Guide: How to Install Window's the Right Way!

[JefferyD90]

So I have been around for a while on LTT and various forums, and everyone always ask questions about "how to install Windows" or they have troubleshooting questions which always leads to the individual not installing Windows correctly to begin with.  Yet I never find a thread that just guides people through installing Windows!  So I have sat down for a few hours and built what I consider a fairly comprehensive guide to installing Windows the right way.
 
***I will be updating it here in a few days with some revisions (grammar is going to suck ass right now, after spending the better part of 3 hours writing this I didn't revise it too much)***
 

Maybe some of you are wondering what makes doing this "Clean Install" of Windows so special, well I could type it out, or...  you can just go ahead and watch learn!  This is geared towards the recent release of Windows 10 and everyone doing the upgrade, but it applies to all versions and all (99%) situations.

 

 

How To Install Windows…  Right!

 
 
This article is specifically designed to teach everyone how to install Windows without any further issues.  Keep in mind you can cut corners, at your own risk.  If you ever do decide to cut these corners NO ONE can guarantee the install will go without hitch and that you will/wont have issues down the road.  Every step here has a purpose, which will be explained in some detail, nothing here done is done without reason.  Please read the WHOLE post before doing ANYTHING!
 
 
Things you’ll need:
 
1. A USB Flash drive (I’d suggest at least 8GB, but not more than 32GB {some older motherboards wont boot with USB drives larger than 32GB})
2. Time, 3-5 hours is about typical.
3. A copy of Windows.  This WILL work with any version of Windows, but the instructions are based around Windows 8.
 
 
NOTE:  This is also destructive, so you will want to back up EVERYTHING you want beforehand.  I highly advise against using any automated software for backups, please instead just copy and paste the data you want to save over to external storage of some sort (USB HDD, NAS, another computer, Cloud Storage are all options here) but that WILL NOT be included in this process guide.
 
     Step 1: Preparation of Install Media

 

This process is the more lengthy of all the processes, but when done correctly everything else is SO much easier.  Also, this process can be done while your current install is still up and going.  So you can still play a game while stuff downloads and so on.
 
          Step A: Getting Windows Install Media
 
Many people will already have Windows Install media.  This can be acquired from Microsoft (http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/cat/Windows-8.1/categoryID.62684800?icid=L2_Nav_Promo_Store_Windows_011415) for $119.99 at a normal price.  You can also find this other places, like Amazon, for (usually) a little less although you will have to wait for them to send you a disk (yuck physical media).
 
If you already have purchased a copy of Windows before (either physical or digital) you can also use Microsoft’s service to take your product key and download a copy of that install media on the fly (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/upgrade-product-key-only) or you can use this http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media.

 

UPDATE FOR WINDOWS 10 USERS:  I will not be updating this guide IMMEDIATLY for a comprehensive guide for Windows 10 installations.  But, I will go ahead and include the place you need to go to in order to get a copy of the ISO.  Please, take caution and PLEASE read all the instructions and make informed decisions.

 

Windows 10 Media Creation Tool: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/media-creation-tool-install
 
The PREFERED METHOD of doing this (for this guide anyways) is downloading the files and saving them as a ISO.  We’re not currently ready to put the ISO anywhere yet.
 
NOTE: Do not, I repeat DO NOT, download a copy of Windows from a public torrent or other NON-MICROSOFT source.  Reason for this is because you don’t know WHAT people have done to the ISO, what software they might have slipstreamed in the install, if it is a OEM copy or Retail, and if the ISO isn’t corrupt in some way.  You might be able to get the ISO on the drive, and get drive formatted then realize that the download had a sector or two that was janky because Bob’s HDD from China had a few dead sectors on it.
 
          Step B: Putting the Windows Install Media on a Boot Drive
 
This step is generally the easiest step of the whole process.  I personally like to use the Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool.  You can get that from here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool
 
Once you download and install this tool (should take no longer than 2 minutes total) all you have to do is run the tool, then select the ISO that we downloaded in “Step A” and then select where you want this ISO to be mounted.  I usually select a USB Drive of some sort.  It will destroy anything on the drive.  This process will take a while, about 15 minutes.  This is when you can start to gather your drivers together.
 
