Installation of windows vista

INSTALLATION OF WINDOWS VISTA

I had been maintaining my PC pretty much well and whenever I have problems I handle it myself. In a way I have managed to become a technician of my own PC and I sometimes help my friends to maintain their's as well. Often I am out of reach and my friends phone me up asking to directions of how to install Windows XP. It is pretty much hard to direct them via phone or on the chat. So I thought of writing this topic so that my friends and everyone who wants to install Windows XP would install it on their own following the instructions. What better way then to write it with step-by-step.

Below are the instructions with pictures.

You need to have following things at first:


1. Windows XP Professional/Home CD


2. Computer with CD/DVD optical appliance

Before you start installation take following things in consideration:

1. If you are reinstalling your Windows, then create backup for all your important files (documents, pictures, music, etc), and if needed take down net configuration settings.


2. You need to have CD/DVDs or download the newest drivers from producers homepages for your hardware like video card, sound card, motherboard, etc; and if needed driver for SATA disks controller.


3. You should unplug your net cable


4. Make sure that CD/DVD appliance is set as First Boot Device.

You need do this in BIOS setup. You can read it in your motherboard's manual for more information on how to do it. Usually to get to BIOS while system is starting you need to push one of the following buttons: "Del" (Delete), "F1", "F2", "F8" or "F10". (My PC follows "Del" key)

After you done it save changes with [Save & Exit]

With newest models pressing "F10" you can choose the appliance which will be the first booting device.

There are two types of BIOS version I mostly encountered. Below are the separate images for both of the versions:

a. BIOS version

b. BIOS version

Let's start with the installation process now…

You can install Windows Vista in several methods - all are valid and good, it all depends upon your needs and your limitations. In this manual I will focus on the simplest form of installation - directly from the Windows Vista DVD media.

More on other forms of installation can be found in the Windows Vista Information, Tweaking, Tips and Tricks section.

So, insert your Windows Vista DVD media into your DVD drive and reboot your computer. A black window will appear momentarily while the DVD content is read.

Unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows Vista does not have a noticeable text phase of the setup process, and it will boot directly into the Graphical User Interface (GUI) mode.

1. After a few moments you will see the first prompt:

Press Next unless you want to change some regional settings for the installation process.

1. Press the Install now button.

After a short delay you're be prompted to enter your product key

You can skip this part if you don't have the product key handy (read Install Windows Vista Without Supplying the Product Key for more info). However, if you do have a valid product key at that time (and you should have one, we're dealing with legal issues here), then by entering the right key the setup program knows which version of Vista to install.

If you skip it, you'll be prompted for a Vista version that matches your product key (the one you don't have handy at that moment):

1. You now have to accept the license terms:

1. Next you need to press the Custom (Advanced) installation type button:

The Upgrade button is disabled because this specific installation if performed on a new computer without any previous operating system on it.

1. The next phase is to pick the installation partition. Since this computer has a new hard disk that hasn't been formatted before, you will only have the option to create a new partition on it. Had it had previous partitions on it you could have chosen to either delete them or perform other tasks. Pressing the Advanced button will bring up the following options.

Since we don't need to perform any additional task we will just press on the Next button. The installation process will then create a partition on all the available disk space, and format it.

1. The setup process will now begin to copy files from the installation DVD media to the hard disk.

This will take some time:

1. After some time (the exact amount of time will greatly depend on your computer's hardware), the setup process will install updates for the operating system.

1. The computer will then automatically reboot.

1. Now comes a long waiting period, where the installation process configures the system. Again, the exact amount of time will greatly depend on your computer's hardware.

1. After the long wait, the system will then reboot once again.


2. You will think something went wrong because of the relative long time it take the system to display anything besides the black screen, but finally, after a few moments you will note a small colored circle:

1. A few seconds after that you will be prompted to enter a username and password for the first user on the computer.

Although the setup program will let you continue without entering a password, note that it is very advisable to enter a password here, and the best option would be to choose a complex password made of at least 7 characters or more (something like P@ssw0rd or MYpa$$w0rd). Make sure you remember it.

Also pick your user's display picture. This can be changed later.

1. Pick a name for your computer. The setup program will create one based upon the username you chose in the previous step, but you can change it now (and later).

Also pick a background for the user's desktop. This can be changed later.

1. Choose what sort of protection your computer gets. The recommended settings are best for someone that doesn't plan to hide their computer behind a corporate firewall (and even then, in some cases, this would be the best option). If you plan to install a 3rd-party firewall later you can opt to be prompted later.

Note that this setting will also have effect on how the computer uses the Microsoft Windows Update (Automatic Updates) features.

1. Next comes the Time Zone settings window. Choose your location.

A note for Israeli users: Finally! Windows Vista has the DST setting enabled for us!!!

1. Done! You're prompted with the last setup screen:

1. Again a long wait and some promotional screens you see the hourglass circling around, in preparation for the first logon.

Finally, the first screen appears, you're ready to rock and roll!

Note that if the computer was connected to the Internet while installing it, it will automatically download and prompt you to install any missing hotfix or update it finds for the current state of the operating system.

Done!