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General discussion

When to remove setup DVD

Dec 11, 2009 2:46PM PST

When is it safe to remove the Windows 7 setup DVD during/after installation. I want to know this because during 'Completing Installation' screen the led that indicates DVD usage is always on. Also after the system restarts for the last time when it prepares the system for first use and checks video performance the DVD usage led is always on.

Discussion is locked

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Difficult.
Dec 12, 2009 1:57AM PST

I haven't installed Win 7 yet, but when i installed Win 7 RC, (a beta version), from a DVD I came across a similar problem.

I inserted the DVD and restarted the system, went through the install process until it came to the "Restart" message. I should have removed the disk then before allowing the system to restart, but didn't. When it restarted with the disk still in, it started the install process again, and I ended up with a Windows folder and a Windows.old folder.

No harm done for me, but I was annoyed with myself.

So, before it restarts, remove the disk.

Mark

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Still only a few installs here.
Dec 12, 2009 2:17AM PST

Just a few dozen so far but I can't recall exactly when I remove the DVD.

Here's why. On the machines I installed to, the BIOS BOOT ORDER was never the DVD first. So I would tap the keys as needed to boot the 7 DVD or in the case of UPGRADES I just slip the DVD in per the install instructions. On the fresh install I just let it do its thing and on the upgrades I have some 4 or so hours to wait for the upgrade.

If I remove it too soon Windows did ask for the DVD back so it appears you can remove it when you feel it is not needed.

Sorry that I don't have an exact answer here.
Bob

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In my case, I had the DVD as first in the boot order but
Dec 12, 2009 3:56AM PST

was asked to "press any key to boot from CD" first. I did so for the initial part of the installation but could ignore the request throughout the remainder of the process. Once the product ID code was asked for and accepted, I removed the DVD. Mine was an upgrade but installed on an unpartitioned drive with the qualifying installation on another disk that was not in the boot order. I actually ended up redoing the installation a couple of times trying to make up my mind whether to go 32 bit or 64. In any event, I had no problems. I've previously faced an issue where a CD has booted a second time and began the pre-installation process. By canceling that process and removing the CD, the installation completed normally.

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?
Dec 12, 2009 1:52PM PST

are you doing an upgrade or a clean install?

Tara

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Already done. It was a clean installation
Dec 12, 2009 6:50PM PST

I had pre-ordered Win 7 Pro and it came with both 32 and 64 bit versions. I wanted it installed on all new hardware and was retiring a 6 year old PC with XP Pro 32 bit. I wasn't able to just put the old XP disk in a CD ROM drive to qualify for the upgrade as I'd previously been able to do if going from Win 98 to XP. Win 7 would proceed all the way to asking for my product ID code but tell me it was invalid. I made more than one attempt to install it this way but Win 7 was not happy with this method. It wants to see an installed and activated copy of a qualifying OS...or so I later read. All I really needed to do was attach my XP hard drive from the rig I was retiring to a port on the PC I'd just built. Win 7 was happy to allow me either 32 bit or 64 bit versions. I eventually chose 64 bit and have activated it successfully. I'd mentioned in a previous thread that I suspect that I'll need to keep that old hard drive and safeguard it in the event I ever need to or want to do another clean installation on the new hardware. I do have full images of that drive and hope this will never need to happen but, because the XP CD wasn't enough to qualify, I still need a backup method for emergencies. I don't think I'd be able to re-install and activate that copy of XP again for the purpose of re-installing Win 7. This will be one of the possible pitfalls if one goes with the upgrade versus the full version. You'll need to hang onto an old hard drive or have a way of reproducing it to do a clean installation again.

In any event, since the thread is about when to remove the CD (DVD) I posted my experiences. Not putting my XP drive anywhere in the boot order would allow me more options as to where to put the DVD ROM device. I put it first but still got the message to "press any key...." so I didn't have to worry about Win 7 restarting the installation in the middle of setup. Hope that explains.

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One other interesting finding
Dec 12, 2009 7:09PM PST

I tried to wait out the full 30 day activation period so that I could play with the new OS and was happy with how I had it configured and could install and use my software. I tried to do this by not exposing the PC to the internet. Eventually I did plug it into my home network and download a couple of printer drivers and updates to my AV program thinking that no harm would be done. I discovered something I wasn't happy with and decided to trash the installation and start over. I deleted all partitions on the primary drive and did a clean installation thinking I'd get the full 30 days again. WRONG!! I was soon greeted with a message that I had only 1 day before automatic activation. Sneaky little devil, this Win 7. Tell me how it knew. Happy

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sneeky sneeky
Dec 18, 2009 1:40AM PST

Did you end up activating Windows 7? Did it resolve any of the issues you were having?

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Yep, activated under threat!
Dec 18, 2009 7:33AM PST

But was able to correct the problem first. Whew...just in time. Happy

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time to remove setup dvd
Dec 14, 2009 2:43AM PST

after the 'completing installation' screen u can remove setup dvd..
system(includes video)performance check & tasks after that wont be needing dvd..