Dec 11

2007

Getting Started with Windows XP

Filed Under (Windows Xp) by Admin on 11-12-2007

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Windows XP installation is not as simple as popping in the CD and waiting for Setup to complete its job—there are some decisions you need to make. Apart from installing XP, we also tell you, what you need to do post-installation, such as installing device drivers and essential third-party software.

Windows XP: Step-By-Step Installation

Planning The Installation

Before you start installing Windows XP, you need to make sure your computer meets XP’s minimum system requirements: a 233 MHz Intel or AMD processor, 64 MB of RAM, 1.5 GB of free hard disk space, a Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor, a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and a compatible mouse and keyboard. These are the bare minimum system requirements, and XP will work better if you have a more powerful system.

Here’s a checklist of what you need to do before starting the installation:

  • Check the system requirements
  • Check compatibility of your hardware with XP. Also, if you’re planning to install a particular piece of software, check if it is compatible. For the hardware check, you can view the HCL (Hardware Compatibility List) on Microsoft’s Web site; the Windows XP CD, too, has a text file that tells you what hardware is compatible. As for software, you’ll need to check the packaging or the manufacturer’s Web site for XP compatibility.
  • Determine the hard disk partitioning options—keep at least 1.5 GB for the Windows XP partition, though we recommend some more
  • Choose the appropriate file system: FAT, FAT32, or and NTFS (FAT is usually selected if you have a hard disk smaller than 2 GB.)

    • Beginning the installation

    You can install Windows XP in many different ways, depending on your needs and limitations. Installation can be manual or unattended. You can do a manual installation in several ways:

  • Boot from CD—here, no existing hard disk partition is required.
  • Boot from the six setup boot disks, and then insert the CD (if booting from CD is not possible)—here, too, no existing partition is required.
  • If booting from CD is not possible, you can boot from an MS-DOS startup floppy. Go to the command prompt, create a 4 GB FAT32 partition using FDISK, and reboot. Then format the C partition you just created. Now switch to the CD drive (which contains the XP installation files), go to the ‘i386’ folder, and run the “Winnt32.exe” command.
  • From within an already installed OS, such as Windows NT 4.0 Server, go to the ‘i386’ folder in the XP installation CD and run the “Winnt32.exe” command.
  • To upgrade Windows 2000 to Windows XP Professional, you can follow the same procedure as above.

    • Then there are the methods of unattended installation using an installation script. We shall explain the installation using a bootable Windows XP CD. The first step before installation is to check if the computer boots to CD. If it does not, set it to do so via the BIOS. Then follows the text-based part of the installation process.

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