Windows XP Installation Guide
This page was presented by the above author, why not visit his site for a large library of tweaks for windows!
XP Home or Pro?
Since XP was released there has been considerable argument and misinformation over which version is best. The vast majority of people will find XP Home more than adequate. For a view of the differences and recommendations from Microsoft go here: Which Edition Is Right for You?
Make sure you can install Windows XP
Check with Microsoft to make sure your system meets the requirements.( double the processor and RAM requirements). Check here for XP Pro and here XP Home. The Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List is also a good starting point. Check with your computer or computer parts vendors to see if your hardware is supported for Windows XP. Download all the latest drivers and applications for your hardware. If you are unsure what components are in your computer, check: START > SETTINGS > CONTROL PANEL > SYSTEM. Belarc Advisor is a good tool for this. If you desire truly in depth system info try AIDA32. Awesome program.
Check with the vendors of all applications you have. (Partition Magic, EZ CD, Norton, etc.) Many of these will require updates to work with windows XP. Be sure to read the installation method before you start.
When you buy Windows, also buy Norton Ghost. This is a must have program. (I use Norton System Works Professional 2003, this contains Ghost an anti-virus and several other nice tools.) Ghost “takes a picture” of your hard drive. It allows you to completely restore your drive to an earlier state, or maintain copies of various states or configurations. It can also keep you from having to call Microsoft over and over.
If your computer is unable to boot from a CD drive, you can download the floppy disk files here for XP Pro and here for XP Home. Create the floppies now.
Check with your ISP. Write down all your settings. (phone numbers, email account info, passwords, TCP/IP settings, IP address and settings, workgroup, etc…) This is especially important for broadband users.
Download/Save The Important Stuff
It is best if you download all the latest drivers stuff before you begin. These may include: Drivers, updates, and patches. If your computer and/or its components were made prior to Service Pack 1 the it is entirely possible that the latest drivers/updates for it are already part of XP. If your hardware is newer than Service Pack 1 then it should have come with a CD containing those drivers. Still, it doesn't hurt to go to your manufacturers download site and check to see if you have the latest version of everything. Video cards seem to have new driver updates more than most hardware and you will absolutely want the latest drivers for them.
FWIW - There are often different versions of drivers (WHQL, beta, alpha, etc.). Personally, unless I'm doing testing, I usually only use WHQL drivers and usually after they have been out a week or more. Let someone else discover if they have issues or not. You should also save all your personal files. These may include. My Documents folder, Favorites, email, and any drivers, updates, and patches you downloaded. If you are going to create or resize partition during installation, you need to save or move the data on those partitions!
I recommend you download the following: (if you recently purchased XP it may have SP1a and IE6 SP1 already
I usually save everything to another partition preferably on a separate disk. I recommend you burn them to CD, or transfer them to another computer...just in case!
Prepare Your Computer
Turn off your power supply and monitor. Unplug the power supply. Now unplug everything from the back of the computer. Take the left side (as you look at the front) of the computer case off. On some cases the top and sides are one piece, if so remove the whole thing. Vacuum the inside of the computer, especially around the fans. It may be necessary to remove the front cover to adequately clean in front of the front fan. A can of compressed air helps tremendously with this. 3.3. This is a great time to add any hardware! Put it all back together. Plug everything back in. Turn on your power supply. Start up the computer and make sure everything works. Shut it off again.
Installation
Start your computer and insert the XP disk. If your computer supports booting from a CD you may need to change the bios startup options. The key you press to access the bios may differ depending on the make of your computer. Most use the DELETE key, if not then it will be one of the FUNCTION keys (F1, F2, etc.) Save changes and exit. If your computer does not support booting from CD then insert the first Windows XP floppy disk.
Now setup begins. You will be asked what type of installation you want to perform. NEVER, EVER UPGRADE AN OPERATING SYSTEM!!! You will perform new installation. Next comes the ever popular EULA, press F8 and move on. There are many reasons to do a clean installation rather than an upgrade. They all boil down to 2 important ones. Less chance of errors and performance. The following statement from Microsoft can be found here: Benchmarking on Windows XP.
