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A fresh installation of Windows offers users a chance to get things clean and tidy from the beginning, but it also means a lot of work reinstalling applications you may have had on an older build.
If you've planned ahead, you can go out and download all the installers you think you'll need, then put them on a thumb drive or a disc. Or you can skip all that work and use Ninite (formerly Volery), a very simple tool for Windows that will go out and download all the latest versions of the software you pick from its directory, then combine all of those installers into one self-running .exe file.
The best part is that you don't have to touch a thing, as it installs each application. Every installer is already set with the least intrusive configuration, which means that it's installed to the application's default folder and comes without any superfluous add-ons, such as browser toolbars, companion software, or language packs. And when it's done running, you just delete Ninite's .exe file.
Ninite stacks up Windows application installs and runs them without requiring that you to pay attention to what each one is doing.
(Credit: CNET)In my test run, I only had one problem with the installation, and it wasn't Ninite's fault--it was Windows'. I was letting Ninite do its thing, and Windows rebooted my computer to install its own updates. The nice thing is, you can relaunch the .exe file, if something goes wrong, and it will determine which programs it's already installed and skip both the download and the install. That's definitely something I'd feel safe sending to a tech-challenged friend or family member (note: most Web mail services won't let you send an .exe file. You can, however, use many online storage services like Box.net, Dropbox, and MobileMe to get it done)
Of course, one of the biggest drawbacks with Ninite's system is that you're limited to its selection of software picks. And if you're a control freak, you can't go in and make small tweaks to each installation while it's happening. Otherwise, it's an utterly fantastic way to get a quick start on a new machine, or offer up application recommendations to friends and family who just got a new machine with Windows 7 on it.
(via Download Squad)
If you're upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7 it should be a fairly easy install. You can do what's called an in-place upgrade as long you install the same version of Windows 7 as you have of Vista.
For instance, if you have Windows Vista Home premium you can upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium. You can also go from Vista Business to Windows 7 Professional, and from Vista Ultimate to 7 Ultimate. Any other upgrade, like Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional, will require a clean install. That means you can't just turn Vista into 7. You have to export all your data, erase the hard drive, and then reinstall all your applications and data. A lot of computer experts think you should do a clean install anyway, just to make sure your machine runs better.
See our video for upgrading XP to Windows 7 for that process.
But if you're lucky enough to be able to do an in-place upgrade and want to, here's what you do.
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Many of you did not upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista, but are planning to upgrade to Windows 7. How dare you leave the Microsoft upgrade path? As a punishment, you can't upgrade directly from XP to 7; you have to do what's called a clean install, which means you have to jump through some hoops to keep your old data and programs.
Not to worry, we'll show you a couple ways to deal with the pain of installing Windows 7 on your XP machine. And afterward, Microsoft will forgive you your trespasses. Maybe.
Before you start, do these three things.
1. Run the Windows 7 upgrade adviser. It will let you know if your computer can handle any version of Windows 7.
2. Check the Windows 7 compatibility center. This is different than the upgrade adviser. It will tell you if you need to update your drivers or apps to make them work in 7.
3. Make a copy of your hard drive, just in case things go horribly wrong. I recommend using Macrium Reflect; it's a free download available from Download.com.
OK, now you're ready to upgrade.
... Read moreIf you missed out on Ashampoo's special deal last week, here is your second chance! In celebration of their 10th year Anniversary, Ashampoo is offering CNET users an exclusive deal on all of their software (except for CAD software) for just $10 USD.
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CNET Networks)
It's no secret that Power Downloader's favorite Web browser is Firefox, for both Windows and Mac. Judging from the Mozilla browser's growing market share, it's not just Power's favorite, but the preferred browser of many of his fans, too. So, he's happy to recommend one of the most useful Firefox extensions he's ever come across: MR Tech Local Install.
MR Tech Local Install does far more than creating a quick Restart button.
(Credit: CNET Networks)It's a mouthful of a name, but it's got features for beginners and power users. Basically, it's the extension's extension, giving users added control over add-on behavior as well as providing an incredibly useful tool: the Restart button. Power Downloader has added this button to his Firefox toolbar, and now he can restart the program with one click. This is great because if the browser doesn't need the refresher for a new plug-in or theme, it's probably leaking memory and this is a quick way to stop that. Power also likes that MR Tech checks for updates and can override the MaxVersionNumber of many older extensions that haven't been updated.
Power knows that when he's tracking criminals, he can use this plug-in to track and change the folder where his extensions get saved, make tweaks to the Firefox context menu, and perform even more customization hacks on the fly. The simple panel interface is easy to use, but Power warns beginners that they might be overwhelmed by all the choices it offers. Still, he recommends that if you download only one extension, make it this one so that all the others you get will be far easier to handle.
