installing windows XP

[sleded]

hi guys i am new to installin windows programs have never did it. I just got windows xp pro and im using windows ME right now how do i reformatt my PC and load XP in can some one show me the steps from beging to finsh i would be very gratefull thanks .

eric

[John Prophet]

welcome to the forum!

if you want to format the hard drive all you have to do is boot to the xp cd...basically it will tell you what to do...you just enter the choices etc

it will see your hard drive partition and ask if that is where you want to install XP..you say "yes" or click whatever letter it tells you to click etc

then it asks about formatting and I usually choose "ntfs quick"....


not a lot to it really, fairly self explanatory......

just if it asks you about saving the old ME or whatever say no.....



JP

[John Prophet]

just out of curiousity...does your cd have either SP1 or Sp2 built it?

it is better of it does...then it wont be vulnerable to the blaster worm etc....after you get XP installed you should go online right away and do all the windows updates

or do your drivers first before you go online....but usually I go to windows updates first..then I get the latest drivers from the internet

[sleded]

How do i do my drivers? thanks

eric

[Underclocked]

If you haven't already wiped out your Me install - just identify your components in the device manager - go to the vendor's site for each component and download the XP drivers.

Install order (after XP itself is installed) should probably be chipset drivers (likely unnecessary with XP), VGA, NIC, sound, modem, then whatever peripherals you might have (printer, scanner, card reader, etc). Check the device manager in XP before installing drivers, your system may have been pretty well covered by the many drivers built into XP. If it's up and running already, leave well enough alone.

[sleded]

well i have no clue how to do all the drives haha!!! yu guys have to go step by step in the setups from start to finish for putting XP in.
thanks

sleded

[John Prophet]

generally with drivers there are two ways to go depending on the driver


if the driver is an .exe file you just click on the exe file and it basically installs itself

if the driver is just some files in a folder you have to go to device manager and click "reinstall driver" and then you "point" or "browse" to the folder where the driver is

of course just findign the driver is hard soemtimes

some of them I wouldnt worry about.....for example if you install XP, XP might have most of the drivers already.....but it may not have the drivers for some things

if it has the driver for the, say, soundcard, and you are getting good sound...then I wouldnt worry about findign any newer drivers for that

but for the video card and motherboard I would try to find the latest drivers from the manufacturers websites

one way to find what parts you have is to use a program like "everest"..it will identify all the parts etc... http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html


if ME is still on the computer then you can go into the device manager and write down the names of the main parts....video card, sound card, modem, network card and whatever else looks important (scanners etc)

one thing you HAVE to have is the driver for your internet connection....if you are on dialup, make sure you have the driver for the modem.....if it is braodband make sure you have the driver for your network card

---------


why not do this first......find an updated driver for something on the comp now..like the video card...see how the driver update process goes etc



is the computer a brand name or is it custom built or what?



JP

[sleded]

im getting a burnt copy of Xp prof. And it is a custom built pc. so yur saying before the pc is turned on put the disk in and let it do the work??

sleded

[cmptrgydv]

How big is your hard drive?
Do you want more then one partition on drive?
A partition is like having two hard drives but you only have one,
But it’s in two parts; this is a good idea if you have a big drive 20gig or more,
Is there anything on drive now that you want to keep?
With two partitions you can save things on other partition, so if you ever need to reinstall windows you will not loose stuff saved on other partition,
If it’s a drive smaller then 20gigs, then I would only have one partition,
Maybe add second hard drive,
Start win ME first and put XP disk in and start it, click on check compatibility,
That will tell you if there is going to be any drivers that XP does not have,
Then if it does not have drivers for something, you can get them before you install XP,
Then put XP disk in and restart computer, (make sure it’s set to boot from CDrom first)
When it gets to the point where it will ask about what drive to install XP on, or delete and make partitions, then it pretty much just gives you a DWI test, (Drunk While Installing,)
It will ask for time, date, and your name, and if you can’t answer them 3 questions your to drunk to be installing software any way’s

[sleded]

1=Set Bios to boot from CD/ROM as first boot device(For a clean or new drive the boot sequence does not matter)
2=Place the OS/CD in the CD/ROM drive and Re-Boot
3=Watch for the prompt to "press any key to boot from CD/ROM" Press ASAP(Ignore when prompt appears on any reboot)
(You will only get this prompt if there is an XP/OS installed on the HDD)
4=windows Setup (Loads Files)
5=To setup XP now press "enter"
6=Press F8 for license
7=To continue installing a fresh copy of windows without repairing press "ESC"
8=For a new or unpartitioned drive press"C"
9=For a drive that has partitions, operating system or any data on it, you should press "D" to delete the partition and start out with a clean drive.
10=Press "enter"
11=You will be prompted again, press "L"(You will do this for each partition) , Now you are ready to partition and format
12=Press "C"
13=To create a new partition, enter a size below and press "Enter" (Note=You can create more than one partition here or press "Enter" to utilize the entire drive
14=To setup windows on the selected partition press "enter"
15=Select format NTFS with quick option, (Should be the top selection)
16=Press "enter'
17=Wait for format to complete
18=Computer will start copying files to the installation folders (this may take several minutes)
19=Computer will re-boot, do not press any key to boot from CD/ROM when prompted.
20=follow the on-screen instructions to complete loading windows

is this right guys