If you were hoping to do a quick and easy in-place upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, then you will be somewhat disappointed – if you want to install Windows 7 on your computer and you are currently running XP, your only options are purchasing the Full version pack or purchasing Windows 7 Upgrade pack and doing a custom install. In both cases, you will have to re-install all your programs after the transitions.

If you have just purchased a new computer with no Operating System installed or you have formatted your hard drive, then you will have to purchase one of the Windows 7 editions’ Full versions (which is more expensive than the upgrade) and do a clean installation.

If you have a genuine copy of Windows XP running on your computer, you can do custom installation: you can make the transition easier with the help of Microsoft’s Windows Easy Transfer utility, which you can download for free. Before going any further though, make sure that your computer meets the minimum requirements; it is also highly advisable to download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor (freeware), which will inspect your computer configuration and inform you of any potential issues. Once you are certain that your PC is Windows 7 compatible, you are ready to make the migration.

What you need to remember when doing a Custom installation:

1. You need to back up all your data – for most users the Custom installation is easy to perform, but you should back up all your important files and documents in case something go wrong. You can also make an image of your entire hard drive, using software such as Acronis True Image, Norton Ghost, Paragon Drive Backup, or other similar tools.

2. Download the Windows Easy Transfer (freeware) from Microsoft’s web site and run it: you will need a second hard drive, an external hard drive, or another partition on your hard drive with enough free space. The Wizard will let you choose which settings you want to keep such as: programs and user account settings, files, folder and documents.

3. Perform Custom Install of Windows 7 from the Windows 7 DVD

4. Use the Windows Easy Transfer to import all your files and settings that you saved in step 2.

5. Re-install all your programs.

After Windows 7 is installed and running and your programs re-installed, you can download the Windows 7 Product Guide from Microsoft’s web site and familiarize yourself with Windows 7 new features.