To all the many amazing moms: Happy Mother’s Day!

DOS offered an explanation for the EB3 advancing trend:

The Employment-based Third preference category cut-off date for most countries has advanced significantly. This has been done in an attempt to generate demand so that the annual numerical limits may be fully utilized, and such movements may continue for the next few months. The rapid movement of cut-off dates is often followed months later by a dramatic increase in demand for numbers. Once such demand begins to materialize the cut-off date movements will begin to slow or stop.

Our visa bulletin tracking graph demonstrated the trend for EB-3, which has been steadily improving (declining curve) since early 2012 for ROW, China and Mexico, but deteriorating for India and the Philippines:

According to USCIS, approximately 124,000 H-1B petitions were filed this year. 85,000 of them won the lottery and if approved, their beneficiaries will be able to work in H-1B status starting October 1, 2013. For people who didn’t win, or missed the boat altogether, the earliest time they may begin working in H-1B is October 1, 2014, assuming they win the lottery next year. Not a good situation for foreign tech workers seeking better opportunities in the U.S.

For all valid petitions received between April 1 and 5, USCIS will use a random selection process (“lottery”) to pick the winners, starting with the advanced degree petitions (20,000 total). Those not selected will become part of the regular cap (65,000) selection process. Keep in mind that USCIS will continue to accept and process H-1B petitions not subject to the annual cap, such as current H1B workers changing jobs or beneficiaries who will work at institutions of higher education.

H-1B visa consumption has been accelerating over the past four years, as shown in the graph below. In 2010, it took almost 10 months to reach the FY-2011 cap. The following year it was 7 months. But in 2012, all H-1B visas were allocated in 2 months, and this year: 1 week!

Update 4/8/2013: USCIS has completed the random selection process.

USCIS received approximately 124,000 H-1B petitions during the filing period, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption. On April 7, 2013, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection process (commonly known as a “lottery”) to select a sufficient number of petitions needed to meet the caps of 65,000 for the general category and 20,000 under the advanced degree exemption limit. For cap-subject petitions not randomly selected, USCIS will reject and return the petition with filing fees, unless it is found to be a duplicate filing. – USCIS

Form I-693 includes a vaccination record. The civil surgeon will indicate whether the applicant has met the vaccination requirement and whether a waiver is requested. CDC – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – is the government agency responsible for setting the specific requirements. Below is a table that lists current requirements for vaccination, based on the applicant’s age at time of medical examination. For more information, or for updated vaccination requirements, please go to the CDC page here.

Note that since 2010, the flu vaccine is required for all applicants 6 months of age and older, but only during the flu season. For immigration purposes, the flu season is Oct 1 – Mar 31 annually.

More fine prints can be found here:

DTP=diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccine; DTaP=diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis vaccine; DT=pediatric formulation diphtheria and tetanus toxoids; Td=adult formulation tetanus and diphtheria toxoids; Tdap=adolescent and adult formulation tetanus and diphtheria toxoids and acellular pertussis vaccine (Boostrix for persons 10-64 years old; Adacel for persons 11-64 years old); IPV=inactivated poliovirus vaccine (killed); MMR=combined measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine; Hib=Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine; MCV=meningococcal conjugate vaccine; PCV=pneumococcal conjugate vaccine; PPV=pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine.

Below is a partial excerpt of the email from 80-20, and a link to the NY Times article where you can comment on the topic:

Subject: What Price for Limiting Asian Enrollment?

From the get-go I want to state that (1) there is irrefutable
evidence that top colleges are limiting the number of Asian
admissions, and (2) what’s at stake is not a few more admissions
for Asians, but the much larger interest of America.

First, look at the following 3 facts.

(a) Princeton sociologist Thomas Espenshade reported in his 2009
book: “To receive equal consideration by elite colleges, Asian
Americans must outperform Whites by 140 points, Hispanics by 280
points, Blacks by 450 points in SAT (Total 1600),”

(b) Asian Americans are not just good test takers. For example, in
2006, they were 27% of Presidential Scholars, who were chosen
based on scholarship, service, leadership, and creativity, and

(c) See a powerful chart published by Ron Unz in The American
Conservative.
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-myth-of-american-meritocracy/

PLease go DIRECTLY to NY Times’ website to express your view.
Now is the time to speak out!!!
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/12/19/fears-of-an-asian-quota-in-the-ivy-league
Please spread the word on Facebook, twitter, etc.

The green card tracker has now been updated with the new inventory data.

