Why Device Drivers are Needed

To put it simple, you have to install drivers for sound and audio to enable sound from your computer’s operating system. If you installed operating system but did not install sound drivers for that specific operating system, you won’t hear any sound from PC. If you installed incompatible or generic driver for a device, that device may work but may generate errors at some point or may perform less than its maximum potential.

Updating system drivers is not easy because its not a single thing you are going to update. You have to check and update following drivers for your PC.

System Devices that Need Driver Software

• Display (Graphics & Video Adapters)
• Audio & Sound
• Modems & Network Adapters
• Storage Devices (hard drives/HDD/SSD, thumbdrives, etc)
• Printers
• Video & TV Tuners
• Input Devices (mouse, keyboard, game controllers)
• Scanner
• Digital Camera
• Wireless Internet
• Bluetooth
• Optical Disk Drive (CD/DVD)
• SCSI & SATA Device
• External Hard Drives
• Motherboard Chipsets (memory controllers, host bridge, PCI-to-PCI bridges, etc)
• Other Devices (devices of unknown type)

How to Check and Find the Right Driver for Each Device

Drivers for same device may be different for different editions of operating system. Same computer may have different drivers for ‘Microsoft Windows 7 Home’ and ‘Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate’ editions. While installing drivers, you also have to take care about the 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. Drivers for 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems are different. Drivers for two laptops from same brand may not be the same.

To update a device driver you should know the name and model of device, then see if it is 32-bit or 64-bit, then see for the operating system that it is supposed to work on and then download relevant driver for that device. An easy way is to search for the drivers for your PC. For example I have got the HP Probook 4520s and Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit installed on it. So I will search for the drivers for HP Probook 4520s designed to work on Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit edition. Normally search will take me to a download page from where I can select the model or my laptop and the operating system that I am using. You should know the model of your PC to search like this.

Device Manager

Another way is to use Microsoft Windows ‘Device Manager’ to install or update device drivers. Right click on ‘My Computer’ or ‘Computer’ from ‘Start’ menu of ‘Desktop’ and select ‘Manage’. ‘Computer Management’ section will be opened. Select ‘Device Manager’ from the left side and system devices will appear on the right panel. Select any device to see more information.

For example (in my case) if I select the ‘Display Adapters’, it shows me ‘ATI Mobility Radeon…’. If I right click at the ‘ATI Mobility Radeon…’, it gives me option to ‘Update Driver Software’. We can click on that to update driver software. It offers two options:

1. Search automatically for updated driver software
2. Browse my computer for driver software

If you have already downloaded the appropriate drivers for your computer, option number 2 is for you in which you browse driver and install it from your computer. In other case you can select option number 1 to search driver automatically. Option number 1 may update the driver software but it may or may not find unknown drivers and you may see the following message:

Windows was unable to install your unknown device.

For unknown devices you can right click at the ‘unknown device’ from ‘Device Manager’ and select ‘Properties’. Go to ‘Details’ tab and from drop down list select ‘Hardware Ids’. Hardware Ids will give you a clue about the device nature/name/model.

How to Find Device and Hardware Information for PC

There is another relatively easy way to find all the hardware and devices information about your computer. Download CPU-Z from CPUID and run this utility. This will tell you about all major hardware of your computer.

You already know your PC brand name and now you have to find out its model to search required drivers. For laptops and notebooks that is easy, where you can see the brand name and model written at the front side or backside of laptop. My laptop has ‘Probook 4520s’ written in front of it and its product by HP. So I can easily search device drives by searching ‘HP Probook 4520s device drivers’ that will take me to the official downloads section of HP website from where I can select my operating system to download relevant drivers for my machine.

What if you have a desktop PC? All you may know that it is an Intel PC and there is Intel Inside :). This is where CPU-Z comes in handy. CPU-Z will tell you the model of mainboard (motherboard) and you will be able to search the drivers for that model. If I use CUP-Z on my laptop, it tells me following information.

Use CPU-Z or CPU-ID when you are not sure about the model of your PC mainboard. Search drivers by using manufacturer name and model number present in ‘Mainboard’ tab of CPU-Z. Download drivers and install/update system drivers.

Manually Download Driver Software

Almost all PC manufacturers (HP, Dell, Sony) offer driver software for free to download and use. Go to the official website of your PC/laptop manufacturer and see if they have a download section. In downloads section, look for the driver software. Select your operating system and PC model to download relevant driver software. Below is a list of popular brands in computer business. Click on your computer manufacturer name below to download driver software for your computer.

