Installing a new operating system over the old one can create problems with stability. Apple disregarded these concerns with the release of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion by only allowing the initial release in the Mac App Store for download. A USB Flash drive version will become available in the future, but there is a way to get a clean install from a DVD or USB Flash Drive now with some effort.

We will show you how to create your own installation DVD or USB Flash Drive. For now those are your only two options since Macs won’t boot from an SD card. In the case of the Flash Drive we will also show you how to put two partitions on one 8GB or larger flash drive so that you will also have all your Mac apps on the drive ready to install after you install the OS.

Why Make an Install Disk

Why would someone want to create an install disk instead of install Lion on top of their old OS X installation the way Apple wants? While it seems to work well in our experience, here are a few reasons to go through the trouble:

• Clean install of an OS is usually more stable
• Forces user to clear out old file and app clutter that is not used anymore saving drive space
• A future hard drive crash might leave you unable to install from the Mac App Store or the new Lion Recovery feature
• Your are a geek and trying technical stuff on a computer is fun

While the first two and last option are good reasons, the third is the most important. This is a backup plan so you don’t have to take your computer to Apple to fix it if the hard drive or SSD drive won’t boot anymore. A clean install usually fixes these kinds of problems.

What You Need

In order to do this you will need the OS X Lion installation file. If you already upgraded to Lion the install image is deleted by default and it is already too late. Some other sites have posted that you can re-download the file. But the only way to do that is on a system that doesn’t already have Lion installed. The only way to do this is to use your computer’s restore disk to reinstall Snow Leopard or an earlier version of OS X. Do this before you install Lion but after you download it from the Mac App Store.

You will need a USB flash drive of at least 5GB. We tried this with a 4GB drive and Disk Utility would not burn the Lion install image saying it was too small.

We chose a 16GB drive instead and created two partitions on it, one for Lion and one for our downloaded, non-Mac App Store apps. That way you have a single disk to restore your OS and your apps. Back those app files up though in case you lose your flash drive.

How to Create the Disk

1. Download Lion from the Mac App Store but don’t install it yet
2. Open the Applications folder and right-click on the Lion installer
3. Click Show Package Contents and find the InstallESD.dmg image file in the Contents, SharedSupport folder
4. Open Disk Utility in OS X and insert your Flash drive
5. Either open the image file from the File menu or drag it from a Finder window into the Disk Utility’s left hand column
6. For DVD insert your DVD and select the disk image and click the Burn button and when it is finished skip to step 16
7. For Flash Drive click on the drive listed in the left hand column of Disk Utility and select the Partition tab
8. For 2 partitions like we did, then under Partition Layout: choose 2 Partitions
9. For 1 partition making the whole USB drive an install dive under Partition Layout: choose 1 Partition
10. If you want two partitions, then below the Partition Layout drop down is a visual representation of your layout – drag the slider up or down till it shows about 5GB or enter it manually in the Size box to the right – note: the Lion image file is about 4GB but needs room to expand
11. Give each partition a name and choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
12. Click Apply
13. After previous step finished choose the Restore tab and in the Source box drag the Lion install image from the left hand window
14. Drag the USB partition you set up in step 9 to the Destination box and click Restore to make it burn the Lion image
15. When complete put all the app files you want to install on the non-Lion install partition of the flash disk
16. Insert the Flash Drive or DVD drive into the Mac you wish to install Lion on
17. Boot the machine holding down the option key
18. Choose Mac OS X Install ESD from the optional disk to boot from when they appear – note the end of the disk name is cut off on some monitors
19. Follow the installation instructions on-screen
20. Reboot when it is finished and now you can install your apps from the Flash Drive if you created one

Be sure to save this USB drive and as we said before make sure you have a backup of the downloaded apps on the second partition, if you go that route.

How to Make a Mac OS X 10.7 Lion USB or DVD Install Disk is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

Hardware is an essential part of using your Windows PC. These days, adding new hardware can be as simple as plugging in a mouse to hooking up multiple displays, connecting game consoles and dealing with the ever frustrating printer setup. All of these accessories can lead to a lot of complexity, but Windows 7 does a good job of making the installation painless, but sometimes we need to take action to make new hardware work.  In this article, we’ll take a look at common task associated with installation, updating, and troubleshooting hardware in Windows 7.

Installation

This involves setting up the hardware and preparing it for use. All hardware products require a small piece of software called a driver, which contains a collection of instructions it provides to Windows with the information about how the hardware should be used and configured. In Windows 7, you can install a hardware product in a number of ways, the easiest is by using Devices and Printers located on the Start menu.

