Installing windows 7 from disk to laptop. How to reinstall Windows: step-by-step instructions. What types of installation are there, how to save personal files and programs

The question of how to install Windows 7 yourself is one of the most common on the network. Although, in fact, there is nothing complicated here: installing Windows 7 is something that can be done once, using the instructions, and in the future, most likely, no questions about the installation should arise - you won’t have to ask for help. So, in this guide, we will take a detailed look at installing Windows 7 on a computer or laptop. I will note in advance that if you have a branded laptop or computer and you just want to return it to the state in which it was, then instead you can simply reset it to factory settings. Here we will talk about a clean installation of Windows 7 on a computer without an operating system or with an old OS, which will be completely removed in the process. The manual is completely suitable for novice users.

What you need to install Windows 7

To install Windows 7, you will need an operating system distribution kit - a CD or flash drive with installation files. If you already have bootable media, great. If not, then you can create it yourself. Here I will present only a couple of the simplest methods; if for some reason they do not work, you can find a complete list of ways to create a bootable flash drive and bootable disk in the “Instructions” section on this site. In order to make a bootable disk (or USB flash drive) you will need a Windows 7 ISO image.

By default, the vast majority of computers boot from the hard drive; to install Windows 7, we will need to boot from the flash drive or disk created in the previous step. To do this, you need to go into the computer's BIOS, which is usually done by pressing DEL or another key immediately after turning it on, even before Windows starts loading. Depending on the BIOS version and manufacturer, the key key may vary, but is usually Del or F2. After you enter the BIOS, you will need to find the item responsible for the boot order, which can be located in different places: Advanced Setup - Boot Device Priority (boot priority) or First Boot Device, Second Boot Device (first boot device, second boot device - in the first item you need to put a disk or USB flash drive).

If you don’t know how to boot from the desired media, then read the instructions (opens in a new window). For a DVD disc, this is done in a similar way. After completing the BIOS setup to boot from a flash drive or disk, save the settings.

When the computer reboots after applying the BIOS settings made in the previous step and starts booting from the Windows 7 installation media, you will see the message on a black background Press any key to boot from DVD or an inscription of similar content in English. Click it.

Selecting a language when installing Windows 7

After that, Windows 7 files will download for a short time, and then a window will appear to select the language for installation. Select your language. At the next stage, you will need to set input parameters, time and currency formats, and the language of the operating system itself.

After selecting the system language, the following screen will appear asking you to install Windows 7. From the same screen, you can run System Restore. Click Install. Read the Windows 7 license terms, check the box indicating that you accept the license terms and click “Next”.

Now you will need to select the installation type of Windows 7. In this guide, we will look at a clean installation of Windows 7 without saving any programs and files of the previous operating system. This is usually the best option, since it does not leave behind various “garbage” from the previous installation. Click Full Install (Advanced Options).

Select the drive or partition to install

In the next dialog box, you will see a prompt to select the hard drive or hard drive partition on which you want to install Windows 7. Using the “Disk Setup” item, you can delete, create and format partitions on the hard drive (split the drive into two or combine two into one , For example). How to do this is described in the instructions (opens in a new window). After the necessary actions with the hard drive have been completed and the desired partition has been selected, click “Next”.

The process of installing Windows 7 on your computer will begin, which may take varying amounts of time. The computer may restart several times. When you reboot for the first time, I recommend that you return the BIOS to boot from the hard drive so that you don’t see a prompt every time to press any key to install Windows 7. It’s better to leave the disk or bootable USB flash drive connected until the installation is complete.

Enter your username and computer name

After Windows 7 Setup has completed all the necessary operations, updating the registry entries and starting services, you will be prompted to enter your username and computer name. They can be entered in Russian, but I recommend using the Latin alphabet. You will then be prompted to set a password for your Windows account. Here it is at your discretion - you can install it or not.

Enter your Windows 7 key

The next step is to enter your product key. In some cases, this step may be skipped. It is worth noting that if Windows 7 was preinstalled on your computer and the key is on the sticker, and you are installing exactly the same version of Windows 7, then you can use the key from the sticker - it will work. On the “Help automatically protect your PC and improve Windows” screen, I recommend that first-time users select the “Use recommended settings” option.

