How to Upgrade Your Netbook to Windows 7 Home Premium

Got Windows 7 Starter on your netbook and want to upgrade it? Friendly Computers would like to help and share this article with you.

Would you like more features and flash in Windows on your netbook?  Here’s how you can easily upgrade your netbook to Windows 7 Home Premium the easy way.

Most new netbooks today ship with Windows 7 Starter, which is the cheapest edition of Windows 7.  It is fine for many computing tasks, and will run all your favorite programs great, but it lacks many customization, multimedia, and business features found in higher editions.  Here we’ll show you how you can quickly upgrade your netbook to more full-featured edition of Windows 7 using Windows Anytime Upgrade.  Also, if you want to upgrade your laptop or desktop to another edition of Windows 7, say Professional, you can follow these same steps to upgrade it, too.

Please note: This is only for computers already running Windows 7.  If your netbook is running XP or Vista, you will have to run a traditional upgrade to install Windows 7.

Upgrade Advisor

First, let’s make sure your netbook can support the extra features, such as Aero Glass, in Windows 7 Home Premium.  Most modern netbooks that ship with Windows 7 Starter can run the advanced features in Windows 7 Home Premium, but let’s check just in case.  Download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (link below), and install as normal.

Once it’s installed, run it and click Start Check.

Make sure you’re connected to the internet before you run the check, or otherwise you may see this error message.  If you see it, click Ok and then connect to the internet and start the check again.

It will now scan all of your programs and hardware to make sure they’re compatible with Windows 7.  Since you’re already running Windows 7 Starter, it will also tell you if your computer will support the features in other editions of Windows 7.

After a few moments, the Upgrade Advisor will show you want it found.  Here we see that our netbook, a Samsung N150, can be upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate. We also see that we had one issue, but this was because a driver we had installed was not recognized.  Click “See all system requirements” to see what your netbook can do with the new edition.

This shows you which of the requirements, including support for Windows Aero, your netbook meets.  Here our netbook supports Aero, so we’re ready to go upgrade.

For more, check out our article on how to make sure your computer can run Windows 7 with Upgrade Advisor.

Upgrade with Anytime Upgrade

Now, we’re ready to upgrade our netbook to Windows 7 Home Premium.  Enter “Anytime Upgrade” in the Start menu search,and select Windows Anytime Upgrade.

Windows Anytime Upgrade lets you upgrade using product key you already have or one you purchase during the upgrade process.  And, it installs without any downloads or Windows disks, so it works great even for netbooks without DVD drives.

Anytime Upgrades are cheaper than a standard upgrade, and for a limited time, select retailers in the US are offering Anytime Upgrades to Windows 7 Home Premium for only $49.99 if purchased with a new netbook.  If you already have a netbook running Windows 7 Starter, you can either purchase an Anytime Upgrade package at a retail store or purchase a key online during the upgrade process for $79.95.  Or, if you have a standard Windows 7 product key (full or upgrade), you can use it in Anytime upgrade.  This is especially nice if you can purchase Windows 7 cheaper through your school, university, or office.

Purchase an upgrade online

To purchase an upgrade online, click “Go online to choose the edition of Windows 7 that’s best for you”.

Here you can see a comparison of the features of each edition of Windows 7.  Note that you can upgrade to either Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate.  We chose home Premium because it has most of the features that home users want, including Media Center and Aero Glass effects.  Also note that the price of each upgrade is cheaper than the respective upgrade from Windows XP or Vista.  Click buy under the edition you want.

Enter your billing information, then your payment information.  Once you confirm your purchase, you will directly be taken to the Upgrade screen.  Make sure to save your receipt, as you will need the product key if you ever need to reinstall Windows on your computer.

Upgrade with an existing product key

If you purchased an Anytime Upgrade kit from a retailer, or already have a Full or Upgrade key for another edition of Windows 7, choose “Enter an upgrade key”.

Enter your product key, and click Next.  If you purchased an Anytime Upgrade kit, the product key will be located on the inside of the case on a yellow sticker.

The key will be verified as a valid key, and Anytime Upgrade will automatically choose the correct edition of Windows 7 based on your product key.  Click Next when this is finished.

Continuing the Upgrade process

Whether you entered a key or purchased a key online, the process is the same from here on.  Click “I accept” to accept the license agreement.

Now, you’re ready to install your upgrade.  Make sure to save all open files and close any programs, and then click Upgrade.

The upgrade only takes about 10 minutes in our experience but your mileage may vary.  Any available Microsoft updates, including ones for Office, Security Essentials, and other products, will be installed before the upgrade takes place.

