Building a New PC for Music - Part 3: Windows 7

After 3 1/2 hours of getting the hardware ready (I took it easy, without rushing), it is now time to install the OS: Windows 7, 64 bit.

1. I insert the DVD into the DVD tray. "Windows is loading files". ... Done after 20 minutes. Went well without any problems.
2. Now installing all the software from those disks that came with the hardware. First from the CD that came with the motherboard: but just running the autorun did not work, "incorrect OS version". I begin to realise that this PC will be quite lonely: none of my software will work on the 64 bit OS, only the software which has specifically been built for 64 bit will run. I explore the disk and find a few 64bit drivers. Install first the audio driver, SoundMax from Analog Devices. Then reboot: error message: "ADI driver is not intended for this OS". Well, the problems start to creep up... I realise that the date of the files on the driver disk is 26.12.2008 – this is too early for any Windows 7 driver. I will have to go online to download the native Windows 7 versions. So I uninstall the SoundMax software. Fortunately the uninstall works proper, despite of components of the software not being the correct version.
   
3. First overall impression: the PC runs very quiet. Windows 7 runs smoothly. But so far there is nothing yet installed that could cause any problems – I will have to see later when the "real" software is to be installed, all the audio processing etc. The HD speed appears to be ok, but not too exciting; in fact it appears to be disappointingly slow. I had copied a few files from the DVD drive to the HD, and it appeared to be not really blazing... I will have to do some exact benchmarking test later.
4. Next step: to get internet. Got a cheap Wifi USB adapter, plug it in – it installs automatically, drivers appear already present. No problem at all.
5. Windows 7 has "one open issue": I do not have any antivirus protection. I will cover this later, will try to install AVG, if that exists as a 64 bit version.
6. Last hardware installation: the ASUS Xonar Essence STX soundcard. This is to be the main component for the creation of the music later, when the right software is there. For now I just want to make sure that there are no conflicts in the system, and that it runs ok. I place it into the small PCIe slot, then reboot - no issues.
7. Tried to install ASUS Xonar soundcard drivers from the disk. Went to the directory /Vista, but the setup did not work – gave a cryptic message that "//XP/Setup" (or similar) was not present... so I went one level deeper into another "Vista" folder and ran the setup from there. A screen with the Xonar logo comes up, but nothing else. The mouse cursor can still be moved, but nowhere to click or to install anything. Will have to wait until proper drivers are available. When going into the task manager, I realise that a window is just waiting for my input... so I continue the installation. This is strange that this input window did not put itself into the foreground automatically.
8. After a restart, the PC appears fine, except that the Wifi has no network access... only after a few minutes it comes back. But clicking on the Internet Explorer icon now does not result in IE starting up... What have I done wrong now? After uninstalling the ASUS Xonar software and uninstalling a strange software that I had not even been aware that was installed (OpenAL), the MS IE runs again as it should. Very strange... Finally the Wifi login works (the long delay is an unrelated problem with the BTfon setup to which I am subscribing). First I download the Windows updates. 13 files, 17.8 MB. In parallel I do the activation – works ok.
9. I visit the ASUS website, begin to download the Win7 64bit drivers. This goes through a P2P software "DNA" using a torrent; DNA is installed. In parallel I install Google Chrome and Firefox 3.5, all ok as 64 bit versions. Suddenly I realise that I have not yet installed any virus checker. The firewall warns that the DNA accesses the PC – I allow the access. Visit the Microsoft website for suggestions re. virus software, and decide again to use the well proven AVG: is free, and is less annoying than the Norton software (which has those installers which never can be removed) and is less performance-killing than the McAfee (this is just a heuristic statement, based on my experience at work where the background virus check seems to interfere with software running): I never had any bad experience with the AVG antivirus software, and I have used the free version already since several years. Maybe it is time to reward AVG and buy their full version, since they do such a great job.
10. Installed AVG ok. Found the proper version through Google which led me to x64bitdownload.com. The direct download from their site (which would choose automatically the proper version for Windows7 64-bit) was quite slow through my WiFi, so I got the 70 MB installation file through a Ethernet-connected internet line at work. Installed it, did a scan, no problems.
11. I also downloaded a few of the ASUS motherboard files for Windows 7. Among them a program “EPU-6 Engine”. After installation I rebooted, and to my dismay the message appeared “Location not bootable”… I was quite shocked, feared already that I had to redo the whole Windows 7 installation, until I realised that I had forgotten to remove that USB memory stick which I had used for the file transfer, and which was now assumed to be the first boot device. What a relief when Windows 7 booted fine after I had removed that USB stick.
12. The next steps will be installing a few free Windows 7 64 bit software bits, for various system purposes. And the last major step is to install the audio software (Sonar 8.5 and Personal Orchestra 4) and the MIDI interface. Unfortunately CCL did not have any of the software upgrades available, and the music retailer in town did not have anything either in stock, so I went online to Dolphinmusic. I already had ordered in the past from them and had good experience. The software is available, but the MIDI interface not yet – there will be a delay of 2 weeks. Why would I need a new MIDI interface anyway? Well, the reliable MIDISPORT 4x4 from M-Audio which I have used for many years, does not have a Windows7 64bit driver available, so I have to purchase a new interface. The successor of this device, the MIDISPORT 4x4 Anniversary, does have these drivers. I read in some discussion forums that the drivers for this device do not work for the legacy device, so I do not have any other choice than to buy this too. In about two weeks I will then be ready to make some music on this 64 bit system – I am really looking forward to it!