The next setup step is to set the Windows time and date settings. Everything should be clear here. I recommend unchecking the “Automatic transition to daylight saving time and back” checkbox, since this transition is not currently used in Russia. Click next.

If there is a network on your computer, you will be asked to choose which network you have - Home, Public or Work. If you use a Wi-Fi router to access the Internet, you can set it to “Home”. If the Internet provider cable is directly connected to the computer, then it is better to select “Public”.

Wait for Windows 7 settings to apply and the operating system to load. This completes the installation of Windows 7. The next important step is installing Windows 7 drivers, which I will write about in detail in the next article.

If you still think that installing an operating system is an activity for computer technicians, then you are seriously mistaken.

Using this guide, you can install Windows 7, even if you are a novice PC user. So, let's get ready first.

Open "My computer" and see in which partition your system is currently installed.
Remember its size and name so that you can find the volume you need during installation.
Collect in advance on a flash drive or other disk all the necessary drivers for your computer or laptop. If there is no disk with drivers, they can be downloaded from the official website of the equipment manufacturer. If you don’t do this, you risk being left without the Internet after installing the new system.
Which Windows 7 bit depth should I choose? Click « Control Panel -> System and Security -> System»

If your computer or laptop has more than 3 gigabytes of RAM installed, it is definitely worth installing the 64-bit version. In general, we recommend installing x86 only on weak or very outdated hardware in the 21st century, after all :). Please note that the drivers for the same device are different; in fact, these are two different systems!
Download the Windows 7 installation ISO image:
What are these images?
These are original MSDN images downloaded from the official Microsoft website. The only change is that the ability to select the system edition during installation is unlocked. No files are affected and the system is not activated.
Other versions of Windows 7 images can be downloaded.
Prepare a bootable USB flash drive with Windows 7. In this guide, we will install the system from a flash drive because it is faster and easier. Similar instructions on how to create it can be found.
Since during installation we will format the disk with the installed system, all important files stored on it must first be copied to removable media or to another partition of the hard drive. Remember that files located on the desktop are also stored on the system disk. If you need them, be sure to move them to another place. When formatting, all previously installed programs will be deleted, but this does not mean that they also need to be copied to flash drives and disks. It's easier to reinstall programs, so only worry about – photographs, documents, music, etc.

Create a bootable USB flash drive using . Next, insert it into the USB port and change the boot priority in the motherboard BIOS so that this flash drive boots first. If difficulties arise at this step, here are detailed instructions. If you did everything correctly by changing the boot priority, then after exiting the BIOS and restarting the computer, the message “Press any key” will appear on the screen. Fulfill this requirement - press any key to start booting from the installation media.

You only need to press the key ONCE and only at this stage of installation.

After pressing any key, a message will appear indicating that Windows is downloading files.

System installation

So, let's proceed directly to installing Windows 7. Wait until their extraction is completed, after which the installer start window will appear on the screen. Congratulations, the hardest part is over!

Select your language, time format and layout. Click "Further".
Click on the big button "Install" to launch the installation wizard.

Attention!

Note: choose the version of Windows for which you have an activation key (you will enter it at the final stage of installation). If there is no key, read the instructions after installation.