NOTE: I always save my ISO to my NAS so I don’t have to download it again in the future.  This is also useful if Microsoft ever does to decide to quit giving us the option to get the ISO with just a product key, or when they quit producing this software.
 
     Step 2: Gathering Drivers
 
This step is the longest step, and is the part that most people fail on in some way.  I will personally be providing the steps for my personal computer, which you can see in my profile.
 
          Step A: Gathering your parts
 
The key in this step is don’t leave any part untouched.  These are the following components that I have, and are the most common for users:
 
Motherboard   ASUS Crossblade Ranger
CPU    AMD A10-7850k
Video Card   ASUS R9290-4GD5
Keyboard   Logitech G105
Mouse    Logitech G600
Headset   Logitech G930
Wireless Adapter  ASUS PCE-AC68
Cooling Solution  NZXT Kraken X41 and X61 Water Cooling  (This isn’t quite as common)
 
NOTE: The big part here is making sure you know what kind of parts you’re using.  For example, when I say I have a ASUS R9-290 that is fine, because ASUS only came out with one version of this card the R9290-4GD5.  But if you said you had a ASUS GTX780Ti, you would then have yourself a bad situation.  See the links below.
 
http://www.asus.com/us/Graphics_Cards/ROG_MATRIXGTX780TIP3GD5/HelpDesk_Download/
http://www.asus.com/us/Graphics_Cards/GTX780TIDC2OC3GD5/HelpDesk_Download/
 
Notice both of these are ASUS GTX780Ti cards.  But they have different model numbers.  One is the MATRIX-GTX780TiP-3GD5 and the other is the GTX780Ti-DC2OC-3GD5.  And if you will look under “Windows 8.1 64bit” you will see that they both have drivers there, but they are not the same version number.  ASUS has updated one of them a little further, for whatever reason they have.  Realistically both drivers will probably work with both cards, but to the point, we don’t know that and they could very easily not work on some level.  And before someone says “It’s the same GPU from NVidia so the driver will work” keep in mind that the two drivers ARE DIFFERENT, its clearly obvious with the driver version and even more obvious when you look at the download size of the files and see that they are different sizes.  One has more than the other, so SOMETHING in those drivers is different, we don’t know which is which.  END POINT don’t take the easy route out and just grab “any ol’ GTX780Ti” driver, get the one designed to work WITH your specific card.
 
          Step B: Downloading Drivers
 
So once you know what hardware you have finding the drivers is fairly simple.  I will use my Crossblade Ranger as the example for this step.
 
1. Go to ASUS’s (my manufacture) website, asus.com.
2. Navigate to the “Support” section of their website (this can be called something different based on the manufacture).  Usually you can just use “support.asus.com” or “asus.com/support” to directly go to this section of their website.
3. Once you get to this section, you can simply search for your product, be sure to use the correct model number, or you can use their navigation drop down boxes.
4. At this point you should find yourself at the motherboard’s support page, you then navigate to the “Driver & Tools” section, sometimes called “Downloads” or any other variation.
5. Usually you’ll have to select your OS (if you don’t, I would be extra careful to what you download)
6. Download stuff!  So here is how you’re going to approach this, download everything.  If you’re in doubt, download it.  If you decide to not install it later, that’s cool, but at least you’ll have it.  But here is some rules you can follow to determine what exactly is necessary.
     a. BIOS files aren’t required.  These are tricky and risky, and have no bearings on installing a OS (generally)
     b. Manuals or any kind of Vendor List aren’t useful.  These are only good once you have a OS installed and can view (usually) PDF’s.
     c. Older Drivers don’t do you any good.  Base this off of the DATE not the version number.
7. As a general rule, save these as a more common file name.  For example I save my chipset driver as “Chipset” instead of “AMD_Chipset_Win7-8-8-1_V809160_809150.zip” like ASUS defaults to.  But this is just so things are clean and easy and has NO bearings on the end result.
 
