Xenophanez

WINDOWS XP


The procedure for installing Windows XP onto a new PC is as follows:


Switch on the PC and put the Windows XP CD into the CD-ROM. Press the reset button on the PC and allow it to boot.


The PC should boot to the CD-ROM, if not check your motherboard manual to enable 'Boot to CD-ROM' in its BIOS settings.


After a few seconds a blue Windows Setup screen will appear.
The system will load some basic files to enable it to begin the install
At the Welcome to Setup screen, press ENTER to continue.


The system will check the HDD to determine if / how it is configured
Serial-ATA

If you are installing to a Serial-ATA Hard Disk then Windows will require the Serial-ATA drivers at this point. A message will appear as follows:
Setup could not determine the type of one or more mass storage devices installed in your system, or you have chosen to manually specify an adapter...

Insert your Serial-ATA drivers floppy disk and press [S]. If a list of drivers appears, select the correct driver (the motherboard manual should help you with this choice.) Windows XP should load the appropriate driver and continue to install.


At the Windows XP license agreement screen, read the agreement and press the F8 key to continue.


It will be necessary to agree to continue the installation
Highlight Unpartitioned space and press ENTER


The system will 'Partition' the hard disk to enable it to be formatted
Select one of the Formatting options and press ENTER


FAT would be the most common option for home users. If you are confident with operating systems you can select any of the options available. If you select NTFS, note that other operating systems may not be able to access the files created on this drive.


To confirm that you wish to format the HDD, press ENTER
Setup will format the HDD and check it for errors. This may take some time depending on the capacity of the HDD
Once formatted, Setup will copy its files to the HDD.
This make take a few moments depending on the speed of your system
Setup will reboot the PC after a 15 second countdown (or press ENTER to reboot quicker)


During the reboot, remove the Windows XP CD from the CD-ROM Drive. The CD is removed to force the system to boot to the HDD. If this produces an error, configure the BIOS settings to boot to the HDD first


The system should now boot to the HDD to continue the installation
After it has booted to the HDD, place the Windows XP CD back into the CD-ROM drive


A Windows XP screen should appear and the installation will continue
The system will now load and configure the Operating System. During this time, five small green squares will 'pulse' in sequence at the bottom right of the screen. This indicates that the system is actively installing files and settings. If this stops for a long time, simply shutdown and restart your computer.


A Region and Language Options window will pop up during the installation. Configure the options available for your country and then click Next to continue.
If you're unsure about the options, they can also be configured after the installation has completed


At the Personalize your software window, click inside each text box and fill in your name and organisation/company (if you have one) then click Next
Before the next step, locate the Windows XP Product key which should be on the CD case.


At the Your product key window, copy the product key into the boxes exactly as it appears on the CD case, then click Next
If it doesn't work, don't worry, just try typing it in again. It's easy to mis-type a complex set of numbers and letters.


At the What's your computers name? window, type in a name for your PC, then click Next
If you ever create a home network of two machines or more, the name of each machine will need to be different.


At the Modem dialling information window, fill in the required details then click Next
This window will only display if you have a Modem fitted to your PC


At the Time and Date window, check that the time, date and time zone are correct and click Next
Again, don't worry if they're not right as this can also be configured after the installation


At the Network Information window, select Typical settings then click Next
These settings can be reconfigured later as required.
The system will finish the installation and automatically reboot the PC.
Phase Two of the installation is complete and the system needs to reboot again...
Again, remove the XP CD and allow the system to boot to the HDD
The operating System will start for the first time and configure itself


A Windows XP logo should appear for a few seconds as it boots
The system will now attempt to configure its software for your particular hardware setup


At the Welcome to Microsoft Windows screen, click Next
The Windows XP CD is required for further tasks and must be ready in the CD-ROM


At the Setup the Internet screen, follow the instructions as necessary then click Next
Configure your Internet connection as instructed by your ISP (Internet Service Provider)


At the Ready to activate Windows screen, click No, remind me every few days and then click Next
You will have 30 days to test Windows XP, during which you can activate it at any time.


