WINDOWS 7 FINAL RELEASE 0CT 22, 2009.
Even though my 'file-name' says RC1, this also covers the Released Version.
( IF and when I do something. Haven't been as thrilled, as others, with this Win Version.)
( -But- things are starting to heat up and we are getting more involved.)
 January 15th, 2014   Well, here we are 4 years later -and- we have changed our mind about this version. Mainly cause of "lack of support" for the previous versions. This version is the better of the 'newest' ones... -and- we are starting to like it!!
 August 11th, 2014  
A Forbes Report
Microsoft has formally announced that mainstream support for Windows 7 will end on 13 January 2015.

That said there is good reason for Microsoft’s apparent lack of warning in this case: it is talking about two different kinds of support.

Mainstream Support Vs. Extended Support

On 13 January 2015 Windows 7’s ‘Mainstream Support’ will come to an end. That means no new Service Packs or features will be released. This is wholly different from the end of ‘Extended Support’ which is what happened to Windows XP on 8 April 2014.

Extended Support is the big one: no more security patches when hackers find holes, no performance improvements, nothing – the OS is effectively dead. Windows 7 Extended Support will not end until 14 January 2020. For comparison Windows XP Mainstream Support ended back on 8 April 2009.

Consequently most can breathe a sigh of relief, especially with Windows 7 currently running on over 50% of PCs around the world. If Windows XP was hard to kill, Windows 7 is likely to be even harder.

 April 10, 2013 / 9:13am   Installed Windows 7 in VMware 8 'last today' and then today let it 'UpDate' it.... 105 UpDates - 73 critical and 32 optional. Only did the 73. Then went over to the Laptop, which is always on Win7, and allowed the UpDates on it. In fact that is what is going on now. We looked at the Update History in the Win7 in VMware and they were almost 'ALL' security UpDates.

 April 11, 2013 / 10:35am   Well, today we fired up our VMware 8 and then our 'new' Window 7 Virtual Machine -and- we were greeted with a message about 'some more' UpDates!! Four(4) Critical and 36 Optional. The Optional has increased from 32 to 36. Ok, we are here at the beginning with nothing really going in this System. 'So', today, we will install 'ALL' of the UpDates.
OH DAMN!!! Our 'Main Computer', the Desktop, just FROZE UP whilst 'UpDating' our 'New Win7' Virtual Machine. So, NOTHING that we have done -or- tried so far has 'fixed' the nVidia Graphic Display Problem.

 April 11th, 2013 / 11:21am  Well, we had to 'PowerOff' and then waited and 'PowerOn' again. This time when we brought up our VMware Win7 it did one heck of a lot of recovering. We thought that it would never stop!!

Ok, we are back up and when we went in to check the updates only three of the 4 critical UpDates were selected. The fourth one was the SP1. Well, in the time we were typing this it got those three and installed them!! We do believe that the SP1 was the UpDate that it crashed on. We'll try it again... by itself. It is 87.2MB in Size.
S.O.B. !!! It got to 94% -and- FROZE!! That's it. Going to get a new graphics card. -And- MayBe 'NOT' an nVidia one!!

 April 12th, 2013 / 4:44am   Allllllrighty now... We have a new card. Another nVidia Card. We researched -and- they were given the greatest praises for various things -and- one of them being Linux. Yes, there were some Negatives -but- there were less for nVidia than the others. More info can befound on our HP m7480n Page. A GeForce 210. Suffice it to say that last evening we spent a lot of time getting it installed physically and software driverwise. We started -again- the Win7 SP1 UpDate -and- it finished overnight whilst we were sleeping and it sat there waiting. No crashes and NO Freezes. We are finishing it with the required ReBoot now. A reminder; this is inside VMware 8 inside openSuSE 12.3. We even got Brave -and- Daring. Whilst it was finishing we moved the mouse around -a lot- and even grabbed the Title Bar of VMware and moved the window around. Then we went to one of our Linux Terminal windows and executed a command whilst it was still finishing. NO Freezes. OK, at 5:08am we have finished the install procedures of Win7 SP1.

 April 12th, 2013 / 7:16am   We are getting Braver... going to allow 30 optional UpDates... now. We are NOT going to monitor it. We are just gona let them go and let the Screen Savers do their thing.
 7:28am  Twenty Nine succeeded and one failed. ReStarted...came back up and Configuring Windows UpDates. Logged back on and everything appears to be ok. 'Ceptin' we didn't hear any LogOn Music. Going to ReStart again. Nope... still no LogOn sounds. Speaker volume was at 67%. We moved it to 93%. We will go to the Control Panel and test it. Nope. Still no worky. Ah!!! Don't have VMware Tools installed!! Will do that now. Ooooops... yes we did have them installed. Hmmmmmmmm.?.?.?.
Checked our VMware settings and sound is set for 'Auto detect' -but- it was NOT checked for Connect at Power on. We checked it and ReStarted with a PowerOff/PowerOn.(well, a Shutdown / Startup in VMware)
Oh what dummies we are!! You don't get any sound 'without' speakers!!! Forgot that we are changing them 'as' we are changing the Video Card. To be continued....

 April 16th, 2013 / 9:16pm   Well, as it turns out, the 'New' Video card was the problem. Yes, a Video Card can mess up your sound, especially when it is involved with HDMI. Please refer to our: HP m7480n Page.

 October 25th, 2013   -And- a further note. The "Problem" with our lockups turned out to be an NMI (Non Makable Interrupt) that was enabled by default in the 64-bit Linux's. The interrupt was/is the "watchdog timer". We disabled it!! Further reading is in other places.

