A+ Certification Guide

Chapter 13

Installing and Upgrading Windows Operating Systems

Chapter 13 Objectives

Installing Windows Transferring Data Updating Windows Setting Up Recovery Partitions and Discs

Windows Editions

Windows 7:– Home/Home Premium– Professional

Vista:– Home Basic– Home Premium– Business– Ultimate

XP:– Home Edition– Professional

Pre-Installation tasks

Verify that target computer(s) can run the version and edition you plan to install.

Choose the best boot method and installation method for a particular situation.

Create suitable disk partitions for an installation. Choose the correct file system. Understand when and how to load third-party disk drivers. Understand the differences between workgroup and domain

setups. Understand the significance of data/time/language region settings

and when to change defaults.

Process of Installing Operating Systems

1. Verify that the system has sufficient resources and free disk space for the installation.

2. Acquire drivers for the devices and peripherals you want to use with the operating system.

3. Prepare the appropriate startup disks (when required) to prepare the hard disk and start the installation.

4. Determine the location of the operating system if you are installing the new operating system as a dual-boot configuration to run the old or new operating systems.

5. Determine which edition of the operating system you want to install.

Verifying That the System Has Sufficient Resources

Component Windows Version

7 Vista XP

Processor speed

1GHz (x86 [32-bit] or x64 [64-bit] processor 800MHz 233MHz

RAM 1GB (32-bit)2GB (64-bit)

512MB 64MB

Free disk space 16GB (32-bit)20GB (64-bit)

15GB (20GB Partition)

1.5GB (2GB partition)

Video/Graphics device

DirectX 9 graphics using WDDM v1.0 or higher driver

DirectX 9 graphics using WDDM v1.0 or higher driver; 128MB of RAM

Super VGA (800[ts]600) or higher resolution

Other DVD-ROM drive CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive

CD-ROM or DVD-ROM

These are minimums, recommended requirements are higher

Types of Installations

As an upgrade to an existing version As a clean install to an empty hard disk or to the same

partition as the current version To unused disk space (new partition) to permit

multibooting the current or new version as needed As a repair installation to fix problems with the current

installation

Boot/Installation Options Booting from the distribution DVD or CD:

– Install Windows to an individual PC and to create a master PC from which disk images can be created.

Installing from the network:– To install one or more systems that have working network connections.

Network adapters need to be configured to boot to a network location.

Drive imaging:– An existing Windows installation (with or without additional software and

drivers) is cloned for use with other identical systems.

Recovery CD or disk partition:– A manufacturer supplied special recovery CD or partition containing an

image of Windows. Used to restore a system to its original as-shipped configuration.

Booting from USB drive:– Can hold an ISO image or original installation files .

Booting from the Windows Distribution CD

Set system to boot from DVD-ROM. Restart system. When prompted, “press any key” to continue. Drives are detected.

– Create partitions/file systems.– Accept end user license.

Same information items as before.

Basic GUI Install and User-Supplied Information

After initial selections for drive partitioning/file system, user interactions include the following:

– Selecting a language.– Time and currency.– Keyboard/input method.– Product key/activation options.– Accept the license terms.– Select upgrade or custom install.

• Upgrade option will not appear on a clean disk.

– The drive location for the installation.

More Informational Items Supplied

Select a username, password, and picture. Select a computer name and desktop background. Configure Windows Update to

– Use Recommended Settings.– Install Important Updates Only. – or– Ask Me Later. – Use Recommended Settings automatically enables Windows

Updates, Windows Defender, updated drivers, and the phishing filter for Internet Explorer.

Set the time zone, time, and date. Set the computer’s location: either home, work, or public location.

Installing from Network Drive

Server options:– Windows Deployment Service

• Installed on Windows Server 2003, 2008– Remote Installation Service

• Installed on Windows Server 2000, 2003– Useful when a site license utilizes the same product key

Use of an answer file for unattended installations:– Answer file contains the information normally filled in manually

by the installer:• Windows Vista file = unattend.xml.• Windows XP/200 = unattend.txt.

