As everyone knows, Windows 7 can be downloaded for free and can be installed and used on your computer.
Those who wish to have Windows 10 or Windows 8.1 PCs, including Windows 7, also for testing and testing, can read this guide regarding the installation of Windows on VirtualBox virtual PC .
Alternatively, you can instead install Windows Seven on another partition of the same computer so that, optionally, you can start your operating system, whether it is Windows XP or Vista or even Linux or start the new Windows 7 .
This is the so-called dual boot.
Below, however, there is a simpler and faster procedure, a step-by-step guide to install Windows 7 without touching the Windows XP or Vista operating system that you have on your PC and without having to get involved with the partitions.
I can assure you that there is nothing complicated, that will never give problems to your PC and that is within everyone's reach.
The recommended version of Windows 7 to be installed is Windows 7 Ultimate which contains all the functions and all languages, including Italian.
Installing Windows 7 on a virtual PC allows you to avoid dual booting from bios which has a greater impact on the PC and presents some risk of instability.
We talked about virtual PCs in more detail in another article, which I recommend reading before continuing.
I remember that a virtual PC is as if it were a completely separate computer from the real PC and that putting it on is an easy operation and within everyone's reach.
With this step by step guide I think you can install Windows 7 on a virtual PC without problems.
Before starting, as a system requirement, make sure that your computer has a processor of at least 1 GHz and that it has more than 1 GB of Ram memory to install and run Windows 7 Ultimate.
1) To download Windows 7 the links from the Microsoft site are valid (link to the first line)
The 32-bit version is fine on all computers, in case you are not sure which version to use.
2) To obtain the authentic Windows 7 software, you need to have the product key that you have to buy by paying or, since it is a test, remedy in other ways.
3) As software to create a virtual pc we can use the free VirtualBox program.
After downloading and installing it, we start it and, on the main window click on "New" -> "Next".
4) Enter Windows7 as the name, select Microsoft Windows as the operating system, then select " Other Windows " as the Windows version.
5) Set the Ram to dedicate to the virtual PC according to the amount of RAM available on the computer. If you have 2 GB of memory, you can set 1018MB, click on " Next " (if the Next button is not accessible, try decreasing the Ram to be dedicated to the virtual PC).
6) Click on the " New " button to create a virtual hard disk and click " Next "
7) Select " Dynamically expanding storage " and click on " Next ".
8) Select the size of the virtual hard disk depending on how much space you have on your hard disk.
9) Click on "Finish" -> ”Next” -> “Finish”
10) Make sure that Windows 7 is selected in blue on VirtualBox and click on the " Settings " button
11) Under CD / DVD-Rom, verify that " Mount CD / DVD Drive " is selected, choose " ISO Image File " and click on the small folder icon.
Click on the Add button and select the .iso file which was previously downloaded and which contains the Windows 7 installation files; then press " Open " and " Select ".
12) Always from the " Settings " window. Click " Network " for network settings and make sure " Enable Network adapter " is selected; then choose " Intel PRO / 1000 MT Desktop (82540EM) " from the " Adapter Type " menu.
13) Click OK to close the VirtualBox Settings window and prepare to install Windows 7.
Install Windows 7 on VirtualBox .
1) Make sure Windows 7 is selected on VirtualBox and click Start button.
A Windows bar will appear where loading files is written.
2) When you have finished uploading the required files, you need to select the language for the installation, the time zone, the currency format and the keyboard, choosing for all the English language is better; click "next" when done.
3) Click on “ Install Now ”, accept the license terms (“ I accept the license terms ”), click on Next and select the installation “ Custom (advanced) ”.
4) Select the hard disk drive created by VirtualBox and click on " Next ".
Now the setup of Windows 7 setup begins with copying files, extracting files, installing functions, installing updates to get up to the installation level.
5) Enter a username, computer name and click on "N ext ".
6) Enter your password and suggestion to remember it.
7) Enter the Windows 7 25-digit product key that you wrote down earlier and click " Next ".
8) Select " Ask me later ".
9) Review the date and time settings and if all is well, click once more on the usual " Next ".
10) We are finished, Windows 7 finalizes the settings and we are finally ready to use the new operating system on the Virtual Box virtual pc !
On other guides there are installations of Windows 7 with VMWare, other software to create virtual PCs but personally I like more Virtual Box because it is completely free!
Personal judgment: Windows 7 is very, very well done, already this beta version seems to hang less than Windows Vista does, it is as fast as XP and the performances seem really high.