Now then, back to getting Win7 set up on our Desktop, inside VMware 8.

05 Dec 10  Once again I'll say, if anyone cares, I am getting more and more involved with Windows 7. One of the biggest reasons is ... Win2K can not handle IE7 and above.... M$ didn't allow it. Plain and simple as that. Annnddd... IE 6 is a big problem... especially with the Newer CSS standards. There are still problems between even the newer Browsers, but IE 6 really makes a mess of things -and- it doesn't understand PNG graphics at all. So, we are working on retiring Win2K ops and moving toward Win7. Now then, most of my Win7 ops will be through VMware. I have not been happy with the display of Win7 in VMware. I do believe that AERO is the problem. (Hmmmm... I used to work for AERO-- American Express Reservation Operations) In answer, yes, the operations are cleaner and faster in "Windows Basic" screens than they are in the AERO screens. -But- you don't get all the fancies. So make your choice, fancies or performance?.? Now IF you have a powerfull enough machine, it may not make any difference. Leastwise, not enough of a difference to be a bother. All depends on what you are doing. (Look to the left for information on, and control of, AERO.)

11 May 09  Microsoft announced the release of Windows 7 RC to be on May 5th, 2009. Don't know if it made it on that day or not, but it was available today, the 11th. It is/was a DVD image of their Release Candidate which I brought down to my PC. It was 2.4GB in size. I am calling it Release Candidate 1 cause I am sure that there will be more between now and the time it will be released. Or as history tells us, there should be more. The download page, as of 12 May 09, is: Windows 7. This is supposed to be available through July 2009 and it will expire in June of 2010. But you will start having problems March 2010. Soooooo... as always, make backups of ANYTHING that you care about, that you will have created in this MSRC-1.

01 Jul 09  I pre-purchased a Windows 7 Home Premium version. Microsoft must have needed some cash cause they put out an offer that I couldn't refuse. I received it around the October 22nd release time frame. It sat on my desk for weeks. I never did get it installed on my machine. I finally sold it to my friend, customer, Danny. He needed/wanted it for his machine shop PC and I wasn't using it. More on this in the next paragraph.

25 Feb 10   On this date I purchased Windows 7 Professional. This is one of the reasons I sold the other copy I had to my friend Danny. Just before Thanksgiving, Nov 6, 2009, I had purchased a "new" PC for my wife. She was getting a new Quickbooks Contractor Edition and in their requirements they say you should have a PC of 2.4Ghz or more. I got her an HP Intel Dual Core 2.4Ghz PC. I did not have a choice on the OS. It came with Windows Vista Ultimate. Headaches with it are describe elsewhere -but- the main problem was, and still is, the printer drivers for my HP cp1700... a fine printer!! My friend, Danny's machine also came with Vista but his was only a Home Premium version. Hence the reason I sold my copy to him and purchased the new one for my wife. (Further down is an explanation as to why I got the Professional and not the Ultimate.)

    HP Win7 Upgrade will take you to an HP WebPage (or at least it did) where you can get more info about upgrading an HP system. 'Most' of the info will probably apply to other Vendor's Systems also. IF you are reading this at a later date and can not find the recomended info ... I appologize. Just search for "Upgrade to Windows 7" out on the Net and I'm sure you will find more than enough information.

     As it turns out, I am covering my experiences with both the RC -and- the Final on this WebPage. I never really did much with the RC -but- now we are upgrading/downgrading my wifes machine from WinVista Ultimate to Win7 Professional. Febuary/March 2010...timeframe

• Upgrade - installs Windows 7 over an existing Windows Vista installation. 'Most' or all of your existing software programs, drivers, and personal files are available after upgrading. You can only perform an Upgrade if your computer has Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business or Ultimate Edition with Service Pack 1 or 2.  (IF you haven't installed either Service Pack, do it BEFORE attempting the Upgrade.) This, at least in my case, can be a problematic task. I had to finally separately download the Service Pack and then install it. That worked. During this there was also a glitch. It complained, stated where to go to get a fix, downloaded, installed and ran the fix and then it was ok. Just be cool, take your time and follow the suggestions and directions.
  
  
• Custom -or- Clean Install - erases all files on the hard drive partition before installing Windows 7. Any computer that meets the minimum hardware requirements can use Custom Install to install Windows 7. Your software programs, drivers, and files are no longer available after using Custom Install. Make sure to backup important files before doing a Custom Install!

Now then, the above portion of the HP WebPage was copied for a reason. Most, if not all, of us will want the first option. However, some of us have the illustrious Vista Ultimate version. Looked good, sounded good, but is now a pain in the Upgrade. According to the instructions and rules, you are told that you must go for version to version... ie; Premium to Premium, Ultimate to Ultimate ... of Vista to Windows 7. However, the Ultimate version is a lot of money and it really and truly doesn't offer anything that the "average" user needs.

    So, as usual, we search the Web. Found a couple of places that talk about upgrading to a "lower" version of Windows 7 than required... because of.. your current Operating System. In other words to avoid having to go from 'Vista Ultimate' to 'Win7 Ultimate'.
(-OR- if you installed the Windows 7 RC, which was a version of Windows 7 Ultimate.)

    Now then, this is accomplished via a Regisitry Edit of your current system.

Some of you can do this with no fears... and others ... well others, may want to ask their favorite Computer Guru.    ... cause I did not spell this out key stroke for key stroke, or all the start this and exit that's. IF you need that much direction then you shouldn't be doing this.