Clean Installation Preferred
Now it is time to choose a partition. The first partition on the first disk is best. You can also create and resize partitions here. You have the option to name the drive, you should always name your drives. (I use names like OS, XP, DOCS, GHOST, MP3, etc) If you create or resize partitions BE CAREFUL, you will destroy data on other partitions if you do this. I usually use a partition of around 6gb for Windows XP. I install the applications on the same drive and I use Ghost. It makes things easier. Format this partition using NTFS. This will take a while. Some people have asked "I've heard that FAT32 is faster, why use NTFS?" First NTFS is only about 1-2% slower than FAT32 and only on drives/volumes 32GB in size or smaller. It is faster because of the overhead created by the security of NTFS. Second, you can eliminate the majority of that overhead by following a tweak guide. Third, the aforementioned security is exactly why you should use NTFS!
Windows will ask for Region and Language (the default is U.S., English), Name and Organization, Product Key, Computer Name and Administrator Password, Date and Time, Network Settings (use default), Workgroup or Domain Name (if you are at home use workgroup). When windows starts for the first time skip everything and DO NOT ACTIVATE yet.
Load Your Drivers and Install Service Packs
For people who hate the new GUI you can switch to a more classic view. Right click on START > click properties > click the classic start menu button, now click CUSTOMIZE > place a check in the EXPAND CONTROL PANEL option. All CONTROL PANEL options can now be accessed from START > SETTINGS > CONTROL PANEL > (option) If you are like me and want to see all of the programs in the start menu (instead of a few items and some arrows at the bottom), uncheck the USE PERSONALIZED MENUS option. Click OK to close that box and APPLY to close the next.
Install Windows XP Service Pack 1, reboot, install Internet Explorer Service Pack 1, reboot. Install DirectX, reboot. Those with a newer computer or motherboard may need to install your chipset drivers here. Use the CD that came with the hardware or that you downloaded, reboot. Now load your video card drivers. The download page for those drivers had instructions on it for a reason. The biggest reason people have problems installing video cards is not following these instructions. If you are going to add more user accounts to your computer, now is a good time to do it. This is not a must for XP Home, it is a must for XP Pro. You should not run day-to-day operations as Administrator in XP Pro. Now run Disk Cleanup. This process will get rid of the trash left behind from the updates. It isn’t possible to overdo this. Go to: START > PROGRAMS > ACCESSORIES > SYSTEM TOOLS > DISK CLEANUP. The drive you select will be the one you installed XP on, usually C. Click OK and an option screen comes up. Check all boxes except the bottom two (compress old files, catalog files). Click OK and you are done.
Windows Update
Now you need to load your ISP software, or configure your computer for your broadband connection. If XP didn't already install the nic/modem drivers for you, install them now. Then load your ISP software.
Sign on to the web. Don’t check email, don’t IM, just go to Windows Update ( START >WINDOWS UPDATE). Click on the SCAN FOR UPDATES link. (First time users will get a box asking if you want to install a program, click yes) . DO NOT INSTALL the critical updates yet. Click on the WINDOWS XP option and check for a new version or update of Internet Explorer. Install that FIRST, it will save you download time in the future. After that is done, download the CRITICAL UPDATES and reboot. You may have to do this more than once. When no CRITICAL UPDATES are left install the DRIVERS updates (look at the version number and check it against the version number for your device, make sure the one on the Windows Update is a higher number before you install it.) When you are through with those, go back to the WINDOWS XP section, carefully check the options here. Do not just download them all. Many of these are fixes for problems you may not have, if you download a fix for a problem you do not have you may create problems.
If you have anything left in DEVICE MANAGER that hasn't had its driver installed, try the following before attempting to install the driver by another method. Right click on the device > choose UPDATE DRIVER > in the resulting screen choose "Install the software automatically". If your lucky XP will already have the driver. If not you'll have to find it yourself.