New in Windows 7, Devices and Printers provides a visual collection of all devices installed and connected to your computer, such as Web Cams, your system unit, printers and even your smart phone or mp3 player. If you would like to  install a device, click the Add a device button on the command bar.

This will start the ‘Add a device’ wizard. As you can see, I don’t have any newly detected devices, which means, if I am installing a printer or a phone, I need to connect the device first, then turn it on.

Some hardware devices only require that you connect the device. From there Windows will automatically find a driver and install it or the device will install the driver.

When you receive an error message like the one above, it means Windows does not have a built in driver for the device you are trying to install, or the current driver is not compatible with the version of Windows you are using. To fix this, you need to go to the manufacturer’s website and obtain a compatible driver.

Updating drivers

Updating a driver is not necessarily about resolving compatibility issues, updating drivers can also provide enhancements, increased reliability of the device as well as better security. The best place to obtain updated drivers for a device is the manufacturer’s website.

Drivers can normally be found in the Software or Downloads section of a web site. Finding the right drivers means you must first search for the model device you are seeking drivers for. You can start by going to the Support section of the website. For this first example I am looking for driver software for my Nokia 3120 cellular phone.

To quickly find the drivers for your device, you can refine results by using the websites Search feature. In the above example, I simply enter the model number which filters to the particular model I am looking for. Once you have found the device you are looking for, click it, this will take you to the applications summary page.

Click the Software link for the device and you should be taken to a page with all available updates and drivers for that device.

Click the download link and save the driver software to your hard disk.

Updating computer hardware drivers

Lets take a look at updating the drivers for our computer. There are a variety of computer brands and models out there. So, searching for updated drivers might not be the same across manufacturers. Again, you can normally start by looking in the Downloads section of the website. For this example, I am searching for updated drivers for my brother’s Dell Inspiron 640 M laptop.

You can start by looking for the Support section of the website. Most manufacturers will make it easy to find by providing a direct link to the drivers and downloads section of their website. Once you have found it, click it.

Depending on the manufacturer, the requirement to download drivers for your computer might be a bit different, but the information is often easy to find. For instance Dell uses a combination of methods. You can use the Service Tag found on the bottom of a laptop or at the back of a system unit to go right to the downloads section, enter a serial number or just the model of your machine. You can also find such information in your owner’s manual.

For this scenario, I will use the Model number of the machine.

Dell’s website uses a bread crumb menu approach to finding the drivers for your system. First, you start by selecting your form factor, this can be either a desktop or laptop.

The next step is to select the product line, manufacturers offer a wide variety of choices that target certain markets, whether it’s a large enterprise, consumer or small business. In my case, the laptop my brother uses is a Inspiron, so I will select that from the product list.

Finally we arrive at the section where we select our model number. The model number can be easily identified with the product line, in my case it’s a Inspiron 640m. Once you have found it, click it then click Confirm which will take you to the download section for this particular model.

Another step you might be required to accomplish is identifying the installed operating system. This will help to ensure that you download the right drivers for the version of Windows you are running. Sometimes there are no native drivers for the operating system you are running. In the case of this Inspiron laptop, it was manufactured in June of 2006 and originally came preloaded with Windows XP Home, fortunately, it was tagged as Windows Vista capable. Since there are no Windows 7 native drivers, the next best option is to use Windows Vista drivers, they might not be the latest, but Windows Vista and Windows 7 share the same driver model, so they should work just fine.

Once you have found the driver you need, click the Download button and save it to your hard disk and proceed to install when complete.

Windows Update

Microsoft also provides driver updates through its Windows Update service, so you can always check there for updates to common hardware devices such as your printer, network adapter, or even your video card. To use Windows Update, click on the Start menu and type Windows Update. rom there you can check for important and optional updates.

Troubleshooting

When you encounter a problem installing a hardware device, it can be attributed to a number of reasons:

• Incompatible driver – the driver software does not work with the version of Windows you are running and you need to obtain a new version. Sometimes updates to an operating system can break a driver that was previously compatible with the operating system. The best thing to do is check for the latest driver. If none is available, there is another option, which is not guaranteed but can work in some cases, its called Troubleshoot Compatibility.

To install a driver using Troubleshoot compatibility, point to where the driver files are located, right click the setup.exe or .msi file and click Troubleshoot compatibility.