1. Boot-up your current OS (Vista -or- Win7 RC)
2. PROPERLY PREPARE YOUR SYSTEM FOR THE UPGRADE... BEFORE PROCEEDING.
   (Which always involves that ugly little word... BackUp.)
3. Enter RegEdit
4. Find and Change:
   *** From:
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Currentversion\EditionID = Ultimate
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Currentversion\ProductName= Windows Vista Ultimate
            -or-
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Currentversion\ProductName= Windows 7 Ultimate
   *** To:
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Currentversion\EditionID = Business
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Currentversion\ProductName= Windows Vista Business
            -or-
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Currentversion\ProductName= Windows 7 Business
   
5. Start the Windows 7 installation by inserting Windows 7 DVD disc into the DVD drive.
6. Select Upgrade as type of installation. Then, continue to install Windows 7 as per normal.
7. After the "DownGrade" you may have to Re-Activate the System.

References:  Hack In-Place Downgrade   -or-  Lengthy Discussion   -or-  Strange Way

  Which Vesion do you need -or- desire???

    Borrowed/Swiped from: Windows 7 Reviewed! XP vs Vista vs Win7

    The easiest way to look at the Windows 7 product family is to recognize that each version is superset of the version beneath it. For example, Home Premium includes all the features of Starter, but adds the Aero Interface and Media Center. Professional, meanwhile includes all the features of Home Premium (and thus Starter), but a few features oriented toward business users.

    Now, with that said, there are really only a few core features that would demand you buy one version over another. For example, the main difference between Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional is that Pro includes the virtualized XP compatibility mode, the ability to back up your computer to a network drive, a Remote Desktop Connection server, and the ability to connect to corporate networks. Ultimate, meanwhile, includes all the features of Home Premium and Professional, but adds support for Bit locker drive encryption and the freedom to switch the OS between different languages.

  Notice:   Links to ANYTHING on this page can, and probably will, go away at any time.

Tech details/updates: Before installing the RC, please read the Release Notes and Things to Know for important information about the release.

Here's what you need to have:

• Internet access (to download Windows 7 RC and get updates (which you've got if you are reading this)
• A PC with these system requirements:
  • 1 GHz -or- faster -- 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
  • 1 GB RAM (32-bit) / 2 GB RAM (64-bit)
  • 16 GB available disk space (32-bit) / 20 GB (64-bit)
  • DirectX 9 graphics processor with WDDM (Windows Display Driver Model) 1.0 or higher driver

  Please note these specifications could change. And, some product features of Windows 7, such as the ability to watch and record live TV or navigation through the use of "touch," may require advanced or additional hardware.

To learn more about the Windows 7 RC, see Frequently asked questions.

    In the FAQ, mentioned above, it is stated that this RC version is similar to Windows Vista. Therefore, if you purchase a Basic or Premium version afterwards you possibly won't get the same performance, depending on what you tried to do. I, personally, will be comparing it to Windows Vista Premium, which is the version that I possess.

  Drivers

    Converting Danny's Gateway PC from Vista to Windows 7 brought out this section. His Gateway has a BlueRay Drive. Windows 7 Drivers

    If you're holding back from testing your copy of Windows 7 because you're not sure what to do as far as device drivers are concerned, there is something you ought to know (if for some reason you didn't already). Under the hood, Windows 7 is essentially the same as Windows Vista, and as such, Vista drivers will work just fine... a majority of the time.
Refer: Mircosoft Support

HP cp1700   There is an "Open Source" driver, from HP, but its primarily for the Linux system. However, we might be able to use the code here in Windows. Best we can do for the moment. Please read the tales of woe on: HP forums. Which basically says, "MS won't let anyone use their source code to write a driver." They closed their source code to all the Vendors. (Kinda stupid, don't cha think??)
**** The downloadable open source file is: hplip-3.10.2.run
The Installer/Download WebPage explains the installation (on a Linux system). I'm gona have to move this, or at least copy it, over to my Linux pages.
   Now then, my plans... are to get my HP cp1700 printer working on Windows 7 (before it dies) so I can put Win7 on my wifes machine ... IF she wants it. -But- she is like a lot of other people in this world. They really and truly do not care what OS is on their System. ALL they want is a working computer, with which to properly do their work, and play the games. (And those few that MUST have the latest so they can brag at cocktail parties.)

  XP mode in Windows 7

    The words that I wanted to hear are found on the second page of the MAXIMUMPC article referenced above: Windows 7 Feature Focus.   XP Mode automatically integrates the Windows clipboard, printers, drives and smartcards at startup, and you can also also selectively disable and select whether to enable at start up (default). Which means the item below about Cygwin probably won't be needed -but- is left for those of the Linux persuasion that might want to incorporate it ... just because.

    Now then, another individual used the HPLIP Linux drivers in Windows via Cygwin, which is another process probably not for the faint hearted. The process of compiling them is not straightforward, but it's certainly not impossible. However, in addition you will be required to setup/install Cygwin... IF you have not already installed it.