On September 27, 2012, we placed your application in the oath scheduling que. We will send a notice when the ceremony is scheduled. If you move prior to the scheduled ceremony, please use our Change of Address online tool to update your case with your new address or call our customer service center at 1-800-375-5283.

Naturalization Applicants: you will receive your certificate at your oath ceremony. You can expect to be scheduled for an oath ceremony within 45 days of receiving your recommended approval. Many offices schedule approved applicants for the oath ceremony on the same day as the day of the interview. Please check the local office profile page on our website to determine if the office where you will be interviewed schedules same day oath ceremonies.

USCIS local office in San Diego usually (always?) schedules their monthly oath ceremony on a Wednesday, so I’m guessing it will be October 24th or 31st. However, with California’s voter registration deadline coming soon, I’m hoping that USCIS will take that into consideration and actually holds a ceremony earlier next month. We’ll see.

On October 3rd, I received the oath ceremony notification in the mail. Unfortunately, it is scheduled for October 24th, two days after the California voter registration deadline (15 days before general election). I don’t understand why USCIS couldn’t organize a ceremony one week earlier, so that hundreds of new citizens would be able to vote in this year’s election. Oh well…I’m still happy my journey will finally be over, but wish it were a couple days earlier.

While waiting for the oath ceremony, I sent an email to USCIS Public Engagement and expressed my disappointment over the timing. An officer replied on the 9th, and told me that new citizens are actually exempt from the 15-day registration deadline. She also said there would be representatives from the County Registrar of Voters at the oath ceremony to explain in more details. I was very glad when I saw the email because I sincerely wanted to vote.

The day is finally here! On October 24, I drove to the San Diego Civics Theater for my Oath Ceremony. My appointment was 8am, but I knew the actual ceremony wouldn’t start until 10. So I arrived just past 9am to avoid the long lines. The downside, however, is that I would also be one of the last to receive my certificate at the conclusion of the ceremony.

Inside the hall there was a row of tables stationed by USCIS staff. I handed over my green card and appointment notice. The officer simply put my green card in a waste bin, which already had a bunch of cards – some were already cut up. I almost asked if I could keep it as a souvernier   The officer found my name in his log book, and assigned me to station 9 for receiving my certificate. I was then given a packet as well as my appointment notice with a big number 9 written on it.

I found a seat and started looking through the package: a certificate holder, some materials about voter registration, flyers regarding how to apply for a passport, and a letter from President Obama welcoming new citizens. I heard that sometimes there may be light performance on stage while people wait for the judge, but not today. I played Angry Birds for a while.

The Oath Ceremony started shortly after 10am. A person from the Department of State came on stage first to discuss U.S. passports and ways to apply for one. Then a lady from the San Diego County Registrar of Voters explained how to register and vote, and the importance of voting. Then the District Judge and a couple of USCIS officials arrived. After the National Anthem, the Judge delivered a short speech welcoming all of us. She mentioned that there was over a thousand people in the room to become new citizens on that day. She asked people to stand up to be recognized, and to receive a round of applause from the audience when their home country was called. It was actually amazing to see how many countries were represented in this one event. And people from countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq received loud cheers from the crowd. Although most countries had only a couple people representing them, when Mexico was called nearly half the room stood up!

What followed was all of us taking the Oath of Allegiance together, by repeating after the Judge:

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

We then recited the Pledge of Allegiance together, led by an USCIS official:

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

This concluded our oath ceremony.

What happened next was a little embarrassing. We were supposed to remain seated until being called to the USCIS stations. One section apparently didn’t hear it, and started walking over to the tables freely. Then people sitting in other sections started to follow them, and an orderly gathering quickly turned into a free market. An organizer had to use a loud speaker and requested everyone to go back to their seats. This time it went smoothly and I got my certificate in about 25 minutes.

DOS and county officials were available afterwards to answer questions on passports and voting. I completed my voter registration on site. Since it was already too late to vote by mail or go to a poll station election day, I could bring my receipt and vote at the registrar’s office. I plan to do so within the next few days.

By now my journey to U.S. citizenship is officially over. I submitted my application on May 9, 2012, and received my Naturalization Certificate on October 24. Compared to my green card application, which took five years and many unexpected turns, this has been smooth sailing all the way. More importantly, it was done just in time so that I can finally cast my vote on the presidential election and California propositions.

Entire N-400 Citizenship Application Process:

• Step 1: Application
• Step 2: Acceptance
• Step 3: Fingerprinting
• Step 4: Interview
• Step 5: Oath Ceremony (this post)

Quality-wise CNTV on XBMC is very good, although it highly depends on the speed of your Internet service. I’m using Time Warner standard 10MB down with Turbo Boost and can watch most stations without any problem. Obviously it still can’t compete with Dish’s Great Wall Package in terms of PQ and ease-of-use, but for occasional viewing, XBMC is hard to beat.

