An Old School Geek’s approach to Installing & Setting Up a Windows PC

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  1. Posts : 521
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Service Pack 1
       #11

    Bookmarked :)
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  2. AC
    Posts : 956
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
       #12

    Great post, very informative and clean. Bookmarked and +rep'd!
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  3. Posts : 17,545
    Windows 10 Pro x64 EN-GB
    Thread Starter
       #13

    Thank you geeks!
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  4. Posts : 428
    Windows 10 Pro 64 bit
       #14

    Excellent post Kari and except for 2.1 concerning updating the BIOS exactly the procedure I used when installing to the SSD when it was new. I used your User Profiles - Create and Move during Windows 7 Installation tutorial to employ Sysprep and Audit Mode to do just that to save space on the SSD.

    Planning your partition scheme is the first order of business especially with multiple drives in many of today's desktop PCs, and while my PC did not need a BIOS update, a BIOS update before moving on to partitioning and installing may be necessary as you note. Some boards have known problems that need addressing to play well with other hardware you're using so you have the BIOS update right where it should be.

    Thanks for the User Profiles tutorial as well.
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  5. Posts : 17,545
    Windows 10 Pro x64 EN-GB
    Thread Starter
       #15

    Thanks Wordsworth.

    The partition plan becomes more important if you have multiple PCs. I do not want to adapt to every PC I am using, a computer serves me better when it is set up the way I am used to. This is why I follow the same partition plan on every computer, be it a real, physical one or a virtual machine. Whatever PC I am using I know where to find things, where everything is stored.

    Keeping User profiles on another partition or rather on another disk has it's clear advantages. If the relocating of User profiles is done by changing the value of <ProfilesDirectory> variable as told in that tutorial of mine you mentioned, the new location is really hard coded to system and survives every recovery measure. This is especially practical when you need to restore a system image for this or that reason: it's enough to restore the C: image, it picks up the user profiles on E: (according to my personal partition plan) and works without issue. Instead of needing to restore a complete image with Users, it really is enough to restore the C: (and of course the possibly existing system reserved partition). restoring a 40 or 60 GB C: is much faster than restoring C: plus my 400GB+ User profiles.

    All together, this approach to set up a Windows PC has worked extremely well for me. As I mentioned in my original post I rather use some extra time when setting up Windows than modifying it later. Windows and my PC should be there to serve me, not the other way around.

    Kari
    Last edited by Kari; 16 Feb 2013 at 14:18. Reason: Fixed typos
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  6. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #16

    good work again fellow geek. I especially like the Partitioning part and Step 6, imaging a fresh up to date system.
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  7. Posts : 17,545
    Windows 10 Pro x64 EN-GB
    Thread Starter
       #17

    Thanks Gary.

    The best part in creating an image like that is that it allows you to restore a really virgin Windows. All software and drivers installed but no user data. First boot after image restore is the OOBE boot, stopping to ask the initial username and computer name.
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  8. Posts : 6,830
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32-Bit & Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit
       #18

    Hi Kari

    If possible can this wonderful tutorial be in a PDF file . Like your other tutorial " User Profiles - Create and Move During Windows 7 Installation "
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  9. Posts : 17,545
    Windows 10 Pro x64 EN-GB
    Thread Starter
       #19

    VistaKing said:
    If possible can this wonderful tutorial be in a PDF file .
    I have written it to be published here at Seven Forums and by doing it I have voluntarily and gladly given at least shared copyright to the SF.

    I would like to think people come here to see it, connect it with SF, rather than download it as it is to me something that belongs to Seven Forums.

    I have difficulties to express my point, find correct words, but I hope you can understand it. I am a Seven Forums Geek, proud of it; what I might produce belongs here.

    The tutorial you mentioned is on PDF because I was still quite new here doing it and I thought I was acting according to the forums best interests by saving storage space as the tut is quite big with lots of screenshots. Same thing with one of my other tutorials where I uploaded the screenshots to an external image site, for same reasons, to save storage space of SF. I later learned I do not have to think like that, SF has enough storage capacity, so these two were my only attempts to "save space" here.

    I am reluctant to publish this as PDF if it is not especially asked by forum admins / mods, for reasons explained above.

    Kari
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  10. Posts : 6,830
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32-Bit & Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit
       #20

    No problem . I understand .
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