How To Install Windows 7 On Acer Aspire One Netbook
Posted May 4, 2009 – 8:38 pm in: Windows 7 TweaksThe much awaited Windows 7 RC has come out with added features such as the Windows XP Mode (XPM). Though Windows 7 Beta was very stable for primary use, many users hesitated to install it. But with Windows 7 RC, you can now install Windows 7 on your primary machines including Netbooks.
Installing Windows 7 on a Netbook isn’t as easy as installing on Laptops or desktops that come with in-built DVD drive. Since we can’t use DVD media to install on Netbook, we need to use an USB (Pen drive or Flash drive) to make it happen. IntoWindows has already covered how to install Windows 7 from USB/Pen drive in the past.
This guide is exclusively for Acer Aspire One Netbook users, who like to install the brand new Windows 7 on their Acer Aspire One.
Requirements:
1. Windows 7 DVD or ISO
2. A USB Drive with 2.5+ GB (4GB)
3. Windows Vista or windows 7 running machine to create bootable USB stick.
4. Lastly, your Acer Aspire One with 100% charged battery or connected to power supply.
Procedure: Installing Windows 7 on Acer Aspire One (Netbook)
1. We need to create a bootable USB stick of Windows 7 first. To make it happen insert your USB stick and then copy or move all your contents (if any) to a drive.
2. Next, open Command Prompt with admin rights. You can use either of the given methods below to open Command Prompt with admin rights (also known as elevated command prompt).
*Type cmd in Start menu search box and hit Ctrl+ Shift+ Enter.
Or
*Go to Start menu > All programs > Accessories, right click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
3. You need to know about the USB drive a little bit. Type in the following commands in the command prompt:
First type DISKPART and hit enter to see the below message.
Next type LIST DISK command and note down the Disk number (ex: Disk 1) of your USB flash drive. In the below screenshot my Flash Drive Disk no is Disk 1.
4. Next type all the below commands one by one. Here I assume that your disk drive no is “Disk 1”.If you have Disk 2 as your USB flash drive then use Disk 2.Refer the above step to confirm it.
So below are the commands you need to type and execute one by one:
SELECT DISK 1
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
SELECT PARTITION 1
ACTIVE
FORMAT FS=NTFS
(Format process may take few seconds)
ASSIGN
EXIT
Don’t close the command prompt as we need to execute one more command at the next step. Just minimize it.
5. Next insert your Windows7 DVD into the optical drive and check the drive letter of the DVD drive (Double-click computer icon to know). In this guide I will assume that your DVD drive letter is “D” and USB drive letter is “H” (open my computer to know about it).
In case, if you don’t have Windows 7 DVD and have just ISO, you need to use a free software named Virtual Clone Drive. Download Virtual Clone Drive, then use the Virtual Drive letter as you DVD drive letter after mounting the Windows 7 DVD image. You can also your WinRAR software to extract the Windows 7 ISO file to desktop.
6. Maximize the minimized Command Prompt in the 4th step.Type the following command now:
D:CD BOOT and hit enter.Where “D” is your DVD drive letter.
CD BOOT and hit enter to see the below message.
7. Type another command given below to update the USB drive with BOOTMGR compatible code.
BOOTSECT.EXE/NT60 H:
Where “H” is your USB drive letter. Once you enter the above command you will see the below message.
8. Copy all the Windows 7 DVD contents to the USB flash drive.
9. So, now you have bootable Windows 7 USB drive. Reboot your Acer Aspire One Netbook and then, press F12 key to enter the BIOS. Select USB drive as bootable drive and hit enter.
10. Your Windows 7 installation procedure should begin now.
11. Installing Windows 7 is very easy, very similar to installing Vista. Just follow the onscreen procedure to finish the installation process.
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18 Comments
Which Version of the Aspire One did that work on? I own the A110 with 8GB SSD, and would love to get Win7 on there
I followed this to the letter and got into the installer. Once I clicked on Setup it went away for a while then came up with a “CD/DVD drive device driver required” message and I couldn’t get any further. This was on a A150 with 160 GB HD and 1GB Ram.
I think there is some problem. May users are already installed it without a single problem. You may need to retry.
Thanks, turned out to be a bad ISO. Re-downloaded and worked fine.
when I type g:\ or cd g:\boot to run the bootsect.exe it says “g:\” is not recognized command wtf o_0
I had to copy bootsect.exe to c:\ and run it from that location (in case someone’s got this problem)
Works perfectly. Thanks!
