A Closed Window for Windows 7

The time has finally arrived: Windows 7 Beta is available to the public! So like every other computer geek — er, I mean computer enthusiast — I got my excitement up, readied my computer, and downloaded the next release of Microsoft Windows. As every experienced computer user knows, though, being the first kid on the block with the shiny new toy usually leads to a frustrating time for the distraught soul, so I certainly wasn’t planning on upgrading my current version of Windows to a beta operating system, especially when my academic life is dependent on this machine. Instead, I figured I would install it on my external drive and dual boot between my current, stable version and this enticing, but risky release. I wasn’t too sure yet how I was going to implement Windows 7 in my life, but my initial thought was to run it as my default OS when I’m in my dorm room and have my external drive hooked up, have Windows XP as my OS at all other times, and sync my documents between the two. I simply wanted to experience the new Windows rather than make it my full-time OS, thus not falling into the trap of relying on beta software.

As it turns out, however, I found myself running into several obstacles and never did get Windows 7 installed. The first obstruction in my way dealt with a problem I had run into several days before. When my Java Virtual Machine was called by a website, an error message would pop up telling me that several virtual machines running in the same process caused an error. I Google’d the error message but the results were not too helpful. It seems this is a popular error with no concrete solution. So I uninstalled Java in the hopes of solving my problem with a fresh install. Unfortunately, when I went to install Java, another error message popped up and upon clicking OK the installer would terminate. So at that point I was without Java on my machine. When I went to download Windows 7, nothing would happen upon clicking “download now”. Further inspection on my part would lead to the realization that my absence of Java was the culprit. So now I was forced to solve my Java issue. To make a long story short, I booted up without loading start-up items or non-Windows system services. This seemed to solve the issue and Java successfully installed.

Now I was able to download Windows 7 onto my computer. The download took quite a while, as expected, but I knew it would be worth the wait. Once the download was complete, I used Microsoft’s Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel, a utility that allows you to create a virtual CD-ROM drive on your computer, to read the ISO image instead of burning the image to a DVD. Having read Microsoft’s guide on installing Windows 7, I knew to click “custom” as my installation type so as not to overwrite my current version of Windows. Next, I was asked where I would like to install. As desired, I chose my external drive as my location of choice. Unfortunately, upon clicking “next”, a window popped up telling me that I was not permitted to install Windows to my external drive because the drive has a USB interface. I was devastated to say the least. Apparently, Microsoft does not allow Windows to be installed to an external drive. So perhaps I won’t get the chance to experience the new Windows for myself any time soon. There is hope, however, for as I am posting this, I am doing some skilled research on finding out how to bypass Microsoft’s limitations. At the least, perhaps I can use Microsoft’s Virtual PC utility to explore Windows 7 while retaining my current version (but how exactly to go about doing that will take some extra research). I will post the results of my expedition most assuredly in due time.