You also need to differentiate between “Utilities” and “Drivers”.  Drivers are 100% necessary, and Utilities are 99% recommended.  For this motherboard, the Drivers are the following: Chipset, Audio, VGA, LAN, USB, SATA.  Utilities are following:  CPU-Z, ROG Game First, RAMDisk, KeyBot, AI Suite, HomeCloud, PC Diagnostics, AO Help, Boot Settings, and WebStorage.
 
Each of the Utilities have a purpose and most are extremely useful, and if nothing else are good to have installed even if you never end up using them.  For example, my LAN driver allows me to actually use my LAN port; without the LAN driver the LAN port may not work, or will work like poo.  Although the Utility (ROG Game First) on the other hand wont fundamentally change anything, but it will allow packet prioritization, monitoring of network, and so on which the driver itself doesn’t do.
 
          Step C: Organizing Drivers (optional)
 
This step can be done “on the fly” as you’re downloading the drivers.  I personally make a folder and name it the name of my PC “Phantom Ranger” and then create another folder inside of that folder for each component, in this case “Crossblade Ranger” then put the drivers for that component inside that folder.  I have, in the past, created another folder inside the component folder for the Utilities, but sometimes that is more trouble than needed.  So my folder tree will look something like this:
 
Phantom Ranger
-Crossblade Ranger
  Chipset
  Audio
  LAN
  VGA
  ETC…
- ASUS R9290-4GD5
  AMD CCC
-Logitech
ETC…
 
The end result of this step of gathering drivers is make sure you get all the drivers for all your products in a folder that you can navigate easily.  I then take the Driver folder and just copy and paste it onto the boot drive that should be done by now.


 

 

 


Occasionally I will go ahead and make a generalized “Software” folder.  This makes installing my favorite programs like Steam, Audacity, uTorrent, 7-Zip, and so on a lot quicker.  Instead of having to download these at the end, I can do it now when I still have my computer up and running and still have access to these programs as they are.
 
     Step 3: Installing Windows
 
KEY POINT: At this point DISCONNECT ALL SOURCES TO INTERNET TO THIS DEVICE.  Do not reconnect internet sources UNTIL told.
 
          Step A: Booting to Media
 
After you get your boot media made (Steps 1 and 2) plug it into the machine you want to Install Windows on and then turn it on, and press the motherboards “Boot Selection” key on your keyboard until you get the option (F8 for my motherboard, you can find this in your manual).  With Windows 8 and my motherboard, I select the UEFI version of my USB Drive and it will start the process.
 

 
          Step B: Deleting Old Data and Partitioning Drive
 
Once the boot media loads everything necessary, it will bring you to an install window.  You will need to select your language, choose the install method, accept the terms, choose custom install.  Obviously you select the language you want, and you will choose Install instead of the “repair” option.  As the repair option only brings up things like a memory test, basic file restoration, and boot repair.  You don’t want to choose the “Upgrade path” for a clean install of Windows, choosing a “Upgrade” will leave MANY files behind and can often lead to having the same problems you had been having from before.
 

 
After all of that, you will want to load your SATA drivers if you have them available.  Sometimes you will have to unzip them before you finish making your install media.  We do this now so there are no issues writing your data to your hard drive.  Last thing we want is corrupted data.  All you have to do is click on the load driver button, then navigate to your driver folder for the SATA device.  If you’re using a RAID controller look for that, otherwise you’re probably looking for a AHCI folder of some sort.
 

 
Everything up until this point has been nondestructive, once you cross THIS LINE you will destroy all your old data AND IT WILL NOT BE RECOVERABLE.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After you choose the “Custom” path you want to select each partition, and delete ALL of them on the drive.  When you’re done you should have one single “unpartitioned” selection.  Just click it, then click the “New” button.  This will create the Recovery, System, and MSR partitions automatically, and assign them accordingly.  Once this is done (should take all of a few seconds) click next.  Windows will start doing all it needs to do and then restart, occasionally it will restart 2-3 times not just once this depends on the hardware.
 