Below is a step-by-step tutorial for setting up XBMC with CNTV:

1. Install XBMC
Head over to xbmc.org and download the installation package for your computer’s operating system. The current stable release is 11.0 “Eden” at the time of writing. Unless you have a specific need this is addressed in one of the nightly builds (experimental versions), you’re better off staying with the latest official release.

Installation of XBMC on Windows is easy and straightforward. Just follow the on-screen instructions. The default settings are good enough for me, although I deselected most language support files. If you run into any trouble or are trying to install XBMC on Linux, Ubuntu, Apple TV, etc. you may find help here.

2. Install CNTV (中国网络电视台)
Next we will need to download and install the CNTV pacage.

• Go to Google Code at http://code.google.com/p/xbmc-addons-chinese/;
• There are two active discussion forums (English and Chinese) if you get stuck;
• Click Downloads (second item on the top menu);
• Download Chinese Add-on Repository for XBMC Eden (repository.googlecode.xbmc-addons-chinese-eden.zip), assuming you install the Eden version of XBMC;
• Now start XBMC, mouse over Videos and then click on the Add-ons submenu;
• On the next screen, press Get More…;
• You will see a bunch of video addons that you can select and install, but we’ll do that later. Now press the “..” button on the very top and go back a couple levels until you see an option to “Install from Zip file.” Click on it;
• Browse to the zip file you just downloaded and install, and if successful it will appear in the addon list showing “enabled”;
• Click on the Chinese Add-on Repository button (you can also find it under Home – Videos – Add-ons), and then Video Add-ons (there are also Music, Programs and other items);
• Left click on CNTV (中国网络电视台点播) and select Install, wait a moment, and the word “Enabled” will appear next to the CNTV title;
• Repeat and install CNTV Live (中国网络电视台直播) for TV live broadcasting (not only CCTV channels, but numerous local stations as well);
• If you want to, you can repeat the steps above to install other add-ons including LeTV, YouKu, Tudou, Sina, Tecent, etc.;
• Now go to the home screen of XBMC, then Videos, and you will see the list of videos sources you just added;
• The menu containing Chinese characters may become just little squares, but we will fix it later;
• Click on CNTV Live and pick a station. If you don’t have CCTV Live Player installed on your computer, it will do so now. Allow it to install. Upon completion, a separate window will pop up and indicate 正在连接央视直播, followed by buffering. If all goes well, you will be watching live Chinese TV now.
• To minimize the number of clicks next time you watch TV, right click CNTV and select Add to Favorites. Then on the XBMC home screen, click on the folder icon at the lower left corner (next to the power button) and you will see quick links to your favorite shows and programs.

3. Display XBMC Menus in Chinese
To make XBMC display Chinese characters correctly, you will need to install fonts and change several settings.

• Go to XBMC.org and download the font: DejaVuSans+DriodSansFallback.ttf;
• Change the file name to arial.ttf;
• Go to (your XBMC installation folder)/XBMC/media/Fonts/. For example, it may be C:/Program Files/XBMC/media/Fonts/;
• There should be a file already called arial.ttf. Change the file name to something like arial-original in case you will need it later on;
• Now copy and paste your downloaded arial.ttf to the Fonts folder;
• Go to XBMC – Home – System – Settings – Appearance;
• Under Skin – Fonts, click the up/down arrow to change the setting to “Arial based”;
• Under International – Language, click the up/down arrow to select Chinese (Simple);
• Under International – Character Set, click the up/down arrow to select Chinese Simplified (GBK);
• Your XBMC should now be displaying Chinese characters properly;

4. Stop and Exit CNTV while Playing
Another little issue that kept bugging me was that once CNTV started, there was no way to close the window or exit the program. Nothing including “Esc” on the keyboard seemed to work. I had to use Windows Task Manager to kill it in order to return to XBMC. This is horrible because you have to do it every time you want to change channels.

After some googling I found out that when CNTV is started, it’s actually not in focus. That is, although the player is running, your mouse and keyboard are not pointing at it. All you have to do is to move the mouse randomly (you can’t see the mouse pointer) and click on it. Then press the “x” key to close the program and return to XBMC. Other keyboard hotkeys also work, such as pressing the space bar to pause.