This will start the Program compatibility wizard.

You will be given a couple of choices, the first being Try recommended settings that the operating system thinks will be suitable for this device driver. Or you can manually select the option to troubleshoot the program. For the purposes of this article, I will select Troubleshoot program

If you have determined the program worked in an earlier version of Windows, check that option and click next.

Select the version of Windows the driver worked under then click Next

Click Start the program to see if the driver installs

• Administrative privileges – drivers interact at a deep level of the operating system called the Kernel, which is the heart of Windows. Accessing this area of the system requires Administrative privileges. Because of changes to how Windows handles certain drivers, certain drivers might not have the right to access the kernel since they have not adopted the new model of writing drivers. Fortunately, Windows 7 includes work arounds for this.

Simply right click the driver setup file or .msi file and click Run as administrator. This will give the software driver all the privileges it needs to install properly so you device can function without any limitations.

The ultimate reality of hardware compatibility is that sometimes, we have to let go. Yes, that HP Deskjet you bought in 1997 is certainly a work horse, but because of advances in operating systems and manufacturers own desire to innovate and offer support options for newer model devices, support for older ones have to be discontinued to reduce the cost which can even be a burden for large hardware and software companies. Microsoft has tried to ease compatibility with Windows 7 by offering these many solutions.

I personally have benefitted from using Windows XP Mode, a free download for customers running Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate edition. With it, I am able to use my HUAWEI modem which has compatibility issues with Windows 7 64 bit, so I am able to surf the Internet and still benefit from the advantages of running Windows 7.

How To Install, Update and Troubleshoot Hardware in Windows 7 is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

Many desktop and web applications are built on top of the JAVA Virtual Machine which is a platform for writing special programs that are cross platform aware. Meaning, a program written using the JAVA Virtual Machine can run on Windows, Mac OS X or Linux without alteration.

Unlike certain applications, where you have to get the operating system specific version. Uses for JAVA include playing online games, running small applications such as a web page counter and uploading photos to Facebook. In this article, we take a look at how to troubleshoot problems installing or using JAVA in Windows 7.

Unable able to use JAVA programs in Internet Explorer

Please note that if you are using both 32-bit and 64-bit IE, you need to download both 32-bit and 64-bit Java respectively. So make sure you’re testing for java using the appropriate version of IE or better install both 32-bit and 64-bit version of Java. To make it easy, its best you download the offline Java package manually and try installing the same.

JAVA Refuses to install

1. Download the appropriate java setup file and save it on Save it to your hard disk.

   

2. Physically disconnect your computer from the internet, that’s right -  pull out Ethernet cable or disconnect wireless connection.
3. Install java from setup file (note: no error message). Reboot just to be sure).  Reconnect your internet connection and try running or viewing content that requires JAVA to see if it is working.

Additional JAVA Resources:

• Download errors: 1305, 2755, 1606, etc.
• Installing Java

How to Troubleshoot JAVA Installations on Windows 7 (Quick Tip) is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

The first major maintenance update for Windows 7, Service Pack 1 is now ready for download. Microsoft released the first beta back in June 2010 followed by a Release Candidate in late October 2010 and the final RTM availability (February 16th 2011 MSDN/TechNet subscribers) and public Availability (February 22nd 2011).

Unlike previous Service Packs, Windows 7 SP1 does not contain any major improvements; it’s basically a rollup of updates that have been released for the operating system since it went to manufacturing July 22nd 2009. If you have been diligently updating your computer through Windows Update since then, you basically have most of what SP1 has to offer.

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 available through Windows Update

Windows 7 SP1 is provided in two ways, either as a full .ISO file download weighing in at 2 GBs or as an update available through Windows Update. The .ISO file contains SP1 code for different processor architectures such as x86, x86-x64 and Itanium systems. There are separate downloads which are much smaller for 64 and 32 bit installations of Windows 7. So if you don’t have a mixture of Windows 7 architectures to update, you can download just the one you need.