          Step C: “Personalizing” Windows
 
This is fairly straight forward.  Set a user name, choose the options you want (I leave everything default personally), just whatever you choose DO NOT connect the computer to the internet.  Once you get to the start screen you’re off to the final steps!
 
     Step 4: Setting Up Windows
 
This is the final part, and doesn’t take too long just quite a bit of patience.  A general rule of thumb is restart EVERY time it ask you to, which will be often (after almost every driver install).  Another point is do not install drivers from inside of zip files, unzip them first then install from the normal file folder.  Do not install any programs before you install drivers.  I always copy my driver folder from my USB drive to my desktop and then operate inside the folder on my desktop (a lot faster and you don’t have to worry about the USB Bus being disconnected while a driver is installing causing the installer to not see the drive anymore and corrupting data)
 
          Step A: Installing Drivers
 
There are 3 basic types of driver installs.  I will guide you through each, starting with the easiest and ending with the more complex.
 
1. Exe installers – these installers are fairly simple, all you do is double click them and follow the instructions.  They will extract, configure, and install themselves.  These are fairly automated and require basic reading skills, that’s it.
 
2. Zip/folder installers – These installers are mostly simple.  You unzip the zip file then go into the unzipped folder and run the “setup.exe” file.  With my motherboard, you actually want to select the “AsusSetup.exe” file.  This is a semi common practice, they build the separate drivers together in the same zip folder for several builds of Windows (one for Windows 7 one for Windows 8, and also one each for x64 and x86 are some examples) so you could have half a dozen actual drivers somewhere in this folder that you have unzipped.  The manufacture in this case, will create their own setup file to determine which installer to run.  SIMPLE INSTRUCTION run the exe file located in the unzipped directory.  If you have questions consult the manufacture.
 
3. Propriety zip/folder installers – these are most common on OEM machines.  My best example is (let’s say) a Toshiba notebook computer.  You will download the driver from support.toshiba.com and it will look like a exe file, but when you double click it (if you’ll notice) it actually starts to unzip a bunch of compressed files (usually to c:/user/%user%/AppData/Temp or something like that) and then when it is done unzipping it will ask you if you want to run the newly unzipped files.  Just click yes and it will work.  What makes this different than the Zip/folder installers is that with older machines when you’re installing a different version of Windows than intended with the installer originally, it just won’t work.  I tell you this so you can keep note and find the files you need in the unzipped directory.  This should be done carefully and with some thought beforehand.
 
Once you know how to install a specific driver, you need to make sure you actually install them in a logical fashion.  The best way I know how to explain it is as follows:  When a manufacture makes a motherboard they often times like to add more stuff to the board than what comes with the native chipset.  For example, Intel’s x97 chipset can only support 6 USB 3.0 ports (http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/chipsets/performance-chipsets/z97-chipset.html), but it doesn’t support Bluetooth natively.  So ASUS might decide to take 1 of those USB 3.0 ports and break it off and put a Bluetooth module on it.  You’ll never have that physical 6th port, but it will have Bluetooth solution on the PCB of the motherboard.  You can’t install the Bluetooth driver before you install the chipset driver, because without the chipset driver your USB ports may not function correctly thus the Bluetooth device is never detected at all.
 
With all that said, this is the normal way I install drivers:
 
1. Chipset (Northbridge then Southbridge)
2. Chipset additions (this includes Intel Engine Management or things of that nature)
3. SATA (if you need additional drivers)
4. Audio
5. LAN
6. Video (I always install integrated drivers first then install dedicated video, sometimes you can completely pass on the integrated driver {like with my build} because the way CCC installs)
7. USB
8. All other drivers.  At this point it “shouldn’t” matter.  If you run into problems consult your manufacture.
 
At this point (for all of you meticulous people) you can check your device manager and all your devices SHOULD be accounted for.  If you have any devices that are unknown then you didn’t download all the drivers for all your devices.  You should use another computer to find the driver you need.  If you cant figure out which driver you need, grab the “Hardware Ids” from the “Details” tab once you right click on the troubled device and click on “Properties”.  Once you have the Hardware Ids just type it in a search engine and it should point you in the direction of the device you forgot to get a driver for.  But whatever you do, don’t connect your computer to the internet just yet!
 