Read the license terms and accept them.
Select the full installation (updating is not suitable for us).
After starting the full installation, the partition selection screen appears. The installer window will have several sections:
First usually reserved by the system (recovery files are stored in it). It weighs 100 MB and does not need to be touched. Second is a system file - that is, Windows files are stored on it. A new system is being installed on it. Third section – file. User data is stored here and remains intact even after reinstalling Windows.
There may be other options: for example, there is no system-reserved partition or there is no volume with user files. In any case, you need the partition on which the previous system was already installed - it’s not for nothing that when preparing for installation, we advised you to look and remember its size.
If for some reason you still have one partition, the volume of which exceeds 250 GB, then it is better to immediately divide the disk into two volumes: one for Windows and programs (approximately 50-100 GB), the second for personal files. To do this, using the “Disk Setup” tool, delete the existing partition and first create the first volume (“Create” - specify the volume - “Apply”), and then the second.
The created volumes must be named “Partition 1”, “Section 2”. There should be no unallocated space left - the system simply will not see it.
So, you have at least two partitions, one of which is dedicated to operating system files. If it has not just been created, but has already been created before, then it needs to be formatted by deleting all data.
Click on the link "Disk Setup", highlight a section and press "Format". When formatting, all files on the system partition will be deleted (that is, the values in the “Full size” and “Free” columns will become the same). This is exactly what we wanted. To start a clean installation, click "Further", checking again that the partition you allocated for the system is highlighted.
We wait. After selecting a partition and starting the installation, a window will appear on the screen in which you can see the process of unpacking Windows 7 files and writing them to the hard drive. While you can rest, you won’t have to do anything for 15-25 minutes.
During this installation time, the computer will reboot several times. After the installation is complete, you need to specify some system operating parameters.
Enter computer name Computer name The computer name is what your computer will be called on the local network. and username. It is advisable to use Latin characters instead of Russian, this will help avoid problems with some programs in the future.
You can set an administrator password if you wish, but this is not necessary. If you set a password, you will need to enter it every time you start your computer or laptop. We will leave the field empty for now; you can “password” your account later.
Enter your activation key if you have one. If there is no key, uncheck "Automatically activate" and skip the step by pressing "Further".
Specify Windows settings - it is better to select the recommended settings, when you get to know the new system better, configure it in your own way.
After selecting all the necessary parameters, the Windows 7 desktop will appear on the screen. You can begin your acquaintance with the system, but first reboot the computer and go into the BIOS again - here you need to change the boot priority back, putting the hard drive in first place.
Turn on automatic system updates and wait until the process completes. Security updates will install most drivers. If there is no Internet, you can use a program to install drivers .

The instructions turned out to be quite impressive in volume, but now you know the main nuances when installing Windows 7 and can easily do it yourself. Carefully follow the above recommendations and the installation will definitely be successful.

Currently, the Windows operating system is installed on almost 90% of computers around the world. Microsoft's operating system is used everywhere: computers, tablets, servers, payment terminals, ATMs, medical equipment. The company has made a huge step forward by releasing the new Windows 10, but a certain part of users, even after the release of the eighth version, use Windows 7 in their daily work. Undoubtedly, in the process of interacting with the system certain questions arise, among which, perhaps, the most popular is: how to install Windows 7 from disk?

Most computer owners assume that installing Windows is something extraordinary, and only specialists can figure it out. But they are wrong, since there is nothing complicated about installing Windows. It is enough to follow the special instructions and strictly follow its points. Let's look at the OS installation process from the very beginning so that you get a complete answer to the question of how to install Windows 7 from a boot disk.

The entire Windows installation process can be divided into three stages:

Downloading a Windows OS image and burning it to disk.
Preparing the system for reinstallation.
Installing Windows 7.

Before searching for an image, find out if your computer's processor supports 64-bit Windows. If you don’t have 4 GB of RAM, then feel free to download the 32-bit version (x86). It is also worth considering that for normal operation of Windows 7, at least 1 gigabyte of RAM is required. Does your computer have less RAM? Forget about installing Windows 7 on your PC, as it will constantly slow down and freeze.

Stage No. 1. Downloading the Windows image and burning it to disk

Undoubtedly, you can skip this step if you already have a disk with Windows 7. It is quite possible that you purchased a licensed or pirated disk with Windows at a computer store, copied it from a friend, or borrowed it from friends for a while. But what to do when it is not possible to buy a disk with an operating system, and among your friends there are no computer scientists or advanced users?

The only way for you to solve this problem is to download a system image from the Internet and burn it to disk for later installation. In this case you will need:

a computer with a working optical drive that supports DVD recording;
high-speed unlimited Internet access for downloading a disk image with a capacity of 2-4.37 GB;
a convenient browser for working on the Internet, for example Google Chrome;
blank DVD-R disc.