Download Device Drivers for your PC from Official Source

Dell Drivers Download Section
HP (Hewlett Packard) Drivers Download Section
Intel Drivers Download Section, Intel Driver Update Utility
Sony Drivers Download Section
Acer Drivers Download Section
Gateway Drivers Download Section
Asus Drivers Download Section
Samsung Drivers Download Section
Toshiba Drivers Download Section
Benq Drivers Download Section
Compaq Drivers Download Section
Lenovo Drivers Download Section

Allow Microsoft Windows to Automatically Download Device Drivers

You can also allow Microsoft Windows to automatically update device drivers and device icons. By default this option is disabled. To enable that go to ‘Control Panel’ > ‘Devices and Printers’. Right click at the icon of a device and select ‘Devive Installation Settings’. Check ‘Yes, do this automatically’ and save changes.

This method is good but it may also bring generic drivers for device and there are more devices in your PC that need driver software.

Above mentioned method may not be easy for everybody. Finding out PC manufacturer and mainboard model, searching for device drivers, selecting OS and download drivers. And even after all that, users often download wrong type of drivers for PC. Why not should we use a drivers manager software to check, install and update device drivers easily. If you use a drivers manager, you won’t have to search for drivers. It already knows from where to download best device drivers suited for your computer.

There are many software to update system drivers such as Uniblue Driver Scanner, Driver Detective, Advanced Driver Updater, Smart Driver Updater, Driver Navigator, Driver Easy, Driver Checker, Driver Genius, Driver Hive, Driver Scanner, Slim Drivers and Device Doctor. I will give you example of ‘Slim Drivers’ that is useful to check and update all the device drivers for PC.

Slim Drivers – Driver Scanner and Updater

Slim Drivers by ‘Slimware Utilities’ caught our attention that is a free software to update all system drivers on Microsoft Windows operating system effectively. It tells you all the drivers that are out-dated and automatically downloads and installs drivers for all hardware and devices.

Slim Drivers detects when a driver needs updating, identifies the proper executable for your system and initiates the driver install on demand. You can update individual driver one by one with free version. Free version also shows upgrade to pro version offer while downloading process of driver. Pro version updates device drivers automatically, on availability. With free version you have to check the updates manually and you can download and install device driver updates one by one. Use this software to scan your PC for missing, broken or out-of-date drivers and get the latest drivers automatically. Automatically means it downloads the driver for you. You do not need to search anything or manually go to a webpage to download driver.

Scan your PC and it will show you the drivers that need to be updated or installed. Click the ‘download update’ link infront of the driver that needs to be updated and Slim Driver will ask you to create a restore point before downloading this new version of driver. After that it downloads the driver and bring up the installer to install that driver.

That’s it. Update drivers one by one and you will save your PC from crashes and it will be more stable resulting in better over all performance. You can take back up for installed drivers for all devices and you can restore from that backup. If you run this program after some time it will tell you if any update on any system driver is available.

So device drivers for PC should be updated and you can monitor devices and installed drivers from ‘device manager’. You can go to your PC manufacturer website to download drivers manually. You can also use free driver scanner software like Slim Drivers that is so easy to use and it does most of the work for you.

Update all PC Drivers for Microsoft Windows Easily - First appeared on Tips Ninja

Before you open up a laptop, make sure you have read the followings:

Screwdriver Sets for Smart Devices and Laptops
Safety Precautions to Take Before Repairing a Laptop

Here is how to remove/replace/upgrade RAM, hard disk or fan from Lenovo B570e.

• Flip the laptop ad remove battery.
• Remove 5 screws from the backside (easily spotted). After that lift the portion that was clipped by using those screws.
• Now you be able to see the RAM and hard disk.
• Remove hard disk.
• From where you just removed hard disk, that side contains another screw that holds DVD player/writer. Remove that screw and with screwdriver gently push DVD player from inside and remove it.
• There will be wires coming below from hard disk area. Detach those wire by using extra caution.
• Remove the card chip from slot.
• Now remove remaining screws from backside body (fourteen screws from body and others from hard disk area).
• Flip it back to face front side. Open laptop lid.
• Remove keyboard. From top of keyboard, by using something sharp, release it from clips (5 or so clips). Start from one side and keep pushing keyboard upwards gently. There is a ribbon cable beneath keyboard, so do not lift keyboard at once. Detach that cord from main board and detach keyboard completely from laptop.
• Now you will be able to see the fan.
• From where you detached the keyboard cord (cable), that area has got 4 more little cables. Detach these cables one by one gently.
• Remove screw from near those cables. That screw may be hidden by a seal.
• Now you have to gently detach the whole case by loosing clips from laptop sides.
• Now you will be able to see the fan, processor and whole main board.
• Remove couple of cords cables and screws and the whole main board will be in your hand.