          Step B: Install Utilities
 
At this point you’ll understand how to operate installers.  So just find your way back to your folder on your desktop then install all the utilities you got.  Restart upon request but always restart no matter what when you have finished installing your last utility. 
 
          Step C: Install Windows Updates
 
This is the point where you can finally connect your computer to the internet.  Once your computer has restarted after you have finished installing DRIVERS AND UTILITIES go ahead and connect your computer to the internet and open Windows Update and check for updates.  This might take a few minutes but give it time.  Once it’s done look at the list of updates, I would select ALL of the updates BESIDES the Hardware updates.  For example, I would go ahead and check all of them but the “AMD Graphics Driver”.  Let it download and install all the updates, then restart your machine.  Because of the vast number of updates you could have (most people have close to 100 or more) I wouldn’t perform any other actions because it could interfere with a critical update that is altering a file.  Best bet is to just simply click the install button and let the computer sit for about a hour, checking on it every 10-15 minutes or so.  (Don’t let it sit for too long because it WILL go to sleep as Window’s default sleep cycle is 20 minutes I believe).
 
Once done restart the computer and check again.  Usually you’ll have to check for updates 2-3 times before it doesn’t find any more new updates.  But once it’s done then you can research if you want to allow Windows Update to install the hardware updates.  I personally, will usually just hide all hardware updates because the Windows Update version of the driver is often more out of date than the one you’ll get from the manufacture.  But occasionally you will receive benefit from installing the Windows Update version of the driver.
 
NOTE: This is why you shouldn’t connect your computer to the internet until all the drivers are set.  When you’re installing your drivers you don’t want Windows installing updates and potentially be installing the same device driver at the same time!  Also when installing a driver, you don’t want to be messing with critical Windows files as they are OFTEN interwoven somehow.
 
          Step D: Install Software
 
This is it, now you can install all your personal software on your machine.  It should be up to date and running like a champ.

[Tim Drake]

This will help a lot of people, good job

[RedSphyxis]

You deserve more likes good sir. Here have mine

[JefferyD90]

Okay, so I have done all the editing I am going to do for now.

 

Please read the post, and make suggestions for areas that I wasn't so clear.  Remember this should be completely comprehensive and leave no room for error.

 

If you have any gripes about the process, or you think something isn't right at all, let me know and Ill research further.

 

Also any grammar suggestions should be posted.

[JefferyD90]

Thinking of cleaning this up then making a YouTube video to go along with it...  thoughts?

[JefferyD90]

Its been edited again.  Now it is "version 1.5"

[xeromynd]

First off, great work!

 

You know, I'm surprised there isn't an official community-made LTT Windows install guide stickied on the forum. We should totally make one using all the tips, tricks, and various install procedures different people use. I've always used Sean's Windows 7 Install Guide @ Overclock.net, but that one's a bit dated, and only for Windows 7 afaik.

 

An LTT community-sourced install guide would be sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet imo.

 

Could add in all the little tidbits like disabling pagefile, moving user folders, checking prefetch/superfetch, how to ensure TRIM is enabled, turning off defrag for SSDs, turning off indexing, all the crap like that.

[Ostwind]

I disagree, the best way is to use an IDE ODD with an IDE to Sata adapter and then just click through all the things as fast as possible. The Faster you click through them the better and faster your computer will be once windows is installed.

[Jarsky]

A few things on this post.

 

 

To make a bootable USB key, you can use command prompt instead of installing additional software.

Here is how to prep the USB key, then just extract your downloaded ISO to the key: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj200124.aspx

 

To reinstall applications, many 32-bit apps can be had without "bloated installers", by downloading from https://ninite.com

Windows 10 will have a new repository install function, that will mean you can do similar to ninite from the command line.