Let's start searching for a Windows image on the Internet. As a rule, operating system installation files can be downloaded on torrents. You won't find them on regular download sites because the owners of these sites are afraid to store pirated copies of Windows on their servers. But to download Windows 7 from a torrent, you will first need to download and install a torrent client on your computer. The most popular BitTorrent network client is uTorrent. Open your browser, type http://utorrent.com in the address bar and press Enter. On the official uTorrent program page, click the “Get uTorrent” button and select “free download” in the next window.

After downloading the installer, install it on your computer. The uTorrent client does not require configuration to work with bittorrent networks. You just need to specify the folder to save the downloaded files in the settings. Open the installed client and press two buttons on the keyboard at the same time: “Ctrl” and the Latin “P”. In the settings window that opens, on the left, select the “Folders” tab. Check the box next to “Place downloaded files in...” and specify the path to save the files. You can specify your desktop, any folder on drive D, or create a special folder for downloaded files. Save your changes to uTorrent settings and exit the program.

Open your browser and enter the address http://rutracker.org. Rutreker.org is one of the most popular trackers on the RuNet. The only disadvantage of the tracker is that to download a torrent file you will need to register on the site. Spend a couple of minutes registering a new account, but do not use Russian letters and spaces in your login, because in the future you will not be able to log in.

After successful authorization on the site, go to the “Desktop OS from Microsoft (starting with Windows XP)” section or open the link http://rutracker.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=2153.

Save the file with the .torrent extension to your desktop and close the browser.

Open uTorrent, click the “File” button in the top softbar and select “Add torrent”.

Specify the file with the .torrent extension saved on your desktop and click “Open”.

A new window on the right displays files that you can download to your computer. If you only need one image, then uncheck the other files and click the “Ok” button. For example, the picture below shows the download of the Windows 7 Professional X64 image. File names usually indicate the Windows version and bit depth. Don't forget to also download additional files in Word formats. They usually store Windows activation information.

After you finish downloading the Windows 7 ISO image file, close uTorrent.

Now you need to burn this downloaded image to a DVD. But you cannot do this with the standard “disc burning wizard”, since it does not support creating bootable disks. You can burn a disk image only using special utilities: Ultra ISO, Daemon Tools, CDBurnerXP, Ashampoo Burning Studio. Manuals on how each program works can be found on the Internet. If you do not have any of these programs installed, then we recommend downloading the free Ashampoo Burning Studio program, which, in addition to burning images, can burn any kind of discs, copy music and films. Open the website http://www.ashampoo.com in your browser and download the utility to your computer.

After installing the program, launch Ashampoo Burning Studio. Depending on the version of the program, the interface will vary slightly. Below is the process of burning an ISO image in the sixth version of Ashampoo Burning Studio Free.

Select the "Create/Burn Disc Image" tab and follow the link "Burn CD|DVD disc from image".

In a new window, specify the path to the downloaded file in .iso format by clicking the "Browse" button. Then click the “Next” button to move to the next step.

Insert a blank DVD into the drive and wait in the program for the inscription "The inserted DVD + R disc is good." Then click the "Burn" button and wait for the end of the process of burning the image to disk.

Close Ashampoo Burning Studio Free and play the burned disc in the drive. If you see the following picture in the start window, then the disc was recorded normally:

This completes the first stage of preparation for installing Windows 7 from disk.

Stage No. 2. Preparing the system for reinstallation

Before you begin installing the system, save all important data to drive D. Everything that is on the desktop must also be moved to another local drive, since installing Windows will erase all information from drive C. If you only have one drive C , then save your documents and photos to a flash drive or external hard drive.

In addition, take care of the drivers for your system, as it is likely that after installing Windows, you will not have an Internet connection and you will not be able to download drivers. If Windows is installed on a laptop, then a driver disk should be in the box with the laptop. No disk? It doesn't matter, open the official website of your mobile PC manufacturer and download drivers for all your hardware.

Now you need to set automatic loading from disk. Typically, when Windows starts up, it first accesses the hard drive and then the drive. In the BIOS settings, you need to set the boot priority so that the optical drive is first in line. At the first sign of booting the computer, it is enough to press a special button, usually F2 or Del, to get into the BIOS settings.

