Before Windows Vista/Windows Server 2008 The setup process introduced with
Windows NT 3.1 remained in effect until the release of
Windows Vista. The general process is: • The user starts the installation process, either by booting off the installation media, running the MS-DOS installer from MS-DOS, or running the Windows installer from an existing Windows install. • The MS-DOS installer (WINNT.EXE) is used to bootstrap the first stage of installation by generating a series of three
boot disks, which are used to launch the installer if the system does not support booting from the CD. A command line switch can also be used to copy the installation files to the hard drive and boot the installer from it directly. • The Windows installer presents an agreement and asks for the product key right at the beginning to upgrade Windows, then it copies files to the hard disk, and reboot to the setup from the hard disk in order to continue to the next step. • If the installation process started from booting off the media, or from the Windows installer, the boot loader loads the kernel, various hardware and file-system drivers. • If any third-party drivers are needed in order to detect an SCSI or RAID system, setup pauses and requests the supply of a driver on a floppy disk. See F6 disk. • If the installation process started from booting off the media, the user is then presented with a text-based interface which gives three options 1) install Windows, 2) repair an existing installation, or 3) quit setup. • If the user decides to install Windows, they are presented with an agreement that must be accepted for Setup to continue. Prior to Windows 2000, the user was required to scroll to the bottom of the agreement before they were permitted to agree. • Unless it is an upgrade, the user must create or select a partition, then a filesystem (either
NTFS or
FAT). If either of these file systems is already present and there is no version of Windows already on the disk, it is also possible to leave the current file system intact. • The hard disk is checked for errors and space requirements, then, if it passes the check, Windows will be installed. • After the text-based phase of Setup is finished, the computer reboots and starts a graphical phase of setup from the hard disk, prompting the user to reinsert the installation media, to enter the product key, and then it continues copying files and drivers. All versions of Windows NT up to
Windows Server 2003, except for Windows XP Home Edition, prompt the user to enter an Administrator password. On
Windows 2000,
Windows XP and
Windows Server 2003, the
Recovery Console is included to repair damaged installations. It allows the user to repair disk and boot record errors, and copy missing or corrupted files to the destination folders. On
Windows 2000,
Windows XP and
Windows Server 2003, the Windows Setup process is first started from setupldr.bin, which is a modified version of
NTLDR.
After Windows Vista/Windows Server 2008 Windows Vista,
Windows Server 2008, and subsequent operating systems all utilize
Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) as the installation environment. Windows PE features a
graphical user interface with mouse support from the beginning, rather than requiring a text-only phase as in previous versions. The concept of F6 disks has been improved to provide support for computers without floppy drives; the loading of drivers from
CD-ROMs and
USB flash drives is now supported. Support for installing Windows onto
FAT partitions has been dropped; Windows must be installed onto an
NTFS partition.
Process • The user inserts a disc or USB flash drive which contains the PE environment and installation files, then boots off of it. • The user selects language, region and keyboard preferences. • The user enters a Windows
product key to activate it, though this step can be skipped in most cases. • The user accepts a license agreement. • The user chooses where to install Windows. A list of drives and their partitions are shown. The user picks one to install Windows on, and the user can make new partitions, delete them or load any hardware drivers if necessary. The user is notified if there are potential problems with their install location or if they cannot install on that location. • Setup begins to expand Windows files using a WIM image (aka install.wim). If the user has picked to upgrade from a current install of Windows (e.g. Windows 7 to 10), the files and applications will be transferred. • If booting from the installation disk, the bootloader is installed (in the case of Windows Vista and above, this would be BOOTMGR). This is left untouched if upgrading. • The system is restarted into a user setup (OOBE) where the user can make a new user and finish setting up Windows.
Windows 8 and later Windows 8 introduces a new secondary installer known as the Upgrade Assistant, replacing Windows Setup for upgrade installations. Designed to be simpler and faster than previous installation methods, it analyses the system's hardware and software for compatibility with Windows 8, allows the user to purchase, download, and install the operating system, and migrate files and settings from the previous Windows installation in the case of a clean install. Windows Setup is still used when booting from installation media. In January 2024, Microsoft began to replace Windows Setup on the
Windows 11 boot media with a revamped version based on the UI of Upgrade Assistant. Microsoft stated that the new process would maintain all advanced features available in the existing setup process. ==References==