 

You may also want to make a Slipstreamed install - where you can integrate updates and drivers into your USB key.

It will make it easier next time you have to run the install, you can also include SATA and host adapter drivers to make reinstalling much easier if you think you might have to do it again or you like refreshing regularly. 

Heres a guide for an easy way to Slipstream: http://www.howtogeek.com/169522/customize-your-windows-8-installation-disc-and-slipstream-updates-with-winreducer/

[swifty7]

actually the best way to make a bootable usb key is to use 'rufus' utility which is much better than the windows 7 one.

[Master Disaster]

Or you could just do it the pro way

~100GB partition on a second HDD

Control Panel

File History

Create A Windows Image

Give it a name

Select 100GB Partition

Click Create

Wait

Now when things go wrong you boot into WinRE

Click Advanced Troubleshooting

Restore System Partition

Select Recovery Image

Exclude other HDDs from the restore

Click Restore

Wait

Boom, your PC is exactly as it was when you created the image.

It might take a little longer to create the image and then restore it but it saves hours of reinstalling everything back onto the machine.

[Speedbird]

Nice work.

[swifty7]

Or you could just do it the pro way

~100GB partition on a second HDD

Control Panel

File History

Create A Windows Image

Give it a name

Select 100GB Partition

Click Create

Wait

Now when things go wrong you boot into WinRE

Click Advanced Troubleshooting

Restore System Partition

Select Recovery Image

Exclude other HDDs from the restore

Click Restore

Wait

Boom, your PC is exactly as it was when you created the image.

It might take a little longer to create the image and then restore it but it saves hours of reinstalling everything back onto the machine.

this sounds like a real good idea, but restoring with an Acronis backup is pretty much the same thing

 

[TruisticHurdle1]

This is really helpful! Amazing work! A YouTube video would be really nice to make it a bit more visual, but even if you can't, this is really good! Will really help many builders out there.

[NumLock21]

To have your windows on a USB drive, you must have a spare computer first. This will not work when a person has never own a computer and is doing their very first build. It would be faster to just pop in the disc to the DVD drive and install from there. Adding the USB just creates more work.

[Jarsky]

To have your windows on a USB drive, you must have a spare computer first. This will not work when a person has never own a computer and is doing their very first build. It would be faster to just pop in the disc to the DVD drive and install from there. Adding the USB just creates more work.

 

I think the idea, is that most people would already have a computer or at least have access to one, to be here to read this....

If you didnt have any, then yeah you'd just buy the physical media and do it that way, or use the one that comes with your computer/laptop if its a prebuilt system.

 

A USB is far faster and doesnt require an optical drive which a lot of people don't have on newer computers.

[JefferyD90]

First off, great work!

 

You know, I'm surprised there isn't an official community-made LTT Windows install guide stickied on the forum. We should totally make one using all the tips, tricks, and various install procedures different people use. I've always used Sean's Windows 7 Install Guide @ Overclock.net, but that one's a bit dated, and only for Windows 7 afaik.

 

An LTT community-sourced install guide would be sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet imo.

 

Could add in all the little tidbits like disabling pagefile, moving user folders, checking prefetch/superfetch, how to ensure TRIM is enabled, turning off defrag for SSDs, turning off indexing, all the crap like that.

That is not a part of my guide.  Disabling page filing is NOT a recommended procedure.  Moving user folders is ALSO not a recommended feature.  Windows automatically doesn't defrag SSDs and turns TRIM support on.  Indexing is also a positive feature and shouldn't be turned off.

 

All of these suggestions are for POWER USERS that do understand their outcome.  This guide is 100% for the average joe that should not be doing any of the additional features you suggested.  Also, if I was going to do that kind of stuff it would be a separate guide called "Customizing Windows".

[JefferyD90]

A few things on this post.

 

 

To make a bootable USB key, you can use command prompt instead of installing additional software.

Here is how to prep the USB key, then just extract your downloaded ISO to the key: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj200124.aspx

 

To reinstall applications, many 32-bit apps can be had without "bloated installers", by downloading from https://ninite.com

Windows 10 will have a new repository install function, that will mean you can do similar to ninite from the command line.