Depending on the BIOS version, the location of the “First Boot Device” item may vary. Navigation through the BIOS is carried out using the navigation keys, confirmation or rejection of saving settings is done using the “Y” or “N” buttons, and selection is made using the Enter key.

Find the item "First Boot Device / Boot Device Priority", specify "CD-Rom" as the first device and save the settings with the F10 button.

However, you can do without digging into the BIOS sections. When booting the computer, just press a special hot key (F8-F12, depending on the BIOS version). A list of bootable devices will open: use the navigation keys on your keyboard to select “CD-Rom” and press Enter.

So, if you have set boot priority from CD/DVD, insert the disc into your computer and restart it. The drive will automatically pick up the disc and the Windows installation process will begin. If you're having trouble changing the boot priority, watch the following video:

Stage No. 3. Installing Windows 7

How to install Windows 7 from a boot disk? It's time to start resolving this issue.

After booting the computer with the disk, the message “Press any key to boot from cd or dvd” will appear on the monitor screen. Press any key on your keyboard to continue the installation. If you do not click any button within the first 30 seconds, the system already installed on your computer will automatically load.

After the “Windows is loading files” process is completed, the familiar window will open, in which you need to select the Russian language and click “Next”.

In the new window, click the “Install” button.

If you downloaded an image that contains several versions of Windows, then in the next window, indicate the Windows 7 that you want to install on your computer. In this case, be sure to take into account the system capacity.

If the downloaded image contained only one version of Windows, then you will not have this window when installing the OS. At the next stage, we agree to the terms of the Microsoft license, check the box “I accept the agreement” and click the “Next” button.

In the “Windows Installation” window, select “Full installation” of the system. It is not recommended to update the system, since in the case of a full installation, the entire disk is formatted and all the problems that you had with the previous Windows disappear along with the formatting.

Is your hard drive divided into 2 partitions? Select the disk on which the system was previously installed and click the “Disk Configuration” button.

Experienced users create two disks: one local disk with a capacity of 50 GB for installing the system, and the remaining space on the hard drive for another local disk, which usually stores multimedia files. You can partition disks when installing Windows, but keep in mind that when formatting partitions you will lose all data.

After formatting the partition, the copying and installation of Windows 7 files will begin. This procedure, depending on the power of the computer’s hardware, lasts from 15 to 50 minutes.

After installation is complete, you will need to configure Windows 7. At the first stage, enter the name of your account (User, Admin, Vasya, Petya, etc.).

In the next step, you can enter a password for your account. If you don't need a password, just click the "Next" button.

If you bought a licensed version of Windows, then specify the special key from the disc box. Otherwise, uncheck the box “Automatically activate when connected to the Internet” and then use the “tablet” that came with this image.

Next, you will need to specify the protection settings: select “Use recommended settings.” In the last steps of setup, specify your time zone and current time. If the PC is connected to the Internet, then in the settings of the current location of the computer, click “Public Network”.

Once the setup is complete, you will see a clean desktop with only a “trash” icon.

Installing Windows 7 in my opinion is much easier than installing Windows XP or

If you want to install Windows 7 from a flash drive, you Installing Windows 7 and its further configuration usually takes up to 2 hours.

So let's get started!

Insert the disc into the drive and restart the PC. When loading, the following message should appear:

Here you need to press any key, then after loading, select the language and click “Next”, then “Install”.

If you don't see this message, and instead it boots as usual from the hard drive, then you need to configure booting from the drive in the bios, or call the boot menu and select your drive there. If you don't know how to do this, you

After this, a table may appear with a choice of the version of Windows 7. Whether it appears or not depends entirely on what is recorded on your disk. Some have this choice, others immediately install a specific version. If it appears, then select the OS you need and click “Next”

After this, a window with a license agreement will appear. Check the box “I accept the license terms” and click “Next”.

In the next window, click “Full installation (advanced options)” and go to the table that displays your HDDs. If there is no important data on the PC, I advise you to delete absolutely all HDD (partitions) and create it again. In order to delete a partition, select it and click “Disk Settings”, then the “Delete” button and confirm the deletion.

