Installing Kinect on Windows 7 64-bit (Microsoft Kinect SDK)

System Requirements
* Windows 7 (x86 or x64)
* Dual Core or Faster
* 2 GB Ram
* Windows 7 compatible graphics card that supports Directx 9.0
* Kinect Sensor
* Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express or Other Visual Studio 2010 edition
* .Net Framework 4.0
*  For C++ Skeletal Viewer samples: Microsoft DirectX® SDK - June 2010 or later version
    Runtime for Microsoft DirectX® 9 
* For Speech sample (x86 only):
     Microsoft Speech Platform Runtime, version 10.2 (x86 edition)
     Microsoft Speech Platform - Software Development Kit, version 10.2 (x86 edition)
     Kinect for Windows Runtime Language Pack, version 0.9
     (acoustic model from Microsoft Speech Platform for the Kinect for Windows SDK Beta)

Installation

To install this beta SDK:

1. Make sure the Kinect device is not plugged in to the USB port on your computer.
    
2. Remove any other drivers for the Kinect device, including earlier versions of the Microsoft Kinect drivers.
    
3. Close Visual Studio.
   Note: You must close Visual Studio before installing the SDK and then restart it after installation to pick up the MSRKINECTSDK environment variables that the SDK requires.
    
4. From the download location for the beta SDK package, double-click the link for your system: 32-bit or 64-bit.

To load the Microsoft Kinect drivers:

1. Make sure the Kinect device is plugged into an external power source.
    
2. After installing the beta SDK, plug your Kinect device into the PC's USB port.
    
3. All the drivers, including audio, will load seamlessly.

If the driver is installed correctly:

1. You should see a blinking green LED on the Kinect sensor.
    
2. The Kinect sensor should appear in Device Manager as the following nodes under “Microsoft Kinect”:
   • Microsoft Kinect Audio Array Control
   • Microsoft Kinect Camera
   • Microsoft Kinect Device
3. The Kinect sensor's microphone array should appear under Sound, Video and Game Controllers in Device Manager as : Kinect USB Audio     

Useful Pages 

1. Kinect For Windows Home Page

2. Kinect SDK Downloads
3. Kinect For Windows - A Quick Start