At the Internet Access screen, click No, not at this time, then click Next
This can be configured after installation has completed


At the User Names screen, fill in your name at the top, followed by the names of any other users of your PC in the spaces below
This allows for each person listed to have their own account which 'remembers' their personal preferences and settings

Windows XP is now completely installed on your PC. Click your name from the list to continue.

(more to follow)....

Xenophanez

Ubunto


There are two main methods for acquiring the Ubuntu installation media service or downloading the Ubuntu ISO image and burning it to a CD.
1. Have an Ubuntu CD shipped to you

Order the totally free (inc. shipping) Ubuntu 7.04 CDs via the Ubuntu ShipIt service. They may take a few weeks, even months, to arrive but it is a sensible choice for those who do not have a fast Internet connection or have a small usage cap.
Download and burn your own Ubuntu CD

Preferably, download and 'burn' your own copy of the CD (requires a fast internet connection and CD writer hardware) as follows:
Part 1 - Downloading the Ubuntu 'Image'

You can download an Ubuntu ISO (iso) image free of charge from the Ubuntu website.
If your PC has 256MB of RAM (or more) it is recommended that you use the latest Ubuntu 'Live' CD image. For systems with less than 256 MB, the Xubuntu 'Alternative' Installation CD image is recommended.
The 'alternative' installation CD is very much like the Windows XP install disk and is mainly text-based; whereas with the 'Live' CD you can test the operating system before installing it on your hard drive.
Part 2 - Verifying the checksum of the CD image

Once the download is complete, it is recommended to verify the checksum of the .iso image, so that you can be sure that the image has not been tampered with or corrupted during transfer.
A checksum program is needed to calculate the checksum of a file. If the resulting hexadecimal number (md5 hash) matches the number posted on the Ubuntu website then you can be sure that the file is clean and free of corruption.
Here is a step-by-step guide to verifying your downloaded Ubuntu using the program Winmd5sum:

1. Download winmd5sum
2. Open the program and select your downloaded .iso image by browsing your computer
3. Press 'calculate' (this may take some time)
4. Use the 'compare' feature to see if the md5 hash is the same as the one listed on the Ubuntu hashes list

Part 3 - 'Burning' the image to CD

1. Download and install CDBurnerXP Pro
2. Open CDBurnerXP Pro, then choose the first option to 'create a DATA CD/DVD or burn an ISO image'
3. Select 'File', then 'Write disk from an ISO file'
4. A new window will pop up, browse your computer for the Ubuntu CD image and select it
5. Select 'Finalize disk' then choose the slowest write speed possible to minimize errors
6. Select 'Write disk'
7. Once writing is finished (at ×1 should take around 15 minutes)the CD is ready to be used.

Installing Ubuntu

If you are planning on dual-booting Ubuntu with your current operating system it is recommended that you defragment your hard drive a few times before starting the Install. This can be done in Windows XP by selecting:
Start > All Programs > Accessories > System tools > Disk Defragmenter
When the program opens, select 'defragment' on each partition. This should be performed at least three or four times, per partition, depending on how long the system has been running without previous defragmentation. The Ubuntu operating system is very easy to install, this guide focuses on installing Ubuntu by using the Live CD. There are two main ways of installing Ubuntu: you can either do a clean install (no previous operating system) or you can dual-boot it to run side-by-side with another operating system such as Windows XP or Vista. The install is very similar for both but there will be some parts specific for a clean install and a dual-boot.
Install Procedure

