Operating System / Software Installation Guide

[rbmcgee]

Thanks Mr Steveo for creating such a valuable resource. And, thank you to AHLnut for adding insight and to all the people who have asked great questions that I never thought of asking. I have just read all 15 pages. WOW

I do have three additional questions that I don't think have been asked:

1) I want to create a build that does not ask for a logon (ID/password) but rather boots directly into the desktop. I know some may say this isn't safe, but I'm the only one who even touches the computer. Also, I need to be logged on with all administrative rights. My current build has this (WinXP Home) but I don't exactly remember how I did it and want to make sure I do it again. Could you please remind me what it takes to accomplish this? Also, is this possible with WinXP Pro as well or only Home?

2) I saw that someone (maybe Mr Steveo) cautioned against having too many hard drives on a non-server system. I plan on using 4 HDs however I won't have any DVD/CD-ROM (connected via firewire enclosure). Do you think 4 HDs is too many for a non-server setup?

3) As mentioned previously, I have a firewire enclosure DVD-ROM drive. Is it possible to boot to and install WinXP from such a device?

TIA.

[Mr Steveo]

Originally posted by rbmcgee
Thanks Mr Steveo for creating such a valuable resource. And, thank you to AHLnut for adding insight and to all the people who have asked great questions that I never thought of asking. I have just read all 15 pages. WOW

I do have three additional questions that I don't think have been asked:

1) I want to create a build that does not ask for a logon (ID/password) but rather boots directly into the desktop. I know some may say this isn't safe, but I'm the only one who even touches the computer. Also, I need to be logged on with all administrative rights. My current build has this (WinXP Home) but I don't exactly remember how I did it and want to make sure I do it again. Could you please remind me what it takes to accomplish this? Also, is this possible with WinXP Pro as well or only Home?

2) I saw that someone (maybe Mr Steveo) cautioned against having too many hard drives on a non-server system. I plan on using 4 HDs however I won't have any DVD/CD-ROM (connected via firewire enclosure). Do you think 4 HDs is too many for a non-server setup?

3) As mentioned previously, I have a firewire enclosure DVD-ROM drive. Is it possible to boot to and install WinXP from such a device?

TIA.

Welcome to the forums rbmcgee!

1) If you do an installation normally, right at the end there will be some nice colored personalzied setup screens. This will be right at the end of Windwos XP setting itself up. It will bring you to a page where it has a bunch of open boxes on top of one another and it asks you to enter user names. Any user name you set up here will be an Administrator account. And if you set one up here it will not trigger a Welcome screen on boot up. it will just log you into that user acount each boot.

2) That should be fine for a setup. THeres nothing wrong with lots of hard drives in a desktop. its jsut that many peopel around this forum are either overclockers or performance minded. So the fewer uneeded devices drawing resources and pwoer the better.
You can add 20 drives if you have the controllers, its jsut there could be tradeoffs.

The setup you suggest sounds reasonable.

3) My understanding is that booting from USB or firewire might not be possible. I forget if it needs a fix from Mcirosoft or a BIOS fix. Hopefully one of the gang around here can enlighten me.

You could always hook up a cheapy IDE CDROM drive to laod Windows. Then remove it and add your fourth hard drive once you finish.

[rbmcgee]

As always, Thanks Mr Steveo.

One quick follow-up regarding login/password: BTW, the PC will be part of a home network. If I remember correctly, there's a point where it asks for login ID and password and the idea is to not enter a password and just hit enter. If you enter a password, your stuck and will be required to enter a password from that point forward. Although it's possible I'm thinking WinME. I can't afford to get this wrong for if I need to input anything in order to get in, my WAF is dead. Also, I was thinking of rebuilding with Pro rather Home but was told that Pro security measures require setting up a password/login ID in order to get in. Can you verify whether this is true or not?

Of course, it's possible that I'm just paranoid.

[bdj470]

Just wanted to say thanks to Mr. Steveo for Installion Guide. I re-built my system this weekend following the guide and everything went great.

I tried following the guide as I installed an ATI AIW Radeon 8500 and instead of using the drivers from the CD I used the drivers from the ATI web site. I had installed them wrong and was getting "Unknown Devices" in the Device Manager, but I went back on their site and found the correct way to install them.

Thanks again,


Bill

[easternjane]

Thank for you great Guide Mr Steveo. Im in the process of reinstalling and this gudie is great. Thank again for you hard your at putting this guide together.

[Mr Steveo]

bdj470, easternjane. Youre welcome, Im glad to hear everything worked out well for ya.

Originally posted by rbmcgee


One quick follow-up regarding login/password: BTW, the PC will be part of a home network. If I remember correctly, there's a point where it asks for login ID and password and the idea is to not enter a password and just hit enter. If you enter a password, your stuck and will be required to enter a password from that point forward. Although it's possible I'm thinking WinME. I can't afford to get this wrong for if I need to input anything in order to get in, my WAF is dead. Also, I was thinking of rebuilding with Pro rather Home but was told that Pro security measures require setting up a password/login ID in order to get in. Can you verify whether this is true or not?

