Upgrading to Windows 7: Steps and Checklist

Once your organization has decided that it is ready to upgrade to Windows 7 and has verified that it meets the technical requirements to do so, it’s time to begin planning for the upgrade itself. This article identifies actions to take before and during an install.

Please note that this piece is geared toward the accidental techie who is comfortable installing software and who has only a handful of computers (fewer than 10) to upgrade. Consultants looking for tips on virtualized environments, unattended installs, or network-wide mass deployment can find support on Microsoft TechNet’s Windows 7 Technical Library Roadmap or through search engine queries, Technorati, or Delicious.

Before You Begin

A healthy and secure computing environment can help ensure a smooth upgrade. After an upgrade, regularly following the procedures below will help you maintain a stable computing infrastructure.

1. Take inventory of your data. During an upgrade, data can move or get lost. For this reason, it’s important to know where on your system data is stored, especially for programs that don’t save their data to user profile folders (such as the My Documents folder). If you don’t repartition or reformat your hard disk, and are performing a custom install, your profile folders, including My Documents, will be relocated to your C:\Windows.old folder. You should, however, be ready to back up program data like databases, media files, or budgets to external media.
2. Make a physical copy of all critical system-related information. Before upgrading, verify that important information like your IP address (if it is not set up automatically), hardware component make and model, and software license keys are printed out and available to you, should you need to reenter them. The Software License Inventory (DOC), Desktop Computer Hardware Configurations (DOC), and Tech Inventory (XLS) worksheets included with TechSoup’s article Assess Your Tech: Why Nonprofits Need Technology Assessments can help you capture this information in hard copy.
3. Run your backup and test the restore. In the case of an operating-system upgrade, you may want to do a regular direct copy of your data to removable media (but you should again verify the copied files), since you may not have the backup client software readily available depending on the type of upgrade you do. (For a refresher on data backups, see TechSoup’s article Backing Up Your Data. Users doing a custom install from XP to Windows 7, or from 32-bit to 64-bit, can use the Easy Transfer Wizard utility to back up Windows settings to an external drive and restore them later in Windows 7. For more information, and to download the Wizard for your version of Windows, visit the Microsoft Windows 7 Easy Transfer page.
4. Remove all spyware. If you don’t already have an anti-spyware solution, you can use free utilities like Spybot Search and Destroy to run a scan with the latest spyware definitions. Removing spyware is particularly important if you are doing an in-place upgrade, as your Windows folder is retained.
5. Clean up data. To ensure that you will have the most free space to work with during the upgrade, as well as an optimized system, clean up your drive for temporary files. Many programs use temporary files for basic functionality, which remain on the computer even after you have shut down the application. You can use a free utility like CCleaner, which offers thorough descriptions and allows you to select what kinds of files you want to remove from your system. It’ll also scan your registry for errors like references to uninstalled programs, which can be safely removed.
6. Check your hard disk. Before installing a new operating system, it’s advisable to check your hard disk for any errors like bad sectors or poorly referenced files. (If you plan on replacing your hard disk, or install to an additional hard disk, then this step isn’t necessary.) You can run the default drive check utility by right-clicking on the drive in My Computer > Properties. In the resultant dialog box under the Tools tab, click the Check Now button to run the chkdsk tool. Advanced utilities, like HDD Health, can provide more detailed diagnostics. It is especially important to check your hard disk if it is older than five years and has seen moderate to heavy use that involved frequent reading and writing of data.
7. Defrag. Defragment your hard drive before you proceed. Windows 7 installation does this before it completes its installation, but doing so beforehand may save some time, as the drive reads and writes large amounts of data during the upgrade and installation process. This can be accessed by right-clicking the drive in My Computer > Properties window; in the Tools tab in the resultant window click the Defragment Now button.

Getting Windows 7

There are various means to obtaining Windows 7 software:

• Request a new donation (eligible nonprofits and libraries only). Organizations eligible under the Microsoft’s Donation program can request Windows 7 Professional Upgrade and Windows 7 Enterprise Upgrade at TechSoup for an $8.00 and $9.00 administrative fee respectively. More information can be found on TechSoup’s Windows 7 Page.
• Use eOpen and Software Assurance. If you have requested a Microsoft PC Operating Systems donation with Software Assurance within the past two years, you are eligible for a free upgrade to the latest operating system at the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center, where you can download the products and request product activation keys. You will need to download a large file (around 3 GB), and write the file to a DVD. Be sure to select the “verify recording” setting in your DVD recording software to ensure proper recording. You can also request physical media sent to you for an additional cost. For more information visit TechSoup’s Software Assurance Upgrades page. In addition, you may need to request an activation key from the site. You should write this key down as it will be needed after your installation. For more detailed information on activation keys, check out our Microsoft Volume Licensing Activation Methods page.
• Purchase at retail outlets. All versions of Windows 7 are available in stores on Oct 22, 2009 and are also available for pre-order online. In the United States, Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade and Premium will retail for $119.99 and $199.99, while Windows 7 Professional Upgrade and Windows 7 Professional will be sell for $199.99 and $299.99 respectively.

Installing Windows 7

Now that you are prepared for a smooth upgrade, it’s time to proceed with the installation. As mentioned in Should You Upgrade to Windows 7? of this series, you will perform an in-place install if you are upgrading from Vista of the same instruction set (that is to say, 32-bit to 32-bit, 64-bit to 64-bit), and a custom install for all other upgrade paths.

• In-place install. Insert the DVD in your DVD drive, which should auto-play the installation program. If it doesn’t, open your DVD/CD-drive in My Computer, look for the setup.exe program, and double-click it.
• Custom install. Boot up your computer with the DVD in the drive. You should be prompted with a “Press any key to boot from the DVD” message. If not, you may need to verify that your computer looks for the DVD during its bootup process, in the computer’s BIOS startup screen. (About.com offers a series of screenshots that depict this boot order setting change.) If you have multiple hard disks, be sure to select the correct drive and partition for installation.

Once you are finished with the installation, you will be prompted for your activation key. Once you are done activating, you are almost ready to use Windows 7. If you need to reinstall your programs, it is advisable that you do so before restoring your data files. This will ensure that your program associations for that data are the most current and appropriate. Use the Easy Transfer Wizard to restore your user settings if applicable, and perform a direct copy of your backed up data from the removable media to which you copied before the upgrade.

Congratulations — you are now ready to explore your new operating system!