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Windows 7 is the perfect OS to run on a Netbook but how do you install it without a CD drive? Use a USB flash drive in place of the DVD. In this article I will show you how to create a bootable USB flash drive that will install Windows 7.

Before we get started you will need:

• Windows 7 ISO file and WinRAR or a burned DVD with the install source files
• 4GB USB flash drive. You can buy one on eBay for around $10 with free shipping.

Step 1 - Preparing the USB flash drive

Let’s get started. First we need to format the USB flash drive to erase any existing data on the drive.  Click on the Start Button and then Computer to bring up your drives. 

Next, right click on the removable USB flash drive and select Format.

Click Start and the USB flash drive will be formatted.

Step 2 - Preparing the source files

Now it is time to extract the setup from a Windows 7 ISO CD image file.  If you have a physical Windows 7 install DVD then skip to step 3. 

To extract the files from the ISO file you will need WinRAR. If you do not already have WinRAR download and install that now.

Once you have WinRAR installed navigate to the ISO file in explorer and right click on the file and select the bottom Extract to <folder name> option.

The ISO file will now be extracted to a sub-folder with the same name as the ISO file. This can take a few minutes to complete.

Step 3 - Copying source files to USB flash drive

The final step is to copy the install source onto the USB flash drive in a way that will allow the Windows 7 install to boot up. The trick here is to use XCopy.  Depending on where your source files are located there are two different methods to copy the files onto the flash drive.

Using extracted source files

Open up command prompt and navigate to the directory you extracted the source files from the ISO file with the CD command. Then, run XCOPY *.* J: /e and hit Enter to start the copy. Be sure to replace J with the drive letter of your USB flash drive.

Using a physical Windows 7 install DVD

The instructions are slightly different when using a physical DVD.  Open up command prompt and type XCOPY D:  J: /e and hit Enter. Replace D with the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive and replace J with the drive letter of your USB flash drive.

Step 5 - Installing Windows 7 from the USB flash drive

Once the file copy has completed you are ready to plug the USB flash drive into your Netbook. Turn it on and hit the keyboard shortcut to bring up the boot menu for your model. Typically it is F12 or F1. After you select your USB flash drive the Windows 7 installation should begin to load. At this point, installing Windows 7 is the same as on a normal laptop or a desktop.

Windows 7 includes a new tool to help you calibrate the correct gamma, contrast, brightness and color settings for your specific display.

Just click on the Start Button and type in dccw and hit Enter.

Then follow the on screen directions and adjust the sliders so that the test picture look like the “Good” sample picture.

A bug in Windows 7 Beta 1 (build 7000) is known to corrupt MP3 files if you use the Windows Media Player to modify or automatically update (the default setting) MP3 file meta data.  Microsoft has released a QFE patch and the bug has been fixed in more recent builds.

If you are running Windows 7 Beta 1 Build 7000 be sure to download the patch:

Windows 7 Beta 1 32-bit Patch Download

Windows 7 Beta 1 64-bit Patch Download

Read More in KB961367

In older versions of Windows using an external projector with your laptop can be a difficult task. It seems like every laptop has a different function key combination to enable output for a projector. In Windows 7 that has finally been improved. Now, all you have to do is hit the Windows Key + P and the projector menu will be displayed.

The on-screen display will allow you to:

• Show Desktop only on Computer
• Duplicate Desktop on Projector
• Extend Desktop to Projector
• Show Desktop only on projector

If you don’t like keyboard shortcuts you can also create a desktop or taskbar shortcut to the projector menu. To do that, create a shortcut to "C:\Windows\System32\DisplaySwitch.exe".

Displayswitch.exe also has command line parameters that allow you to create a shortcut that will set a specific display mode. 

• /internal
• /clone
• /extend
• /external

According to a report by DisplayBank in 2008 over 14.9 million netbooks were sold with that number expected to almost double in 2009. Netbooks have become a great secondary PC when you want a very portable and low cost way to do basic computing. Many ship with Windows XP home edition but that is just not as fun and helpful to use as Windows 7.

Like many of you I loaded Windows 7 on my netbook and it performed just OK.  It provided a huge performance improvement over Windows Vista but was not as snappy as I wanted.  The key to speeding up Windows 7 on a netbook with limited resources is to turn off and disable features that you don’t need. After all, it’s a netbook and there are many Windows components that will never be used. Additionally, disabling un-needed components will extend your battery life since fewer processes will be using the CPU running in the background.

Fine Tune Visual Settings

The Windows 7 eye candy is the main cause of GUI slowness. While my netbook has a decent graphics card that can display Aero Glass it can be choppy at times. Follow these steps to improve the performance of the interface:

Click on the Start Button and type in adjust the appearance and hit Enter. This will load the Visual Effects performance options.

On this screen I suggest disabling the following settings by removing the check:

• Animate controls and elements inside windows
• Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing
• Fade or slide menus into view
• Fade or slide ToolTips into view
• Fade out menu items after clicking
• Show window contents while dragging
• Slide open combo boxes

Click OK when you are finished.

Remove Startup Programs

Nothing wastes resources more is startup programs that you don’t need. Click on the Start Button and type in msconfig and hit Enter.

When the System Configuration utility is loaded click on the Startup tab.

Remove the check next to any applications you don’t need and click OK.

Disable Services

Now it’s time to trim the Windows services running in the background of your computer.

Click on the Start Button and type in services.msc and hit Enter.

When the Services management console is shown you can stop and disable services by selecting the service, right clicking and selecting Properties. Then change the Startup type to Disabled and hit the Stop button. Finally click OK to return to the Services management console.

I recommend disabling the following services on a netbook:

• Block Level Backup Engine Service
• Certificate Propagation
• Homegroup Provider
• Offline Files
• Portable Device Enumerator Service
• Software Protection
• SSDP Discovery
• Windows Defender
• Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
• Windows Search

Keep in mind that if you use any of these services or applications that depend on them they will no longer function. E.g. if you are a homegroup user don’t disable the Homegroup Provider.

Install More RAM

There is really no good substitute to having plenty of ram in a computer. You can use ReadyBoost but with memory prices so cheap why not just buy more. I purchased a 2GB chip for my netbook for $16 (hopefully the mail-in rebate will come through).

The popular Intel Atom processor netbooks use the Mobile Intel 945GSE Express Chipset that has a max of 2GB of ram supported. The amount of expansion slots or if your netbook even has one depends on the vendor and model of your netbook.

I suggest picking up a 2GB stick of PC2-5300