Preparation

    There is always that. Especially with a possibly unstable system. Microsoft themselves state that Windows 7 RC "could" have possible defects or errors. They warn explicitly to NOT use this on a Production, or Important, system. It is next to impossible for them, or any other Development team, to test all possibilities of error in a complex Operating System (OS). I, and my fellow colleagues, have learned that through my/our own testing. A program is setup to follow a procedure... BUT ... what IF that procedure gets deviated from. A simple little thing like ... "Changing your mind" ... on what you want to do, or are trying to do. Yes, yes, they are supposed to think of that ... BUT ... (that word again) like I said before, it is next to impossible to think of everything. People just don't think alike. So, this preliminary system has been offered to the "General Public" so they can "evaluate" it and report all those things that the Developers just, didn't or couldn't, think of at the time they were writing the code.

  Partition Magic:   I got this program a long time ago and I am up to version 7.0. If there is a later version, I don't know about it cause I haven't needed it ... yet. In the past, as now, I have played with multiple systems on one PC. Fortunately, Partition Magic understands both Windows and Linux. However, unless you pay close attention to what you are doing, catastrophies can occur. (Yup. I did it!) Anyway, as always, we need to back up and save any and all important data. This is NOT just because of installing Windows 7, -BUT-, because I must make room for it in my system. You see, I have my VMware dir inside my Home dir on Linux. I didn't make the Home dir very large cause I "normally" store things elsewhere. Now I need to grow it by at least 16GB. That is the smallest size recomended by MS. I already have 3 other OS's installed there, Win2k, Win Vista and whatever the is the latest version of openSuSE under development.

Disk /dev/sda: 300.0 GB, 300069052416 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 36481 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x70987098

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1       19176   154031188+   7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2           35124       36481    10908135    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda3           19177       35123   128094277+   f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5           19177       19438     2104483+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6           19439       26049    53102826   83  Linux
/dev/sda7           26050       35123    72886873+  83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdb: 300.0 GB, 300069052416 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 36481 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x03ce34a8

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1               1       34443   276663366    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2           34444       36481    16370235    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sdb5           34444       36481    16370203+   b  W95 FAT32

    Now then, why all this concern?? Well, as I said, or think I did anyway, I have had Partion Magic for a long time. I have a problem of sorts that I need to solve and I believe that PM can do it for me. However, if things are not handled correctly I could loose it all. With PM I am going to move around some considerably large pieces of data on my Hard Disk. So, the first thing to do is... back up and save everything. BackUps & Saves is a list, in one of my descriptions of a SuSE installation. Rather than repeat it here, you can click on the reference and take a peak, or not. (But, for now I must go to work...)

    Well, here it is a couple of days later and I still haven't performed the big Partition alteration. I'm in no big hurry to destroy my system. I've only used Partition Magic a few times, mostly with good results, but I have had instances of problems. Not all software understands that it can be moved. Well, I think that I have saved everything that is of importance. IF there is a problem I'm sure that I will find there is something that I missed. If there is not any problems then I will never know..

     Bumber!!   We were not successful in rearranging the Partitions. I was able to reduce the Windows drive C: on the number one disk and the enlarge the "Extended" partition ... BUT ... Linux Grub didn't like it. Upon a restart I got a Grub Error 1700 and a failure to boot up the PC. I was forced to put in my recovery disc, re-boot the PC, abort the recovery, get back into Windows and then put the extended partition back to the size it was. I left the Windows C: partition the smaller size and re-booted ... into Linux this time. I tried the Partitioning software in Linux but it would not let me change the size of an extended Partition.

    So, what do we do now??? Well, after some thought (I do that once in a while) I came up with this idea. Remove openSuSE 11.2 from the VMware repertoire and use the space for Windows 7. Then go out to some space on one of drives and setup a "triple boot". Should be doable. I almost lost the system here in my first attempts now we will try this second wild idea and either succeed or have to start all over... on everything.

Finally Loading/Installing Win 7

     The first choices are the usual, Language, Time and Currency Formats and Keyboard. The defaults were as they should be ... for the good ol' USA.
The next screen presents you with an Install Now button and some info choices. One of them is what you should know before installing Windows. Well, I've already checked that part ... I think ... so I am going to Install Now. Oh, by the way, the other choice is Repair your computer. Which upon choosing expects you to have an image to use for correction.
Clicking on Install Now brings up "Setup is starting..."
Next we get the License to read and agree with.
Next we get a choice... Upgrade or Custom. Upgrade is, naturally, only available if there is an existing version of Windows loaded. Custom is for creating a new copy of Windows.
Next screen asks Where you want to install Windows. Since I am in VMware, I only have one choice.
It takes off and starts installing. Stating that it will probably restart several times. We'll see....

• Copies Windows files.
• Expands Windows files.
• Installs features.
• Installs updates.
  Got a couple of screens stating Setup is starting services.
  
• Completes Installation.
  Got some dots and flashing screens.
• Got Setup will continue after restarting your computer ... then it restarted.
• Got Setup is preparing your computer for first use
• Got setup is checking video performance.
• Next we get a dialog window that wants a user name and a computer name. We''l pick the usual of ctaylor and this time a machine name of TR-Win7PC.
• Now we have to put in a password with a hint. Used my usual.
• Next comes up the key...(the Porduct Key MS sent you via e-mail)

There were a couple other things but I didn't bounce back and forth fast enough to get everything. These other items were minor and if you got to the key part the rest is a piece of cake. It finally boots up with a blue aquarium scene and what looks like a Beta Fish. Only other thing on the desktop is the Recycle Bin.

    One thing they did that I like is bring Windows Explorer back up to the top. It is one of the items in the Quick Task bar. However, the format is different, at least the default, or startup one anyway. One thing I did notice was/is that it is faster than openSuSE 11.2 under VMware. So it will probably be fast out in the real environment.