If this doesn’t work, you may have to set hotkeys using a built-in program called KeymapSet.exe. For my setup it is located in a weird location under Windows users, AppData/Roaming/XMBC/addons/plugin.video.cnet-live/resources/Player/KeymapSet.exe. Run the program and change the last entry to 88,0 (or highlight it and press the “x” key). Save the settings.

5. Install Video, Music and Weather Add-ons
There are numerous options and sources for XBMC. Under Video Addons you can install programs such as FOX News, YouTube, ESPN Video and many many more. Under Chinese Add-on Repository there is also KuwoBox for music. Under Weather you can add weather forecast for multiple cities, and then use the left-hand slide-out menu to view each one. And of course, you may play your own songs or movies stored on your hard drive by simply pointing XBMC to the folder, and XBMC will create a playlist so you don’t have to look for them each time. XBMC also supports many TV tuners, including HDHomeRun.

As you can see from this blog post, there are many steps in order to set up XBMC properly. Although I wish it could be simplified further, I’m still very pleased with this little but powerful media center software.

The I-797C notice was dated 8/14, and the interview is scheduled for mid September.

The time finally arrived. On September 18, I took my citizenship tests at the San Diego office.

I got to the USCIS office a little before 8am and my appointment was 8:15. There was a table at the font entrance and a big sign asking people to put their appointment letters in a box (except infopass notices). A worker later collected the letters and brought them inside.

The waiting room was about 10% full. I saw a couple people holding the “Learn About the United States” booklet, apparently waiting for their interviews. Two windows were open with immigration officers sitting behind them, who I assume were talking to people with infopass appointments. While I was waiting, someone (IO) would periodically come out to the waiting room and call people inside.

Then I noticed on the big sign by the front door that N-400 applicants are also required to complete a new form. It is a simply one-page form that asks if you want to change your legal name and if anything has changed since the N-400 was filed. I quickly filled it up and left it in the box (my original appointment letter was already picked up by then).

My name was called around 8:20. I followed an immigration officer to his cubicle where the interview and tests would take place. The IO looked rather young, and after a brief greeting, wasted no time and went straight to the interview.

I would say that it didn’t start very well. The conversation went like this:

IO: So you’re from China?

Me: Yes.

IO: Do you still have a house there?

Me: No, I don’t have a house.

IO: But you lived in China? Where is your birth certificate and resident record?

Me: Resident record?

IO: Yes, the one that shows your parents, siblings, home address, schools you went to, etc.

Me: I don’t have that, the only thing I have…(he cut me off here)

IO: Everyone I interviewed had a resident record! How do you prove you residence in China?

Me: We have a document called “hukou” back in China. But when I left for the U.S., the policy at that time was that I had to turn it in.

IO: So you can’t prove anything?

Me: I have a notarized document to…( show my birthdate and family members, but he cut me off again)

IO: Did you bring it?

Me: No, but I brought my passport (I was a bit concerned at this point and honestly a little upset too – the interview notice never mentioned to bring anything like that, and he apparently doesn’t believe me that I don’t have a “resident record” which I’d never heard of in China)

The conversion went on a bit longer but I can’t remember the exact words. I basically explained that I had to turn in my “hukou” and national ID card in order to apply for a passport, and my notarized documents, which I later found out were in my file right on his desk, are the only ones that confirm my birth date and also show my family members. He either believed me or gave up, and said:

IO: Show me your ID please.

Me: (Handing over my driver’s license and green card)

What followed was pretty routine. I was asked to stand up and raise my right hand, and answer yes or no when he asked if everything I say during the interview is true. Then he started to go over my N-400 application. He didn’t go though every entry on the form, but asked me to confirm some of them. So it went quickly with just one little hickup:

IO: Have you been fingerprinted outside the U.S.?

Me: No.

IO: No? You didn’t get fingerprinted the last time you got your passport?

Me: The last time I got it was in Los Angeles (I was trying to say it wasn’t out of the United States as in his original question)

IO: Did you understand my question? You didn’t have to submit fingerprints when you applied for a passport?

Me: I don’t recall being fingerprinted.

IO: You didn’t have to submit an application package and go through security checks in China?

Me: Yes, I did and it was a complicated process…

IO: So you do remember!

Me: Yes, but I don’t recall being fingerprinted during the process.

Ok, as you can see this episode came out of nowhere! He was just going through my N-400 application which doesn’t ask about fingerprinting at all. So I’m starting to think that maybe I did misunderstand his question, but he never tried to clarify and just started digging. Anyway, he moved on with the rest of the N-400 after that.

