I Created an image of Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit the hard way.
On a working computer I sourced and downloaded software for Windows 7 Ultimate 64. See:
Folder containing all software I installed off line
Installed Windows 7 ultimate 64 from DVD onto free space of 120 GB HDD:
Turned off system protection, action center, windows defender. Chose not to use recommended settings. This turns Windows firewall off.
Set Windows updates to manual and told Windows not to check for updates. Disabled auto update for WMP. See:
Disabled auto update for Windows Media Player
Tried to update Internet Explorer 8 to 11 off line using this download:
However, the system reported service pack 1 update is missing. So I installed Service pack 1 off line:
Off line Windows 7 64 SP 1 update
I needed more windows updates for IE 11 update:
Off line Windows updates for IE 11 64
Windows must be activated. I used the loader crack by Daz on this ISO download:
However, the activation on the original Windows is lost when it's image is deployed onto a different hard disk
Removewat 2.2.6.0. Block it from accepting incoming connections
Resized Windows partition and created an NTFS data partition. Used BootitNG:
Moved data folders to data partition
Created 2nd admin user account and moved data folders to data partition
Installed Office 2007 and moved to data partition the outlook data folder of each user:
Installed uTorrent and set data folders to data partition
Installed software and organized shortcuts in a folder called STUFF:
Installed security programs: ccleaner, malwarebytes, Winpatrol, PC Tools Firewall Plus, F-Secure Client Security
Turned on Windows firewall to block incoming from home and public networks
Installed Google Chrome and Firefox browsers. Installed Adobe Flash, adblockplus.org, bookmarks, Spywareblaster. IE crashed because of a browser add on, research. Before I could disable research add on, I had to start IE in safe mode. Shockwave does not seem to work on 64 bit Windows 7:
Google Chrome Off line installer
Test and install latest Adobe flash player
Spywareblaster protects browsers
Adblockplus.org blocks popup ads
Told Ccleaner to delete history of all browsers
Installing Windows, service pack upddates and software causes OS partition to become fragmented:
Diskeeper 2011 defrags quickly. Turn off auto defrag
Imaged boot, OS and data partitions
Deployed image of Windows 7 Ultimate 64 on another PC but it failed to boot
Modified registry so my image will boot on any PC after a boot repair:
There is a newer version of PC Tools firewall plus, version 7.
PC Tools Firewall Plus Version 7
Result: A fast responsive delightful OS on 7200 RPM HDD.
Solid state upgrades will become desireable when prices for them come down
CCC