Getting started:
A little background of my experience and motivation first seems appropriate. I've been using and fixing home PC's for roughly 16 years now. Since my father first went out and purchased our first PC (a P1 166Mhz, 16MB of RAM, rocking Windows 95 and a powerhouse 28.8kpbs modem, I think it cost about $6000, eeeeeeeesh), I have taken the initiative as the primary computer user in the house to maintain, optimize and network both the PC's and devices in my house, and in those of most of my nearby relatives as well. That said, since I've started the Computer Engineering Technology program at Humber, I've become VERY aware of how much there is out there that I've yet to learn.
That said, I'm doing my best to learn and pick up things as I go along as well, and formatting/installing drives and operating systems is something that I feel that I understand well enough both technically and logically to conduct this project on with confidence.
Glossary
OS: Operating System
HDD: Hard Disk Drive
PC: Personal Computer
BIOS: Basic Input/Output System
The Project
The Problems - Where does the need to format or install an operating system come from?
-An operating system is (very basically) the software that helps your average user with no technical background to interact and make use of the hardware in a PC. Every home PC MUST have an operating system installed, or else the computer is essentially an expensive box full of silicon parts. So, we need an operating system.
-Formatting*: When and why? The short answer is whenever we need to, for a variety of reasons. I've heard before that formatting an HDD as often as once a month is ideal as proper maintenance, but I'm of the opinion that this would be FAR too often, and particularly labour-intensive for what you're achieving. In my experience, running the odd defragmentation and error-check works just as well as a substitute for about 80% of those formats. HOWEVER, formatting is still a necessary evil for a number of reasons: Changing operating systems, adjusting the size or number of partitions of a HDD, or to improve the performance of a PC with a fresh install and clean HDD. Unfortunately, I've also had to format and reinstall the OS on more than one machine because they've been so utterly riddled with viruses (viri?), malware and spyware that they've been beyond saving manually, and absolutely NEEDED a fresh start.
*I use the term "Format" to describe the basic operation of deleting or clearing a drive of all data
The Trial Run
My Desktop and OS Choice
I'm using my personal desktop as my control run because I largely have it set up to my liking already, I've selected the operating system I'll be using and I am very familiar with my rig's specs, and I have the CD on hand and in good condition. I built this computer myself a few years ago as a gaming machine and its served me well, but it is due for an upgrade (particularly in the RAM department), and my current WinXP 32 bit OS cannot support more than the 4GB I have now. Therefore, this necessitates an upgrade to WinXP Pro x64. I've considered Windows 7 for my desktop, but at this juncture, I can't AFFORD the RAM upgrades, so I'm going to have to settle for preparing for them.
The relevant specs:
-AMD Phenom X4 Black 9750 (2.4Ghz)
-4GB RAM
-Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 (896MB)
-500GB HDD
-Currently has Windows XP Pro 32 bit installed
-OS to be installed after the format: Windows XP Pro x64 Edition
All set? Lets get started.
Step 1: Before-hand checklist
-If you've got data that you'd like to keep, back it up somewhere. An external HDD, USB flash drive, CD/DVD/BD are all simple and relatively inexpensive options.
-Your operating system. For 99% of users, this will be a CD-R/RW (in the case of Windows XP) or a DVD-R/RW (in the case of Windows 7/8, they're much larger OS's, won't fit onto a standard 700MB CD-R) either purchased separately or received from the manufacturer with your computer itself when you bought it. The other method, which is for slightly more experienced users, is using a bootable USB flash drive with an image of the OS you're installing on it, but that's another discussion entirely.
-Drivers. This is CRITICAL. When you format, the drivers for your hardware are also deleted, so in order to ensure that all your hardware is operating correctly after installing an OS, you need to make sure that you know what drivers you need, AND how you're going to get them onto the new system. My (used to be) fancy GTX 260 video card is useless if I don't have the proper drivers installed for it. I will discuss drivers further in the next section.
Step 2: Getting started. Drivers and BIOS.
-Ok so, we've backed up everything we need to keep from our HDD, we've got our OS CD, but what about drivers? Most pre-built machines these days from all the large companies like Dell, Sony, Toshiba and Acer (to name a few) come with a complete set of CD's (or DVD's) containing all of the factory-installed drivers and settings. The CD's will usually have "Getting Started" and "Drivers" printed right on them, most often with a label specifically for each device that they're associated with. These pre-built computers and their associated software packages are all predetermined and complete, so assuming you haven't thrown out or misplaced any of them, you should be set.
-But I DON'T have any driver CD's! I didn't receive any/threw them out/misplaced them/dog ate them/etc, what should I do now? Don't panic. Most systems and products today are VERY well supported. Check your computer manufacturer's website first. I know Dell in particular has an excellent driver support system for all of their machines. You simply go to their website, and to the Support->Drivers section, and they have a tool that will auto-detect the necessary drivers for your system. Alternatively, they also have a feature where you can enter your machine's service tag number (located on a sticker directly on your machine) and the operating system you're running, and they'll give you a list of driver downloads specifically for the components in your machine.
