Windows 7 / Getting Started

Windows 7 Requirements

To plan deployment, you must understand the deployment requirements for Windows 7. The following sections describe the minimum hardware requirements and the migration paths for Windows 7. For more information about Windows 7 hardware requirements and editions.

Hardware Requirements

Table below describes the minimum hardware requirements for installing Windows 7. Part of the Project Planning SMF is collecting a hardware inventory. Compare the hardware requirements in Table below show to your hardware inventory to identify any computers that require upgrades or replacements.

Minimum Hardware Requirements for Windows 7 Computers
HardwareMinimum Requirement
Processor1 GHz or faster 32-bit or 64-bit processor
Memory1 GB for 32-bit computers, or 2 GB for 64-bit computers
Graphics ProcessorDirectX 9 graphics processor with Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) 1.0 or later driver
Free Hard Disk Drive Space16 GB

Note The minimum requirements for Windows 7 are the same across all editions.

Upgrade Paths

Table below describes the Windows 7 upgrade and migration paths. As shown in the table, performing an in-place upgrade from Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later to Windows 7 is supported. This means you can install Windows 7 on a computer running Windows Vista with SP1 and retain your applications, files, and settings. Using Windows Easy Transfer or the USMT to migrate user states from Windows XP to Windows 7 is also supported.

Windows 7 Migration Paths
FromUpgrade to Windows 7? Migrate to Windows 7 Using Windows Easy Transfer?Migrate to Windows 7 using the USMT?
Windows XP with SP2 or laterNoYesYes
Windows Vista with SP1 or laterYesYesYes
Windows 7Yes (higher SKU)YesYes

Note To assess the readiness of client computers for Windows 7, you can use the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator, a centralized and agentless tool that can remotely inventory computers, identify their supported Windows 7 experience, and recommend specific hardware upgrades where appropriate. For more information on this tool, see "Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP ) Toolkit" found at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/dd537566.aspx.

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In this tutorial:

  1. Planning Deployment
  2. Using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
  3. Documentation
  4. Solution Framework
  5. Planning High-Volume Deployment
  6. Envision
  7. Project Planning
  8. Build
  9. Planning Low-Volume Deployment
  10. Scope and Objectives
  11. Configuration Plan
  12. Windows 7 Requirements
  13. Preparing for Development
  14. Image Engineering
  15. Infrastructure Remediation
  16. Installing the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
  17. Starting Deployment Workbench
  18. Updating Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Components