If you did not get any point in the steps explained above, just stop and watch images and videos below to understand proper sequence involved to achieve it successfully.

Photo Gallery

If photos did not help, watch video below for exact sequence to follow and steps to take.

Video Tutorials

Lenovo B570e Maintenance, Repairing and General Cleaning [DIY] - First appeared on Tips Ninja

Before you open up a laptop, make sure you have read the followings:

Screwdriver Sets for Smart Devices and Laptops
Safety Precautions to Take Before Repairing a Laptop

Here is how to remove/replace/upgrade RAM, hard disk or fan from HP Probook 4520s.

• Place laptop at the table, front side facing downwards and battery side upwards.
• Remove battery from backside.
• From where the battery was, underneath the battery remove three screws.
• Remove two screws from the backside of laptop.
• Bring front side of laptop upwards and open laptop cover so that laptop screen is facing you.
• Remove bezel (the one with the switch on/off button) by pushing it gently backwards and lift it up.
• To remove keyboard you have to remove two screws from beneath the bezel that you just lifted. Keyboard has got a cord (ribbon cable) and its attached so you can not lift the keyboard at once. After removing those two screws from the top side of keyboard, you have to gently push the keyboard upwards towards the screen and then lift it not more than 1 or 2 inch and then turn it and place it at laptop. There will be a ribbon cable and you have to remove it by lifting up the clips at its left and right side gently (use extra caution). After that keyboard will be free with ribbon cable attached to it. If you are not careful enough, you can rip the cable and damage keyboard functionality.
• Remove three screws from the top of the third part of laptop. This third part contains the mouse buttons in the center of it. The bottom part of laptop. After you remove three screws, move the whole panel (bezel) to the right side gently and pick it up about 2 or 3 inches. There is a ribbon cable below so you have to release the ribbon cable or you just flip this panel and place it for the time being where the keyboard was.
• You can see the hard disk and fan now. hard disk has got three screws; two removable and one fixed screw. Remove two screws from hard disk and loose one fixed screw and move the hard disk to the right side and lift it up gently. Hard disk will be out of the laptop.
• To remove fan, you have to remove the cover.

If you did not get any point in the steps explained above, just stop and watch images and videos below to understand proper sequence involved to achieve it successfully.

Photo Gallery

These photos may not be of much help because these are not much clear but you can watch videos below for exact sequence to follow and steps to take.

Video Tutorials

HP Probook 4520s Maintenance, Repairing and General Cleaning [DIY] - First appeared on Tips Ninja

We have compiled a simple list of precautions based on our previous experiences with laptop repairs.

• Do not just jump into doing it, watch an online video tutorial before you open up your laptop for repair, note down essential steps and sequence of disassembling. Search on YouTube for brand and model of your laptop and you will find the right video guide to disassemble your laptop.
• First, always take backup of important files. In some cases (laptop repair gone wrong) you may not be able to get the display from your laptop. You also may break any part of laptop or wire. In that case your data will be safe and secure to another location and your work will not be interrupted.
• Shutdown laptop properly and unplug laptop to avoid current shock or other circuit damage.
• Before opening up the laptop from inside, make sure you have got all the necessary tools (screwdrivers, hardware to be replaced if any, brush, blower etc.).
• Make sure you have adequate light over laptop so that you may observe even small wires properly.
• Only disassemble laptop if its is needed.
• In case you want to clean the fan and heat sink, make sure you have got proper sized brushes so that you may eliminate dust properly and thoroughly from heat sink system.
• Do not wash any part of laptop, keep it away from other liquids as well.
• Go slow and be gentle with your laptop. While using screwdrivers, use gentle grip of two fingers around screwdriver tip to avoid screwdriver to be slipped around. If screwdriver slips, it can damage thin wires, speakers, ribbon cords or other areas of laptop.
• Gently lift screws from laptop, to avoid dropping them in difficult to access areas of laptop.
• Keep removed screws in proper order. Some are smaller in size while others may be bigger. You need to pay attention about from where any particular screw was removed.
• Do not apply too much pressure while removing panels, bezels or parts of laptop otherwise these may break. In order to remove from laptop, sometimes these parts just need a little push in the right direction.
• Do not remove or lift any separated part at once. It might be connected to laptop by a thing wire or ribbon wire. If you break such wires accidentally, new wires may cost a lot. Always observe below the panel or beneath the part that you are removing.
• If the disassemble may look complicated but you still want to disassemble laptop, use any smart phone or digital camera to record a movie of process that you are doing to remove several parts of laptop. That video may serve for reference (if you forget anything or the sequence of disassemble) later on.
• Lift and place laptop and separated parts of laptop gently.
• After you are done, assemble all parts carefully and apply all screws that were removed previously.
• If it gets complicated and you can not figure out something at some point, stop it and get professional repair service.