 

You may also want to make a Slipstreamed install - where you can integrate updates and drivers into your USB key.

It will make it easier next time you have to run the install, you can also include SATA and host adapter drivers to make reinstalling much easier if you think you might have to do it again or you like refreshing regularly. 

Heres a guide for an easy way to Slipstream: http://www.howtogeek.com/169522/customize-your-windows-8-installation-disc-and-slipstream-updates-with-winreducer/

This guide is meant for the average joe, do you really think the average joe wants to use the cmd promt over a simple piece of software?

 

Also this guide is meant to prevent users from getting software from third parties, like ninite.  No matter how big the 3rd party might be, you still don't know how up to date the software is, how it has been modified, or anything else of that nature.

 

Slipstreamed installs seem nice, the only problem is this is (once again) for a average joe.  Slipstreamed installs can often go wrong if you don't know what you're doing, also installing programs before you install drivers is a BAD idea.  Not to include, the next time you run the install (I personally find myself reinstalling Windows about once ever 6 months for various reasons) I SHOULD have all new versions of my software and drivers, so the slipstreamed install media would have to be reconfigured.  Thus, I don't recommend slipstreams unless you plan on installing on 5+ machines that have the EXACT same hardware configuration.

[JefferyD90]

actually the best way to make a bootable usb key is to use 'rufus' utility which is much better than the windows 7 one.

Trying to avoid 3rd party software.

[JefferyD90]

Or you could just do it the pro way

~100GB partition on a second HDD

Control Panel

File History

Create A Windows Image

Give it a name

Select 100GB Partition

Click Create

Wait

Now when things go wrong you boot into WinRE

Click Advanced Troubleshooting

Restore System Partition

Select Recovery Image

Exclude other HDDs from the restore

Click Restore

Wait

Boom, your PC is exactly as it was when you created the image.

It might take a little longer to create the image and then restore it but it saves hours of reinstalling everything back onto the machine.

Problem with this is (as I stated about 2 post ago) that when I want to do a reinstall of Windows (about every 6-9 months) every single driver should have a new version, and every piece of software should be a new version.  Thus, this method just require 10x more effort to uninstall and reinstall programs/drivers (not to include dealing with the possibility of a uninstall not being complete then having a corrupt installer so on and so forth.)

[JefferyD90]

To have your windows on a USB drive, you must have a spare computer first. This will not work when a person has never own a computer and is doing their very first build. It would be faster to just pop in the disc to the DVD drive and install from there. Adding the USB just creates more work.

In this section, I said you can get your media any way you'd like.  (I even included a link to the Microsoft Store where you can buy a copy).

 

Also, if someone is looking on this forum then they have a working computer.  I cant do much help to someone who has never had a computer before.

[JefferyD90]

I am still looking for suggestions though.  I want to know which steps weren't as clearly portrayed.  I will be doing a youtube video here very shortly then.  I'm probably going to break it down into the 4 different categories.  Creating a "Guide to Customizing Windows" is probably next on my list as it would help the power users.  Thanks @xeromynd

 

Also, this guide is meant to be EASY and step by step.  I know a lot of you know how to do it other ways, but this guide is meant to show you OFFICIAL and easy ways of doing things.  Having people "go here click this, and poof automagically..." doesn't help the original builder as it only shows them shortcuts.  This is like when you're learning math in grade school, you have to learn the long complicated way first, then the teacher will come in after you understand what is going on and show you the easy way.

[Master Disaster]

Problem with this is (as I stated about 2 post ago) that when I want to do a reinstall of Windows (about every 6-9 months) every single driver should have a new version, and every piece of software should be a new version. Thus, this method just require 10x more effort to uninstall and reinstall programs/drivers (not to include dealing with the possibility of a uninstall not being complete then having a corrupt installer so on and so forth.)

That's why you reimage every few months, so your always upto date.

[Jarsky]

Also this guide is meant to prevent users from getting software from third parties, like ninite.  No matter how big the 3rd party might be, you still don't know how up to date the software is, how it has been modified, or anything else of that nature.

