A Simple Guide to install windows XP.

This article provides a step by step guide to install Windows XP on a fresh computer. I have provided detailed instructions with lot of images. It is a good idea to print this whole article and keep with you when you start the installation process.

Note: Install an operating system on a computer that already has a result, if you do not do it carefully, the loss of all data contained on the computer.

Follow this step by step to install a NEW computer, or to replace all data on it. Not for updating a computer by keeping your old data. In this case you should first transfer the data to external media like a hard disk drive.

The Windows version used in this article is Windows XP Professional Edition. Installing Windows XP Home Edition may be slightly different.

Initialization

1-Insert your Windows XP CD into your computer and restart it. The words "press any key to boot from CD" will appear, and the support of a key setup of Windows should be displayed:

2-If this is not the case, it is probably because your computer is not configured to boot from the CD. The solution is to reboot the PC to enter the BIOS setup, and change the boot order of the system. Because the procedure is quite different from one computer to another, it is probably best to consult the documentation for your computer (or your motherboard is a PC assembly).

Example for a BIOS Type AMI (case of Virtual PC 2007):
Support dice start button "delete" key to enter the BIOS setup, enter the menu "Boot", enter sub-menu "Boot Device Priority", select "1st Boot Device", select "CDROM ", exit saving changes.

Pre-installation

The Welcome screen appears:

Press "Enter". The license is displayed:

Press F8 to accept and continue.

Choose Partitions

The list of partitions or hard disks is displayed. A hard disk partition is a division of a hard disk that you can choose to create and that the operating system treats as a disk-drive in its own right. Create multiple partitions can therefore very clearly separating different data on a hard disk. For example, one often chooses to put the OS on one partition and user documents on another, so that they are not lost if the operating system suffers a failure and must be reinstalled.

To delete a partition, it must select with the up and down, and press "D". After confirmation, all data on the partition will be lost.To create a partition, select an empty space (unpartitioned space) and press the "C". Then enter the size in megabytes to allocate for the partition. 2000 is a bare minimum, and it will take much longer to install additional software later. I usually chosen 10000. In this example I chose 5000:

Confirm with "Enter".

In this example I created a partition, but as mentioned earlier is a good precaution to create two (one for the system and programs, one for documents).

Select the arrows with the partition in which to install Windows (usually the first), and press "Enter".

Formatting the partition

Opens the selection screen of partition type. Format a partition is to prepare the data stuctures on the disc to allow the registration of these data. Let's say here is wholesale to the box on the disk to store it for later pieces of data.

We have Windows XP the choice between two types of partition: NTFS or FAT. NTFS is much better (more secure, more efficient, supporting large disk ...), then separate into very few exceptions, such as the presence of another operating system on the computer being unable to read NTFS partitions, NTFS is the right choice.

That leaves the choice between "format to NTFS (quick)" and "format to NTFS. If the disc has never contained data, then the slow method is the right choice. In my case, as the computer is actually a virtual machine, the data structures on disk are already written and that concept does not apply: I selected "fast".

Formatting starts ...

... Then the installation files are copied to the newly formatted partition.

Once the copy is complete, the computer restarts.

Installation

When you restart the computer, press any key to boot from the CD. The setup has been copied to the hard disk partition and selected the CD is no longer necessary to start. Start the CD would resume the process at the beginning.

The installation starts ...

The installation runs on its own ...

It's long, but here's a little game to pass the time: count the number of lies Marketing debited on the installation screens. It is amazing.

The regional options appear. Verify that the standards represent your country and click "Next".

Type what you want as a noun and as an organization and click "next"

Enter your product key, which must be entered on your PC, the CD sleeve, or in a text file if you do these things in, and click "next".

(Nope, I will not show my product key: p)

Type a name for your computer, and choose a password Administrator. Click "Next".

Check the date and time, and select the time zone of your location.

The installation continues, and you can take the small game just now:

In the end, just the network configuration screen. Both leave everything default for now: it is sufficient in many cases and is not here when these defaults are the basis for the installation CD or the instructions of your access provider. In short, click on "Next".

In the next screen you can choose between using a workgroup or domain. If you are installing the machines in a domain is that you're network administrator, in which case you're SUPPOSED to know what to do. Click "Next".

The facility resumed, and the marketing sector still has things to say:

And in the end it will restart the PC, which again should not be booted from the installation CD.

Post-installation

Once the PC restarts, the home of first launch is:

Click "Next". Let the automatic update enabled, so that the latest security updates, without which Windows is a real nest viruses, worms, spyware and other joyeuseries, are installed automatically. Click "Next".