Learn more about Windows 7 SP1

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 will help you:

• Keep your PCs supported and up-to-date
• Get ongoing updates to the Windows 7 platform
• Easily deploy cumulative updates at a single time
• Meet your users’ demands for greater business mobility
• Provide a comprehensive set of virtualization innovations
• Provide an easier Service Pack deployment model for better IT efficiency

Do not click download if you are updating just one computer: A smaller, more appropriate download is now available on Windows Update. The best way to ensure you get Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 is by turning on the Automatic Updates feature. You can use our step-by-step instructions or, if you prefer, let us do it for you. If Windows Update is not offering you the option to install the service pack, see KB 2498452. If you are encountering a problem when installing the service pack from Windows update, see Troubleshoot problems installing a service pack for Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

Steps to take before installing Windows 7 Service Pack 1 from the Microsoft Download Center

If you choose to install Windows 7 SP1 from the Microsoft Download Center Web site, there are steps that you can take to make sure that you have a good experience when you install the service pack. This article, KB 2505743, provides some suggestions to improve your experience when you install Windows 7 SP1 from the Microsoft Download Center Web site.

In order to download and install Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 you must currently have a Release to Manufacturing (RTM) version of Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 already installed. If you have previously installed a pre-release version of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 on your machine, you must uninstall that version before installing SP1.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 is available for installation in the same languages made available at original launch of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Whichever method you choose, check out the Notebooks.com article for some tips to ensure a smooth installation of Windows 7 Service Pack 1.

Download Windows 7 Service Pack 1 HERE

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Now Ready for Download: What You Need to Know is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

Installing a Service Pack is nothing new, but there are some pre-requisites users should take into account to ensure a smooth installation. I installed Service Pack 1 release for Windows 7 a couple of days ago and I decided it would be a good opportunity to chronicle my experience.

Microsoft released the first beta back in June 2010 followed by a Release Candidate late October 2010 and the final RTM availability (February 16^th 2011 MSDN/TechNet subscribers) and public Availability (February 22^nd 2011). Unlike previous Service Packs, Windows 7 SP1 does not contain any major improvements; it’s basically a rollup of updates that have been released for the operating system since it went to manufacturing July 22^nd 2009. If you have been diligently updating your computer through Windows Update since then, you basically have all that SP1 has to offer.

Windows 7 SP1 is provided in two ways, either as a full .ISO file download weighing in at 2.4 GBs or as an update available through Windows Update. The .ISO file contains SP1 code for different processor architectures such as x86, x86-x64 and Itanium systems. Because I have a mixture of 32 and 64 bit systems, I went with the .ISO file. Whichever method you choose, here are some tips for ensuring a smooth installation.

1. Make sure you install the latest updates for Windows 7, your applications and device drivers. This can ensure a smooth experience I noticed, although Windows 7 SP1 is minor, you don’t want to take any chances. If you are updating through Windows Update, it also guarantees a smaller update since only missing patches will be applied.

2. Backup – you can never go wrong with backing up; this is something you should do often even when you are not making major changes to your computer. Windows 7 has made it very easy to backup your computer. The built in system imaging and backup and restore center makes it convenient to back up the operating system and all your critical data. In fact, I used this to test the beta and RC releases of SP1 on my production system. This method carried its risks, but at least I knew my RTM installation was safely backed up and tucked away from pre-release code.

3. Don’t do it during a major project, if you have something you are working on at the moment on your computer or in the middle of an assignment or work related project which you might need your PC for, don’t install the Service Pack right away. Do it in your off time, such as on the weekend or when you know you can leave your PC while it installs itself automatically. My installation took over 2 hours.

4. This brings me to another point, which is, don’t install SP1 on a laptop on battery power, it’s a CPU intensive task and will use up most of your battery power. So make sure your laptop is connected to power. For desktop users, I strongly recommend you have a UPS connected, you just don’t know when the unexpected can occur. You might just be in the last lap of completing the 2 hour installation and lose power.

5. Disable your Antivirus, I remember installing the SP1 beta with Microsoft Security Essentials version 1 installed and received an error that my Antivirus is not compatible. Although this was resolved, your experience might vary. I haven’t experienced the issue in the RTM code although I am running Microsoft Security Essentials version 2. Someone reported receiving an error message about Forefront Client Security not allowing the Service Pack to install. The recommendation is to disable Forefront which is based on the same core scanning engine as MSE or make sure you at least have the latest version of Forefront client security installed.

6. Another thing you should do is a clean boot before installing the Service Pack, you can do this by:

• Click Start, type msconfig in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
• Accept User Account Control permission
• If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
• On the General tab, click Selective Startup.
• Under Selective Startup, click to clear the Load Startup Items check box.
• Click the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
• Click OK.
• When you are prompted, click Restart.
• After the computer starts, proceed with the installation.

7. Another task you should try is to check your hard disk for errors:

• Click Start
• Type: CMD, from the results, right click CMD
• Click ‘Run as Administrator’
• At the Command Prompt, type: chkdsk /r /f

When you restart your system, your computer will be scanned for errors and attempts will be made to correct them.

