Software Development Machine Build Order

I build a development machine at least once a year, either on my laptop or desktop. It often takes at least a full day and is a huge time sink. I have come up with a build order for building a development machine quickly, securely, and without delays. The machine must be connected to the internet. Much of the software is available free on the web. The rest is available through the BizSpark program (also free, initially).

Here is my my current list. All of this software is publicly available, although some may be beta or research.

Windows 7 x64

Security

1. Windows Update – Run this over and over again until it says no more updates.

RESTART

2. Avast Home Edition (free anti-virus)

RESTART

3. Web of Trust

4. Spybot Search and Destroy (free anti-spyware)

 Development

5. Sql Server 2008 Developer Edition (from DVD)

6. SQL Server 2008 SP1 – Required on Windows 7

RESTART

7. Visual Studio 2008 Team Suite (from DVD)

8. Visual Studio 2008 SP1

9. Web Platform Installer – A single installer for all of these tools and more.

    A. ASP.NET MVC 1.0

    B. Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio

    C. SQL Server 2008 Express

10. Expression Studio 3 (DVD)

11. Pex – Automated White box Testing for .NET (Microsoft Research Pre-Release)

12. Windows Installer XML (Wix)

Document / Web Apps / More

13. Microsoft Office 2007 (from DVD) -OR- Microsoft Word Viewer

14. Adobe Flash Player

15. Adobe Reader

16. Outlook Connector – Recieve Live Hotmail emails in Outlook.

17. Windows Mobile Device Center – for syncing my Windows Mobile phone.

18. Zune Software - To sync music to my Zune.

Installing Windows 7 through a KVM Switch

With all things software, it is often good to keep things simple in the beginning. Get something working, and then slowly make it more complex.

Well, last night, I tried an install of Windows 7 with a complex hardware setup. I was building my next development machine along side my old development machine by way of a KVM switch. In addition to adding a KVM switch, I also switched around video cards (PCI Express and AGP) and moved to all DVI video cables from simple blue VGA cables. And I did all of this without testing, just before installing Windows on the new machine.

I learned a couple of lessons from this. It’s a good idea to test the video cards on the desired machine prior to hooking it up to a KVM switch with all new cables. Second, Windows 7 was not able to figure out what was not able to recognize the keyboard through KVM switch at all times (namely in parts of BIOS). The installation of Windows actually failed. I believe this was due to not being able to recognize the keyboard. After installation and subsequent connection to the KVM, Windows 7 immediately recognized the switch and installed all of the necessary drivers. Pretty impressive.

So, long story short, this is how to install Windows 7 if you have a KVM switch:

1. Connect devices directly to computer.
2. Install Windows 7.
3. Shut down the computer.
4. Connect devices through KVM switch.
5. Start computer.

This was an unexpected learning opportunity at 8pm, but good information to know for the future. Hope you learned something too.

Very soon (and I mean it this time), I will post my build order of installing software for building a software development machine on the Microsoft stack.

Downloading Windows 7

Today is the first day to download the official RTM of Windows 7 on MSDN, for those that have access.  My company, Concord Mfg LLC is a Microsft ISV. I signed up for BizSpark a few months ago, which provides access to MSDN.

I have been using Windows 7 RC for several months now. I can’t imagine going back to Vista or XP. Go 7!

Ryan D. Kyle | Concord Mfg LLC