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Easy step by step guide for installing and configuring Windows 7

If you are here, reading this article, means something bad happened with your OS, means you have a problem, a problem that we all have to face from time to time: your operating system (OS) has stopped working or is failing and you probably need to reinstall it. Most of the time it’s a headache for all of us because it’s time and energy consuming, especially if you are not sure how to do it. This article wants to be a friendly and easy step by step guide about how to successfully complete this task with little knowledge in this domain, detailed and explained below. Please note that this article will cover the most commonly encountered environments but cannot cover all of them. Also note that reinstalling your operating system it’s not always the best solution for your issues, there could be several reasons why your PC is failing, including hardware problems, which cannot be fixed by reinstalling your OS. If you think that this is not your case, please feel free to continue reading. If it gets, in any point, more complicated to understand, you can – in any time – ask for our help, and you can do this in two easy ways: leave a comment on the bottom of the article, or use the contact form to directly send us an e-mail. Don’t be afraid, it may look a long and complicated article, but the tech part of it is actually short, the details are a bit longer, and are necessary for achieving our goal, which is for you to understand what has to be done and how should you do it if you need to reinstall your operating system.

Windows 7 is the latest operating system – mainly targeting home users, also used by network administrators – from Microsoft Corporation, so we will concentrate our attention on it. The installation procedure is not that different from older versions of Microsoft’s Windows OS, also very easy and intuitive, but some knowledge is still required. We will try to provide you this knowledge in an easily understandable way, with pictures and step-by-step description, making it fun and easy! All you have to do is to read and follow this guide and advices for a successful operation.

INFO: As you probably know by now, Microsoft released different versions of Windows 7 (Starter, Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate) for general needs. These versions have different features included, also their price is different. You can compare the versions here. Choose the one you think it’s more appropriate for your needs and budget.  You can buy a license and a copy by accessing this link or you can ask at any computer store how you can get a copy. It’s that easy!

What is the difference between x86 and x64 and what to choose?

x86 and x64 refers to instruction set architectures (related to programming), in other words, how the processor is built and features it has. X64 handles a big amount of RAM memory (up to 256 TB), while x86 handles a maximum of 3GB of RAM memory (approx, can be extended using other technologies). What you need to really know, is that if your PC has more than 3GB of RAM memory, it is highly recommended to choose Windows 7 x64. For example, if you have 8GB of RAM memory, Windows 7 x86 will make use of (approx) 3GB, the other 5GB will not be used, therefore are useless and wasted, while Windows 7 x64 will use all the 8GB. There is also a difference translated in performance between the two architectures, x86 offers less processing power, features and instruction sets, while x64 offers a lot more of these. As you noticed, both the processors and the operating systems are built on these architectures and any combinations are compatible with each other. To achieve a better performance, it’s recommended to use x64 processor with x64 operating system, and x86 processor with x86 operating system. Note that x86 processor is compatible with x64 operating system and vice-versa, but these combinations will not squeeze the best out of your system.

This guide has 4 chapters for an easy reading and an organized structure:

(Click on the one you are interested in or follow them one by one)

CHAPTER 1: The “good-to-know” part, preparations, requirements, tools and advices

CHAPTER 2:  Installation of Windows 7

CHAPTER 3: Drivers, things to verify, tools and advices

CHAPTER 4: Configuration of Windows 7

Tags: difference, Easy, guide, Installation, step by step, Windows 7, x64, x86

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