Now for a look at installing the Service Pack

Here you can see I am installing from a DVD I burnt myself using the multi-language .ISO file.

Setup wizard for Service Pack 1, click Next.

Starting the installation

Make sure all your programs are closed, refer to my point earlier about doing a clean boot. Another thing I would suggest you do is to disable any non-essential devices during the installation such as external hard disks or thumb drive.

Service Pack 1 automatically creates a system restore point just in case there is a problem, you can restore your computer to an earlier time.

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 spends a significant amount of time installing KB976932, you might even wonder if your computer is responding at all, just leave it, it will eventually pass this stage.

Still installing KB976932, after the installation is complete, Windows 7 will restart and a series of consecutive restarts will happen and your system will do a final configuration.

That’s it, Windows 7 SP1 installed successfully:

After the installation is complete, you might want to do some post installation tasks. For instance, you might be a bit low on disk space, Windows 7 SP1 adds to this, to resolve it you can run the Disk Cleanup utility to remove the SP1 installation files.

Click Start, type: Disk

Hit Enter on your keyboard

Select the drive on which Windows 7 is installed

Disk Clean up wizard scanning your computer for files that safe to remove.

On the Disk Cleanup window, click the button Clean up system files

Disk Cleanup will search for Service Pack Backup Files

Check the Service Pack Backup Files box and click OK. Consider carefully before doing this, as noted in the description, if you delete it, you won’t be able to uninstall the Service Pack at a later. Which is why I strongly recommend you at least create a system image of Windows before you even update to Service Pack 1. If the amount of space recovered will be negligible, then don’t bother deleting it.

How to install Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

Here is a quick look at how to install the Internet Explorer 9 RC. Please note that Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate is pre-release software. Although this is a near final product, there are possible show stoppers and certain websites might not function as desired. If you are not sure about installing pre-release, its best you not do so or consider having an alternative web browser installed such as Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome installed while testing the Internet Explorer 9 RC.

Go to Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate download page.

Click the Download now link

If you are running Windows Vista, click the link to Other versions. Internet Explorer 9 only supports Windows Vista or Windows 7.

The Internet Explorer 9 web page should automatically detect your installed operating system.

Click Yes

Click Install

Make sure all open applications or instances of Internet Explorer are closed. To guarantee a smooth installation, also disable your Antivirus utility.

Internet Explorer 9 RC features a simple, stream lined installer. The installation should only take a few minutes.

Once the installation is complete, you will be prompted to restart your computer. Do so to confirm changes.

Internet Explorer 9 installed

How to Install Internet Explorer 9 Release Candidate is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

If you are planning to do a reinstall of Windows 7 , then this article might be of interest to you. If you didn’t know, Microsoft sells Windows 7 in both a Full Package Product version and an Upgrade version. What are the differences? Simply put, the upgrade version is cheaper and you need to have a previous version of Windows to use it.

Upgrade version: Requires that you have a previously installed, qualifying and activated version of Windows such as Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7. Not easily transferable to another computer because of certain licensing restrictions regarding having a qualifying license installed.

For instance, say you have a computer that came preloaded with Windows Vista Home Premium (OEM license), if you upgrade that computer using the Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade DVD, it is tied to that machine because it used the base license as a qualifying product. The only way you could transfer the upgrade license to another machine, you will first need to reinstall the original license. This version can be used to do a clean installs as well as the obvious in place upgrade.

Full version: With the full version, you don’t need to have a qualifying license installed. You can transfer it to another computer easily just as long as you reinstall the original license that came with the computer. Also, full versions of Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate are used as qualifying products for volume license versions of Windows. You can do both clean installs and in place upgrades with the full version DVD. Basically, it carries less restrictions than the upgrade versions.

Reinstalling with a Windows 7 Upgrade DVD:

If you initially bought a Windows 7 Upgrade, upgraded your computer and decided later you want to reinstall Windows 7 you might be wondering what you need to do if you want to reinstall Windows 7 without installing your old version of Windows 7 first.

