How To Install Windows XP

It's a good idea for you to learn how to install Windows XP just in case you ever need to do so. Why? Well, your hard drive may crash one day. I'm sorry, let me correct myself, your hard drive WILL crash one day. It's almost certain that at some point you may have a fatal error and the Blue Screen of Death will appear. Unless you can somehow login and fix the problem, you will need to install Windows XP again and restore your files from your backup media. YOU DO HAVE A BACKUP, DON'T YOU?

Another reason you may need to install Windows XP would be if you purchase a new hard drive. Hard drives are like blank chalkboards just waiting to be filled with information.

Another reason you may need to install Windows XP is if you acquire a PC with a different operating system already on it.

Whatever the case may be, the procedure to install Windows XP is really not as complicated as you may think, so don't let fear keep you from giving it a try. Once you have done it you'll feel a real sense of accomplishment.

Get Prepared to Install Windows XP!

Anyone who has painted a room will tell you that the actual painting of the room is the easy part. It's the preparation of the room that is the hardest part. Installing an operating system is a lot like that. If you have prepared in advance what you will need to install Windows XP before-hand, it can be rather easy. However, if you have not prepared in advance, it can be very difficult and frustrating.

Ideally, before you begin to install Windows XP, you want to make sure that you have all, or at least most, of the information and files that you will need in order to make the install successful. This preparation section is vital if you are doing a "re-install" of XP and you want to restore your PC back to the way it was originally. But even if you are starting from scratch with a new hard drive, this gives you an idea of what you will need to have ready in order to get your PC in working condition.

Basically, you will want to have:

• A recent, complete backup of your Documents & Settings folder on CD, DVD, or on an external drive that is large enough to store it. Windows XP has a built-in utility called the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, which can collect your personal data for you so you can transfer it to your backup media.
• The Install Windows XP restore CD that came with your system, or a copy of Windows XP on CD. Some PC's actually come with a restore partition, where part of your hard drive stores the system recovery files. That's fine if you can access the partition and your hard drive hasn't crashed. I would rather have a copy in a safe place that is not on the hard drive. Also, make sure you have the Product Key for your version of Windows XP. The Product Key can be found on the CD case of your copy of XP. Some PC manufacturers, Dell for example, put a sticker on the side of the computer case that has the Product Key listed. You will not be able to perform a new installation without the Product Key.
• Check your C: drive for a "Drivers" folder and copy it to your backup media device. You may have a CD of device drivers for all of your system devices that came with your system. If you do not have a driver CD or a drivers folder then you need to take inventory of all the major devices on your system, including the model and manufacturer, so that you can get the proper driver from the manufacturer's website. This would include your network card, audio, video, modem, chipset, etc. Use Device Manager to get this information. Then download the drivers onto a backup device or disk for safe-keeping.
• CD's, or copies of the installation files, for all of the software that you have loaded on your PC. Remember that once you install Windows XP, all you will have on your PC is Windows XP and whatever software that came with the installation. All of your other software will be gone. So make sure that you can reload any software that is important to you.
• All of the information that was provided to you by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) so that you can reconnect to the Internet.

The Install Windows XP Procedure

To begin the install Windows XP process, you will need to boot from the Windows XP CD. Place the Windows XP CD into your CD drive and restart your PC. From a black screen you should see "Press any key to boot from CD..." If you have a relatively new PC, it is probably already setup to boot from the CD drive. If you do not see the "Press any key to boot from CD..." message you will have to open up the BIOS Setup Utility to change the boot order.

If you do see the "Press any key to boot from CD..." message, hit enter or the space bar to make the computer boot from the Windows CD. If you miss pressing a key during the message, don't worry, your PC will just attempt to boot to the hard drive. If that happens, simply restart your PC and try it again.

After the necessary files and drivers are loaded, the Windows XP Professional (or Home if you have the Home version) Setup screen will appear as shown below.

Follow the instructions on the screen and press Enter to install Windows XP now.

The next screen will show you any current installations of Windows and prompt you to choose to either repair or install Windows XP. You will see that your current installation is highlighted if you have one. Since we do not want to do a repair this time, press the escape key (ESC) to install a fresh copy of Windows XP.

On the next screen we want to delete any existing partitions shown by pressing D. The next screen will ask you to hit Enter in order to delete the partition. Press the Enter key. The next screen will ask you to press L in order to delete the partition. It also warns you that all data will be lost. Press L to delete the partition.

The next screen will show your hard drive as "Unpartitioned Space" with the size listed in megabytes (MB) as shown below. To keep it simple we will press Enter to install Windows XP in the selected space. That means the entire hard drive will be your C: drive.

The next screen will show your new "raw" partition. Press Enter to setup Windows on your new partition. The next screen will format your new partition. Use the DOWN arrow key to select "Format the Partition Using the NTFS File System" and hit enter. Your hard drive will now be formatted as shown below. You can track the progress by watching the large yellow bar go across the screen if you like. The time it takes depends on the size of your hard drive. After the format process, setup will begin copying the necessary Windows files to your hard drive.

The next screen is the "Personalize Your Software" screen, just type your name and your organization name, if any. Some applications use this information to automatically fill in your name when required. Click Next.

The next screen is the "Product Key" screen. Type your product key as it appears on your Windows XP CD case. The product key is unique for every Windows XP installation. Click Next.

The next screen is the "Computer Name and Administrator Password" screen. Enter a name that uniquely identifies your computer. Spaces and punctuation are not allowed. Enter a password that you can remember in the Administrator password box, and then enter it again in the Confirm password box. Write the password down and store it in a secure place. Click Next.

The next screen is the "Date and Time Settings" screen. Set your computer’s clock and the Time Zone. Click Next.

On the "Networking Settings" screen, make sure "Typical" is selected. Click Next.

The final stage of the setup process begins. On the "Welcome to Microsoft Windows" screen, click Next. Then on the "Help protect your PC" screen, click "Help protect my PC by turning on Automatic Updates now." Then, click Next. The next screen will then check to see if you are connected to the Internet: If you are connected to the Internet, select the choice that describes your network connection on the "Will this computer connect to the Internet directly, or through a network?" screen. If you are not sure, accept the default selection, and click Next. If you will connect to the Internet after the installation, click on the "Skip" button in the lower right corner.

On the "Who will use this computer?" screen, type the name of each person who will use the computer, then click Next.

On the "Thank you!" screen, click Finish.

You can now logon by clicking your name on the logon screen.

After the XP installation, you'll want to check Device Manager to see if any of your devices are highlighted with a big yellow question mark and circle with an exclamation point in the middle. This shows you which devices do not have drivers installed.

Load the drivers from your backup media onto your computer to a place where you can easily find them. Then right-click on one of the devices that needs a driver and select "Update Driver" from the resulting menu. This will launch the "Hardware Update Wizard". You'll want to select the "Install from a list or Specific Location" option so that you can browse to the place where you have loaded the drivers. Once the wizard has loaded the driver, the device will become operational. Repeat the process as needed for any other devices.

After all of your devices are working properly, start the process of loading any additional 3rd party software from their CD's or your backup media.

After all of your software is loaded, run the "Files and Settings Transfer wizard" to load back your personal files and settings.

Continue loading any additional items from your backup media until you have everything back the way it was. Don't forget to download any Service Packs and critical updates from Microsoft to keep your system secure.

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