    No Network connections ... understandable, it is a New Machine and needs to be told what they are. However, there is also no sound. Need to see what this problem is. (actually needed VMware Tools)

    But first we check Shut Down and then Startup to make sure that it is useable. Well, it Shut Down and it re-started. However, the Window is smaller. Need to install VMwareTools so I can get better control.

Operations

    Installed VMwareTools and it crashed. Allowed it to repair itself but this wiped out VMwareTools. Need to check VMware and see if there is a new version of the Tools. Nope. I got the latest. I'll try again.

  Not successful!!  

    I did not get a good clean install. I do believe that was cause of my playing around with the Partitioning... which I still haven't settled on ... yet. So we will regroup and try again.

    Well, all is not well. In trying to change the Partions I found that it is either an impossible task ... or just very difficult. I had a problem with my main Windows Partition which I tried to correct with chkdsk. I was not successful!! Think I mis-understood one of the directions and ... ooops ... I wiped out my Windows Media Center!! Then in the process of restoring it ... I lost my Linux... well only the dual boot portion. I found a "Super Grub" out on the net which allowed me to "fix" grub and boot into Linux. But ... once again ... I mis-understood something and lost my Windows boot!! Getting very frustrating. So, we need to study the boot situation and attempt a correction.

    Actually, I may just reload the whole darn machine!! Been thinking about doing that for some time now. I got lots of stuff I was experimenting with and bits and pieces elsewhere. Things can pile up when you have "to much" HD space. Two 300GB drives is an awful lot for home use. It is also an awful lot to keep properly backed up. So, now is the time to experiment ... and not care if things get screwed up.

26 Jun 09 - Re-Installed

    Both the installation of Windows 7 and VMware tools were successful. I do believe that most of my problems last time were caused by my disc playing. Trying to get all these OS's on one system. Well, it looks like I was successful this time.

Later:  All is NOT well. On re-boot of Win7 it bombs. Get these colored balls and it hangs right there. Through experimentation, and reading b-logs on the Web, I have learned that my "problem" is VMware Tools. Even though they loaded ... and worked ... the first time, they don't continue to work. Something gets changed that screws up the boot-up. Interesting that this DID NOT happen in Vista. VMware Tools was loaded and is operational in Vista.

   Later      01 Jul 09

    Alllrighty now, I found this in a Forum on TechArena. You can install Windows 7 in VMWare 5.5 Workstation. follow the steps given below. (Of course, I've added my own comments.)

1. Upgrade to the latest version of VMWare Workstation 5. At the time of writing it's 5.5.9.
   Which I have: VMware Workstation - 5.5.9 build-126128
2. Create a new virtual machine from the File menu. Choose "Windows Vista (experimental)" or "Windows Vista x64 Edition (experimental)". If you don't choose any of the Vista options, you will not be able to install VMWare Tools. Without VMWare Tools you will not get your network up and running.
   Now then, I'll swear that I did that. Set it for Vista ... but incase I screwed up, I'll re-load it again. Just for good measure. One change I made; I changed the name from Windows Vista (experimental) to Windows-7. I already have a Windows Vista loaded. (Admit my embarrassment below.)
   
     Memory 1024MB
     Used Bridged Networking.
     HD of 16GB allocated all space now.
     Physical Drive /dev/sr0 (IDE 1:0)
     Physical Drive /dev/sr1 (IDE 1:1)
     Ethernet Bridged
     USB Controller Present and Enabled.
     Sound Adapter /dev/dsp
     Mouse Autodetect
     Processors 2
3. When you've created the virtual machine, configure the CD-ROM to use the Windows 7 .ISO file.
   Just set the CD/DVD to start at Logon and because there isn't an OS it will Automatically boot from the CD/DVD.
4. Start the virtual machine and install Windows 7.
   I will ... again.
5. Install VMWare Tools.
6. Done.

Well, that was stupidity on my part, plus not paying attention. The only place you choose anything concerning Vista is in the Guest OS Selection, which I think I did in the previous load. Because of the trouble I was experiencing I blindly wiped out the last load of Win7 and am creating a new one. So, we'll just load it again. First I'll check for an Any-any-update. Didn't find any. What I have is the latest.

Borrowed from: Computer World Blog  
Ed Bott:  Will you be able to install XP Mode? That depends on whether your CPU supports it. Don't assume that you can use this feature because you have a new PC with a fast, powerful processor. Windows Virtual PC, which powers XP Mode, requires hardware virtualization. In the case of Intel CPUs, that means the CPU has to include a feature called Intel VT.

If your PC is powered by a new quad-core Q8400, you can't run Windows Virtual PC. An E6600 supports VT, while an E7400 doesn't. But an E8200 includes VT support. The Intel product matrix is downright baffling.

And this one from Blakey Rat on Slashdot:  
Programs written correctly, following the documentation for Windows 95+, still work fine in Vista. There aren't a ton of these.

The problem Microsoft is dealing with is the thousands of applications written using undocumented functions, diving directly into implementation data structures without using the API, saving files in places they shouldn't (i.e. blithely saving temp files into /Program Files without using the API which returns the correct folder for temp files-- lots of video games do this), relying on specific undocumented side-effects of API functions, etc.

In short, for every way something COULD have been done wrong, it HAS been done wrong sometime in Windows history.

The reason Vista is incompatible is that Microsoft finally took the plunge and changed the layout/size of those internal data structures, had to remove 16-bit support (for 64-bit CPU reasons), and started enforcing the correct permissions (no write access to Program Files) for security purposes.