Microsoft made some changes to how validation works, part of this is to reduce casual copying and piracy. Previous versions of Windows such as Windows XP Upgrade simply requested that you insert a qualifying disc during the installation. Now anybody could simply borrow a disc, whether it was Windows 98,  ME or 2000 which there are no shortage of, to use as a qualifying product. Of course, this is in the best interest of Microsoft’s financial bottom line at your expense. This inconvenience can be minimized with a smart little trick when using the Upgrade DVD. First lets look at what happens when we do a clean install with the upgrade DVD:

This is the message you will receive when you attempt to enter a product key for a Upgrade version of Windows 7. The simple workaround is to skip entering your product key for the time being and click Next. Complete task such as setting up your account name, password, time zone etcetera.

Once you arrive at the Windows 7 desktop, click Start, right click Computer then click Properties.

Scroll down to Windows Activation, then click the link that says xx days to activate. Activate Windows now

Enter your product key, then click Next

Click Show me other ways to activate

Click Use the automated phone system

Click Next again

Select your country

Call the number displayed on your screen to get a confirmation ID. Please hold on to speak with a live person, skip using the automated system. Explain your situation with the agent and they will provide you with a confirmation ID to enter into the blank fields. Click Next and Windows 7 should be activated. A minute or two longer than using the internet, but faster than doing two installations.

Isn’t this illegal?

Well, it depends. This option is recommended if your system previously came with a qualifying license installed. This can be determined by the Certificate of Authenticity sticker on the machine chassis. See below.

As long as the sticker is there on the machine with a Windows XP or Vista COA’s , the machine was genuinely licensed and you’re OK to use this upgrade path.

Technorati Tags: How to Reinstall Windows 7 with an Upgrade DVD Without Installing your Old OS

How to Reinstall Windows 7 with an Upgrade DVD, Without Installing your Old OS is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

Today we are going to take a look at upgrading to Microsoft Office 2010. Upgrading to new versions of Microsoft  Office is a fairly mundane task, but there are some things you should know before installing the new version. If you are running versions of Office as far back as 2000, you should be able to do an in place upgrade over your existing installation. Please note though that Microsoft Office 2010 requires Windows XP Service Pack 3 or later operating system. Windows XP Professional x64 edition is not supported. For additional information regarding system requirements, please visit the Microsoft Office Products page.

Why Upgrade to Office 2010?

In 2010 Microsoft released the latest version of their popular productivity suite Microsoft Office 2010. The suite provides a streamlined Ribbon interface across the entire family of Office products. Also, tighter integration with the web through Office Web Apps and enhanced collaboration tools make it easier to work on documents with multiple parties.

There are some lovely improvements throughout the suite, for instance, I love the new find and replace task pane which replaces the old modal dialogue. PowerPoint’s video features are just amazing, you can even broadcast on the web and publish your presentation to YouTube. I also like the ability to merge presentations, it is so much easier, especially when working on group presentations. Outlook in particular is another major upgrade with support for the Ribbon and Conversation View and ability to integrate with Social Networking services such as Facebook and Messenger.

Microsoft for the first time released a fully native 64 bit version of Office too so apps such as Excel are able to handle large spreadsheets with large data sets. Microsoft also streamlined the Office suite, removing upgrade packages and making the suite more affordable with a simplified set of SKU’s. Office also saw the introduction of product key cards which made it easier to upgrade an edition to another edition with more programs.

How to Upgrade to Office 2010:

There are multiple ways to obtain Microsoft Office 2010, in addition to traditional shrink wrapped product box, you can do a digital download of Microsoft Office, we too a look at this recently here. In this article, I will be upgrading Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 to Microsoft Office Professional 2010 from a DVD. Please note, if you would like to install the 64 bit version of Office 2010, you will need to do a clean install, this means you will first need to uninstall the previous version of Microsoft Office, then you can proceed to install the 2010 version.

Here you can see we have Office 2003 installed. Insert your Office 2010 disk to get started.

When the AutoPlay dialog appears, click Run SETUP.EXE, click Yes if the User Account Control dialog appears. If setup does not automatically appear, click Start > Computer > open the Microsoft Office 2010 disk and double click the setup file.

Microsoft Office 2010 preparing to install

Next enter your product key, the product key can be found in your product packaging. If you purchased the software online, your 25-character Product Key can be found on your account page or in your confirmation email. Learn more here Once the product key is validated, you can click Next to continue.

Read the Microsoft Software License Terms, once you understand the terms of the software, check the ‘I accept the terms of the this agreement’ box and click continue. Please note, if you bought a boxed Microsoft Office 2010 license, you are permitted up to two installations. If it’s a Product Key Card, only one installation is permitted. Office Home and Student 2010 permits up to 3 installations, if it’s distributed with a new computer, then it is only for that computer and is tied to the machine (meaning, you cannot install or transfer the license to another machine).

