6.2.1 Windows Installation.txt

Current Segment IndicatorWindows Installation In this lesson, we’re going to review the process of performing a Windows installation. Storage Locations Before you start, you first need to decide the storage device you’re going to install Windows on. There are several options to choose from, and each...

Current Segment IndicatorWindows Installation In this lesson, we’re going to review the process of performing a Windows installation. Storage Locations Before you start, you first need to decide the storage device you’re going to install Windows on. There are several options to choose from, and each one has its own advantages and disadvantages. Internal Hard Disks First, you have the option to install Windows on standard internal hard disk drives. These are relatively inexpensive, provide ample storage space, and give you reasonable performance for their price. The difference is that they’re not as portable or as fast as other types of storage devices. Solid-State Drives Solid-state drives, or SSDs, are internal drives that have no moving parts, so they provide excellent performance. They do tend to be more expensive and sometimes have less storage space than standard hard disks. Hot-Swappable Drives Hot-swappable drives are internal disks that can be added or removed from the system while it’s running. However, these require a specialized motherboard and are much more expensive than standard internal hard disks. External Hard Disk Drives External hard disk drives are relatively inexpensive, provide ample storage space, and are very portable. But their performance is limited by the interface. For example, a drive connected to a USB 2.0 interface will perform very poorly. Using a faster interface, like USB 3.0, will provide better performance but will still be much slower than an internal hard disk. External Flash Drives External flash drives are very inexpensive and portable. However, they don’t typically provide great performance. And like an external hard drive, they’re limited by the interface they’re connected to. Again, using a fast interface like USB 3.0 provides better performance. RAID Arrays Although not as common in a home environment, another option is to install Windows on a Redundant Array of Independent Disks—commonly known as RAID. In addition to speed and storage, one of RAID’s main advantages is that it can provide data redundancy. But this setup is also more expensive and requires a degree of expertise to configure. RAID Configuration If you use an internal hard disk drive or SSD, you don’t need to do much more than ensure that it’s connected and functioning properly. If you want to install Windows on a RAID, you need to configure it before you start the installation process. First, connect all the storage devices to the motherboard or to the RAID controller board. Second, configure the RAID array using the appropriate utility. For onboard RAID controllers, this is typically done with the BIOS or UEFI setup program. For add-on RAID controllers, you usually press a certain key sequence when the system boots up and the UEFI or BIOS is loaded. Windows Installation Method Once you’ve determined the medium you want Windows be installed on, you then need to decide how you’ll actually install it. There are several options available. Optical Discs and USB Drives For example, you could choose to install Windows from a traditional optical disc or DVD. You can get this from a retail store, or you can create your own. You can also install from an external USB drive. This option tends to be considerably faster than installing from an optical disc. An easy way to make a USB installation flash drive is to use the Windows Media Creation Tool, which is available from Microsoft’s website. It can also be used to create an ISO file that you can later burn onto a DVD to create your optical installation disk. Regardless of which of these two methods you use, you’ll need to configure the system to boot up from that source. This is done by changing the boot order. Every computer has a different way of accessing where the boot order is configured, but it’s often found in the computer’s BIOS or UEFI settings. Common keys to access this area include the F11, F12, Delete, and Esc keys, but you’ll need to check your device manufacturer’s documentation. Once the boot order is correctly set, simply insert the installation disc and power on the computer. If, by chance, the installation doesn’t automatically start, you can search for the setup.exe file to start the install from there. Network Install Another type of installation method sometimes seen in an enterprise environment is to use what’s known as a network install. To do this, you’d configure the system to boot from its network interface card. This lets the computer talk to a remote server using the pre-boot execution environment, or PXE. During a PXE boot, the system connects to a Windows remote installation server over the network, loads a minimal operating system known as WinPE, and begins the installation process from a shared folder on the server that contains the installation files. This option tends to be slower than a standard local install. But it works well in situations where you need to install several systems at once. The companies that use this method often have a management tool that lets them initiate the installation process from a remote location. Disk Imaging Another installation option is disk imaging. With disk imaging, you install a base Windows system on one computer. You then use the disk duplication process to copy that system’s hard drive to a file "also known as a disk image� which is typically stored on a server. This image is then pushed to other computers, resulting in an exact copy of the base