Now, I Know...!!!: How to Install Windows to your PC

Hi all readers, now… lets know How to Install Windows XP in our PC by ourself… It will be very usefull because nowadays the fee for installing new windows is expensive, so its better if you can do that by yourself. Check this out…!!! :)

In these steps here, I will show you to install Windows XP Professional. But, don’t worry.., if you want install another kind of Windows, such as Windows XP Home Edition, the steps below is very similar to the Professional one. Since Windows XP Pro is more advanced operating system, it will be used to demonstrate the installation procedure.

One thing you should know is that the best way to install Windows XP is to do a clean install. It is not difficult to perform a clean installation. Before you perform the installation, I suggest that you check the Windows XP Compatibility List to ensure that your hardware is supported by XP. If your hardware is not on the compatibility list you can check your hardware manufactures website to download the drivers for Windows XP. Then, save all the necessary drivers on to floppy disk or CD before you start the installation.

In fact, all versions of Windows XP CD are bootable. In order to boot from CD/DVD-ROM, remember that you have to set the boot sequence first. You can look for the boot sequence under your BIOS setup and make sure that the first boot device is set to CD/DVD-ROM.

After you make sure with the information above, now lets start our installation. Here are the steps:

Step 1 - Start your PC and then, insert your Windows XP CD in your CD/DVD-ROM drive. Your PC should automatically detect the CD and you will get a message: "Press any key to boot from CD". Quickly as computer starts booting from the CD, your will see the following screen:

Step 2 - At this step, it will ask you to press F6 if you want to install a third party Raid or SCSI driver. If you are using a an IDE Hard Drive then you do not need to press F6. If you are using a SCSI or SATA Hard drive then you must press F6 otherwise Windows will not detect your Hard Drive during the installation. Please make sure you have the Raid drivers on a floppy disk. Normally the drivers are supplied on a CD that you can copy to a floppy disk ready to be installed. If you’re not sure how to do this then, please read your motherboard manuals for more information.

Step 3 - Press S on keyboard to specify that you want to install the additional device.

Step 4 - You will be asked to insert the floppy disk with the Raid or SCSI drivers. Follow its construction, and then press ENTER after you have inserted the disk.

Step 5 - You will see a list of Raid drivers for your HDD. Select the correct driver for your device and press enter.

Step 6 - You will then get a Windows XP Professional Setup screen. You have the option to do a new Windows install, Repair previous install or quit. Since we are doing a new install we just press Enter to continue.

Step 7 - You will see the End User Licensing Agreement. Press F8 to accept and continue

Step 8 - This step is the most important one. Because, here we will create the partition where Windows will be installed. If you have a brand new unformatted drive you will get a screen similar to below. In our case the drive size is 8190MB. We can choose to install Windows in this drive without creating a partition, hence use the entire size of the drive. If you wish to do this you can just press enter and Windows will automatically partition and format the drive as one large drive.

In this demonstration, I will create two partition. The first partition will be 6000MB (C: drive) and second partition would be 2180MB (E: drive). By creating two partition we can have one which stores Windows and Applications and the other which stores our data. So in the future if anything goes wrong with our Windows install such as virus or spyware we can re-install Windows on C: drive and our data on E: drive will not be touched. Please note you can choose whatever size partition your like. For example if you have 500GB hard drive you can have two partition of 250GB each.

After that all, press C to create a partition.

Step 8 - Windows will show the total size of the hard drive of your PC and ask you how much you want to allocate for the partition you are about to create. Here, I will give the example by choosing 6000MB. You will then get the screen below. Notice it shows C: Partition 1 followed by the size 6000 MB. This indicates that the partition has been created. We still have an unpartitioned space of 2189MB. Then, highlight the unpartitioned space by pressing down the arrow key. Then press C to create another partition. You will see the total space available for the new partition. Just choose all the space left over, in our case 2180MB.