Choose the installation you want

If you are installing Office for the first time on the computer (a clean installation for example), you will not be offered the option to upgrade, instead, you will be offered the option to customize the installation. Customize allows you to pick and choose components in the Office suite, you can choose which specific applications you want to use and which features of each program you would like to have installed. In my case, I am upgrading an existing installation, so I will click the Upgrade button.

This will start the upgrade process immediately, sit back and relax as your existing installation is upgraded. Installation can vary depending on factors such as memory, processor speed and even your Internet connection speed if you are doing a Click to Run installation.

Our Office 2010 installed successfully, click Close. If you are prompted to reboot, please do so.

Our next step is to launch an Office 2010 program and activate the software.

When you launch a Microsoft Office 2010 program for the first time, this will start the Microsoft Office Activation Wizard. You have a choice of activating by Internet or telephone, select your desired method, click Next and follow the on-screen instructions. If you wish to delay activation, click Cancel, this will allow you to run Microsoft Office for 29 days without before it goes into a reduced function mode.

You can now start using Microsoft Office.

Troubleshooting

If you happen to have a trial or pre-release version of Microsoft Office 2010 installed or a previous version and it is preventing the installation from starting or completing properly, run the Fix it tool mentioned in the article below to uninstall Office:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

Also, you can try disabling your Antivirus utility temporarily during installation.

If you have any programs open, please close them before starting the installation, (you probably should also restart the computer).

If your computer came with a trial version of Office, you will need to obtain a trial key or purchase a full license:

Trial license:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx

Full license:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/823570

Get Key;

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/buy/redir/XT101874326.aspx?CTT=5&origin=HA101847520

If you have purchased office 2007 and getting the invalid product key message, then refer the link below for more assistance:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/836178

If you have purchased Office 2010 and getting invalid product key error refer the KB article mentioned below:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2002262

How to Upgrade to Office 2010 is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

When software comes on a CD or DVD and you want to install it on a MacBook Air, you can’t just  pop open the disc drive or slide a disc into a slot, like you would on a computer with an optical drive. The MacBook Air forgoes the optical drive to keep it thin and small. So you have to resort to one of the following means to get your programs installed.

Use Shared Optical Drive From Another Computer

This will be different depending on what kind of computer you use as the source optical drive. If it is a Windows computer it will require setting up the optical drive (CD or DVD drive) as a shared resource in Windows. The best way to do that is open Windows Explorer and right click the drive. Choose Share With and then Advanced Sharing from the fly out menu.

In that box choose the Advanced Sharing… button and then check the top item which says “Share this folder” at the top of the resulting box. Click OK and then OK again and the drive is now shared.

Back on the MacBook Air, open Finder. Select Go from the top menu and choose Connect to Server. Or you can just press Command+K on the keyboard. In the resulting box type the following where the word COMPUTER is replaced by the name of your Windows PC and DRIVE is replaced by the shared name for your optical drive on that PC. So in the server address you type the following:

smb://COMPUTER/DRIVE

As you can see from the dialog box my computer is named Lenovo and I gave my D drive the shared name optical. So the path would be:

smb://Lenovo/optical

Now hit the Connect button and that drive will open in Finder. You can now use it as if it was attached to your computer.

If there is no Windows PC available, then this is now very easy in the most recent versions of OS X. Open System Preferences from the Apple Menu. Click on the Sharing app. The list on the left has one item called DVD or CD Sharing. Check the box next to it. For safety’s sake check the box that says “Ask me before allowing others to use my CD drive.” Now your drive should be seen by your MacBook Air.

Now from a Finder window click on the Go menu and select Network. You should see the computer’s name with the shared optical drive. You can open it from there and install the software that way.

Buy an External Optical Drive

This is the simplest solution, but will cost more money. If you don’t have another computer, it may be the only solution unless another computer is borrowed.

The key is finding a drive that is compatible with OS X and plugging it into the MacBook Air via a USB port. You can always get Apple’s MacBook Air SuperDrive. It costs $79 and only works on a Mac. Another option is to get a more generic drive that can be used on both a Windows and Mac.