Disk Image Disk cloning is the copying of identical drive partition contents to

formatted drives. Allows multiple drives to be installed simultaneously. Hardware must be

– Same motherboard– Same hard drive adapter (IDE/ATA/SCSI)– Same BIOS setup parameters

To be legal, this must be accompanied by either– Site license adequate for the number of PCs– Individual licenses on fileCautions:– Security ID is the same on all machines.

• Can cause problems for domain controllers.– Use SysPrep utility to engage allowances for such differences.

• Uses an answer file system.

Installing Windows from a Recovery DVD/CD

Used by major vendors such as Dell and HP to create a system-specific boot partition replacement of all system files/drivers.

– Advantages:• Easy recovery of system in case of catastrophic failure• Can rid system of viruses, malware, and other maladies that

would be hard to eliminate– Disadvantages:

• Formats and replaces all the data on the drive with the data on the recovery CD

• Must reactivate the license with Microsoft

Preparing the Hard Disk for Installation

File systems supported by Windows 7/Vista/XP:– NTFS: (most common selection)

• TB size limit• Enables the use of encryption and compression• Defines user permissions with greater precision

– FAT32:• 32GB limit.• Limited security: Users can access other users’ files on

same machine.– Can be converted to NTFS using convert.exe file.

– FAT16 (also known as FAT):• Legacy systems only

– FAT64

Hard Drive Partition Options

Preparing the Hard Disk for Installation

Installation Verification Test drive the installed programs:

– Paint, Wordpad, Task Manager, Internet Explorer. Using log files:

– Files that store data about installation and bootup• Setuperr.log• Setuplog.txt—Text mode portion of installation• Setupact.log—GUI mode portion of installation• Setuapi.log—Records events caused by use of an

information (inf) file, such as an answer file• Setup.log—Used by recovery console to make repairs• Netsetup.log—Troubleshoot domain/workgroup

memberships

• Smiglog.xml—User directory structure information (SIDs)• PreGatherPnPList.log—Pre-driver device installation• PostGatherPnPList.log—Information about device installation

after configuration phase

Transferring User Data Windows Easy Transfer

– Copies files from older systems to Windows 7 User State Migration Tool (USMT)

– Command line transfer– Can be used on multiple systems concurrently– Was call User Data Migration Tool previously

Files and Settings Transfer Wizard– For older systems

Installing Service Packs Manually Service Packs provide updates and fixes for

– Programming bugs– Security flaws– Improvements to system

Steps– Determine whether a service pack update is

needed.– Go to windows.microsoft.com and follow the path

for Windows version updates.– Review release notes for potential problems.– Download the service pack.– Save your data.– Follow directions to install service pack.

Upgrading Operating Systems Upgrade paths:

– XP to Vista– Vista to Windows 7– XP to Windows 7

Pre installation/upgrade steps:

1. Verify minimum hardware requirements.

2. Verify hardware compatibility. Troubleshooting? Check

– Free disk space– Hardware conflicts– Limited memory/CPU underpowered

What Have You Learned? What is a site license? In what circumstance is a sysprep.inf file needed? Which file system is required on a 320GB hard drive,

where the entire drive will be the system drive? How does partitioning a drive differ from formatting a

drive? How would a technician access the installation

verification files to troubleshoot a failed boot? What might be an expected outcome of installing

Windows 7 on a machine that barely meets minimum requirements?

Reflection

The technician in the field is calling tier 2 support to say that a user's drive will not boot. The system is giving an error message that the ntldr file is missing or corrupt. He thinks he should reinstall the system but does not have time. What should he try?

Chapter 13Summary

Install Windows Vista. Install Windows XP. Upgrade to Windows Vista from Windows XP or

Windows 2000. Upgrade to Windows XP from Windows 2000. Troubleshoot Windows Vista/XP Installations

and Upgrades.

Next Lesson: Chapter 14