How should I install windows 7 on a blank hard drive?

June 3rd, 2010

windows 7
Steve. asked:


I’ve been looking around to see how to do it, and I’ve been hearing that I need to partition everything on my current hard drive/os, and that I need to do a bunch of random stuff to register windows 7. I’ve just been wondering if it can be easier.
Can I just take out my current hard drive, put in my new one, load the W7 disc, and follow the installation instructions?
Or does it have to be more complicated?

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4 Responses to “How should I install windows 7 on a blank hard drive?”

  1. blamay22000 Says:
    June 5th, 2010 at 2:51 am

    You need to put the disk in the cd/dvd rom drive and reboot your pc. Windows will do the rest.

  2. cld Says:
    June 5th, 2010 at 10:17 am

    You don’t need a bunch of partitions. You can use an entire drive if you needed. Only if you’re dual-booting, you’ll have to make partitions.

    “Can I just take out my current hard drive, put in my new one, load the W7 disc, and follow the installation instructions?
    Installation is easy as you say it would be. just swap the old HDD for the new one, and pop the W7 disc, and follow the install instructions.

  3. ElDub Says:
    June 8th, 2010 at 12:17 pm

    you’re making it to complicated

    especially if you’re putting in a new drive
    put in the drive, boot the installation cd and let it do it’s thing

    when your done and boot back up it’ll ask if you want to register your Win7. Click yes and it’ll be done in about 2 seconds.

    couldn’t be easier unless you start messing around wanting to make a bunch of partitions, especially if you not familiar with doing it. Certainly no reason to do anything special.

  4. scatterbrainedgenius Says:
    June 10th, 2010 at 6:16 am

    I agree whole hearted with the other replies, but the fact is they are right and wrong, they are right it is easy to install and you pop the disk in and it does it by itself, but as one said you can use the entire drive as a partition, well, not so right, you should make a partition in your HDD so that other programs can’t randomly write onto your main program.
    So when you install it may or may not ask if you wish to make a partition. But if it does you should make a 20-30GB partition for the sake of keeping things arranged properly.

    If this is a reinstall for an upgrade you will not partition anything the PC has already been given a partition and you will just insert the disk and the PC will do the rest.

    Here is a page I found although it says nothing about fdisk that i could find it still tells all about installing.
    Look under Installing Using custom Installation and formatting the hard disk for answers.

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