When shopping just make sure it works with both Windows and Mac. One option is the LG Portable Super Multi Drive with model number GP08NU6B. We can confirm that it does work with the MacBook Air and it costs just $44.65 on Amazon, a savings of about $35 off the SuperDrive. It may not be the fastest or best drive. But since it is unlikely you will be using this drive a lot, something inexpensive like this will work fine. It connects via single USB port and gets its power via the same cable it connects with. It comes with a cable that has both a data USB connection and another USB connector for just power. But the second USB connection is not needed, which is good since the USB ports are on opposite sides of the MacBook Air and the cable will not reach to plug in both connectors.

Make a Disc Image On Another Mac

If you don’t want to share over a network and don’t want to pay for an external drive, one solution could be to just make an image of the optical disc you wish to access on the MacBook Air. The following summarizes the steps from Wikihow.

On another another Mac with an optical drive, first make a new folder somewhere to store your files from the disc and then copy the files into that folder. Now right click on the folder and choose Get Info. Take note of the total size of tall the contents in the folder. You will need this info in the next step.

Now open the Disk Utility. It is in the Utilities folder of the Applications folder, or open spotlight and start typing the name till it appears. Click on New Image to make a new image. Enter the name and size from the previous step. Add a little extra room. For example if the files total 356MB, then choose something like 400MB. Set encryption to None and Format to “read/write disk image” or “DVD/CD Master”.

A newly mounted disc will appear on the desktop. Just drag the files into that image. Now you can drag that image onto a USB flash drive and use it to install the software on the MacBook Air.

Look for a Downloadable Version

Obviously, this is the simplest solution if you have Internet access and can find the software. Many applications that can be purchased on CD can also be downloaded. For example, we installed Photoshop Elements using the downloaded version from Adobe. After a few days of use we felt like it was a good solution for image editing and purchased a copy during the recent Black Friday deals. Staples had it for much less than Adobe did. So we bought the boxed disc and just used the serial number to activate the trial version downloaded from Adobe.

Look at the web site for the company that makes the software you wish to install and see if this is possible. One problem you might face is some companies don’t use serial numbers. They have two separate downloads – one as a trial version and one is a full version that can only be accessed after paying the company. If you have already purchased the disc see if you can take it back and buy it directly instead. Most stores will accept returns of software if it has not been opened at all. If the box has been opened you are stuck. Buying directly can sometimes cost more, but could be worth a few more dollars for the convenience of having a download to deal with.

Backup Your Software

The result of the above steps mean you will have your MacBook Air software on something other than just optical discs. It is good to backup your software and backup doesn’t mean that you have it stored in one file or disc somewhere. Backup means it has at least two different copies on at least two different storage media and in at least two different locations. Find a good online backup solution like Carbonite or DropBox and put the files there. Then put them on a good backup hard drive or flash drive as well.

How To Install Software From a CD/DVD to a MacBook Air is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

iTunes is the popular music management tool developed by Apple for listening, managing audio files and other types of media such as Apps, Videos, TV Shows, Movies in addition to syncing with the ubiquitous iPod and iOS devices such as the iPhone and iPad. In this article, I am going to show you how to update iTunes for Windows.

Updating iTunes is very easy, in fact, it comes with it’s own update manager called Apple Software Update for obtaining the latest versions of Apple software installed on your Windows PC such as Safari and QuickTime.

Click Start, type: Apple Update

Hit Enter on your keyboard

If you are connected to the Internet, it will check for the latest update.

You can individually select which programs you would like to update.

Another way you can upgrade iTunes is by opening iTunes. iTunes will automatically prompt you with a dialog informing you there is a new version of iTunes available. You can click the Download iTunes button and follow the on screen instructions to update.

Interestingly, if you browse to the iTunes Download page in Google’s Chrome web browser, you are offered both 32 and 64 bit executable. You can download the 32 bit here and 64 bit here

Troubleshoot iTunes Installation Problems:

If you encounter problems during installation, the first thing to do is try removing and reinstalling iTunes, QuickTime, and other software components for Windows Vista or Windows 7 if you already have older version of iTunes installed on the computer.

Other things you can do if the problem persist include:

• Disable your Antivirus utility temporarily while you attempt to install iTunes.
• Close any open applications when attempting  to install iTunes.
• If you had iTunes open prior to attempting the installation, the program might still be running in the background. The best work around is to restart your computer.
• Make sure you are installing the right architecture for the right operating system, so if you are running Windows 7 64 bit, make sure you are installing iTunes 64 bit.
• Try clearing out your Temporary Internet Files folder:

  Click Start, type: %temp%

  Hit Enter on your keyboard

  Delete the contents of the directory then download iTunes again and attempt the installation again.

How to Upgrade iTunes in Windows is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.