tweaks and software installs on Inspiron 15

A free upgrade to Windows 7 came bundled with my new Inspiron 15 laptop. So I won't be replacing Windows 7 RC with Ubuntu, as was the plan with my previous laptop. I do have the option of replacing Vista with Ubuntu, after the retail version of Windows 7 is installed. At this stage however, I'd like to keep my previous configuration, which was as follows:
* on drive C - the Vista OS, most programs, my documents, my music, my pictures and my video; and
* on drive D - only the Windows 7 OS and a couple of programs.

I still had to be aware that some programs don't work optimally when shared from a single location in a dual-boot configuration.

Two initial steps were:
* create 25GB partition (see entry below) and install Windows 7 RC;
* restore backup to Vista partition.

Then came this list of installations (with destination folder) and tweaks, in two phases:

Windows 7 (Pre-release candidate):
* change number of seconds for display of OS options in MBR;
* add ado-win7 to home network;
* add Documents, Music, Video and Pictures folders on Vista partition to counterparts in Windows 7 library;
* create new 'Downloads' library (Libraries > New Library);
* add 'englesaxe_new' and 'comics' to Favorites (by drag and drop), in Libraries;
* install Microsoft Security Essentials or AVG anti-virus (to drive D);
* display selected desktop widgets (clock, calendar, weather, RSS feed, CPU and memory monitors);
* set up Le Monde RSS feed;
* install Google Chrome (to drive D) and set as default browser;
* import (previously saved) bookmarks;
* install Notepad++ (to drive C);
* install FileZilla (to drive C);
* install CDisplay (to drive C);
* install WinMerge (to drive C);
* install Adobe Reader (to drive C);

With that setup I'm able to work on the Engle Saxe site, read comics and surf my favourite sites.

Windows 7 (after release on Oct 22)

* all of the above plus:
* add wireless printer and check it works in win 7 with current driver;
* install utorrent (to drive C [or D?];
* forward port in Netgear router console for utorrent in Windows 7;
* install mkv2vob (to drive C);
* install Apache (to drive C) and set up web server;
* install virtual PC (to drive C) and set up virtual machines;
* install Firefox, Opera and Safari (to drive C);
* activate guest account;
* install Movie Maker (to drive D);
* set up periodic backups to a new folder (win7_backup) on portable hard drive; do initial backup; delete old backups;
* prevent 'sleep' on closing lid and after 20 mins of inactivity;
* install Dreamweaver and Fireworks (to drive C);

free upgrade to Windows 7

When laptop arrives, connect to Internet then go to https://win7.dell.com/.

Register for upgrade by providing service tag. Registration deadline is January 31, 2010.

Customers who register will receive an email notifying them when the upgrade is available. At that time, customers will be required to enter their credit card information to pay tax, shipping and handling charges. The upgrade kit will ship after payment is received (ship times will be quoted at the time of order). Note - the release date is October 22 2009.

Windows 7 will be delivered by DVD.

More information is provided on the Australian DELL site and on the US DELL site.

how to change the default operating system or display time

In the Windows 7 (or Vista) start menu, right click on My computer then select, in the following order - Properties > Advance system settings > Startup and Recovery Settings > System startup.

Use the first drop-down to change the default operating system.

Use the arrows in the line below to adjust the number of seconds during which the list of operating systems will be displayed.

Click OK, then reboot to test the changes.

Renaming an entry in the Vista boot menu

After installing Windows 7 and repairing your Windows Vista partition, you'll notice that the latter is now called Windows Vista ... (recovered)

If you wish to rename the "Windows Vista ... (recovered)" entry in the boot menu, here is how:

From Windows 7, press the Windows key, type cmd, right-click on the cmd entry and select "Run as administrator".
Type "BCDEDIT" and note the identifier value for the "Windows Vista... (recovered)" entry under "Windows Boot Loader". The value for the "Windows 7" partition is normally {current}".

Assuming the value of the identifier for "Windows Vista... (recovered)" is different to the Windows 7 value, to rename the Vista partition, type this:
BCDEDIT /set {#my-Vista-identifier} description "Windows Vista" (where you will have to substitute the real identifier for #my-Vista-identifier).

If the value of the identifier for "Windows Vista... (recovered)" is also {current}, you may have to use the resumeobject, which is a long alphanumeric string.
A guide to using the BCDedit.exe in Windows advises that:
"The Bcdedit.exe command-line tool can be used to add, delete and edit entries in the BCD store which contains objects. Each object is identified by a GUID (Globally Unique Identifier). Every drive or partition on the system will have its own GUID and could be {legacy} (to describe a drive or partition on which a pre-Vista operating system [is installed]), {default} (to describe the drive or partition containing the current default operating system), or {current} (to describe the current drive or partition one is booted to), or for example {c34b751a-ff09-11d9-9e6e-0030482375e7} (to describe another drive or partition on which an operating system has been installed)...

bcdedit /set {5189b25c-5558-4bf2-bca4-289b11bd29e2} description "Windows Vista Build 5270 x64"

changes the text of the boot menu line for any other Vista installation."