After a couple minutes, your computer will automatically reboot and finish the installation.  It will then reboot once more, and your computer will be ready to use!  Welcome to your new edition of Windows 7!

Here’s a before and after shot of our desktop.  When you do an Anytime Upgrade, all of your programs, files, and settings will be just as they were before you upgraded.  The only change we noticed was that our pinned taskbar icons were slightly rearranged to the default order of Internet Explorer, Explorer, and Media Player.  Here’s a shot of our desktop before the upgrade.  Notice that all of our pinned programs and desktop icons are still there, as well as our taskbar customization (we are using small icons on the taskbar instead of the default large icons).

Before, with the Windows 7 Starter background and the Aero Basic theme:

And after, with Aero Glass and the more colorful default Windows 7 background.

All of the features of Windows 7 Home Premium are now ready to use.  The Aero theme was activate by default, but you can now customize your netbook theme, background, and more with the Personalization pane.  To open it, right-click on your desktop and select Personalize.

You can also now use Windows Media Center, and can play-back DVD movies using an external drive.

One of our favorite tools, the Snipping Tool, is also now available for easy screenshots and clips.

Activating you new edition of Windows 7

You will still need to activate your new edition of Windows 7.  To do this right away, open the start menu, right-click on Computer, and select Properties.

Scroll to the bottom, and click “Activate Windows Now”.

Make sure you’re connected to the internet, and then select “Activate Windows online now”.

Activation may take a few minutes, depending on your internet connection speed.

When it is done, the Activation wizard will let you know that Windows is activated and genuine.  Your upgrade is all finished!

Conclusion

Windows Anytime Upgrade makes it easy, and somewhat cheaper, to upgrade to another edition of Windows 7.  It’s useful for desktop and laptop owners who want to upgrade to Professional or Ultimate, but many more netbook owners will want to upgrade from Starter to Home Premium or another edition.

Links

Download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/14943/how-to-upgrade-your-netbook-to-windows-7-home-premium/

Manage Files Easier With Aero Snap in Windows 7

Friendly Computers want to share this article with you.

Before the days of Aero Snap you would need to arrange your Windows in some weird way to see all of your files. Today we show you how to quickly use the Aero Snap feature get it done in few key strokes in Windows 7.

You can of course navigate the windows in Explorer to get them so you can see everything side by side, or use a free utility like Cubic Explorer. 

Getting Explorer Windows Side by Side

The process is actually simple but quite useful when looking for a large amount of data. Right-click the Windows Explorer icon on the taskbar and click Windows Explorer.

Our first window opens up and you can certainly drag it over the the right or left side of the screen but the quickest method we’re using is the “Windows Key+Right Arrow” key combo (make sure to hold the Windows key down). Now the Windows is nicely placed on the right side.

Next we want to open the other window, simply right-click the Explorer icon again and click Windows Explorer.

Now we have our second window open, and all we need to do this time is use theWindows Key+Left Arrow combination.

There we go! Now you should be able to browse your files a lot more simply than relying on the expanding tree method (as much).

You can actually use this method to snap a window to all four corners of your screen if you don’t feel like dragging it. Once you play with Aero Snap more you may enjoy it, but if you still despise it, you can disable it too!

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/14765/manage-files-easier-with-aero-snap-in-windows-7/

How to Create a Virtual Hard Drive in Windows 7

Friendly Computers would like to share with you new tips about creating Virtual Hard Drive in Windows 7.

Have you ever wished you had an extra Hard Disk to store files, share, or set aside as an encrypted vault? One of the new features in Windows 7 is the ability to create Virtual Hard Disks and we’ll show you how.

Create a Virtual Drive

This process creates virtual disks in the .VHD format where the minimum size is 3MB. To begin, Right-click on My Computer and select to Manage. Alternately you can typediskmgmt.msc into the Start search box and enter.

The Computer Management screen opens click on Disk Management then Action and Create VHD.

Browse to the directory you want the disk to reside, choose the size you want it to be, and select dynamic or a fixed. If you want the disk to expand in size as you add files to it, then pick Dynamically expanding. Check Fixed size if you want a specific size and for it to stay that way.

In Disk Management you will see the virtual drive listed as unallocated space.

To begin using it you’ll need to Right-click and select Initialize Disk.

In the initialize disk box just keep MBR selected and hit OK.

Create a Volume

Now it is time to create a volume by Right-clicking the unallocated space and select New Simple Volume.

