Windows 7 - Where to start.....

I will be installing Windows 7 Ultimate on a brand new machine with unformatted SATA hard drives. Do I install my motherboard drivers forst then Windows 7 or Windows 7 furst, then motherboard drivers?

Windows 7 installer is driver-complete. Whatever it doesn't provide will be in the first Windows Updates.

That said, study your chipset drivers carefully to compare with the ones Windows 7 provides. I have yet to find better in about six dozen installs.

MS developed 7 drivers in partnership at Windows Hardware Quality Labs which they largely funded, so they have the drivers as soon as the manufacturers.

Thanx Greg! Hopefully my next post will be from my new rig! Have a great night!

Enjoy the ride.

I personally would format first.

Tried that...........before I knew it Windows was loading files, then expanding files.... etc. Think I'll let it run for a while so I can get used to 7, then I'll reformat and do a better reinstall including partitions and such. All seems to have gone well so far though. I am posting from my new rig!

Welcome to Seven Forums.

Glad to hear you got Windows 7 installed.

You can partition with Disk Management, check the tutorial Partition or Volume - Create New.

If it isn't doing what you want, you can try the free program Partition Wizard. It has more capabilities and is a good partition program.

Let us know if you have any questions.