Many of those thousands of buggy applications can never be fixed-- the source code is gone, or the company responsible is out of business. So the XP layer helps users run those applications, while also letting Microsoft actually *improve* their OS in the way that Apple and Linux (systems who don't give half a whit for backwards compatibility) can.
=================

    Now then, Microsoft has come out with an offer of 50% off on Upgrades IF you pre-order Windows 7 now. Won't be out till Oct 22, 2009. The following info concerning installation was taken from: Daily Tech This was in response to questions about previous Windows requirements and upgrading. Personally, since I have Win2K, WinXP, Win Vista and Win 7 RC ... I think that should cover all the bases. But the following Work-A-Round should help.

  Loophole

    Claim is that this will work for Windows 7 too.
This workaround allows users to perform a "clean install". The process is a bit tedious, but is not hard at all to complete. Users have to perform these simple steps to perform a clean install of Vista without a previous version of Windows installed with an upgrade DVD:

1. Boot from the Windows Vista Upgrade DVD and start the setup program.
2. When prompted to enter your product key, DO NOT enter it. Click "Next" and proceed with setup. This will install Windows Vista as a 30-day trial.
3. When prompted, select the edition of Vista which you have purchased and continue with setup.
4. Once setup has been completed and you have been brought to the desktop for the first time, run the install program from within Windows Vista.
5. This time, type in your product key when prompted.
6. When asked whether to perform an Upgrade or Custom (advanced) install, choose Custom (advanced) to perform a clean install of Vista. Yes, this means that you will have to install Vista for a second time.
7. Once setup has completed for the second time, you should be able to activate Windows Vista normally. You can also delete the Windows.old directory which contains information from the first Vista install.

There's no telling why Microsoft left this loophole wide open with Windows Vista Upgrade DVDs, but this means that any retail upgrade DVD can be used as a fully functioning full retail copy of Vista.
Claim is that this will work for Windows 7 too.

    OK. Back to business. I installed Win-7 for the third time. Can't remember whether I shut-down before installing VMware Tools in the previous attempts or not. But, this time I shut down... completely. Re-started VMware and then Win-7. Interesting... after the install, and initial startup by the install, the Win-7 resolution was set to 1024x768. Now after shut-down and re-start is is 800x600. Hmmmmmm... Anyway, I tried to connect to the Network and could not. A Network was NOT detected. Guess I need to load in the Tools.

    Ok. Win-7 is up. Installing VMware Tools. Click on VM at top menu, then click on Install VMware Tools. A message window comes up labled AutoPlay. In it is a CD Drive (D:) VMware Tools. I am given choices and one of them is to run the setup program. I selected it. Now we get another window asking if I want to allow this program from an unknown publisher to run. I say yes. After some windows, come and go, I am presented with the VMware Wizard. In this I get three choices on the setup type. I chose Typical. Then we get a progress window for installing the tools. After it is finished, we get a dialog window stating that we must restart the system for the changes to take effect. Another interesting observation is that I can already move the mouse in and out of the VMware window WITHOUT using CTL-ALT and control transfers to and from the appropriate system. Just an FYI. There is an option to restart now or later. I am choosing later. Clicking on NO closed the choice window and then I closed the Autoplay window by clicking on the X.

    Allllrighty now! I am presented with a Set Network Location window. So let's see if we can get connected. Got three choices: Home Network, Work Network and Public Network. Naturally I am choosing Home Network. (I didn't get this before loading VMware Tools so I guess they are needed.) Next we get a Create a Homegroup window... or not. In the description of the Homegroups, it states that all systems -must- be running Windows 7. Well, I only got one! So, I'm NOT going to share anything. The choices are Pictures, Documents, Music, Printers and Videos. All but the Documents are selected by default. I unchecked them and clicked on Next. Got a new window with a password to access the Homegroup. Which is kinda silly. Ok, I recorded it and then clicked on finish.

Note:  My choice of Home Network was not necessarily the best or proper choice. One might think that appropriate if their System is setup in their home. That is NOT the case UNLESS ALL of your computers are setup on Windows 7. IF you have other OS's on your other computers then use the Work Location in Windows 7.
The following verbiage orignated in a Forum on: Kioskea.net from which I copied and modified (mainly the grammer) This was concerning a Windows 7 computer connected up with some Windows XP 'puters.
On your Windows 7 computer, click the Start button at the bottom left of the screen, then go to the Control Panel and choose Network and Sharing Center. Click the link under "view your active networks" (if you've set up a Homegroup, the link should say "home network").
In the next window choose "Work network", that will switch you from a homegroup to a workgroup so your two, or more, computers can talk to each other. Before you can network the computers, you must assign the -same- Workgroup name to both -or all- of them and set SHARE folders in Explorer.
The XP computer's internet problem is not related to the above. If your broadband modem is connected to the router and the router is connected to each computer you should not have any problems. If you are using a wireless connection you may have changed the ID or keyword when you installed the Win 7 computer.

    OK. This time when I clicked on IE, it found the Internet. Now then, do I update BEFORE re-starting to FULLY install the VMware Tools -OR- re-start and get the tools fully loaded. We'll restart first. Actually shut-down Win-7 and then VMware. Restarted VMware. Restarted Win-7. It came up!! However, The VMware window portion was Full Screen. The Win-7 screen was smaller. As it turns out, it was back to the 1024x768 setting, which I like. But the main thing is ... it is working. I must have not set the Vista setting the last time. Wish I would have looked where I should have so I would know. But for now, it is working. (little did I know ... not for long)

    Now I need to check my other suspicions. I need to operate my Win2K at the same time as Win-7 to see if Win-7 gets messed up. I believe that I had Win2K running first and then started Win-7. Leastways, that is how I am going to try it now. Shuting down Win-7 first.

