on a system, that file is stored only once inside the image instead of being cloned in like in a sector based image. This produces much smaller images.

Package Manager is an interesting tool which allows for servicing Windows images from the command line. With Package Manager you can add and remove packages from images even if that package came from a different system image.

PEimg.exe is used to create Windows PE (Pre-Execution) images. Windows PE is a bare bones OS designed to get a system operating just far enough so that an image can be installed on it whether locally (CD/DVD) or over the network.

These images are better created with Windows Server 2008 Deployment Services instead if that will be the method of deployment.

Driver Package Installer or DPInst allows you to add drivers to deployed systems.

This tool is very useful for adding those drivers that are not necessary for system boot (scanners are a common one.) It is very easy to add to existing scripts and only requires an inf file as input.

Most important, is the Sysprep or System Preparation Tool.

Sysprep is used to strip out machine specific data such as the SID so that the images created from the machine do not propagate that data to all the other systems built from the image.

This tool is still very necessary in Windows Server 2008 Deployment Services. It is also available on Vista systems.

Windows AIK Documentation

While some of the documentation could be dug out somewhere else, it is nice to have it all in one handy spot. Some of it can only be found in the WAIK.

Of particular importance for deploying and upgrading systems are the ImageX Technical Reference, the Windows SIM Technical Reference, and the Sysprep Technical Reference.

Also of particular note is the Preinstallation Methods document inside The Windows Preinstallation Phases – Phase 1 section.

This one section will probably explain to a non-IT person exactly what the difference is between deployment options better than anything else probably could in half the time.

Also the Phase 4 Image Deployment section is an outstanding all-in-one resource to get a solid grasp on just what will be involved in using an image based rollout.

Keep in mind that the documentation was updated when Microsoft rolled out the WAIK update earlier this year so make sure you replace any docs you have lying around from the original version.

With this resource kit, some solid planning, and a little luck, you should be able to deploy a much easier rollout and upgrade program this time around.

Related posts:

• Server 2008: Windows System Image Manager and WDS
• Arthur Installs and Configures Windows Deployment Services
• WDS Supporting Players at Server 2008 Install Summer Camp