Safety Precautions to Take Before Repairing a Laptop - First appeared on Tips Ninja

Really a variety of screwdriver kits of many types are available so that you may choose according to your requirement. Its better to get the whole set or full kit of screwdrivers of particular type, rather than purchasing just few you need, because different size of screws are used in the same device. So what kind of screwdrivers should you use to open up laptop or smart phone? What type of screwdrivers should we use to service laptop? And from where can you buy screwdrivers to service your laptop? Screwdrivers for laptop or smart phones are in smaller size with many kinds of shapes to move different kinds of screws.

You can buy screwdrivers for laptop repair or smartphone repair online from eBay, Walmart or Amazon (if not from the local market near you). You will have to search there for terms like ‘screwdriver set for laptop’, ‘screwdriver set for smart phone’, ‘screwdriver set for iPhone’, ‘screwdriver kit’, ‘screwdrivers for laptop repair’, ‘screwdrivers for laptop service’, ‘screwdrivers for mobile phone repairing’, or ‘PC tools kit’ depending on what you want to do with the kit. Search with the right keyword and you will get the exact set of tools that you need. There is a lot of variety and options for these tools. So search well before purchasing one. There is no need to go for an expensive kit as well. Expensive tool kits will be only fancy and design wise attractive. What I use for smart phone repairing or laptop repairing, is below.

The kind of kit displayed in images above is really useful for smart phones repairing or laptop repairing. Go for this type of set regardless of the brand. Preferably choose less expensive set of same type. You have to open up laptop, computer or smart phone to repair it. You may need to change, upgrade or install new RAM in laptop. You may need to clean your laptop fan and heat sink areas. For this purpose regular screwdrivers won’t work because those are for general purposes (home repairing) and are bigger in size. The kit above contains screwdriver in two parts. One part of screwdriver is to hold the screwdriver and that is single in the kit because all the other parts will fit into it (one at a time) to form a single screwdriver. The second part is the tip of screwdriver that actually moves the screws into or out of devices.

Screwdriver Sets for Smart Devices and Laptops - First appeared on Tips Ninja

In my case I would prefer SystemRescueCd and Ubuntu in mu multiboot USB. You can use Ubuntu live, without installation or you can install Ubuntu from the same medium that runs it live. SystemRescueCD contains useful tools like TestDisk, GParted and more. But of course there is plenty of choice for live operating systems and live system rescue disks to choose from. [ List of Live CDs ]

Multiboot means that the tool allows installation of multiple operating systems on the USB drive and it also creates a bootloader on the USB to choose which operating system to load from, at boot time.

XBoot

XBoot is Microsoft Windows based software, lot easier to use and is quite user friendly. Just add the ISO files and hit ‘Create USB’ button. You can also drag and drop ISO files. ISO files can be of operating systems or utilities and tools. XBoot will offer a choice to select USB device and bootloader. You can choose from bootloaders of Syslinux and Grub4dos to install. Syslinux bootloader is recommended if your USB is formatted to FAT32 filesytem. In case of NTFS USB, Grub4dos is recommended. XBoot is much efficient and does the job. XBoot has got a built in QEMU emulator that enables you to boot an ISO from within Windows.

RMPrepUSB (Bootable USB Drive Preparartion Tool)

RMPrepUSB is Microsoft Windows based software that allows you to create personalized multiboot USB drive containing bootable tools or operating systems. This tools also has got set of exclusive tools for the USB drive.

To create multiboot USB drive, format (NTFS filesystem) a USB drive using RMPrepUSB, install the grub4dos boot manager using the ‘Install grub4dos’ button on RMPrepUSB, add your files (ISO files, disk image files, OS files or even files which are prepared as empty ext2 filesystem volumes), edit your menu.lst file (press F4) to make a user menu so the user can select which OS or program to boot to. Optionally you can test that your USB drive boots using the QEMU button.
[quick start quide with videos]

Easy2Boot

Easy2Boot is just a collection of grub4dos batch files that you can add to a grub4dos bootable USB Drive (its not a software for Microsoft Windows or Linux). Once you have made the grub4dos bootable USB drive and copied over the Easy2Boot files, just add any bootable files (linux LiveCD ISOs, Windows Installer ISOs, memory test .bin files, floppy and hard disk images, .imgPTN partition images, etc.). Easy2Boot automatically looks at all the files on the drive and dynamically creates a new menu each time you boot from the USB drive. Each file will be booted according to it’s file extension (unlike most MultiBoot Utilities, E2B does not look at the file name and does not need to recognize what type or version of linux is inside the ISO file).

