Windows XP Installation Guide
Windows XP Installation Guide
Windows XP Installation Guide
Windows XP is one of Microsofts most popular operating systems, and though its starting to show its
age, many people still use it exclusively. Whether youve got an old computer that you want to get
functioning again or you want to install XP on your new machine, it will only take a short while. See Step 1
below to get started.
Ensure that your computer can run Windows XP
Your computer will need to meet or exceed the minimum system requirements in order to run Windows
XP. You can find your system information by either checking the computer manufacturer's manual, or by
running DirectX Diagnostic on an existing Windows operating system of the computer.
To start the DirectX Diagnostic, open the Run dialog (press WinKey+R simultaneously), type
dxdiag, and click OK.
CD or DVD-ROM
Find your Windows XP Product Key. It is printed on a sticker on your software package or located on
the computer itself. It is a string of 5 groups of characters (each 5 long), separated by dashes, resulting in
25 characters in all. You need the product key to complete installing Windows.
BIOS Configuration
Set your computer to boot from CD/DVD. Before inserting the CD, you'll need to set your computer to
boot from a CD instead of from the hard drive. This will allow you to load the Windows XP setup files
before your computer boots to its installed operating system. You can change the boot order from the
BOOT menu in your BIOS.
To enter the BIOS of your computer, you usually press F9 or DEL when your computer starts or notifies
you that you can enter "setup". Click the green "BIOS" link for more information.
In the BOOT menu, set the order so that your CD/DVD-ROM drive is set as the 1st Boot Device.
If you are installing Windows XP from a USB drive, make sure that the USB drive is set as the 1st Boot
Device. You may need to have the USB drive inserted for it to appear as an option.
Load the installer. Once your Boot Order is set, insert the Windows XP CD into your drive and Save and
Exit from the BIOS. Your computer will reboot and you will be presented with the message: Press any key
to boot from CD. Press any key on your keyboard to start the Setup program.
Setup will load files necessary to begin the installation, which may take a few moments. Once the loading
is complete, you will be taken to the Welcome screen.
Welcome to Setup
The Welcome to Setup screen appears with the option of Continuing Setup, Repair a previous
installation, or Quitting.
You may press F8 to signify that you agree with the terms, hit ESC if you do not agree and PAGE
UP or PAGE DOWN to scroll through each screen. Note: If you do not agree to the terms, setup will quit
and reboot the system.
This example already has a partition defined. I will choose not to use this and create a new one by
pressing D.
You may skip this and the next few steps if you do not have any partitions defined.
At this point, the options include pressing ENTER to Install on the selected partition, D to Delete the
selected partition, or F3 to Quit and reboot the system.
Warning screen
After pressing D to delete the selected partition, a warning screen appears explaining the pitfalls of
deleting it. This particular screen only appears when the partition selected to be deleted is formatted as a
bootable system partition. Other partitions will display the next screen.
I want this to happen, so I press ENTER to continue.
The options include pressing ENTER to continue, or ESC to Cancel.
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Confirmation screen
A confirmation screen that displays the logical drive, what file system the partition is currently using, the
size in MB and controller information.
Options include L to Delete the partition and ESC to Cancel the action.
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You may choose ENTER to Create the new partition or ESC to Cancel the action.
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You may choose ENTER to Install to the selected partition, D to Delete the highlighted Partition, or F3 to
Quit and reboot the system.
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Select what format you wish to use by pressing the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys.
Press ENTER to confirm your selection and Continue or ESC to Cancel.
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Setup is now figuring out what files to copy over to the hard drive.
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Windows XP Installation
If you have installed Windows before, this type of screen will look familiar.
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Enter an Administrator Password now. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you keep this information safe and
remember what it is! 01Pa$$word is not a good choice. Think of something secure and never lose or
forget it.
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Custom settings
In the Custom settings, many options are abound. I cannot go into all of them here, but I will hit on the
high points.
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TCP/IP Properties
TCP/IP Properties contains the standard options. Adjust them for your particular needs as required. For
now, I kept the default settings. Basically, it is using DHCP to configure TCP/IP. If you are using a static
IP address, enter in the proper information here.
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Windows XP is starting up
The moment we have all been waiting for, Windows XP Professional is starting up for the first time.
Remember that quoted statement with Windows 95 setup?
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Please wait
800 x 600 is a wonderful thing, however, I chose to have it time out and return to 640 x 480 for this guide.
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FINISH!!!
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