Windows 7 RC Upgrade issues

(…and how to fix them, possibly)

For the past couple of days I have been pulling my hair out trying to upgrade to the latest Windows 7 RC. I have downloaded and burned the +2GB file at least thrice now, with every install breaking right when it gets to ‘Gathering files, settings, and programs,’ giving me some sort of a memory error, even after Memtest showed me that all of my RAM was fine.

>> 0xC0000005

Here are the steps that finally worked for me:

0.  Back up any of the important files you have.

1.  Back up your %APPDATA% directory, just in case you get tired of messing with this stuff and just do a direct install.**

2. Plug in your laptop and set it somewhere where it won’t overheat. ( If applicable ) Seriously, if it gets unplugged anywhere in the actual install process, it will pop up a little error message saying that it couldn’t complete the install.

3. UnPatch ANY of the system files you may have patched. ( If applicable ) That includes the two theme files used for custom themes. ( Probably the most commonly patched of them all. )

4. Delete or just back up all of the custom themes you may have in your /Windows/Resources/Themes folder. ( Be careful not to delete the windows classic theme, or the ‘aero’ folder. )

5. Check your Windows 7 RC compatibility with the tools Microsoft has provided.

6. Download the ISO, and burn it to a blank DVD ( +2GB won’t fit into a CD ) . If your computer has a lot of  free space, ( ~20GB or more )  or just can’t write to DVDs, you may want to mount the ISO as a virtual drive and install it from there. I don’t know how well that works but, in theory, it should.

7. Run the upgrade! While it is running, it gives you a fullscreen window. It can be tempting to just alt+tab it away and keep doing other stuff while the install works at your system.  If you do, there’s a pretty good chance that it will crash when it goes to gather all your programs/settings. In fact, it’s best to just close everything else before starting. With luck, you should be able to get past the second step.

8. Rinse and repeat.

Good luck, and enjoy your new Windows 7 RC

**If you choose to do this, you will still have to reinstall all of your programs, but most of your settings should be preserved. After you finish installing all of your apps, just copy back the backed up %APPDATA% and merge it with the old one.

My system runs encrypted (Truecrypt Serpent) on an Inspiron 1525 on 250GB with several  other partitions alongside. It has 2GB of RAM and a dual core 1.8GHZ processor.  Undercutting the system requirements for this upgrade may prove to be very difficult or even impossible for this. If at all possible, try getting a computer that’s at or above the modern industry standard before you get this RC. ( Or just wait for the netbook edition )