The next section was Civics test. He got a piece of paper with 10 questions on it and started from the top. The questions were easy: What is one promise you make when you become a United States citizen? Who is the governor of California? Where is the Statue of Liberty? I don’t even remember the others but he stopped after six questions. So I passed the test.

The following section was reading and writing. I was asked to read one sentence “Who lives in the White House,” and write down “The President lives in the White House.” That was it.

At this point the interview was pretty much finished. I signed a few things including the two photographs I submitted along with the N-400 package. The IO’s mood was also much improved as the interview went on. He said he would recommend approval and I should expect a notice to appear for the Oath Ceremony soon. He also said he’d be at the ceremony so if I could stop by and say hello that’d be great.

Interestingly, he asked how I felt about the interview. I said it went well, and it was smooth (what else could I say?) He then said the only thing for him was that I didn’t have a resident record which he thought everyone was supposed to have. Anyway, no biggie. He gave me a sheet of paper indicating that his recommendation for approval and that was the end of my citizenship interview.

Entire N-400 Citizenship Application Process:

• Step 1: Application
• Step 2: Acceptance
• Step 3: Fingerprinting
• Step 4: Interview (this post)
• Step 5: Oath Ceremony

12. Print through router

My laptop only has three USB ports. Without using a USB hub, two of them were already occupied by the Logitech receiver and a laptop cooler. I wanted to reserve the third one for flash thumb drives, so my only option is to add the printer to my Asus RT-N16 router which has two USB ports available. This way other computers on my home network has access to the printer as well.

The process isn’t straightforward and goes like this:

• Open up the router’s admin interface (mine was flashed with TomatoUSB firmware);
• Under USB and NAS, select both USB Core Support and USB 2.0 Support, as well as USB Printer Support and Bidirectional Copying;
• Restart router and the printer should appear in the Attached Devices section at the bottom of the USB configuration page;
• Go to Windows 7′s Devices and Printers, and press Add a printer;
• Press Add a local printer;
• Select Create a new port, then Standard TCP/IP Port and press Next;
• Type the router’s IP address (can be found in the router’s config.) and give it a unique Port Name;
• Windows will say the device could not be identified, select Custom settings on the next screen;
• Enter the port name and IP address again and select “RAW” in Protocol, set Port Number to 9100;
• Confirm the settings and the new port should now be properly configured;
• Proceed to add the printer using regular procedures. Select the printer’s manufacturer and model, and Windows will install the appropriate driver;
• The printer – connected to the router through USB – should work now and a test page can be printed. If other functions are desired (scan, copy, fax, etc.) the manufacturer’s software can be installed.

13. Use laptop cooler

I wasn’t planning to buy a laptop cooler but came across the Cooler Master U2 Laptop Cooling Padon Amazon and was convinced by its rave reviews. Amazon had a 50% off at the time so I got one. It turned out to be quite nice. The two fans on the cooling pad can be easily placed anywhere, making it easy to target hot spots. They are very quiet and effective – the laptop’s fan rarely starts while sitting on the cooling pad. The pad has rubber feet that hold the laptop in place, and even at an angle there is no slipping at all. It can be doubled as a protective cage (with fans removed) for the laptop as well.

However, there is one annoying problem: The cooling fans stay on even if the laptop is in sleep mode. As long as the AC power cord is connected to the laptop, the cooling pad manages to draw power from any of the USB ports and will simply stay on. I haven’t figured out a good way to stop it other than pulling out the USB cord, but eventually will probably buy a USB hub with an on/off switch.

14. Connect to external monitor

The laptop is going to replace my desktop so I want to use my external LCD monitor as the primary display. The Lenovo L412 comes with VGA and DisplayPort, but no HDMI or DVI. The monitor, however, only has VGA and DVI. I don’t want to deal with VGA in this day and age so my only option is to buy a DisplayPort to DVI cable or converter. As always, I went to Monoprice and picked up a 6ft cable for a few bucks.

After setting the correct resolution in the control panel, everything worked right away and Windows looked crystal clear on the external monitor. I also changed font size to 150% for easier reading. However, Google Chrome was all fuzzy and blurry. After some googling (what else?), here is the solution that worked for me:

• Go to Windows Control Panel, Display, Adjust ClearType text;
• Enable “Turn on ClearType” and go through the calibration process;
• Find where chrome.exe is located, or use the shortcut on the desktop, right click and select Properties;
• Under Compatibility, check “Disable display scaling on high DPI settings”
• The fuzziness in Chrome should be gone;
• Go to settings in Chrome, then Show Advanced Settings, and experiment with font size and page zoom.