After you have deleted all unnecessary partitions, click the “Create” button and select what size you would like to have a system partition. I usually set it from 20 to 50 GB. Click "Create"

We will return to the remaining partitions and create them after Windows itself is installed.

After that, select the partition that you created for the operating system and click “Next”

The installation of Windows 7 will begin. During it, the PC will reboot several times. You no longer need to boot from the disk in the drive, but from the HDD. So When restarting the computer, do not press anything and the boot will automatically start from the HDD.

Completing the Windows installation.

After installation the following window will appear:

Enter your name and click Next. After this, a window will appear asking you to create a password. If you need it, write, if not, click “Next”. After entering your password, you will be prompted to enter your Windows product key. If you do not want to enter yet, click “Next”. In the next window, I strongly advise you to click “Delay decision”, and after Windows setup is completed, disable the Action Center, Windows Update and Firewall in the Control Panel.

Then the time setting window will appear, then if your computer is connected to the network and Windows contains a network card driver, the system will automatically prompt you to specify the network type:

After these settings, the computer may reboot, and then the desktop will appear.

Installing drivers.

Then, you need to install drivers for the system to work correctly, if they are not installed themselves. In order to see if all the drivers are in place, click the Start menu and right-click on Computer and select Manage. A window will appear where we click Device Manager.

As you can see in the picture above, I do not have all the drivers installed. If you have disks with drivers that come with your computer/laptop, install the drivers from them. When there are no such disks, I use the wonderful Driver Pack Solution program.

Download it from the Internet, then launch it and check the Expert mode box in the left column. If there is no column, click the Expand button at the top right. Select the drivers that you need to install, scroll down the list and there will be an Install button. Restart your computer after installation. You can also additionally look at the “” section and select what you need there. Almost all articles describe in detail how to install firewood.

Now we need to create additional HDD partitions that we deleted during installation. Go to the Start menu and right-click on Computer and select Management. Go to the Disk Management tab. The black bar indicates an unallocated section. Right click on it and select create partition. Click "next" several times until the windows close, wait for formatting, and the partition is ready!

Windows 7 installation is complete.

Below you can watch a video on how to properly install Windows 7 from a disk. Good luck!

Do you want to install Windows 7 on your computer or laptop, but don’t know how? It's not as difficult as it seems. Although the first time, of course, will be difficult. But, once you figure it out, you will become a real “IT master” and will be able to independently install Windows 7 on any computer or laptop.

Before installing Windows 7, print this page. This will make your task much easier. After all, during the installation of Windows 7 there will be no access to the Internet. The only exception is when you have a second PC, laptop or smartphone, from which you can, if necessary, access the site again and see what to do next.

When is Windows 7 installed?

You bought a new laptop or computer. Everything is clear here. In most cases, laptops or PCs either do not have any operating system at all, or do not have the one you need (for example, the ancient MS-DOS).
You didn’t like Windows 10 or 8, and you want to install the good old “seven”.
There was a malfunction, a virus or ransomware advertising banner was caught, the computer or laptop does not turn on, etc.

Let's dwell a little on the last point. If problems occur with your computer or laptop, do not rush to reinstall Windows. Firstly, reinstalling the operating system is done as a last resort when other methods have not helped.

Secondly, remember that after installing Windows, all data is erased, at least on local drive C. And these are all your programs: browsers, video players. And you will have to install everything again.

Thirdly, there are no guarantees that reinstalling Windows will help solve the problem. But the files on local drive C will be deleted permanently in any case.

Therefore, first, try to look for other solutions to restore your PC or laptop. For example, the following articles may help you:

You can also always look for other articles on this blog or through Google/Yandex.

Preparing to install Windows 7 OS

The first thing you need to do before installing Windows 7 on your laptop is to copy all important information. At least from local drive C. After formatting, all data on it will be erased.

If you bought a new computer or laptop, you can skip this step. In all other cases, this is a prerequisite!

Therefore, save all files, documents, pictures, audio tracks and videos from your desktop and from the “My Documents” folder. It is also recommended to look at the local drive C - important information is also written to it quite often. Where to save? On a disk or flash drive. Another option is to upload files to online services (Yandex.Disk, Google Drive, etc.).