 

 

The problem with referring people direct to the app suppliers, is that many of the installers now are obscure with the way in which they present addiitional software during the install process. Ninite strips this down, which was my point in pointing out a service like this. The "average user" that you're referring to is just going to keep clicking Yes/Accept/Continue, and end up with all sorts of bloatware they dont want....like uTorrents new bitminer install, or system scanners that will give the user big flashing boxes that they can upgrade to full to protect their system for only $29.99!

 

The heading of the article is "How to install Windows the Right Way".

If this article is just for very simple beginners, then the title is ambiguous, as there are a number of ways that are the right way without installing additional 3rd party tools like the USB/DVD creator, and avoiding all the bloatware that comes with many of the installers, that make installation very simple.

 

Also ninite is up to date almost to the day. A lot of software these days also have their own Update services, so they will update themselves as normal.

 

 

Slipstreamed installs seem nice, the only problem is this is (once again) for a average joe.  Slipstreamed installs can often go wrong if you don't know what you're doing, also installing programs before you install drivers is a BAD idea.  Not to include, the next time you run the install (I personally find myself reinstalling Windows about once ever 6 months for various reasons) I SHOULD have all new versions of my software and drivers, so the slipstreamed install media would have to be reconfigured.  Thus, I don't recommend slipstreams unless you plan on installing on 5+ machines that have the EXACT same hardware configuration.

 

 

I'm not referring to Slipstreaming software into your install - I'm talking about updates and basic drivers, so that you have something thats plug and play for your computer. I'd never create an SOE image unless as you said, I have a number of computers with the same configuration and same requirement (which isnt a home user case). Again if I wanted something with software, then I would recommend a backup image once everything is installed, rather than a slipstream. Again that link was to a very simple way of creating a slipstream install, which would be more of an advanced step on top of the original article.

[JefferyD90]

The problem with referring people direct to the app suppliers, is that many of the installers now are obscure with the way in which they present addiitional software during the install process. Ninite strips this down, which was my point in pointing out a service like this. The "average user" that you're referring to is just going to keep clicking Yes/Accept/Continue, and end up with all sorts of bloatware they dont want....like uTorrents new bitminer install, or system scanners that will give the user big flashing boxes that they can upgrade to full to protect their system for only $29.99!

 

The heading of the article is "How to install Windows the Right Way".

If this article is just for very simple beginners, then the title is ambiguous, as there are a number of ways that are the right way without installing additional 3rd party tools like the USB/DVD creator, and avoiding all the bloatware that comes with many of the installers, that make installation very simple.

 

Also ninite is up to date almost to the day. A lot of software these days also have their own Update services, so they will update themselves as normal.

 

 

 

 

I'm not referring to Slipstreaming software into your install - I'm talking about updates and basic drivers, so that you have something thats plug and play for your computer. I'd never create an SOE image unless as you said, I have a number of computers with the same configuration and same requirement (which isnt a home user case). Again if I wanted something with software, then I would recommend a backup image once everything is installed, rather than a slipstream. Again that link was to a very simple way of creating a slipstream install, which would be more of an advanced step on top of the original article.

Look on TechNet, there is a official RIGHT WAY to install Windows.  I know you wasn't refereeing to slipstreaming, there was another user that was suggesting slipstreaming.  Also, the user has the right to check whatever they want.  If they want to take the easy way out and continue, accept, install, next without reading what they are getting then more power to them.  This isn't a "How to install Windows with crazy additions" guide.

 

And as far as "as there are a number of ways that are the right way without installing additional 3rd party tools like the USB/DVD creator, and avoiding all the bloatware that comes with many of the installers, that make installation very simple. " the Microsoft Windows USB/DVD Creator Tool is a FIRST party piece of software as it is MADE by the same party that makes Windows (and is also how they suggest doing it).  And as for making stuff "easier", if you have a easier way of taking a ISO image and putting it on a USB drive and making the USB drive bootable, Im all ears.