This document is meant to be a complete guide for installing, configuring, and maintaining a stable Windows XP system built on Home or Professional versions. It will provide you with a fast, stable installation that can easily be appended and upgraded with near-certain reliability.

This documents procedures should be followed to a “T” or else the stability of the system cannot be guaranteed. I assume that you have at least a basic understanding of both computers and the XP Operating system, so if youre a new user, this guide is probably not for you, although I try to be precise enough that even new users can follow it. Of course, no amount of preparation can guarantee that you wont run into problems. Youll have to do a little work and customization based on your system, but for the most part, this is what to do.

System Hardware Preparations

1. Before beginning, ensure that all hardware you will be using in your machine is installed properly and is functioning. Ensure that you have the latest drivers for all your hardware as well. If you need drivers, visit DriverAgent.com.

2. Enter your system BIOS Setup program, and adjust any necessary settings. Experienced users should read through their motherboard documentation to adjust the settings to optimize performance based on the systems functions.

Note: Making an incorrect change here could render your system unbootable! These settings are very complex, so if youre not sure, accept defaults.

Note: Ensure that your system supports booting from CD-ROM, and enable it to be the SECOND boot device (after Floppy Disks). Hard Drives should have THIRD priority. If you only have 2 Priority selections, you should set CD-ROM first, Hard Drive Second.

Windows XP Installation

1. Insert your Windows XP CD-ROM and reboot the system.

2. The first portion of Windows XP setup is the same on all versions of Windows. It performs an initial hardware detection process (to determine disk controller and disk types). It also requires you to Agree to the License Agreement, Verify Upgrade Installation (If this is an XP Upgrade CD instead of Full version), and create partitions for your hard drive.

3.a If you have only one hard drive in your system, make sure that it is at least 60GB in size. If it is not, you should consider buying a larger drive. You should format the drive using all available space as a single partition.

3.b If you have multiple hard drives in your system, the first drive ( C: ) should have at least 60GB of space and should be configured as a single partition. Your second drive ( D: ) should also be configured as a single partition and the drive can be any size.

3.c At this point in setup, you have the option of deleting and creating partitions on your drives. Just follow the prompts as necessary. Once your partitions are created as desired, select where you want Windows XP installed, and press Enter.

Note: In most cases, you will want to DELETE ( D ) all existing partitions, and then Recreate ( C ) them again from scratch.

4. ALWAYS format the drive using NTFS format. Not FAT! If you are dual-booting with Windows 98/ME…there is an exception …Format as FAT32.

5. ALWAYS install Windows XP to the C:\Windows partition…accept the default!

6. ALWAYS perform the disk scan if prompted (SP2 CD’s do this automatically).

7. At the completion of this process, setup will automatically reboot your system. Remove the floppy disks if you used them, or else be careful not to allow the CD-ROM to boot instead of the hard drive.

8. The Windows-based portion of setup will begin and you will be prompted to answer a series of questions.

9. For the Regional Settings, you should probably accept the defaults unless you plan to make your system accessible to foreign languages, etc.

 

10. It prompts you for your CD-Key, License Agreement, and some system component questions…including Regional Settings, Computer Name and Workgroup, and for an “Administrator/Owner” Password…

Note: This is absolutely critical…do NOT leave this BLANK, and do NOT forget what you set it as. Also, verify that your CAPS LOCK key is not on.

11. Accept the default network settings, unless you know you have to force certain settings…If you customize anything, do yourself a favor and uninstall the QoS Packet Scheduler.

12. (Professional Only) Add to Workgroup or Domain – Depends on your network, but generally, add to a Workgroup first, and to a domain after setup completes.

13. Completing Setup – Nothing to do here, but be patient this takes up to an hour.

14. The system will reboot, and the first time you login, it will ask you for some basic login information. Enter what seems appropriate for your system. It will largely depend on if youre on a Corporate network or not. Also, the system will ask you to verify your Internet connection so that it can process Activation…

Note: This is critical…if you do not Activate Windows, it will lock you out of the system after 10 days.

System Configuration – All Versions

15. Login to system as Administrator (Owner on XP Home) ONLY until system configurations are completed. Then login as another account, so that you dont mistakenly make changes to that admin account.

16. Go to System in Control Panel…

17. For Network ID Settings, add the correct DNS suffix for your domain if you are on a domain, if not, leave it alone.

18. For Advanced, Performance Settings…
- Performance, Paging File, Min & Max Settings – 2 times the amount of memory if less than 512MB of RAM is installed. For more than 512MB, use 1 time the amount of memory installed.
- i.e. 256MB = 512MB swap file
- Environment settings – Remove the “User” Variables
- Startup / Recovery settings – Do NOT Show List, Do NOT Write Dump

19. Disable System Restore…Unless you are certain you will want to use this feature to roll-back your system in case of failure, I recommend disabling this service to conserve system resources.

20. Enabled Automatic Updates…This is especially critical if you are on a broadband network…Allow it to Download the Updates and Schedule for install.

21. Reboot System.

22. Using Device Manager, install any necessary drivers…reboot as necessary. If you are missing any drivers, you can check http://www.driveragent.com/ to find out what they are and download the appropriate software.

23. Disable the Recycle Bin unless you have a specific need for it, and set the Overhead use at 1%.

24. Reboot System.

25. Confirm Driver installs using Device Manager.

26. Configure Display Settings and Printers.

27. Configure Windows XP Services (Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Services) as documented here.

28. Install the Latest Service Pack (2) and Windows Updates.

At this point you will have a fully functioning Windows XP Home or Professional installation. Perfect for continuous, reliable uptime. Congratulations!