15. Attach a NAS

The NAS (Network Attached Storage) can be readily accessed after setting up the new PC, by simply mapping a network drive to it (in Windows explorer, click on Computer, then Map network drive, select a drive letter and type the server and share name which was assigned when NAS was set up, and finally type user name and password to establish the connection). I originally thought about summarizing the steps to configure a NAS for the first time, but will leave it like this for now.

This five-part series is enough for an immigration blog and I’ll get back to what you’ve come here to look for. However, it is still summer time, right? I’m thinking about posting a little more “geeky” stuff just for fun. This time it is about setting up IP security cameras for home surveillance – I just went through the entire process and felt like sharing.

8. Install Windows

Insert the laptop battery, connect the power cord and power on the computer. Since the BIOS was already set to boot from the CD/DVD drive in Step , Windows installation should start automatically. If you forgot to load the installation disk, you can do so now and restart the laptop.
The entire process of installing Windows 7 took me about half an hour (maybe less since I was doing something else at the same time). Near the end I was prompted to activate Windows and I chose the phone option. The automatic voice system guided me through the process: I provided the OEM Windows product key and in return received an activation code. The only problem was that the system couldn’t understand me saying “I’m finished,” and insisted transferring me to a live operator to restart the process. At that point my computer was already showing successful activation so I simply hung up.

Since my laptop was already connected to the internet via ethernet during the activation process, I immediately saw a whole bunches of Windows updates available! I chose to install them all and this took a few restarts to complete. But overall the installation process was smooth and painless.

9. Install drivers

Windows 7 contains native drivers for most PC components and after the updates, my laptop was running perfectly fine including wifi, touchpad and keyboard. The only thing not working well, as indicated in the Device Manager, was the media card reader. I still decided to install Lenovo drivers hoping for a better performance.

Lenovo’s ThinkVantage suite has a program called System Update that can dramatically simplify this process. I went to their website, found the Support -> Drivers and Software section, and put in L412 in the product finder. It then presented a long list of drivers for individual components, sorted by type and operating systems. I downloaded the System Update utility under ThinkVantage Technology. Upon installation, the tool identified several drivers and updates and automatically installed them. This saved me tons of time if I had to identify individual drivers one by one. With BIOS, chipset, bluetooth, camera, card reader, audio, display, mouse, keyboard, networking and USB all having different versions of drivers for different manufacturers, you can tell how much I appreciated the little tool’s help.

I then installed a few other ThinkVantage utilities, such as power management, hard drive protection, and security management.

10. Install software programs

This step varies widely from user to user. For me I only had a few programs I use daily so I loaded them right away.

The first one was Office 2010 Professional. With the setup file and license key in place, the process went smoothly without any hiccups. Since my 240GB SSD isn’t huge compared to traditional HDDs, I did a custom install to save space and didn’t include Outlook or Access, which I barely use. I also didn’t make an effort to acquire the 64-bit Office 2010 and just went with my 32-bit version.

To develop the ImmigrationRoad.com website I can’t live without Dreamweaver. I installed CS6 x64 and transferred my site configurations over from the old PC. I had a little trouble setting up FTP access to my remote hosting server, but the problem was quickly resolved.
Other programs I installed include Photoshop and McAfee. Chrome was also necessary and it even imported my sync’ed bookmarks automatically. Nice!

My (weird) philosophy all along has been to install as few programs as possible; with a SSD being the only hard drive, I’m going to stick to my principle even more strictly now.

11. Install Python and XLRD

This step obviously doesn’t apply to most users but since it took me some effort to figure out, I’ll document the process here.

I use Python to generate SQL commands for the databases used on ImmigrationRoad.com. SLRD is a python module to handle Excel spreadsheets. On my old PC running Vista X86, I had everything figured out and my scripts worked. Now moving over to X64 Windows 7, who knows what could go wrong. There are many things I love about open source platforms, but version control and documentation isn’t one of them.

After a little debate I decided to stay with 2.7, and the latest version is 2.7.3. I downloaded the self installer for the 64bit version and installed in the default C:\Python27 folder. For the xlrd module, I wanted to try the latest version in hoping for xlsx capabilities. The official source only had the xlrd-0.8.0.tar.gz (md5) available, and it required another freeware 7-Zip to extract and decompress (in two separate steps). The final folder should contain the Setup file.

I used the following two commands in CMD to install xlrd:

cd c:\downloads\xlrd-0.8.0 (or whatever folder the package was extracted to)
c:\python27\python setup.py install (or wherever Python was installed)

Everything works perfectly and my old scripts still runs without a problem using Excel 2003 files. I haven’t had a chance to try .xlsx files yet, however.