system. Although there are many ways to deploy these disk images, they’re often pushed using PXE, like we just discussed. Disk imaging is much faster than the traditional Windows installation process, but there are a few considerations to keep in mind before you decide on this option. First off, it’s best suited for situations where you need to install a lot of computers at once because disk imaging lets you simultaneously install as many systems as your network bandwidth can support. Because of driver support issues, disk imaging works best when the destination systems hardware is the same as that on the reference system. There’s deployment software out there that can help accommodate for some differences in hardware, though. And lastly, this option works best if you used a volume license on the reference system. If you chose a standard license, you’ll have to re-license each imaged system. Unattended Installation The final option we’ll discuss is an unattended installation. With an unattended installation, you run through the process on one computer. During the installation process, you create a file that contains all your responses to the questions the installer software asks. The response file can then be used on other computer systems. This allows all other installations to happen automatically using all the same settings. Common tools to create unattended installations include the Microsoft Deployment Image Servicing and Management, or the DISM which is a command line tooland the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit, also known as the Windows ADK. You can find the DISM in the C:32 folder in all Windows 10 and 11 systems, while you can download the Windows ADK from Microsoft’s website. Windows Installation To finish up this lesson, let’s walk you through the steps to complete a clean install of Windows. To start, when you boot your system from the Windows installation media, it’ll initially load a file named boot.wim into RAM. This file contains the WinPE scaled-down operating system, which creates a minimal, temporary Windows system in RAM to facilitate the rest of the installation process. After you select the language and keyboard preferences, the next step is to enter the product key. Note that if you don’t have a product key, you can still install the OS, but some features will be disabled until you have it. After you’ve downloaded the installation software from Microsoft, you’ll see that there are several types of operating systems you can choose from. You’ll need to select the version you have a license for. Installation Type After you accept the license terms, you have the option to specify which type of installation you want. Two options are presented Upgrade and Custom. To perform a clean install, you must select Custom, not Upgrade. It’s kind of misleading because there’s no installation option labeled Clean. Just remember, a Custom Install is used to perform a clean installation. Installation Location Next, you need to specify the disk or partition you want to install Windows on. If the partition is currently unallocated, the Windows installer will automatically partition the space for you. If you needed, you could manually format the partition. If the storage device isn’t shown, the installer probably didn’t have the necessary driver to support it. This commonly happens when you install Windows on a RAID array or SCSI hard disk. In this situation, you need to select Load driver to manually load the device driver. After that, you should be able to access your storage device. At this point, the Windows image is copied from the installation media to the storage device, along with the features that were included in the installation media. If you use a local media source, the whole process should only take a few minutes. But using remote sources could increase the time. Installation Personalization Once the installation is complete, you’ll need to personalize Windows. You’ll be asked to confirm things like the country or region your system is in and the keyboard layout you’d like to use. If your system has an internet connection, you should get the latest updates from Microsoft. Next, you have the option to give your device a name. When working in a corporate environment, the names are often dictated by a company standard. Account Setup After a quick reboot, you need to determine if the device is for personal use or for work or school. Personal use means that you’ll be creating a local or Microsoft account. Either of these accounts let you have full control over the device. A work or school account is used when the device is part of an organization; that organization will have full control over the device. Creating a local account can be a little tricky because Microsoft really wants you to use a Microsoft account. To create a local account, you’ll need to select Sign-in optionsand then select Offline account. After that, you’ll then be able to select a name and password. Keep in mind that since Microsoft wants you to use one of their accounts, you’ll be given several options to change this account along the way. Other customization options include your privacy settings, like making your location known, the ability to find your device if you lose it, sending diagnostic information to Microsoft, and more. At this point, the personalization changes are implemented, and you’re able to sign in to your system. As you can see, installing Windows is a relatively easy process. Summary Well, that’s it for this lesson. In this lesson, we discussed the different locations you can install Windows on and the types of media you can use, like USB devices, network installations, and others. We ended this lesson by walking you through the steps to perform a clean install of Windows.