Doing this lab and I'm confused......

Jasiono

I'm doing a lab in which I have windows PE installed, and I'm going in using text based commands to install Windows 7.

The computer had Vista installed previously, and all of the user information and settings have been transferred to a newer computer. The user wants me to take Vista off completely and install 7.

In the lab it starts me out with the command prompt interface. This is normal and I understand why, but the lab has me type in two commands before the GUI for the Windows 7 installation appears:

c:\begin.cmd followed byc:\netw.cmd

After that I use setup.exe, which is a command I understand to run a file called setup.exe within the folder I reside.

ITMonkey

The filenames remind me of the Microsoft IT Academy lab for the 70-680. Maybe it is the same Windows 7 lab?....

As I best recall, they switched the command-line prompt to a new current drive and directory, as well as re-configured a static IP address and DNS server address for the PC. With the environment set up, the next step was to enter setup.exe, which executed the Windows 7 installation from the files on a network drive to the local PC.

To find out what these command files are all about, enter "type c:\begin.cmd" and "type c:\netw.cmd" (the double quotes are not entered, I added them only to make it clear what to enter).

I gather that you are using the lab's instructions to install Windows 7. If that is the case, just begin by executing the setup.exe file contained on the installation DVD.

The only important decision you'll need to make is whether you want to upgrade or do a custom installation. If you select upgrade, the user files and settings will remain. The drawback is that the system volume can become rather fragmented -- and upgrades can potentially be the source of problems/bugs. So if you want to start with a "clean" system volume, chose a custom installation. After the custom installation, there should be a windows.old file which contains the old Vista system along with user files and settings. If the Windows 7 installation appears to work well, you can delete this file. Of course, you can also re-format the Vista system volume, in which case there will be no windows.old file.

Jasiono

Oh I did the lab already, it's the same one you are talking about.

What I was wondering is what those commands did, why I needed to type them in.

ITMonkey

I think I answered your question. Reread paragraphs #2 and #3. In a nutshell, they are used specifically to prepare your client PC's IP address and DNS address as well as point to the network drive/folder that contains the installation DVD image.

The two cmd files would not be needed if you were installing from a DVD in an optical drive. The cmd files might be appropriate if you had the contents of the Windows installation DVD on a network fileshare. Making a static IP address and DNS address might be a little odd in that case, however perhaps you want a static IP address rather than one obtained through DHCP.