Easy2Boot requires RMPrepUSB. [Make an Easy2Boot USB drive – Instructions]

YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer)

Use YUMI to create a Multiboot USB Flash Drive containing multiple operating systems, antivirus utilities, disc cloning, diagnostic tools, and more. YUMI uses syslinux to boot extracted distributions stored on the USB device, and reverts to using grub to Boot Multiple ISO files from USB, if necessary. YUMI works like Universal USB Installer, except it can be used to install more than one distribution to run Live from your USB. Distributions can also be uninstalled by using this tool.

In the gallery above, first case if when you have provide an ISO file that you have downloaded already. In the second case, user is downloading Ubuntu ISO from online official Ubuntu website. After downloading, the bootable USB will be created. In the third screenshot, unlisted ISO is being tried. YUMI is meant to use to create bootable live USB for Linux based operating systems, but you can choose ‘unlisted ISO’ to add your choice of ISo file(s) to create bootable USB drive.

First time you can format the USB drive and after that you can add more ISOs by repeating same steps of choosing USB drive and giving ISO file. Don’t format it while adding more ISO files. Yes! ‘Unlisted ISO’ choice to add any ISO of your choice instead of selecting listed supported operating systems and tools, works fine. After you are done, the multiboot USB is ready that will offer choices of which ISO to boot from.

So YUMI can create multiboot USB containing different operating systems but you will have to burn the ISO files one by one by using YUMI. Your USB drive must be Fat16/Fat32/NTFS formatted, otherwise Syslinux will fail and your drive will NOT Boot. Its better to use Fat32 because if you use NTFS with YUMI, data may become corrupted.

Sardu

By using SARDU tool, you can create multiboot USB drive containing multiple operating systems, system security tools, system partitioning tools and system utilities. You can create bootable tools USB disk containing software like antivirus, partition tools, password reset tools, password recovery tools and more. Basically, you select the tools or utilities to include in your multiboot USB and then Sardu will facilitate the download process of those tools. If the tool is not free or restricted by copyrights, it will provide you link for that tool so that you can download it yourself. If you choose to download tools or ISO files by using Sardu, some of these can be outdated. So you might want to check that if you need latest ISO.

Sardu has a tabbed interface offering different utilities grouped under tabs. All antivirus tools are grouped under Antivirus tab, partitioning and troubleshooting tools are under Utility tab, Linux distros are under Linux tab, and Windows under Windows tab.

Upon clicking tools, utilities or operating system buttons, you will be prompted to download the file from original source. Click Yes to add desired file to the download queue. Click the Downloader tab and click START. This will download all selected files. If you also want to add Microsoft Windows to multiboot USB, you should already have the ISO of the Microsoft Windows. Place the ISO in location of /Sardu/ISO/. You also need to rename the ISO in a specific format. Hover the cursor on the buttons to know the specific required file names.

Sardu does not format USB but it writes or overwrites data. Your USB drive should be with FAT32 filesystem. Connect the USB drive and press search USB button. Select USB from the list. Download ISO files (utilities, tools, OS) needed or provide ISO files. Select the downloaded files and press blue USB drive button to create multiboot USB containing selected items.

Multisystem

Multisystem is a Linux based software that can create multiBoot live USB containing multiple operating systems. Drag and drop ISO files and that’s it. The GUI is not perfect but its the software works perfectly. Running this software via the Ubuntu installer (PPA) is kind of complicated so you can run it from a console window because it keeps asking to over-write/delete files and for sudo permissions.

To install Multisystem in Linux, these commands from terminal may work.

sudo apt-add-repository 'deb http://liveusb.info/multisystem/depot all main'
wget -q http://liveusb.info/multisystem/depot/multisystem.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install multisystem

Multibootusb

MultiBootUSB is a portable application, that is very useful to create multiboot USB drive. Run the tool and select the USB drive. Browse ISO file and hit ‘create’ button. MultiBootUSB shows added ISO files in the main panel. You can repeat the process and add more ISO files. You can remove ISO files by selecting them separately. You can check your downloaded ISO files or bootable tools, from ‘QEMU’ tab. Select ‘Boot ISO’ or ‘Boot USB’ from there. You can also select how much RAM to use for this emulation. This feature will enable you to check the operating systems that you are going to keep in your USB, without restarting your copmputer. MultiBootUSB is a good software but it can be slower than the others.