This has been a very useful site so I though I would post my experiences:
I recently bought an Acer Aspire One A150 (1GB RAM, 120GB hard disk, Linpus Linux) – for you UK’ers Expansys are doing a good deal on these at the moment (£150 as of 7/7/2009).
As it happened I played with the Linux desktop that came with it and was actually quite impressed. As part of this playing around I performed a Live Update.
I wanted to install Windows 7 RC so after downloading the 32 bit version, I came to this very useful site to create the bootable USB disk (in my case I used a fast 4GB CompactFlash card in a USB card reader). This worked fine and, after booting from it on the Aspire One, I sucessfully installed Windows 7 (it even automatically detected the built in WiFi chipset).
Because this was so successful, I bought another Aspire One A150 from Expansys and proceeded to try to install Windows 7 from the same CompactFlash card. This failed with a boot error from the Windows Boot Manager. This had me stumped for a while until I realised I hadn’t done a Live Update within the Aspire One’s Linux desktop. After letting the Live Update complete and rebooting to the CompactFlash card, Windows 7 installed successfully.
In summary: do a Live Update in the Aspire One’s Linux environment first before trying the Windows 7 install (I am not sure why the Live Update causes a boot from the CompactFlash card in a card reader to work though)
@KayGee
Thanks for sharing your experience here.
Question
I am not such a computerexpert (and a bit lazy), so I was wondering where I can obtain a ready-made usb stick with WIndows 7 to install on my Aspire One A110. Does anyone know? Of course it will have a price, but I would prefer that instead of going through all the work.
Thanks for this very useful guide. I followed the instructions and am currently using windows 7 rc on my aspire one. With only 16 GB flash drive on my aspire I had to make room for 7 rc by removing most applications but I am glad that I did because I find 7 rc much more responsive and useable than XP on the resource limited aspire one. It is much better now at multi tasking and so far all is fine. I am very happy I installed it.
@Bobberbob
No such USB sticks are available till date.
Using Ultra Iso is easier than this..just download it
Note: Make sure your motherboard is capable of booting off a USB drive or this will not work. Also, backup any files on your USB drive because it will be formatted.
1) Download the free UltraISO trial-(http://www.ezbsystems.com/ultraiso/download.htm)
2) Start UltraISO as administrator (VIsta Only)
3) “Burn” the iso image to the USB stick by following these steps
With UltraISO:
- Open the image of Vista/Win7 with UltraISO
- Under BOOTABLE tab choose WRITE DISK IMAGE
- Choose your USB stick under “Disk Drive”
- Choose a method (It’s recommended to use USB-HDD+)
- Press Write
- Make sure to change your BOOT order in BIOS to boot from your USB drive first
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/showthread.php?t=7850
Thank you so much for putting the step by step process. I’ve only come across one big problem. It didn’t load my video driver. I have the Acer aspire one. 250 gb. 2 gb ram 11″ screen.
Please can anyone help me find the driver for this netbook?
Thanks
Rick
kremer.rick (at) gmail.com
Got the same problem as Rick. It didn’t install a graphics media acelerator 500 from intel. Searched the intel site and don’t find a driver tor win 7. Anybody got a suggestion–Thsnkd Dick
Hey I was wondering For the guy that installed windows 7 on their acer did you have any problems with the drivers. I want to do it, but don’t know if I will have problems with it along the process.
Hi
I followed the tutorial and installed Win7 on my Aspire A110 from a bootable usb stick.
The tutaorial works fine, thanx for that!
Wifi works out of thje box, so does the webcam
However, Win7 does not recognize my usb ports. Any iedea how to solve that?
And ist is soooooo slooooow!! Any suggestions about that? Already switched off d2d in the setup
Bob
Bobberbob you need a program call flashfire get it here:
http://flashfire.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7&sid=e4a0351538941de97a9540e74e2af803
also its better to use mozilla firefox for web browsing and customize it for ssd, this article should help
http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/windows-7/2441-windows-7-ultimate-solid-state-drive-speed-tweaks.html
Tried theses steps twice, unsuccessfully. got bootmgr missing error each time i tried to use the bootable USB. Success Came when I read the comments by a user concerning Ultra Iso. This method worked the very first time, is far easier, and much quicker. Many Thanks to both the author(s) of this article and user comments!