Windows 7 Tips & Tricks: Five Tips for Getting Started with Windows 7 USB Flash Drive Installations and Restoring the Start Menu Internet Search Eric Geier
You'll probably find Windows 7 to be faster and less annoying than Vista. However, there will likely be some things you'll want to change. This article will cover a few tips and tweaks for getting up to speed with Windows 7. But first we'll cover how to install Windows 7 on computers that aren't sporting a DVD drive, like netbooks and laptops.
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Installing Windows 7 with a USB Flash Drive
Though Windows 7 comes on a DVD, there are ways to install it on computers not loaded with a DVD drive, such as on netbooks. One way is to load the Windows installation files onto a USB flash or hard drive from an installation DVD or an ISO CD image. Then if the computer supports booting from USB, you can boot into the installation. Alternatively, you can run setup from within the existing
Windows, but you then can't make changes to the hard disk.
The first step is to back up any files on the USB drive to a different computer; not the one you're upgrading to Windows 7. This is because you'll have to wipe the drive clean.
Next you need to format the drive. Remember, this permanently erases everything from the drive. You can use the simple format utility in Windows. You can do this on the computer you're upgrading, or on a different one. To do this formatting and other preparation you just need a working computer of some type with at least Windows XP. If you're using the installation DVD, the computer of course needs to have a DVD drive.
When you're ready to format the drive, open Computer or My Computer, right-click the icon for the drive and select Format. Choose the Quick Format option and click Start.
If you downloaded Windows 7, you need to extract the CD image file. You'll need a third-party utility such as WinRAR or PowerISO. Extract the contents of the ISO file to an accessible location.
The trick to getting the installation files onto the USB drive is to use XCopy. This is a command-line utility in Windows that you can run from the Command Prompt. It transfers the files over in a way that enables you to boot from the drive. Here's exactly how to do it:
If using Windows Vista, click the Start button, type cmd,
and hit Enter. If using XP, click Start, click Run, type
cmd, and hit Enter.
If using a CD image file, navigate to the location of the extracted
files. For example, enter cd c:/path_to_file. Then you need to run
the following command and hit Enter: XCOPY *.* F: /e (replacing F
with correct letter for your USB drive).
If using an installation DVD, run the following command and hit Enter:
XCOPY D: F: /e (replacing D with correct letter for your DVD drive
and F for your USB drive).
Wait until all the files are transferred and then you can remove the
drive.
Now you can insert the USB drive into the computer you're loading with Windows 7 and try to boot from it. Some computers automatically recognize USB drives and will start the Windows 7 installation. Some computers might require you to choose it from a boot menu by hitting F1, F12, or another function key during the beginning of the boot. Sometimes you might even have to edit the BIOS settings to enable USB booting; try hitting F2 or other function keys at boot.
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Restoring the Start Menu Internet Search
As you probably know all too well, Microsoft made many major changes from Windows XP to Vista. One of these changes is the new search field on the Start Menu, which adds search capabilities and serves as an alternative to using the Run prompt. By default, Vista would search your computer for the keywords you type. Then you could click the link, Search the Internet, on the bottom of the
results on the Start Menu to scour the web.
If you're a fan of this feature in Vista, however, you'll have to manually activate it in Windows 7. If you're using a the Business or Enterprise edition, all it takes is a simple Local Group Policy edit to restore the Internet search functionality. Follow these steps:
Click the Start button, type gpedit.msc into the search
box, and hit Enter.
Using the Local Group Policy Editor navigate to User Configuration
> Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar.
Then right click on Add Search Internet link to Start Menu and
select Edit.