WinSetupFromUSB

This tool allows you to select multiple ISO files at once and create a multi-boot USB drive. It also allows QEMU to test ISOs.

It prepares multiboot USB drive to install any Microsoft Windows versions (if you already have got licensed ISO file), boot various Linux and *BSD flavors, as well as many Microsoft Windows, Linux, DOS based and other utilities. It supports many other ISO images as long as they are compatible with grub4dos emulation, such as Ultimate Boot CD, most DOS based utilities, Acronis and Paragon boot disks and more. It also supports Syslinux boot menu and optionally single source which uses Syslinux or Isolinux as bootloader.

Squirrel USB

This tool boots the install bootmgr/ntldr for any given ISO file. Make a multiboot windows USB key with Syslinux and FiraDisk. It only allows Microsoft Windows based ISO files.

How to Create Bootable USB Drive with Multiple Operating Systems and Bootable Tools - First appeared on Tips Ninja

VMWare workstation 10.0.1 and Ubuntu 14.04 (ISO) were used in the following method. I used computer with core i5 processor and 4GB RAM. This computer has got Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft Windows 8. VMWare workstation was installed in Microsoft Windows 7 and then Ubuntu was installed in VMware workstation by creating a new virtual machine.

Lets take example of installing Ubuntu in Windows 7 using VMware. First install VMware workstation. It also supports Microsoft Windows 8 and latest versions of Ubuntu Linux now.

Remember: When I say ‘Virtual Machine’, it means ‘one installation of any operating system’ within VMWare. For example, you installed Ubuntu in VMware, you just created a single virtual machine containing Ubuntu. You further installed Microsoft Windows 8 by using VMWare, you just created second virtual machine containing Microsoft Windows 8.

• Open VMware workstation and select, ‘create a new virtual machine’.
• Select typical configuration.
• Next you have to provide the installation media. You can use DVD drive containing operating system installation files or you can select disk image file (ISO). ISO is more convenient because its a direct way. Download Ubuntu ISO package. Select ‘Installer disc image file (iso)’ from vmware and browse to the path where Ubuntu ISO file is in your computer.
• Next you will have to type the username and password for Ubuntu.
• Type virtual machine name as it will appear in VMWarwe.
• Below you can check and change the location of the virtual machine. This location is where the Ubuntu installation files will be stored in PC.
• After that specify disk capacity for Ubuntu. Disk capacity is like a partition for this virtual machine that you are installing. If you choose 20 GB, it means Ubuntu will keep 20 GB of your hard disk partition that is being used to install Ubuntu. I used 20 GB because I needed room to install more programs in Ubuntu.
• You can also choose to store virtual disk as a single file or you can split it into multiple files. If you want to move this virtual machine to another computer, then choose ‘split virtual disk into multiple files’.
• Next screen will show you information about your new virtual machine being setup. But there is more you need to configure. At that screen click ‘customize hardware’.
• ‘Customize hardware’ option is really important where you can choose memory size, processors and more for this virtual machine. Choose at the least 1GB RAM for one virtual machine.
• Next Ubuntu will be installed. If your PC is connected to the internet, it will install the updates, languages and other stuff for Ubuntu automatically.
• Now see at the left side of VMWare. Left side panel will be displaying Ubuntu, under ‘My Computer’. That is your virtual machine containing Ubuntu. From the second menu of VMware that contain icons (below from program’s main menu that contains file, edit, view), you can switch to full screen.
• After installation, Ubuntu will be started. Note that you will not need to worry about Grub installation, complex file systems of linux or swap space. Its just like provide Ubuntu ISO file and you are done. VMware takes care of everything.
• Now VMware will contain Ubuntu in its left panel. You can turn that on of off by right clicking at that and going to ‘Power’ menu.

After installation Ubuntu will run in the VMWare. You will be using Ubuntu at the same time, right within Microsoft Windows.

The screenshots below will explain the whole process.

This way you just installed Ubuntu as a virtual machine in Microsoft Windows 7 by using VMWare workstation.

Similarly, you can install more operating systems. You just need to provide ISO file for operating system. You can install as many operating systems as you like. For example if you have Microsoft Windows 7 installed in PC. You can install VMware and use VMware to create virtual machines, each virtual machine containing a separate operating system. Lets say you can install Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows 8, Ubuntu and other Linux based operating systems at the same computer and you can use these operating systems at the same time. You can run all these virtual machines at the same time.
Also read: How to Install Multiple Windows Operating Systems on Computer

How to Install Ubuntu in Microsoft Windows Using VMWare - First appeared on Tips Ninja

You can install more than one operating system on computer. This is called a multiboot or dual-boot configuration. You can install two, three, four or as many operating systems side by side as you like, if your hard disk space allows that. Running multiple operating systems won’t stress your computer in case these are installed independently on separate hard drives. You will be running one operating at a time. Whenever you start your computer, you can then choose which version of Microsoft Windows to run. Lets see how can we install and use multiple versions of Microsoft Windows on same computer (one operating system in one hard disk partition). I will give example of two operating systems (Microsoft Windows 7 and 8) in this tutorial.

