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My Windows 7 Install
Like many members here, I love technology. But, I never got on the Vista train. I built a 64-bit system and decided to run XP 64-bit. Overall, XP has been a nice ride.
Over the past few months, I read with curiosity the excitement over Windows 7. Even the usual Microsoft cynics find it hard to speak poorly of Redmond’s new product. In addition, software manufacturers jumped onboard supporting not only the new operating system, but the 64-bit version as well.
So, I bought the ticket for a new OS train. Okay, you’re right – enough train analogies.
I ordered the OEM version of Windows 7 Professional 64-bit from Newegg. Shipment was quick. Then, I am lucky – I live in Little Rock, Arkansas and one of the Newegg warehouses is in Memphis.
Planning no substantial changes in my hardware, I made backups of all the important stuff (i.e.: me and my wife’s resume. I’m just sayin’!) Also searched and downloaded drivers, updates, and a few new programs I was thinking of trying. Check, check, and check!
The one tweak planned is a RAID zero setup for the main drive. Combining my two 160-gig Western Digital SATA drives for a possible nano-second increase in speed. This means I will be diligent in making regular backups to my third EIDE drive.
With the BIOS set, I was ready to start the install.
A little history: Before the install, I unplugged the third EIDE drive. When I installed XP, all three drives were plugged in and the OS went to the D drive. Not a big deal, but I hated it. It was my fault for setting the wrong order in BIOS. So, you know what they say about hindsight.
Popping in the DVD install disk, the system roared alive! After a few seconds - BOOM! My first error.
Load DriverDoh!
A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, please insert it now.
I don’t have the RAID driver on a floppy. After self flogging with some old CAT-5 cables, I discover the driver Windows is looking for is for the new hard drive configuration. At this stage, Windows is not “seeing” the hard drive. I searched the CD that came with the motherboard as well as the INF folder on the Windows 7 install disk - no go.
Also see: Windows 7 Install Driver Issue?I tried installing the drivers downloaded from the chipmaker (AMD/ATI) and still no luck.
I ended up dropping the RAID config and going to SATA>ACHI in BIOS. Once that was done, the install went without a hitch. Windows 7 found all the hardware, installed the drivers, and automatically connected to the Internet.
Next, the customization and tweaking.
More to come...