1. First you need to make sure that the CD drive is the first boot device; this can be done by entering the BIOS (normally done by pressing delete on start up) and checking under boot priority CD/DVD is above the hard drive, if not change accordingly
2. Restart your PC with the Ubuntu CD in the drive
3. When the boot menu appears you should select the first option, which is 'Start or install Ubuntu'
4. After selecting this it may take some time to load but when it has you will have Ubuntu system running from the CD. This means you can test it out before installing permanently (note that Ubuntu will run relatively slowly from the CD compared to a hard disk drive)
5. Once you have tried Ubuntu from the live CD, you can select the 'install' icon on the desktop to start the installation
6. The first screen is language selection: you can choose the language for the rest of the install and for when you are running Ubuntu. After selecting your language, click 'forward'
7. The time-zone page will now load. First, click to zoom into your area and then select your nearest main city. After you have done this check that the time is set correctly. If it is not, you can correct this later.
8. After selecting 'forward' once again, you will come to the keyboard layout page where you should select your country and then the type of the keyboard you have. You can use the test box to try out characters such as £, $ and @ to make sure it is configured correctly
9. You then come to the 'hard drive partitioning' page

Wiping hard drive to install Ubuntu

This is by far the simplest option, all you need to do is select the second option, which should be erase entire disk. Select this and once again press forward.
Installing Ubuntu alongside another operating System (Dual-Booting)

If you feel that you know what you are doing, you can select manually edit partition table. You will need to create two new partitions; one for Ubuntu and the second to be used as swap space. Swap partition is used similarly to page files in Windows. The size of the swap partition should be 1.5-2 times the amount of physical RAM in your system; in systems with low amounts of RAM it's recommended to use even more swap space. In a dual boot system you can make the necessary partitions in few simple steps:

• Resize the Windows partition to make room for Ubuntu. You should have at least 5 GB of free space for Ubuntu and the swap partition.
• Right-click on the unpartitioned space, select "New", and then set the size to be the unpartitioned space subtracted by the size of the swap partition. Mount point should be "/", and file system "ext3"
• Make the swap partition similarly, this time letting it to fill the rest of the space and using "swap" as the file system.

Ubuntu will be able to access your Windows partition, so you can use it for storage space. There's also an ext3 driver available for Windows (Ext2 IFS For Windows), with which you can access your Ubuntu partition from Windows.
Guided partition editing

If you feel that a simpler option would be better for you, it would be easier (but not necessarily best) to use Ubuntu's Guided partition editing tool. This should be the first option in the Preparing the disk space menu. It will automatically choose a size for your new partition. You can change this if you wish and you feel you know what you are doing. After doing this select forward.
Continuing the Installation

1. If you are dual booting with Windows, next you will come to a migration menu where you can import files and settings such as email settings and your Internet bookmarks
2. On the next page you need to enter your name, your username, your password, and the computer name. Give as much or little info as you like, and remember to select a good password
3. After completing this page and selecting forward you will come to the last page, which will summarize what you are about to do. If you think you got it right and don't want to change any settings, select install. Installation may take several minutes
4. Once the installation complete you will be asked to restart, so that Ubuntu will start running from the hard drive.
5. At the end of shutting down you will be asked to remove the Ubuntu CD, after removing the CD press enter and it will continue rebooting.
6. If you set up Ubuntu alongside another operating system, the GRUB boot loader should load where you can select Ubuntu or Windows. There are also a few other options such as Memtest86 (that you can use to test your PC's memory for errors) and Ubuntu Recovery mode (that can be used for fixing Ubuntu if for some reason you can't log in). To get into Ubuntu select it from the menu and press enter
7. You should then come to the Ubuntu log-in screen, where you need to give the user name and password you entered on the account detail page to log into Ubuntu for the first time!

Xenophanez

VISTA


After configuring the system for booting from a CD/DVD, the Windows Setup screen appears. At this point, Setup is loading the driver files it needs to continue with installation.


The next screen is a more graphical progress bar indicating Windows Vista is still working in the background.


The first options you will come across are selections for Language, Time and currency format, and Keyboard layout.
Make your selections by using the pull down menus and press the Next

Here we have the option of repairing a previous installation or "Install Now."
Highlight the "Install Now" button to continue to the next screen. Windows Vista is working in the background. This may take several minutes depending on the system.