The folks in Mountain View, Calif., have recently updated their Google Pack, and while combining some of the best programs with an automatic updater and installer, some of the program choices have left me disappointed. The recent addition of StarOffice confirms that while this collection is good, it could be a lot better.
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Wubi
(Credit: CNET Networks)Computer giant Dell made big news yesterday when it began shipping desktops and laptops pre-installed with Ubuntu, a popular Linux distribution. I'm not sure who the heck is going to buy a Linux Dell, but it certainly marks a sea change in retail computing. In terms of prepackaged operating systems, users have basically been stuck for a long time with the solitary choice of Windows vs. Mac. The fact that consumers can now purchase a Linux machine with support from the distributor certainly validates the open-source movement and Ubuntu in particular.
Yet if you're curious about Linux or Ubuntu, it hasn't been very simple to install it on your Windows machine. Up until recently, the process has usually involved partitioning your hard drive for the Linux install and creating a boot CD from a downloaded ISO file.
Luckily, for those of us who are Linux-curious and either too lazy or too inexperienced to install a distro on our own, beta software called Wubi literally takes all of the hassle out of running Ubuntu on your Windows machine, and it can be removed from your system as easily as any other Windows application. All it takes to run Wubi is a recommended 1GHz CPU, 128MB RAM, and 3GB of disk space for the initial Ubuntu installation.
Wubi is a front-end installer for the loop installer Lupin. Without getting too technical (and over my head), Lupin is back-end software for installing Debian-based Linux distributions inside of a specific file, without affecting any existing partitions on the hard drive. In conjunction with Wubi, it installs Ubuntu into a file in your Windows system.
Getting started with Ubuntu using the Wubi front-end interface is as simple as running any other self-extracting Windows installer. Double-click the "Wubi-7.04-test2.exe" file and you'll be presented with only a few options. Enter your language of choice, your new Ubuntu username and password (twice), and hit "Install." That's literally all you have to do to install Ubuntu, but there are a few options that you should consider.
The Advanced Settings dialog lets you specify the location and type of your Ubuntu install.
(Credit: Wubi)Hitting the Settings button from the Ubuntu Setup dialog will provide you with a few more choices. You can tweak your system size, home size, or swap size, as well as select the local drive where you'd like to install Ubuntu. The default selections are 6GB, 1GB, 1GB, and the C drive. If you have a foreign keyboard, you can specific that in the Advanced Settings as well. You can also decide to install Kubuntu, Xubuntu, or UbuntuStudio, three Ubuntu derivatives. If you don't know what any of those are, I'd recommend sticking with the vanilla Ubuntu installation.
Now, before you hit Install, a quick warning: you may want to download the Ubuntu ISO file from a different source than the one that the Wubi installer uses. Right now, Wubi downloads the ubuntu-7.04-alternate-i386.iso file from releases.ubuntu.com, and depending on your connection, it can be very slow. When I installed it on my laptop computer, the 698MB ISO file took over nine hours (!!) to download at an average of 25Kbps on a 300Kbps Wi-Fi connection.
From the CNET corporate network (a fat pipe), I'm still seeing that file downloading at 100Kbps, which isn't horrible, but it will still take a few hours to download. If you can acquire the Ubuntu ISO file separately, you can skip the Wubi downloading process by placing the Ubuntu ISO file in the same directory as the Wubi installer before you run it.
Once the long download process completed, installation was extremely quick. I accessed my bootup menu during startup and immediately noticed an "Ubuntu" selection under the usual Windows XP. I selected Ubuntu, and a blue screen quickly ran through a series of steps such as formatting the virtual disk, detecting system hardware, configuring the DHCP connections, installing the base system, and installing the application suite. Ubuntu comes prebundled with a variety of software, including Mozilla Firefox and OpenOffice.org.
The final stage of the installation process only took about 15 to 20 minutes. As the developers say on their Web site, go grab a cup of coffee and come back to Ubuntu. After that, I was off and running, using Firefox to cruise the Web for cool software for Ubuntu and setting up my e-mail and document preferences.
Replacing Windows with Ubuntu is a major step, and I'm not going to get into the pros and cons here. Suffice it to say that my experiences trying to install Java to run the CNET corporate VPN software on Ubuntu have convinced me that I'm probably going to need Windows for a little while longer. However, it's wonderful to have a dual-boot system, and I didn't even have to partition my hard drive to do it. Thanks, Wubi!
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