By the way, sometimes you can copy some programs along with the settings. For example, bookmarks and passwords from the browser you used.

The second point that needs to be made is to determine what bitness of Windows 7 you need - x86 or x64. Everything is very simple here. If you have 4 GB of RAM (or more) installed on your laptop or computer, then you need to install Windows 7 x64, and if less, then x86.

Why is that? The fact is that the x86 version does not see 4 GB of RAM. The maximum that it shows is 3.25 GB.

How to find out the amount of RAM? If you have a new computer - look in the documentation. And if a laptop - then the characteristics are indicated on its case (or on the box).

If you already have Windows installed, then the amount of RAM can be viewed as follows:

The third thing that needs to be done before installation is to burn a digital copy of Windows 7 to a disk or flash drive.

If you already have a boot disk (bought or given in a store along with your PC), then skip this step.

Burning a DVD is easy. After all, you've probably already recorded films, music, games? This can be done through Nero, Alcohol 120% and other programs.

As for the USB flash drive, there are some difficulties. Therefore, in this case, I recommend reading -.

Where can I get a Windows 7 image or installation disk? Can be purchased in store or online.

And the last thing you need to do before installing Windows 7 is to prepare drivers for your laptop or PC. Driver discs are usually included with your computer. If you have them, then you can skip this point.

Laptop owners are not provided with disks, so you need to install drivers from the manufacturer’s official website (search by the name of your model).

If you skip this step, you may be left without internet. After all, you need to install a driver for it. USB ports may also not work. That is, a mouse. And in the end you will have to go to a friend or acquaintances and download the drivers from them.

This completes the preparatory process. Check again that you have saved all the important data, then connect a USB flash drive or insert a DVD with the Windows 7 installation image and restart your laptop/computer.

Setting up BIOS for installing Windows 7

Perhaps setting up the BIOS is the most difficult stage for most users. Especially for beginners.

In addition, the difficulty here is that the BIOS versions may differ on different PCs and laptops. And the buttons to enter the BIOS too. As a result, some users cannot even enter BIOS. Therefore, to avoid problems with this, let’s consider in detail what needs to be done and how.

So, when you have prepared everything, restart the computer, and immediately when the screen turns on, repeatedly press the Del button (for PCs) or F2 (for laptops). If everything is done correctly, you will see the BIOS screen. Something like this:

Or this:

4 devices are displayed here - First Boot Device (first), Second (second), etc. By default, the first is the hard disk (Hard Disk or HDD). And you need to put the CD-ROM (disk) or USB-HDD (flash drive) on the first line - depending on which device the seven will be installed from.

How to do it? On a PC, you usually need to highlight the first item, press Enter and select the desired option from the drop-down list.

On laptops, the boot priority of devices is changed using the arrows or the F5-F6 buttons. The control keys are usually listed on the right or at the very bottom of the BIOS screen.

When you select the desired device (CD-ROM or USB-HDD) in the first item First Boot Device, be sure to save the settings, and then exit the BIOS. Which save button? This is also written at the bottom of the screen (most often F10).

If you have a UEFI BIOS (new version), then simply drag the desired icon (drive or flash drive) to the first place with the mouse and click "Exit" in the upper right corner.

After that, the laptop or computer will restart and the installation of Windows 7 will begin.

If all this is too complicated for you, there is another option to set up booting from a disk or flash drive without going into the BIOS. For this you can. But this method only works on new PCs and laptops.

Step-by-step instructions for installing Windows 7

Immediately after the reboot, you will see a black screen with a single line.

Here you need to press any button - for example, Space.

If this message does not appear, it means that you did not save the BIOS settings. Check them again. If everything is fine there, then either you did not write the bootable USB flash drive correctly, or the disk is damaged and the computer/laptop does not see it (the disk drive may not be working).

After clicking the button, you will see a black screen with the inscription “Windows is downloading files...”.

Wait for the system to copy everything. After this, a new window will appear on the screen. Select Russian language and click “Next”.

In the new window, click the “Install” button.