If you install Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft Windows 8 on computer, at the start up, computer provides the following options given below in screenshot. You can choose to use Microsoft Windows 7 or Microsoft Windows 8.

Computer disk management is representing below that Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft Windows 8 are installed on separate partitions of hard disk.

Computer system configuration utility in Microsoft Windows 7 is displaying below the boot entries. Default OS is Microsoft Windows 8.

Computer system configuration utility in Microsoft Windows 8 is displaying below the boot entries. Default OS is Microsoft Windows 8 that was installed after Microsoft Windows 7.

‘My computer’ or ‘computer’ area displaying the two different partitions for Microsoft Windows 7 and Microsoft Windows 8.

Important: There is one thing you need to keep in mind. Install older version of Microsoft Windows first and more recent versions If you don’t (for example, if you install Microsoft Windows 7 on a computer already running Microsoft Windows 8), you can render your system inoperable. This can happen because earlier versions of Microsoft Windows don’t recognize the startup files used in more recent versions of Microsoft Windows and can overwrite them.

Multiple Operating Systems Installation – Each in Separate Partition

First of all you need to check the partitions and disk space. You should have enough hard disk space in computer. If you have only one partition with enough free space, you need to resize that partition to make room for a separate partition for the other operating systems. This may require defragmenting the drive first. You may also want to reserve some space for a data partition available to both operating systems.

To create more partitions, right click at Computer and select ‘Manage‘. Under ‘storage’ at the left side, select ‘Computer Management‘. Right click at volume and select ‘shrink volume‘. Enter the amount of space in MB to shrink. This will be the space for new partition. After you successfully create partition, Install Microsoft Windows by selecting a custom install and selecting that newly created partition to install Microsoft Windows on. The second operating system installer will detect the first on the other partition and configure a boot loader allowing both to boot.

If you already have extra partition to install operating system, make sure its empty. If it has data, backup that data somewhere else. Insert the Microsoft Windows OS installation disc or USB into your computer. Setup should start automatically. If it doesn’t, click the Start button, click Computer, double-click your DVD drive or USB to open the Microsoft Windows installation disc, and double-click setup.exe.

On the Install Windows menu, click Install now. On the Which type of installation do you want? page, click ‘Custom‘. On the Where do you want to install Windows? page, select the (free) partition (or disk) where you want to install the new operating system. Be sure to install Windows on a different partition from the one where the earlier version of Windows is installed. Click Next to begin the installation.

After completion, restart the computer and test booting from both operating systems. You can repeat these steps and install more recent versions of Microsoft Windows on other free partitions of computer, these all will run. You will have option to choose which operating system to run in the start. Just make sure that you install older versions first and more recent versions of Microsoft Windows later. Install each operating system on separate partition.

Programs Installations on Multiple Boot Computer

Your previously installed programs for first operating system won’t work in other installed operating systems. You need to install programs for each operating system separately turn by turn. Suppose you have Microsoft Windows Vista, 7 and 8. You will run Microsoft Windows Vista and install programs in that. After that you will restart Vista and run Microsoft Windows 7 and install programs in that and then restart computer and run Microsoft Windows 8 and install programs in Microsoft Windows 8.

Uninstall Operating System from Multiple Boot

To uninstall operating system on a multiple boot computer, you can simply format the partition or delete partition entirely but make sure you do not delete first operating system. Do not delete older operating system otherwise system won’t boot at all. This is because the computer uses the startup files from the earliest version of Microsoft Windows that is installed on the computer. Before you delete partition, you should back up your programs, files, and settings. Formatting or deleting a partition deletes all of the data on the partition.

If you have installed Microsoft Vista and after that you install Microsoft Windows 7, you can delete partition containing Microsoft Windows 7. If you delete Microsoft Windows Vista by running Microsoft Windows 7, system won’t work the next time. So install older versions of OS first and recent later and uninstall recent versions of OS first and old later.

