BetaWiki:Featured article/2022-11

Windows Setup is the process of installing the Windows operating system, which depending on the version, includes partitioning the hard drive, copying the operating system files, and then configuring the installed system.

Originally a rudimentary setup application in Windows 1.0, it has since evolved to have a graphical portion by Windows 3.0. Earlier Windows NT versions utilized an "i386 setup" method where files from the corresponding architecture folder in the installation media were copied over. By Windows Vista, setup files are packaged into WIM files to speed up installation by imaging the WIM file onto the drive.