The New Simple Volume Wizard starts up and it’s just a matter of completing it.

Choose the amount of space you want to use for the volume.

Assign it a dive letter that is not currently being used.

Format the new volume as NTFS, FAT32, or FAT. Check if you want a quick format and file compression.

The wizard is complete, click on Finish.

If you have AutoPlay enabled it should pop up for you to open up your new virtual hard disk.

It will be listed with the other disks in Disk Management.

Of course you will also see it listen under My Computer.

This is a cool new feature that will let you use the disk as you would any type of real disk. You can encrypt it, share it out to other systems, store files to it…however you would use an extra disk connected to your system.

This is a cool new feature in Windows 7 that will add extra functionality and options to your current system. There are several ways you can use your VHD including making it bootable.

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/5291/how-to-create-a-virtual-hard-drive-in-windows-7/

WinBubble 2.0 For Windows7 with over 200 Tweaks

Friendly Computers found this article very useful for Windows 7 users and would like to share it with you.

WinBubble is a tweaking utility which lets you  enhancing the Windows 7 or Vista Experience by modifying various elements. Version 2.0 comes with many tweaks. The highlighted features are listed below

1. 200+ Windows 7 tweaks
2. Customize screen savers
3. Customize desktop icons
4. Personalize drive and folder icons
5. Tweak logon screen
6. Access 30+ hidden Windows tools
7. Optimize Windows 7 with special tweaks
8. Personalize context menus
9. Tweak Internet Explorer

First you download the free software and install it. Here are the steps:

Download - Extract and start the Winbubble Install

2

Select the Installation Location

3

Installation is Finish

4

License Disclaimer

5

Loading the Application

6

Documentation available describing features

7

General Tab

This is the main tab that allows the users to configure the features describing their system.

The Specific Tab

The tweaking toolbar has 21 features that can be used to modify and customize the program to fit your needs.

The Icons Tab

With this tab you can modify and change icons for a variety of folders.

Windows7 Tab”]

The

This tab is like the Control Panel but with additional functionality.

The Security Tab

There are security features that can change the behavior of several Windows 7 Programs.

The Optimize Tab

This tab will allow users to fine tune performance elements of the system.

The Tools Tab

The Tools tab will allow you to customize different tools that you work with.

The More Policies Tab

Additional Tweaks that can be used to customize the Windows7 settings.

The IE - Internet Explorer Tab

You can also customize the Internet Explorer; some of these features can be done within the browser. But this program will allow you to tweak them outside of the browser settings.

The Tips and Tricks Tab

Finally, there are a small collection of tips and tricks that can be used. But when you are finished with the settings and modifications, press the Apply button. This will permanentlysave your settings.

You can download the WinBubble program here.

Source: http://windows7news.com/2010/03/30/winbubble-2-0-for-windows7-with-over-200-tweaks/

Customize Your Desktop With Rainmeter

If you want to customize your Windows desktop, Friendly Computers would like to share this article with you.

I don’t know how I haven’t stumbled across this before, but now that I have I feel I must share it with you. Rainmeter is unlike anything I’ve come across before. It’s a desktop customization platform which allows you to enhance your Windows PC with handy, compact applets which float freely on your desktop, much like Windows Sidebar gadgets, or dashboard widgets for the Mac.

There is a whole array of various different skins and themes available to download and install to customize Rainmeter to your liking.

You can download Rainmeter here and it’s available for 32bit and 64bit machines for Windows XP, Vista and 7.

Then once you downloaded the installer, go ahead and install it and it should run automatically when your finished. The default theme is Enigma which is shown above and has several widgets, taskbars and various other components. It also displays many system resource widgets, such as RAM and CPU usage, so you know what’s going on with your computer all the time. All of these are easily customizable and there is virtually no code involved.

The great thing about Rainmeter is that you enter all your settings via the GUI interface which can be accessed by double clicking on the sidebar and then going to configuration, then once you entered them all, they’re saved for any theme you apply. This means you don’t have to go re-entering your settings each time you change theme.

Speaking of themes, there is a whole rake of them available that you can use with Rainmeter to customize it to your liking. You can find them easily on Google and their easy enough to install. Once their installed you can switch between them easily enough by just entering the GUI by double clicking on the sidebar once again.

So that’s a quick look at Rainmeter, why not install it and play around with it for a bit and see if it’s to your liking and try out different themes and stuff. It really livens up your desktop

Download Rainmeter Here

Source: http://windows7news.com/2010/03/28/customize-your-desktop-with-rainmeter/