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| This is what an average BIOS looks like. |
-BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). One adjustment is necessary in our BIOS before formatting. When you first start up your machine, you will see an option to enter BIOS (it may be referred to as Setup or Boot Options) by pressing a key. This key isn't universal for all motherboards, but the most common option is the Delete key, although F1, F2, F11 and F12 are also sometimes options as well. Once you get into your BIOS, the setting that we need to adjust is the Boot Device Priority. You'll need to locate this (in the BIOS pictured, it's under the "Boot" tab) and adjust the devices so that your CD/DVD drive is first in priority. Once you've done this using the arrow and Enter keys, exit out of your BIOS and be sure to save the changes on your way out. Now we're set.
Step 3: Lets get to it. Formatting and installing your new OS.
-Insert the OS disk into your CD drive and restart your machine. On restart, you will be prompted to "Press any key to boot from CD....", which you should do (if you don't, it will attempt to boot off the next device in the priority sequence). At this point, I'm going to be much less general and more specific to my own machine that I'm currently formatting for the sake of time and space, but all of the basic points that I've discussed so far still hold quite generally.
-I've booted off of my Windows XP Pro CD, and now you should find yourself on a blue screen with "Windows Setup" in the top left while setup inspects your hardware. I am using a DVD for this installation, but it is possible to run into an issue if your machine is older and is not equipped with a DVD drive (I experienced this issue on my third OS installation, which I'll discuss briefly later).
-Eventually, you will arrive at the Windows XP Professional Setup screen (still blue background) which will display all of the partitions currently on your installed HDD's and their drive letters and partition sizes. The standard primary drive for all HDD's today is the C: drive, although having multiple partitions is quite possible for many pre-assembled PC's, as manufacturers often create recovery drives in the event of a crash, virus or other unexpected error. On my screen however, I've operated with two partitions since I built this computer, my primary partition (which contains my current operating system which I'm about to format, C:) and what I consider my storage partition, D:, which I use to store all my data on that I'd like to keep. In the event that I *HAD* other partitions, I would be deleting them in order to make my storage partition larger, but that is strictly personal preference, and I strongly recommend keeping recovery partitions for average users who haven't done this before.
-Windows Setup shows that I have 476,938MB of total space, none of which is currently unpartitioned. My primary partition is smaller by design, because all that I keep on it are my OS (WinXP, which is very small itself, only about 2GB), my drivers, and because it's a gaming computer, I allocated enough space to install any games I choose to play on it. Therefore, my primary C: drive is a 90GB partition, and I have allocated the rest of the space (about 385GB) to my second partition, D:
-On the Windows XP Setup screen, there will be very specific instructions on how to perform each command (install, delete, create partition). It's purely personal preference, but I've had tremendous success with my setup of a small primary partition and larger secondary, and I heartily recommend it for all users. But regardless, once you've selected where you're installing the new OS (in my case, C:), hit enter to select the drive, and then you will be given the option of formatting the drive using the NTFS file system, or doing it <Quick> (I will discuss the difference between Quick and normal in Step 4). Do not format a HDD using a FAT (16 OR 32) file system (even if you're given the option) as all HDD's today are much too big for a FAT file system (FAT32 can accomodate up to 32GB, FAT16 even less). NTFS can accomodate up to 1ZiB of data (a "zebibyte" which I BELIEVE is 1 billion terabytes).
-Once you have your partitions set to your liking, you're set to install Windows! Select the C: partition (this will be your "primary" partition) and hit enter. You'll have to agree to the Windows User License agreement and then confirm again that you wish to format and install, and then once you've done that, you're off and playing primarily the waiting game.
Step 4: Actually formatting and installing
-The actual process of formatting and installing a new operating system takes time, so sit back and grab a drink, because there's quite a lull before your attention is required again. Your system will format your HDD according to your specifications and then begin installing the OS on the specified partition. In my particular case here, I chose a standard format (not Quick) and I recommend doing so as well for any fresh OS installation because a full, standard format actually checks all sectors on the HDD for read or write errors, which tend to crop up on older HDD's, whereas a Quick format does not. Writing an OS to a sector of the HDD with an error on it can cause all sorts of unforseen problems and is best avoided, but it should be noted that a regular format DOES take substantially longer.
-From here onward, your computer almost does not require your attention until after it has finished the OS installation on it's own. This can take anywhere from 30 minutes to upwards of 2 hours depending on the size of the drive and the operating system you're installing (WinXP is fairly small relative to Windows 7/8 for example).
Step 5: Finishing the installation, personalization, and then drivers
-Once Windows has finished installing for you, it will bring you to a VERY straightforward and self-explanitory series of windows designed to name and customize everything about your new operating system. This includes the time and date, time zone, name of the computer (for networking purposes mostly) and the creation of user accounts and passwords for security and personalization. Each of these settings can be changed and customized according to one's own personal preferences.
-Finally, the last piece of this puzzle is to get your drivers installed for any hardware that doesn't come with the operating system (Windows 7/8 are very handy in that they handle much of this task for you). In MY particular instance however, I am installing Windows XP, which is a slightly older OS and doesn't have many of the new features, and I have to manually install a number of my drivers using the manufacturers disks that I have. This includes my video card, sound card and network controller. My driver installations are all very straightforward, and they're all for much older equipment; I simply insert the disk and run them essentially. I don't have the luxury of working with newer hardware and software (unfortunately) as of yet, but I suspect that they've been streamlined further to allow for even the most basic users.
I hope this post has been coherent and informative, thank you VERY much if you've taken the time to read it all!
Carl Ridd
**Quick post-submission edit (Sorry, it's kind of cheating I know!) I had to fix some grammar mistakes and somehow the images that I had inserted weren't showing
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