Of course, it's possible that I'm just paranoid.

Networking with XP has some slight differences from WIn2000 and huge differences from Win98/Me. I assure you that if you follow the Guide and set up user accounts as you and I were discussing earlier in this thread, you will not run into a siituation wehre you need to enter passwords to share files. Thats always optional.

--------------------------------------
Basic networking setup in XP
Take some time to get familiar with the Network Setup WIzard in XP. It pretty much makes things super simple if all you want is a simple home network. All you have to do is set up your various Windows XP machines. Make sure they are connected through a hub, swithc, router, or ICS. Make sure all printers on each Windows XP computer are turned on. Then just run the Network setup Wizard on each XP PC. Reboot each machine, and you are networked.
-----------------------------------

Now, thats how you get a basic setup. It would be wise to learn how to set network passwords or file permissions at some point. It also doesnt hurt to disable simple file sharing and use some sort of user passwords or firewalls. Depending on your security needs or lack thereof, you need to choose that optimal setup somwhere between the easy inistall setup and bunches of permissions, passwords, and firewalls.

Like any topic in comptuers, networking can be as simple or complex as you make it. And the more you dig into it the more there is to learn. In the interests of time and keeping this thread on topic, let me suggest you check out the Communications forum here at Asusboards. Youll find some really great posts and peopel there to help you with your specific network needs.

Another forum thats top notch for networkign is here: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/sharing

[jjvb]

I finally got my video card today (ATI Radeon 9500 Pro). I plugged it in and turned on the system. ASUS P4PE, P4 2.4, wd 80 g hd, etc. It fired right up with one beep as it should and all seems fine. A big relief as you never know.

I am about to install WinXP. Your guide says to install your sound card and drivers after winxp is installed. I plan to use the onboard sound right now. Do I need to disable the onboard sound until after winxp is installed, then enable it and install the drivers?

Thanks.

[FB]

Do I need to disable the onboard sound until after winxp is installed, then enable it and install the drivers?

i think it would be safer that way, but i not too sure if it will make that much diference

[AHLnut]

I would disable it until you are ready to install drivers for it. Not sure if leaving it enabled would mess anything up, but disable it just to be safe.

[jjvb]

Thanks for the replies guys. A couple more quick quesions. Should one use NTFS for the OS partition or for the whole hard drive? I had not heard of NTFS until now. I had always used fat32. I have only one hard drive. Is it better to set up a separate partion for the OS or have the entire drive one partition. Thanks again.

[AHLnut]

I like to partition my drive into 2 partitions. That way, if I reinstall the OS, all the downloaded files, ghost images, MP3, drivers etc stay on my D: drive. I use a 15-20 GB C: partition and the rest of drive on D:

As for Fat32 vs NTFS, I went with NTFS after much debate. It is more reliable and doesnt get a fragmented as quickly. There are several more differences, but I'm not familiar enough with them to list them. Some say that Fat32 is a tad quicker. One thing to keep in mind though, is if you run a dos based program that doesnt support NTFS(most dont), the dos program wont be able to see yours hard drive!!!.

[Mr Steveo]

Originally posted by jjvb
Thanks for the replies guys. A couple more quick quesions. Should one use NTFS for the OS partition or for the whole hard drive? I had not heard of NTFS until now. I had always used fat32. I have only one hard drive. Is it better to set up a separate partion for the OS or have the entire drive one partition. Thanks again.

Opinions differ on the matter of partitioning or not. I would say if you NEED to partition the OS drive, do so. If its not a necessity then dont.

This page is also enlightening
http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/platf.../benchmark.asp

As for NTFS vs FAT32, my opinion is: If you are not dual booting a 9x OS and you dont have super small partitions, then go NTFS. Also make sure to format the partitions from with in Windows XP. try to avoid setting up a FAT32 partition and then later converting to NTFS. For more on this and other info about NTFS 5.1 see here
http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/platf.../benchmark.asp

HTH

[CyBear]

:wave2: Hello from Sunny Perth, Australia

Thanks for this guide, after reading all 16 pages I'm looking forward to building my new P4G8X deluxe next week, will definetely have a copy of your guide on-hand when I go the rebuild.

Even after being an IT Support Officer for three years, finding a resource as well written as this is...pure gold.

[FB]

I just thought of a question, iot doesn't belong in this thread or maybe it does....


If i used a FAT32 partition could i get some old games to work with XP, or is it just a lost cause. I tried before with the NTFS partion, the game will start, then exit back to desktop, it is because it kinda runs in DOS????

[AHLnut]

Have you tried the compatability mode to install/run your old games?