    Started up Win2K and in fact am editing this document in Homesite. Now, we will bring up Win-7 and see what happens. Well, it came up ... BUT ... the VMware window was FULL screen again ... even though the Win-7 window was ony 1024x768. I switched over to the Win2K window and it grew to the FULL screen size.?.? I'm going to set the window size in Win-7 VMware Tools to 1024x768. Hmmmm... that's not possible. It is set in the Guest. Not sure why there is this fluctuation in size. It didn't happen with Vista.

28 Jun 09 - Well I bought it.

    They made me an offer I couldn't refuse. A 50% off pre-order. All that is neccessary is to order a copy of Windows 7 before July 11th, 2009. Choice of Home Premium or Professional. The main difference between the two was the ability to run WinXP inside the OS or not. The only reason you would need that would be for some legacy business apps, which I don't have. Most, if not all of my important stuff worked under Vista so it should work under Windows 7. Also as noted above in a section I swiped off the Net, you must have the correct CPU in order to use the WinXP emulator.

   Operating

    Now then, I used IE to go to my Web Page and I learned that I do not have a Flash program loaded. Course that is to be expected. It is from Macromedia not Microsoft. However, I checked my Vista and Flash is loaded in it so, I presume the same version would work in Win-7. We'll try it in the next few days.

Oh Darn

    Well, it bombed. Not what I thought was the problem but it was AFTER I had used Vista. Win-7 was shut-down and I brought up Vista to check out the Flash thing. Shut-down Vista and then brought up Win-7. It hung after getting the message that it was signing on. I got the fancy flag build, then the VM window went smaller and stayed black. I had to reset Linux in order to get it "unhung". It appears that I am going to be required to re-load Win-7 ... again.

Update: Shut-down system for the night. Fired up the next day. Decided to try Win-7 again. VMware starts up, get their normal black boot-up screen, then I get the scrambled screen(normally do), then I get a Failsafe screen essentially saying that Windows is screwed up. Got a choice to boot-up Normally -OR- to Repair the system. I chose Repair. It goes through some gyrations and then I get the pleasing Blue Sky screen with a dialog box stating that it is repairing the system and if any problems are found it will automatically repair them. Warned that system may restart several times. Well, I got another box over top of the repair one. It was asking if I wanted to restore to an earlier point in time where it worked earlier. Well, naturally I am going to say yes.

    Well, it finished and came up with a nice screen stating so. This screen said something about restarting to finish and I switched windows back to here for a sec. Ooooops.... it restarted on its own. Went through all the normal startups but NEVER finished. I got a black screen with meshed lines of color balls at the bottom of the screen. And my system was locked in what I call hyper mode. That is when the CPU is in 92% or more and the fan is loud!!

    One other note: The menu at the top of my VMware has changed. Don't know if I accidentally did something or if this has changed it somehow. Anyway I do not have the power off button... which usually in these cases did not work anyway. It thinks the System inside VMware is busy and it won't power off. In these experiences I have had to at times ... arrrgh ... power off. If it doesn't lock my cursor I can usually -end- the Linux session and it will kill it. Ok. End Session worked ... this time.

    Well, it happened. Switching between editors I lost my last note here. Once again I chose the wrong answer to a question. Oh well, it was only saying that I had to dump the current load of Win-7 and start again. There was constant HD disc activity and nothing seemed to be getting resolved. So I killed it and am gona re-load Win-7 again.

ARRRGGHHH!!!

    It is either contrary and likes to be loaded slowly as above when I detailed it -OR- I screwed up something when I loaded it this time. After loading and installing the tools ... it hung at the new fancy flag on boot-up. Required and End Session to get out of it. I'll try once more to boot it up but if it fails then I will try one more time with a re-load and if there are troubles again ... I'll just can it and wait for the Released Version.

4 Jul 09 - Well this is Promising!!

    Re-loaded Win7 yesterday but did not get VMware Tools installed. When I booted it up today it worked!! I wanted to get some updates so that maybe they possibly had "fixes" for the problems I have been having. At anyrate, I had to install VMware Tools, otherwise I can not access the Net. So after installation, I updated Win7. Everything except all the lanquages. Upon re-boot it started the same kind of screw ups. When it got to the Failsafe screen I once again chose "repair". This time I gritted my teeth and held out as long as I could and lo and behold it repaired itself. The Updates must have been what was needed. However, it wiped out VMware Tools so I will have to re-install them...AFTER I go out and in successfully a few times.

    Looks like the "Built In" display monitor can only handle 800x600 cause that is what it always goes back to when I loose the Tools. However, during part of the boot-up it will expand to 1024x768.?.? puzzling. Ok, I brought it up a couple of times and even checked out a couple of programs. IE, which could not connect, and Windows Explorer. Now I am going to try Win2K, just an in and out, and then back to Win7. Alllrighty!! I was able to get back in Win7. Now to re-load VMware Tools and see what happens. Installed and then shut-down Win7 AND VMware.