Those who wish to have Windows 10 or Windows 8.1 PCs, including Windows 7, also for testing and testing, can read this guide regarding the installation of Windows on VirtualBox virtual PC . Alternatively, you can instead install Windows Seven on another partition of the same computer so that, optionally, you can start your operating system, whether it is Windows XP or Vista or even Linux or start the new Windows 7 .
This is the so-called dual boot.
Below, however, there is a simpler and faster procedure, a step-by-step guide to install Windows 7 without touching the Windows XP or Vista operating system that you have on your PC and without having to get involved with the partitions.
I can assure you that there is nothing complicated, that will never give problems to your PC and that is within everyone's reach.
The recommended version of Windows 7 to be installed is Windows 7 Ultimate which contains all the functions and all languages, including Italian.
Installing Windows 7 on a virtual PC allows you to avoid dual booting from bios which has a greater impact on the PC and presents some risk of instability.
We talked about virtual PCs in more detail in another article, which I recommend reading before continuing.
I remember that a virtual PC is as if it were a completely separate computer from the real PC and that putting it on is an easy operation and within everyone's reach.
With this step by step guide I think you can install Windows 7 on a virtual PC without problems.
Before starting, as a system requirement, make sure that your computer has a processor of at least 1 GHz and that it has more than 1 GB of Ram memory to install and run Windows 7 Ultimate.
1) To download Windows 7 the links from the Microsoft site are valid (link to the first line)
The 32-bit version is fine on all computers, in case you are not sure which version to use.
2) To obtain the authentic Windows 7 software, you need to have the product key that you have to buy by paying or, since it is a test, remedy in other ways.
3) As software to create a virtual pc we can use the free VirtualBox program.
After downloading and installing it, we start it and, on the main window click on "New" -> "Next".
4) Enter Windows7 as the name, select Microsoft Windows as the operating system, then select " Other Windows " as the Windows version.
5) Set the Ram to dedicate to the virtual PC according to the amount of RAM available on the computer. If you have 2 GB of memory, you can set 1018MB, click on " Next " (if the Next button is not accessible, try decreasing the Ram to be dedicated to the virtual PC).
6) Click on the " New " button to create a virtual hard disk and click " Next "
7) Select " Dynamically expanding storage " and click on " Next ".
8) Select the size of the virtual hard disk depending on how much space you have on your hard disk.
9) Click on "Finish" -> ”Next” -> “Finish”
10) Make sure that Windows 7 is selected in blue on VirtualBox and click on the " Settings " button 11) Under CD / DVD-Rom, verify that " Mount CD / DVD Drive " is selected, choose " ISO Image File " and click on the small folder icon.
Click on the Add button and select the .iso file which was previously downloaded and which contains the Windows 7 installation files; then press " Open " and " Select ".
12) Always from the " Settings " window. Click " Network " for network settings and make sure " Enable Network adapter " is selected; then choose " Intel PRO / 1000 MT Desktop (82540EM) " from the " Adapter Type " menu.
13) Click OK to close the VirtualBox Settings window and prepare to install Windows 7.
Install Windows 7 on VirtualBox .
1) Make sure Windows 7 is selected on VirtualBox and click Start button.
A Windows bar will appear where loading files is written.
2) When you have finished uploading the required files, you need to select the language for the installation, the time zone, the currency format and the keyboard, choosing for all the English language is better; click "next" when done. 3) Click on “ Install Now ”, accept the license terms (“ I accept the license terms ”), click on Next and select the installation “ Custom (advanced) ”.
4) Select the hard disk drive created by VirtualBox and click on " Next ". Now the setup of Windows 7 setup begins with copying files, extracting files, installing functions, installing updates to get up to the installation level.
5) Enter a username, computer name and click on "N ext ".
6) Enter your password and suggestion to remember it.
7) Enter the Windows 7 25-digit product key that you wrote down earlier and click " Next ".
8) Select " Ask me later ".
9) Review the date and time settings and if all is well, click once more on the usual " Next ".
10) We are finished, Windows 7 finalizes the settings and we are finally ready to use the new operating system on the Virtual Box virtual pc ! On other guides there are installations of Windows 7 with VMWare, other software to create virtual PCs but personally I like more Virtual Box because it is completely free!
Personal judgment: Windows 7 is very, very well done, already this beta version seems to hang less than Windows Vista does, it is as fast as XP and the performances seem really high.