If there are several versions of Windows 7 recorded on a disk or flash drive, you need to choose the appropriate one. We have already figured out the x86 and x64 bit depth, so decide for yourself here. As for the version, it is better to choose “Maximum”. Although there is almost no difference between it, “Home”, “Beginner” and “Professional”, so this is not so important. Select the desired item and click “Next”.

Agree to the license terms (check the box) and proceed further.

Choose the full installation.

A window will open asking you to select a partition for installing Windows 7. But here it’s worth going into more detail.

How to partition a disk during first installation?

If the installation is performed on a new computer or laptop (i.e. for the first time), then you will see only one line - “Unallocated disk space”.

And in this case, you need to split the hard drive into 2 partitions - local drive C and D (more is possible, but this is not necessary). To do this, select this line, click the “Create” button, indicate the disk size (in megabytes) and click the “Apply” button.

Don't know how much 50 GB is in megabytes? Write a number at random - for example, 50000. And then see what volume the system will show for the created partition. If it turns out too little, select it, click the “Delete” button, and try again, specifying a larger number.

For Windows 7 to work properly, you need to create a special partition with a capacity of 100 MB where boot files will be stored. So when the next window pops up, just click OK.

When you specify the required volume for local drive C and create it, “Partition 2” will appear. This is him.

After that, select the “Unallocated space” line again, click “Create”, and then the “Apply” button. After this, local disk D (“Partition 3”) will appear.

If you forget to do this, then after installing Windows 7 there will be only one local drive C. And partition D will “evaporate” into thin air. You'll have to reinstall Windows again. Therefore, before moving on, make sure that the “Unallocated Space” option is no longer there.

To install Windows on local drive C, select “Partition 2” and click “Next”.

If you reinstall Windows 7, then the following window will appear on the screen:

In this case, you need to select “Section 2” and click the “Format” button. This will delete all data on it. When the formatting process is complete, select this section again and click “Next”.

By the way, if you want to distribute the volume differently between local drive C and D, you can delete them and create them again, specifying a different size. How to do this is written in the previous paragraph. But remember: in this case, the information will be deleted on the local drive D too! As a result, your PC or laptop will be clean, as if you had just bought it. Therefore, perform this procedure only if you have saved all the necessary files.

Continue installing Windows 7

So, you were able to partition your hard drive or format it before installing Windows 7 and clicked the “Next” button. After this, the operating system will begin to install. Wait until the files are copied.

After this, the computer/laptop will reboot and you will again see the familiar black window with a single line.

Under no circumstances press anything on the keyboard, otherwise everything will start all over again.

After this, the computer or laptop will reboot a second time.

Well, the main thing is already behind us, all that remains is to fill in some fields:

Indicate the username and computer name (if you plan to play games, it is better to write in Latin).
You don’t have to set a password - in that case, just move on.
If you have a digital copy, you also don’t have to specify the activation key (usually Windows 7 is activated automatically when you connect to the Internet). To skip this step, click Next. And if you bought a disc, then enter here the code that is written on the sticker.
Here it is recommended to select the “Delay decision” option (you can change these settings later).
Select your time zone, specify the time and click “Next”.
If Windows automatically finds drivers for the Internet, then in the new window select “Home Network”.
Wait while the desktop setup is completed.
Congratulations – you have just been able to install Windows 7 on your laptop or computer yourself.

What to do after installing Windows 7?

First of all, reboot your laptop or computer, go into the BIOS and change the device boot priority back. That is, put the hard drive (Hard Disk or HDD) in first place, and lower the CD-ROM or USB-HDD to second or lower.

Also, after installing Windows 7, the Internet and USB connectors may not work. This is because there are no drivers. So the next step is to install them.

It is for this that you need to prepare in advance all the necessary drivers before installing Windows 7. Especially on the Internet. After all, how do you download them if there is no access to the network?

And one more nuance - when you turn on your computer or laptop, you may see two Windows 7 (during boot).

The first one was installed by you, and the second one was saved in a hidden section (“reserved by the system”). However, the extra line can be removed. To do this, do the following:

Ready. After the reboot, the second Windows 7 will no longer exist, and you will not see the operating system selection menu.

If you have any questions, ask them in the comments.