Step 9 - Now you will see both partition has been listed. Partition 1 (C: Drive) is 6000MB and Partition 2 (E: Drive) is 2180MB. You will also have 8MB of unpartitioned space. But, don't worry about that. Just leave it. Windows normally has some unpartitioned space. You might wonder what happened to D: drive. Windows has automatically allocated D: drive to CD/DVD-ROM. Right?

Next, select Partition 1 (C: Drive) and press Enter.

Step 10 - Choose format the partition using NTFS file system.This is the recommended file system than you choose FAT or FAT32. But, if the hard drive has been formatted before then you can choose quick NTFS format. Here, I choose NTFS because it offers many security features, supports larger drive size, and bigger size files.

Windows will now start formatting drive C: and start copying setup files as shown on the two images below :

Step 11 - After the setup has completed copying the files the computer will be restarted. Take out the XP CD in your drive, but this time: DO NOT press any key when the message "Press any key to boot from CD" is displayed. Because, in few seconds the setup will continue. Windows XP Setup wizard will guide you through the setup process of gathering information about your PC.

Step 12 - Choose your region and language you use.

Step 13 – Then, type in your full name and your organization.

Step 14. Enter your product key.

Step 15 - Name the computer, and enter an Administrator password. Don't forget to write down your Administrator password.

Step 16 - Enter the current date, time and don’t forget to choose your time zone.

Step 17 - For the network setting choose typical and press NEXT button.

Step 18 - Choose workgroup or domain name. If you are not a member of a domain then leave the default settings and press NEXT button. Windows will restart again and adjust the display.

Step 19 - Finally Windows will start and present you with a Welcome screen. Click next to continue.

Step 20 - Choose 'help protect my PC by turning on automatic updates now' and press NEXT.

Step 21 – Do you want this computer connect to the internet directly, or through a network? If you are connected to a router or LAN then choose: 'Yes, this computer will connect through a local area network or home network'. If you have dial up modem choose: 'No, this computer will connect directly to the internet'. Then click NEXT.

Step 22 – Now, you ready to activate your Windows. Choose YES option, if you wish to active Windows over the internet now. Choose NO, if you want to activate Windows at a later stage.

Step 23 - Add users that will sign on to this computer and click NEXT.

Step 24 - You will get a Thank You screen like below to confirm setup is complete. Click FINISH button. Your Windows has been installed.

Step 25. Log in, to your PC for the first time.

Step 26 – Now, you should check the device manager to confirm that all the drivers has been loaded or if there are any problems. From the START menu, select Start -> Settings -> Control Panel. Click on the System icon and then from the System Properties window, select the Hardware tab, and then click on Device Manager.

If there are any yellow exclamation mark "!" next to any of the listed device, it means that no drivers or incorrect drivers has been loaded for that device. In this case, I have a Video Controller (VGA card) which has no drivers installed.

Your hardware should come with manufacturer supplied drivers. You need to install these drivers using the automatic setup program provided by the manufacturer or you need to manually install these drivers. If you do not have the drivers, check the manufacturers website to download them.

To install a driver manually, follow the procedure below:

(a) From the device manager, double click on the “device containing the exclamation” mark.

(b) This would open a device properties window.

(c) Click on the Driver tab.

(d) Click Update Driver button. The Wizard for updating device driver pops up as shown below:

You will get two options:

-The first option provides an automatic search for the required driver.

-The second option allows you to specify the location of the driver.

If you don't know the location of your driver, choose the automatic search which would find the required driver from the manufacturer supplied CD or Floppy disk. Windows would install the required driver and may ask you to restart the system for the changes to take affect. Use this procedure to install drivers for all the devices that contain an exclamation mark.

Now, your Windows has been completely setup, when there are no more exclamation marks in the device manager.

IT'S EASY, RIGHT...??? TRY IT NOW, AND DO IT YOURSELF...!!! :)

AND... NOW, I KNOW...!!!

Source: Own Experience and supported from buildeasypc.com