Windows 7 Resources – Hot off the DVD Presses!

Geeklet and I were out running errands Saturday and I decided to see if I could snag a copy of Windows 7 Family pack (W7-FP).

We are running W7 Ultimate (RC) versions of 32/64 bit loads on all our laptops.  It is rock-solid and approved by both the ladies over Vista.  While there is no hurry to repave to the RTM version, I figure I would do well to get the final disk set in my hands so I could re-deploy as time allowed.

Alvis even sounded enthusiastic when I suggested letting her do her own system install this time.

Alas, the first location we tried had quite a few “shell” display boxes of W7-FP but a search through the inventory found the actual product was out of stock.

Later Lavie and I went out on a second mission together and I dropped in at the local big-box electronics store. Also holding many W7-FP display boxes on the shelf, but again I was told there were none in stock….this time with a cheerful “we are out of them across the district area” to boot.  No, thank you, I didn’t want any of the widely in-stock W7 Professional or Ultimate single-license upgrade DVDs.

So the search continues.  Either it really was a limited-time release (if so Epic Fail, MS!) or hopefully more are in the pipes. 

I’m going to widen my search this week with some more locations in Houston proper.  I might be able to find an on-line download/purchase but after the fits some EDU student license users reported having, I’m a bit hesitant to go that route for now.

That said, with a soured economy, and the bargain price of 3 CALs (actually one to cover three systems) for about $150, I’m not surprised this is a hard item to find.

Here are a lot of Windows 7 related links in the meantime to wet your appetite.

• Windows 7 Arrives Today With New Offers, New PCs, And More! - The Windows Blog

• It’s here: Windows 7 for sale - TechBlog

• Migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7 - Springboard Series Blog. Master post with links to five how-to technical posts on how to migrate a system from XP to W7.  Good overview of deeper issues and tricks that most folks probably won’t bother to consider.  Do due-diligence and review first.  You might be glad you did.

• Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media - Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows.  Great and clear guide for doing a “clean-install” upgrade of W7.  It’s my preference to always do a clean install rather than an overlay-upgrade between OS levels.

• Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media: The Answer - SuperSite Blog.  Abbreviated version.

• How to clean install from Windows 7 Upgrade media - Windows 7 News.  More assurance that this will work. But remember, you must still be legally eligible to apply the “upgrade” media which generally means owning a previous and legit copy of a qualifying Windows OS load first.

• Identity of the Windows 7 Upgrade “Hack” Revealed and more! and Regardless of what any hack says, a Windows 7 Upgrade is an Upgrade. What you need to know. - Microsoft SMB Community Blog.  For some reason this “technique” has generated some controversy.

• Microsoft confirms Windows 7 install trick is legal – ComputerWorld.  Yes. It is. Says MS, "To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the software that is eligible for the upgrade. After you upgrade, you may no longer use the software you upgraded from," the EULA states.”  Mkay?  Not sure why any Vista users upgrading to W7 would want to go back and use Vista on another system…just walk away, my friends, just walk away.

• Creating Bootable Windows 7 Install USB Flash Drive or DVD Using Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool - Windows 7 hacker.  I definitely plan to do my system installs from USB flash drive, rather than optical media.  If you aren’t comfortable hand-making your own bootable USB sticks for that purpose, this post provides a how-to using Microsoft’s own (free) utility.

• Microsoft releases Windows 7 sponsored themes - istartedsomething.  Some of the product-branded wallpaper themes are a bit weird but I am lovin’ the country-theme picture sets.  I’ve got to do some work combining them all as I dislike having to manually rotate the themes every few days.

• Windows Access Panel is Another Control Panel for System Utilities in Windows 7 [Tool] - Windows 7 hacker.   Once you have Win7 installed, you might want to grab this free utility and place a shortcut to it on your desktop.  It allows a fast launch of the W7 control panel and other settings that are a bit harder to get to than in XP.

• Where is the Temporary Internet Files Folder Located in Windows 7? - Windows 7 hacker.  Nice post that details some of the differences in IE Temp file handing locations from XP systems.

• Light it Up: List of Applications that use new Windows 7 Features - Scott Hanselman’s Computer Zen. Scott has a nice software/utility roundup that highlights many applications that take advantage of additional features offered by Windows 7 and improve interface and usability.

• Windows 7 launch brings out new drivers – Ed Bott.  Thought that drivers would be an issue under Windows 7 like they were under Vista?  Take heart!  Things are much better this go-round!

• Mouse Right-Click to Attach and Detach VHD Image File in Windows 7 [Tool] - Windows 7 hacker.  A must have trick for hard-core Virtual Hard Drive file jockeys.  I use a similar tool for ImageX WIM mounting/dismounting.

• Using Smart Cards in Windows Virtual PC - Windows Virtual PC blog.  Not only can you now access USB storage in Windows 7 Virtual PC, but with a bit of knowledge, you can also access Smart Card media storage as well!

• Understanding (and troubleshooting) Auto-Publishing in Windows Virtual PC - Virtual PC Guy’s WebLog – More valuable technical bits for you Windows Virtual PC space cowboys.

• How to connect a remote Windows 7/Vista/XP computer with NirSoft utilities – NirBlog.  Many, many of NirSofer’s freeware system utilities can also be used to remotely run on a target PC.  The challenge is simply figuring out how to pull that off.  Nir helpful provides the details needed in this timely post.

• Windows 7 with BitLocker and Still Booting To VHD - Scott Hanselman’s Computer Zen.  Scott’s got an interesting issue.  Yes, with Windows 7 you can boot to a VHD-based system.  Yes, you can apply BitLocker to your primary system.  But how do you get away with booting a BitLocker’ed system to a VHD inside the BitLocker?  Scott has a workaround solution.  

• 7 Taskbar Tweaker Brings Fine-Grained Control to Windows 7’s Taskbar - Lifehacker.  Nice tip to the freeware 7 Taskbar Tweaker utility to do some tricks with the Windows 7 taskbar.

Cheers!

--Claus V.