Next screen is where you enter your product key or "CD Key" as it is sometimes called.


An option also exists to automatically activate Vista upon first coming online. Uncheck it to ensure everything is running smoothly before activating and having issues later on. 30 days is the standard amount of time before activation is required, though some products (such as MSDN subscriptions) have 60 days or more.


Next is License Agreement screen, you must accept it before continuing. After reading the agreement, check the box next to "I accept the license terms".
After entering your product key, press the Next

Option Selections screen


Here we would be able to choose an "Upgrade" install (if running setup from a previous version of Windows, such as XP) or a "Custom" (clean) install.
Select the whole box containing "Custom (advanced)" to continue to the next screen.

Next is harddrive selection screen, where you can select which hard drive/partition to install Vista on. This is also where you would install drivers for your RAID/ACPI controller by using the "Load Driver" option. After the installation of the RAID/ACPI drivers, your hard drives should appear as shown on the right.
If no additional drivers are needed, select the Next

The advanced options allow creation of multiple partitions and the option of formatting existing partitions.
After finishing your particular partition configuration that you desire, select the Next. installation will start, this process can take 10 to 60 minutes depending on the system.


After installation reboot screen will appear. Here we see the system needing to reboot to continue installation tasks. You can hit the Restart Now button or just allow the reboot to happen automatically after several seconds.


After completing instalation screen, account creation screen will appear.

Here is where we create the first user account for the system and select an icon to be displayed on the login screen. Ensure you password your account.
After finishing entering your information and icon selection, select the Next.


Give a suitable name in "PC name" screen. configure time zone and updates.


After thanks screen, PC Performance screen will appear. At that stage Vista checks the system performance to automaticlly configure a few options. This may take several minutes while the system does this and it will only do it this one time.




Next would be account log in screen. once account ID and password has been entered, VISTA would perform some additional tasks. (like setting up your custom desktop & account profile)


After account profile configuration, welcome screen will appear. Congratulations, job done.

Monk

Excellent post!!

Xenophanez

^ thanks.
Windows 2000 (pro & server), 2003 Enterprise Server & RedHat to follow.

teggy

Very nice Xeno.

When you do Linux, can you please do a bit of a comparison too. I've always wanted to know why people choose that over windows, and what the fundamental differences maybe. Is it similar in interface?

K337

aw thanks

D@rkNgt

how to install window over 8 GB flash Drive nt hard dish

Xenophanez

^ good idea..

Monk

instead of hdd select usb.
But you bios need to support usb boot up.
That how its done on linux,

danday_wala

Yaar agar mairay computer maiN CD na ho to?


Good work Xeno. Write a guide for FreeBSD as well. C'mon, do it...

firenze

Its not the similar interface yes but its fully GUI, but then again for even day to day work one needs to know little bit of shell scripting, which windows users found not quiet amusing.

But its a rock solid operating system and the most importantly its open source. Opensource Matters !..

Monk

I don't use windows at all!!
And I am very happy person.
Opensource is way to go.

danday_wala

^^ Which OS do you use PM? If Linux, which one?

Monk

my home laptop suse 10.3
work laptop fedoraCore 9

danday_wala

They both are very similar. Any problems installing on laptop? Such as SATA, Sound, Graphic, etc.?

Is it 64bit Ver.?

Monk

no both 32.
My home machine is 6h bit I still Installed 32 bit.
On t61 think pad, even wireless card works.

danday_wala

Very interesting. Any experience with Debian? I consider non-free Suse and Redhat not very serious Distros.

firenze

any latest release of any linux flavor supports nearly all the drivers now. This is not a problem any more.

Monk

I did use debian too.
See I really like the opecSource idea, I build my own distributions about 3 times.
So my quest into knowing linux is some what fulfiled.
My personal Fav is OpenSuse. Its well supported. I use XFCE(desktop) pretty fast. Reason I use fedoraCore because I develop tools for redhat servers. FC has same directory structure as RH.
You are right FC/RH are BORING.