Correct fresh WIN(XP or any) install (what to load and when)

[boxboy28]

I was cruzing the boards here and noticed alot of us HACKS (ok ill admit it) dont really know what to do when setting up a system from the get go!  So lets discuss the best way to start from scratch when setting up a brand new system. From my understanding it goes like this..................Only CARD in the system is Video card to start!

Now most things you install the instructions tell you to not let windows detect it. ( i might be wrong)

1. wipe HD reformat install windows.

2. install all MOBO drivers (IN MY CASE via 4-1 DRIVERS)

3. Install video card drivers.  (question on mine is ATI stuff drivers i know are always first but do you install the CONTROL panel now after the drivers are installed?)

4. Install Sound card and drivers.

5. proceed with any other add on card you may have....,



This is just a breif discription and im not a pro by any means like i said im a HACK but any one else here who has the correct format / proceedure let me and the world know here!


thanks in advance guys

BOX

[Pfunk]

Change Boot order in BIOS to boot from CD 1st

Have WinXP Cd In

Delete the current partition

Reformat using NTFS

Install XP, let it pick up your drivers

No need for 4in1 Drivers XP already has them, no need to pull every card out Windows install them in the proper order.

[bloom25]

That's actually quite good boxboy.  About the only additional things I should mention is that it is also a good idea to install any service packs or critical updates and Direct X before you install your video card and sound card drivers.

It's often not at all necessary to only have the video card in the system when installing Windows.  In the past that was a very good idea.  About the only things that I won't put in a system before installing Windows are things like TV capture cards.

While Windows XP does have Via 4 in 1 drivers, it is a very good idea to update them with Via's own drivers.  The version that Windows XP has built in does not have optimized support for the newer KT400 and KT400a chipsets (4.31 is the XP built-in version if memory serves).  Via often has bug and performance fixes in newer driver releases as well.

It's a good idea to have all drivers, Direct X, and service packs on a burned cd.

Once Windows is installed the first thing I load is the chipset drivers.  Now I enable DMA mode for both the primary and secondary channels.  (If the chipset drivers don't do it automatically, they usually do for at least the harddrive.)  Next comes service packs, update Internet Explorer to the latest version (because most Windows security bugs are IE related), and  then install any critical updates I feel are worthwhile (there's so many of them now you'll be there all day if you download them all).  After that, install Direct X.  Then I install the manufacturers drivers for the video card, sound card (if necessary) and everything else.

If this is a system for myself I also manually stop some Windows services.  (I usually stop the automatic updates service and remote registry service.)  Skuzzy has a good article that covers some of this in the tech support forum.

(Another minor thing that I'll mention that is rather annoying is that Nero, a very popular cd writing program, often turns DMA mode off for CD and DVD drives during its install process.  Check and turn it back on after you reboot the system after Nero is installed or updated.)