Installing Applications
Install, Configure, Update
I recommend you install the major applications first (i.e. software firewalls, Office, and the applications that come with your hardware). Always use the custom or advanced installation method and pay attention to the options screens. I install all the applications to the same drive as the OS. That is because I use Norton Ghost, and use it often! Pick and choose the parts you install carefully. If you don’t need it, don’t install it. Avoid allowing anything that isn’t necessary to “load at startup.” As you install each application, download (if you haven’t already) and install all updates and patches before you move on to the next application. Don’t load anti-virus applications until everything else is installed.
Next install the minor applications (Sound, graphics, utilities, etc…) Check for the most recent versions first. Before you install them, decide which applications you want to perform what. If you have multiple applications that can do or play the same thing, decide which you prefer. For example; I have Windows Media Player, Winamp, ATI File Player, and MusicMatch all wanting to be the default player for many of the same files. If not configured properly, they will fight for dominance. Giving each player it’s own default settings doesn’t mean you can’t ever play it in another application. After you install each application, open them and double check configuration settings, some applications don’t play nice!
Use Disk Cleanup again! If you need to partition and/or format other drives and partitions, do so now. You can do this from ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS > DISK MANAGEMENT or use a program like Partition Magic. If you use Norton Ghost and want to ghost to a partition on your computer, leave one small partition as FAT32, ghost won’t write to NTFS.
Install your Anti-Virus software, or the software that contains your Anti-Virus Software (i.e. Norton System Works). Then download and install the updates. If your ISP software didn’t do it, configure your email now. Move your My Documents folder to another drive. ( Right click on the My Documents folder > choose Properties > click the MOVE button) Copy the documents that you saved before you installed XP here now.
Get everything you possibly can out of the System Tray (by the clock in the lower right hand of the screen). The best way to do this is in the applications options. If that fails, use MSCONFIG. To use MSCONFIG, go to START > RUN > type msconfig and click OK. Uncheck anything you do not want to start with windows. The fewer things the better. If you don’t know what it is, leave it alone.
More useful down loads: BootVis Tool (must have), Windows XP PowerToys (highly recommended). If you chose to download PowerToys install it now. Open TweakUI from the PowerToys folder and configure as you see fit.
Here I like to organize my Start Menu. Go to START > PROGRAMS > right click > EXPLORE, repeat and this time right click EXPLORE ALL USERS. I create my own folders using names like: Sound, Pix, Video, Office, Apps, etc. Then drag or cut and paste the old folders into the ones I made. I also like to cleanup my desktop by renaming icons to one line names (right click > RENAME), and moving them to where I want them on the screen. If you have created multiple users, it is a good idea to check each one to make sure that they have all your programs. Some programs need to be installed on each user account. (You may want to open all your applications now to make sure they work.) Shut down your computer. (If you have Norton Ghost, it is a good idea to make a ghost image before the next step.)
Cleanup, Defragment, and Optimize
Start your computer in SAFE MODE (press the F8 key after you turn the computer on. Use the arrow keys to scroll to the top and choose SAFE MODE) Now do Disk Cleanup again. Next, go to START > PROGRAMS > ACCESSORIES > SYSTEM TOOLS > DISK DEFRAGMENTER. Highlight the drive you installed XP on, click the DEFRAGMENT button. This will take a while. When finished shut down and restart.
Now go to the folder you put the BootVis Tool in and launch the application. Click on TRACE and choose OPTIMIZE SYSTEM. Again, let BootVis do its thing. It will take a few minutes. Do not interrupt the program. You are finished. You should be ready to activate XP now. Some people prefer to wait a few days to make sure everything is running OK. If you have Norton Ghost, make an image now. If you choose to wait to activate XP, make an image now and again after activation. You should be ready to go. Enjoy!
This is the end of a full XP installation.
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