10/21/09
I am installing Windows 7 on a Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop. This machine currently has Windows Vista Ultimate installed so I will be upgrading it to Windows 7 Ultimate. I have read that this process can take as little as 45 minutes. Everyone’s mileage will vary, obviously, as CPU speed, disk access speed, and available ram can greatly affect the installation time. This particular laptop has an Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processer running at 1.66 GHz and 2 GB of ram.
12:30pm
After gathering everything that I need, products keys, and the disks from our client’s action pack I am ready for the install. I start out by turning programs off in the tool tray. This may not needed, but it’s an old habit that I have gotten into. The fewer programs that are running the less likely that something might conflict with the installation process. The second thing I do is plug the laptop directly into the network, this machine usually runs in the office on the wireless network so I am going to turn the wireless off and plug the laptop directly into the network. This turns out to be a good thing as later I see a message that says “Internet access will be needed several times during the installation process.” With the laptop plugged directly into the network I can be sure that internet access will be available.
12:40pm
I am ready to put the disk in and start installing. I put in the disk and the Windows 7 welcome box pops open. I have the option to check compatibility online. I skip that, this machine is running Vista so I am confident that it will run Windows 7. I have another button to install now, or I can read about what I should do before installing. I select install now and the installation process starts.
12:45pm
The installer stops and reports back this message, “The BIOS that this device is using is not compatible with Windows 7, please update your BIOS and continue the installation.” I cancel the installer and navigate to Dell’s website to download the BIOS update. Once I have the file the BIOS gets updated from A3 to A10 and after two reboots I am ready to start installing again.
12:55pm
The Windows 7 install gets started again. This time I have no problems getting to the next steps. I am given a window to choose if I want to upgrade or do a fresh install. I select upgrade.
1:00pm
I have come to the main install window. The installer now has five tasks to complete.
- Copying Windows Files
- Gathering Files, settings, and programs
- Expanding Windows files
- Installing features and updates
- Transferring files, settings, and programs
This aspect of the installation has taken a good deal of time, 46 mins for the first two steps.
1:46pm
The laptop reboots for the first time and I am greeted with the Windows 7 splash screen. The laptop resumes the install process and starts “Expanding Windows Files.”
2:08pm
The laptop reboots for the second time. During the reboot the installer completes the 4th step “Installing features and updates.” The installer is now moving on to the final step “Transferring files, settings, and programs.” I notice that Windows 7, after the last reboot, has chosen a more appropriate screen resolution.
2:32pm
The laptop reboots a third time. The first screen that comes up is a black and white “Windows 7 Boot Manager” screen that flashes up and then is gone again. Once the laptop is fully booted it resumes “Transferring files, settings, and programs” at 63%.
2:48pm
The laptop boots a fourth time and comes up to a screen that says “Windows 7 is setting up for first use” and then “testing video performance.” Finally I come to the screen where I can enter my windows product key.
2:54pm
I am presented with my first opportunity to log into Windows 7. Everything goes smoothly with the first login. Once I get to the desktop my attention is drawn to the taskbar. Any folder or program that I launch appears as an icon instead of a small icon with text. I don’t like this at all. It’s hard to tell which items are “pinned” to the taskbar, and which ones are folder or program windows. To make matters worse “pinned” items and folder/program icons appear to have the ability to intermingle. Pinned items appear to have taken the place of quick launch items. I came to this conclusion based on the fact that I don’t see anything mentioned about quick launch items. After a few clicks I have this worked out to look more like what I am used to. I activate windows and start launching programs.
3:15pm
I check the device manager and all the hardware drivers appear to be installed properly. All the programs that I have launched are working properly.
Conclusion: The Facts
First of all let me start by saying that this particular Windows 7 Ultimate upgrade from Windows Vista Ultimate took two hours and twenty-four minutes. You do have to take into consideration that this laptop is a few years old, and even when it was new, it was considered a mid-grade laptop in terms of performance. Besides the BIOS update the Windows 7 Ultimate upgrade from Windows Vista Ultimate went perfectly smooth. The client was very pleased.
Conclusion: My Opinion
While having only spent a few minutes using the new software I would like give a few opinions. Windows 7 retains Vista’s shininess. I like the styling and colors that Microsoft has chosen. It looks like some navigational things have been reorganized. Hopefully for the better, but only time will tell. One small thing that I noticed and like is when you right click on a shortcut icon you can navigate to the target icon from the right click menu. It is navigational changes like this that Microsoft has hopefully focused on which will increase the ease of use in its products. Working in the IT field, I would much rather click twice to get what I need than having to navigate through multiple “nested” windows to change something or find what I am looking for. Everything considered this upgrade was a positive experience.