    Ok. On a re-start it didn't look pretty but it came up. The VMware window for some reason went into FULL screen mode but the Win7 window was only at 1024x768. So, I click on the normalize box at the top and the VMware window dropped down in size BUT not all the way. Had to manually move the sides in to the Win7 window. On this boot everything appears to be working. Let's try it again. Shut-down Win7 only. Powered on again and ... viola... it came up. But alas it was in that VMware Full screen - Win7 1024x768 mode again. Have to check my VMware settings. Shutting down Win7 again. Ok. I can find nothing in the settings that will correct this without corrupting my other VMware Systems. So we'll just put up with the need to manually re-size till there is a fix... -OR- till this fails again. --- WHICH JUST HAPPEND!! I saw that I had specified 1124MB of memory instead of 1024 and I corrected it. The Win7 boot-up hung just after the fancy new Flags display at logon.

    Once again patience paid off. I waited and waited and it fixed itself again. But I will have to re-load the VMware Tools again .... Later ... it is 4th of July.

General Installation Notes - Extracted from VMware Guidelines

    Now then, these recomendations were for using ESX4.0, which I do not have. However, as mentioned above I noticed some decent peformance when I made the memory allowance larger. This time I am going to make the HD allowance larger too. This in itself may cause a total re-due of my system. Not enough fore-thought on my part in the original setup ... BUT ... I never expected to do some of the things that I am now doing. The Lord has opened my eyes and shown me new things to play ... err ... work with.
Be sure to read General "Guidelines for All VMware Products" on page 50 as well as this guide to installing your specific guest operating system. You can install Windows 7 Enterprise, Home Premium, Ultimate, or Professional in a virtual machine using the corresponding Windows 7 distribution CD. If your VMware product supports it, you can also install from a PXE server.
Consider these requirements before installing Windows 7 in a virtual machine:

• Create and configure a new virtual machine.
• Be sure the virtual machine has at least 1GB or RAM or more for 32-bit guest, and 2GB or more of RAM for 64-bit guest.
• For the 32-bit version of Windows 7, the hard drive for the virtual machine must be 24GB or larger.
• For the 64-bit version of Windows 7, the hard drive for the virtual machine must be 32GB or larger.

VMware Tools
  Be sure to install VMware Tools in your guest operating system. For details, see the manual for your VMware product or follow the appropriate link in the knowledge base article at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/340.
SVGA Driver
  For Windows 7, do not use the SVGA drivers included with VMware Tools. Use the standard SVGA driver instead.
To disable the SVGA drivers installed with VMware Tools
 1) Choose the VMware Tools Custom Install and deselect the SVGA driver.
  Alternatively, remove the SVGA driver from the Device Manager after installing VMware Tools.

    From the above, the item concerning the SVGA driver may be what has been my problem. First, I dumped the previous load and created a new Virtual with the 1GB of RAM and the 24GB HD. I had removed and moved some items in my home area to make more room but this still ... and I can't believe I'm sayin this ... ONLY 8.1GB of disc space in my home area. (remember back when a 30 or 60MB HD was my whole space!!) But before I go through a lot of revamping I need to see if this thing will finally work.

    Well, my first attempt with these larger settings failed. I couldn't get the Display changed. I had to do the recover/restore again which wipes VMware Tools. I got it to 1024x768 and it is supposed to be a Standard VGA monitor. Now if I can get that AFTER loading VMware Tools I think we will be ok. Will try after work.

Settings:

Without VMware Tools -

After VMware Tools Installed -

Enable the Administrator Account

    In the above, I couldn't see or find the Device Manager, mainly cause I'm blind and it wasn't neccessarilly obvious. After enabling an Admin account I still couldn't find it. IF you have the same problem ... IT IS NOT in the System and Security settings. IT IS in the Hardware and Sound settings, inside the Devices and Printers.

1. Open the command prompt with elevated privileges by clicking the Start orb, All Programs, Accessories, right-click Command Prompt and then select Run as administrator.
2. Type net user administrator /active:yes and then press Enter.
3. Restart or log off your computer and log in as Administrator.

It would be a good idea to add a password to your Administrator account.
Pictorial view

  - Operations -

    The biggest joy is that I finally got it to quit crashing. VMware Tools is definately needed unless you don't want to access your Network or the Internet from within Windows 7. For the most part I am not going to do anything that will require extrordinary graphics so I'm sure the default will be fine.

    Now, I need to see if I can operate the other systems in VMware and not crash Win7. That appeared to be a problem before.

-- In Win2K --

    I am inside Win2K using Homesite to edit this document. Windows 7 is still in operation. I did not log off or out of it. After I save this and close Homesite, I will jump over to Win7 and see if I can still exit and re-enter it. Alllrighty now!! Went over to Win7, shut it down, and re-started. It came up fine ... like it should.

-- In Win Vista --

    Now for the ACID test. I am going to leave Win2K and Win7 running. Start Win Vista and then go over to Win7 and shut it down and re-start it... after saving this and exiting Homesite. Can't take to many chances. Allllrighty!!! Went over to Win7, shut it down, and re-started. It came up fine ... like it should. However, this isn't something that I would want to do very often. It puts my processor in Hyper Drive a lot. The only real reason to do this would be for testing communications between them.

  How to Change Computer Name in Windows 7

    Online Tech Tips

    Or you can follow these steps IF the above is not available. Please note, this is where you can change BOTH the Computername and/or the Networkname.

Control Panel ---> System and Security ---> System

Click 'Advanced system settings'

Click 'Computer Name' tab

Click 'Change'

Type desired workgroup name

Click OK

Reboot

The above was obtained from a Windows 7 Forums member named Infi.

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