5. Prepare SSD

SSD has been a hot topic in the tech world so there are plenty of guides on the internet on how to prepare and maintain solid state drives. Here is one, another one, and yet another one. They are very useful but can be over complicated for my case: I simply don’t need data migration, disk cloning or  things like that. After reading through many informational articles and forum discussions, I only did a few things to my SSD:

• Update firmware. This is considered a necessary step even though it carries some risks (anytime you flash firmware something could go wrong, although unlikely). This is particularly important if your SSD has some known issues that have been reportedly fixed by new FW – all this information can be found online by searching for the specific model of your drive. To upgrade firmware, I downloaded and installed the SanDisk SSD toolkit. By putting my SSD in an external enclosure and connecting it to my old PC, I was able to examine the SSD using the toolkit. It turned out there was indeed a new version of firmware released just a few days after my specific SSD was built. So I went ahead and saved the new FW into a USB flash drive – the toolkit would then make it a bootable drive. Still on my old PC, I changed the BIOS boot priority to USB. Upon restart, the software found the SanDisk SSD and completed FW update in just a few minutes. For more information on this particular SSD, here is a very detailed benchmark report.
• Change BIOS settings. There is an overwhelming amount of discussions on whether the BIOS SATA mode should be AHCI or IDE for SSD. My takeaway is that I want AHCI. I entered the new laptop’s BIOS settings (hit F1 when the welcome screen shows up) and confirmed it was indeed in AHCI mode. While there I also changed the boot order to the DVD drive.
• The Lenovo L412′s motherboard only supports SATA II (3GB/sec) while the SanDisk SSD is capable of SATA III speed (6GB/sec), but it is backward compatible and I doubt I’ll be disappointed. In any case it should outperform my current HDD by a mile!
• Windows 7 supports TRIM natively, which is important for maintaining SSD’s peak performance. Just to double check, I ran the command “fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify” in a CMD window and made sure the returned result is 0 (meaning TRIM is enabled). This should be done after re-installing Windows 7, by the way.
• I didn’t partition the SSD and will simply use it as a large C: drive for all my programs. Important documents will also be stored on this drive but non-essential files, especially those used less frequently, will either stay on a temporary external HDD or the NAS.

6. Replace HDD with SSD

It is now a good time to load the bootable Windows 7 installation in the DVD drive. Then, shut down the laptop, disconnect the power cord, and remove the battery. Lenovo has hardware removal and installation tutorials, including short videos, to show you what to do. Basically, you first loosen the 7 screws securing the thermal cover. Then carefully lift the cover off, which may require a bit of wiggling due to the plastic tabs. The hard disk drive is located at the corner under a shiny metal protective plate. Detach the HDD from the connector and take it out of the system. Remove the metal cover from the HDD (4 screws) and install it onto the new SSD.

Now to install the SSD in reverse order. The original Hitachi hard drive Lenovo installed is 7mm high, which makes me really nervous because the SanDisk SSD I bought is 9.5mm. But it fits perfectly.

7. Upgrade Memory

Before putting the thermal cover back on, it is a good time to replace the memory modules. Unfortunately the one I bought, a Crucial 8GB Memory Kit (4GBx2), hasn’t arrived yet. So I’m going to have to do this one later.

The L412′s motherboard has two DIMMs and supports up to 8GB of RAM. The correct type is 1333MHz, 204-pin SODIMM, DDR3 PC3-10600 (some may be named 10660 or 10666). Crucial website has a neat Memory Advisor that suggests what type of memory fits your system, or scans your computer and provides a list of compatible memory modules.

In theory, it is possible to install a single 8GB memory stick in one of the DIMMs. However, this way the system is forced to run in single-channel mode and performance wise isn’t as good as running 2x4GB in dual-channel configuration.

1. Burn recovery disks

The first thing I did after firing up the laptop was to generate recovery disks. Most PC manufacturers don’t ship the disks anymore, and instead will happily sell them to you. But it is easy to burn the DVD’s on your own. These disks will restore your computer to its factory state after a hard drive crash or corrupted operating system.

Lenovo’s pre-installed ThinkVantage software has an option to create system recovery disks. The program will instruct you to load blank media and guide you through the process. The first disk is a bootable repair disk, and can be either a CD or DVD. The second and third must be DVD’s to restore your system to factory condition. After installing new operating system and other programs, you can choose to create another set of disks that contain an image of your entire hard drive. This way you don’t have to re-install everything again if you later have to replace the hard drive.