Use VMWare Workstation to Run Multiple Operating Systems

In case of VMware workstation, you can run multiple operating systems at the same time. This is our second option to achieve multiple versions of Microsoft Windows running on same computer is VMware Workstation. Run applications on multiple operating systems including Linux, Microsoft Windows and more at the same time on the same PC without rebooting. Through VMware Workstation, you get the freedom that you deserve. You can setup multiple virtual machines running different operating systems on same computer. In fact, you can run multiple operating systems at the same time in separate browser windows. You need a computer with good specs for that. Extra RAM (at least 4Gb RAM for two operating systems) and a good processor depending on how many operating systems you want to run at the same time.

Install VMware workstation and run it. From VMware workstation, select ‘create a new virtual machine’. A wizard will guide you through easy steps. Provide ISO file of operating system that you want to install. Repeat the step and add as many operating systems as you like. These operating systems will appear on a side panel. Select to run required operating system. Click to select and run more operating systems within same environment without restarting PC.
Fore more, read: How to Install Ubuntu in Microsoft Windows Using VMWare

How to Install Multiple Operating Systems on Single Computer - First appeared on Tips Ninja

Tip: You need a USB flash drive with a minimum of 4 GB of free space to copy Microsoft Windows setup files on it.

Official Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

Officially, Microsoft has provided Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool that can create bootable Windows setup disks by using Microsoft Windows 7. For Microsoft Windows 7, this tool is the best. You can download the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from official source and install it. However, this tool does not support dual-layer DVD discs.

Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool looks like below:

It will ask for ISO file based on Microsoft Windows setup. In the second step, it will ask to choose USB drive to burn Microsoft Windows setup to.

It will burn the Microsoft Windows setup to provided USB drive and create a bootable Windows setup disk. You can also choose DVD to create bootable Windows setup disk. Sometimes it gives an error about unsupported ISO file but that unsupported ISO error has a solution.

If this tool requires to install the .NET framework or Image Mastering API, you can download .NET framework and download Image Mastering API for this tool to work on older versions of Microsoft Windows as well.

We have reviewed few ISO to Bootable USB Creator Tools before. If your requirement is to burn Microsoft Windows ISO to USB or DVD disk to create a bootable Windows setup disk, those tools can achieve this goal as well. Allow us to share few more tools.

WinToFlash

WinToFlash can be used to create bootable disk drive. Advanced mode presents a lot of useful options and all versions of Microsoft Windows are supported. To create Windows 7 or 8 bootable drive from ISO, you can go to ‘Advanced mode’ and select ‘Transfer Windows Vista/2008/7/8 setup to USB drive’. In the next step, you have to give the ISO file path and select the USB drive and hit ‘Run’ button. See screenshots below.

Following video tutorial shows how to create a bootable USB drive by using WinToFlash.

WiNToBootic

WiNToBootic is another tool to create ‘Windows USB boot disk’.

Windows 8 USB Installer Maker

Windows 8 USB Installer Maker is a clean utility that can create Microsoft Windows 8 bootable USB drive by using Microsoft Windows 8 ISO. This tool comes with a PDF manual and is easy to use.

It formats USB drive (NTFS), extracts all files to USB drive (takes some time) and then writes the USB Boot MBR. You have to select the USB drive and ISO file and hit ‘create’ button.

Win USB Maker

Win USB Maker is a small utility that can be used to create bootable Microsoft Windows based USB drive from Microsoft Windows ISO image or from Microsoft Windows DVD source. Interface uses drag and drop and you have to drag and drop your USB drive in it from ‘My Computer’ and then ISO file. It can work with setup DVD, setup folder and setup ISO image. It requires .NET Framework v4.0 in PC.

There are more tools for the same task such as UNetbootin, YUMI, Windows 7 SBB Tool.

Microsoft Windows ISO to Bootable USB Tools - First appeared on Tips Ninja

I would like to call it ‘Windows USB/DVD tool’, rather then ‘Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool’, because it does not seem to download anything and it can also be used to create a Microsoft Windows 8 bootable disk. So ‘Windows USB/DVD tool’ creates a bootable disk drive by using ISO file. The same goal can be achieved by using any other utility that burns ISO file to the DVD or USB drive.

Take Rufus for example.

Rufus can recognize external disk drive and it can use ISO image or ISO file to create bootable disk. Instead of Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool, you can use any other third party bootable disk creator to burn operating system files to disk.

ISO to USB is another similar example. There are also other unofficial tools available to specially create bootable Microsoft Windows setup disk. Not just for Microsoft Windows 7 or 8 but you can choose to create bootable disk for any version of Microsoft Windows if you have the ISO file.

Windows USB/DVD Tool Unable to Burn Windows ISO to DISK - First appeared on Tips Ninja