Installing Windows XP

In this Tech Tip, we will give you some
information about installing Microsoft Windows XP on your computer. Most Windows
XP products including Windows XP
Professional and Windows XP Home Edition
install the same way. If you are using an older
version of Windows, or even one of the other
versions of Windows XP, the steps will probably
be a bit different.

If you are currently using an older version of
Windows, such as Windows 98, we highly
recommend that you back up all your files to
another drive and do a clean install by
reformatting your hard drive and installing
Windows XP as a full install rather than as an
upgrade. Often, upgrade installations don’t
run as well as full, “clean” installations. For
this Tech Tip, we will assume that you are
installing Windows XP on a new computer
that has never had Windows on it.

First, you need to be sure that your hardware
is correctly installed. Once you are sure your
hardware is installed correctly, place your
Windows CD into the CD or DVD drive on your
computer and reboot your system. If you don’t
have your BIOS set to boot from CD before
your hard drive, you will likely encounter
problems. However you can go into the BIOS
by pressing the appropriate key when
prompted during the POST (Power On Self
Test). Typically, you will press the “delete” key,
but this can vary from one motherboard and
BIOS to another.

Once you are in the BIOS settings, look for the
boot sequence tabs. Each motherboard vendor
usually has a different BIOS set up. Check your
motherboard owner’s manual for more
information if you can’t find the boot settings
menu. Once you have modified the BIOS
settings, save them, exit the BIOS and reboot.
If the boot sequence is correct, you should see
the screen reading “Windows is preparing for
installation”.

After the software has copied the required
files to your computer, you will be asked if
you want to install Windows -- click “enter”
to begin the actual install process. The next
screen you see will be the End-User License
Agreement (EULA). You can’t begin the
installation without accepting the EULA.
Follow the prompts to either accept or
decline.

As you will see, the EULA is quite long and
most likely hasn’t been read since the Microsoft
attorneys drafted it. In a nutshell, it says you
won’t pirate the operating system (OS). If you
decline, you will not be able to continue with
the installation.

After you accept the EULA, you will be taken
to a screen that asks you to choose your file
system. Your options are NTFS (New Technology
File System) or FAT32 (File Allocation Table
32). FAT32 is the older file system used with
Windows 98. NTFS is the preferred choice for
a Windows XP installation and our
recommendation. The NTFS file system has
improved functionality for security and data
integrity and was first introduced in the
Windows NT operating system. Choose the
file system for your installation and press “F”
to begin the formatting and installation. If
you had any data on the hard drive you are
using, it will be lost at this point. However, if
you took our advice earlier and backed up
your files, you should be okay.

If you are using a SATA (Serial ATA) hard drive,
you will get an error message and will need to
start the install process over. Keep an eye out
for the message at the bottom of the screen
that prompts you to “press F6 to install a thirdparty
driver”. At that time, go ahead and
press F6 and follow the prompts to install the
SATA (or RAID) driver. This is the point where
that “optional” floppy drive comes in handy
since the only way to install drivers in this
screen is via floppy disk. Place the floppy with
the correct drivers for your SATA or RAID array
into your floppy drive to install the drivers.
After the drivers are installed, you are ready
to move on.

Once the format is successful, the Windows
installation process automatically installs the
required files and reboots when needed. After
a couple of reboots you will be asked to
activate Windows by choosing a user name
and a password. Windows activation is the
process of enabling unrestricted use of
Windows via your Internet connection with
the Microsoft servers. If you don’t complete
activation during the initial loading, Windows
will shut down after 30 days and you won’t be
able to use it. But don’t worry -- you do have
30 days to activate it after the first time it
runs.

There are very few motherboards utilizing a
network (RJ45) jack for broadband connection
that do not require drivers to operate. If the
network jack on your motherboard requires
drivers and you use a broadband connection
to access the internet, you won’t be able to
use the internet to activate Windows until
you install the drivers on your hard drive. If
you are connecting via dial-up, you will need
to make sure the drivers for your modem are
installed before activating. If you don’t have
an internet connection just yet, your Windows
software paperwork should have come with a
number you can call to activate. Once the
drivers are installed, you will be able to select
“Activate Windows” in the Start menu to
complete with Windows activation process.w
After a fresh install, the icons for some of the
familiar Windows components like “My
Computer”, “My Documents” and others will
not be on your desktop. If you want to add
them, simply right click your mouse in a vacant
space on the Windows desktop. Select
“properties”, then “desktop”, then choose
“customize desktop” at the bottom of that
window. You will see check boxes for the
common desktop icons there as well as the
checkbox for the clean desktop wizard. Once
you choose the icons you want on the desktop,
select “apply” and close the window. Your
icons should now be on your desktop.

After you have activated Windows you will be
ready to begin installing programs.
Installing Windows XP isn’t as daunting
as it seems to be at first glance. Simply follow these
instructions and the onscreen prompts and
you will be fine. If at any point you get stuck
on the install process, you can refer back to
this tip, or the myriad of other online resources
for installing Windows XP. Happy computing!

Disclaimer: Occasionally we miss something,
make a mistake, or don’t cover everything on
the topic but we are trying hard to give you
the most unbiased and well-written
information that we can.