2. Back up data on old PC

Although I didn’t want to clone my old PC’s hard drive, I still have tons of data I wanted to keep. This is an easy task for me since I regularly back up important files to a NAS (network attached storage).  Once my new PC is set up I’ll be able to connect it to the NAS and retrieve them. For now I’ll leave the old PC as is, just in case I forget something. In a few weeks I’ll clean up, format the hard drive and make it ready for disposal or long-term storage.

Another set of information that needs to be retrieved from the old PC is license keys, especially if you’ve lost the installation disks. My Office 2010 was purchased through my employer, using the Microsoft Home Use Program (HUP). Although I still have the setup file, I’ve misplaced the license key. It is almost impossible to retrieve it manually or by contacting Microsoft. Fortunately, there are freeware key finder programs. I tried the Magical Jelly Bean which is highly recommended by bloggers, but it didn’t find Office 2010 (it works with 2003 as I heard). The second software I tried is ProduKey and it worked very well.

3. Download 64-bit Windows 7

As I mentioned before my laptop came pre-installed with 32-bit Windows 7 Professional, and I wanted to switch it to 64-bit. This is free of charge as long as you use the same edition of Windows (Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate). You cannot switch from Home Premium to Pro for free, for example. Also, you won’t be able to “upgrade” a 32-bit operating system to 64-bit, it has to be a fresh install, which is desired anyway.

The problem is that Microsoft doesn’t provide Windows 7 packages for download. I thought about getting the trial versions and then use my product key to activate it, but there are so many restrictions on what can and can’t be done, and Microsoft quickly confused me on this one. So I ended up downloading a Windows 7 ISO image from Digital River (just Google it). This is not a free or counterfeit copy of Windows – you must have a legally purchased product key in order to use it – but it saves a lot of hassle. Digital River is a legitimate distributor of Microsoft products and their downloads are genuine and official Windows packages. Just make sure you pick the right version since there are a lot of choose from. Mine is X17-59186.iso, which is the Windows 7 Professional with SP1 x64 English. The download is 3GB, so make sure you have enough space.

The factory recovery disks created in step 1 don’t provide an option to install 64-bit instead, which would have been convenient.

Another option I considered was to keep the 32-bit Windows 7 for now, and upgrade it to Windows 8 for $14.99 when it is available. But I didn’t want to re-install my applications all over again or rush to an unproven operating system. So I’ll be staying with Win 7 Pro for a long time.

4. Burn a bootable Windows installation disk

In order to use the Windows ISO image to do a fresh install, you must burn a bootable DVD first. Luckily, Microsoft has a free utility just for this purpose: Windows 7 USB/DVD Tool. Once you install and start the tool, you may copy your Windows 7 ISO image to either a USB flash drive or burn it onto a DVD. In my case I tried USB first, but it failed twice (copying was OK, but couldn’t make it bootable). In the end I chose the DVD option and it went smoothly.

This is a good time to make sure you have the OEM product key for Windows. For a new laptop, it is usually printed on a sticker which is attached to the back panel, or behind the battery. It contains your OS’ license key that must be used to activate Windows 7. The sticker looks something like this:

The notebook I got is a Lenovo Thinkpad L412. With an Intel Core i5 processor, 14″ anti-glare screen and excellent build quality, it fits my needs perfectly for Word/Excel, Internet, Python, some CAD, and Web development (no gaming, though). It will be used mostly as a desktop replacement, but its 5.1lb weight isn’t too bad for mobility either. It did, however, come pre-installed with a 32-bit Windows 7 Professional. So the first thing I’ll do is to clean install the 64-bit version. Some people would clean install the OS anyway just to remove the bloatware loaded by PC manufacturers. I don’t feel Lenovo installed too much junk, compared to HP and Dell computers I owned before, but it does have Norton which I’ll do everything in my power to get rid of.

While I’m at it, I might as well slap a Solid State Drive (SSD) in for its speed, reliability, quietness and free-falling prices in recent months. Here it goes:

Part I: Get Ready

1. Burn recovery disks
2. Backup data on old PC
3. Download 64-bit Windows 7
4. Burn a bootable Windows installation disk

Part II: Install Hardware

5. Prepare SSD
6. Replace hard drive with SSD
7. Upgrade memory

Part III: Install Software

8. Install Windows
9. Install drivers
10. Install software programs
11. Install Python and xlrd

Part IV: Install Peripherals

12. Print through router
13. Use laptop cooler
14. Displayport to DVI
15. Attach a NAS