Despite its hopeless obsolescence, the Windows XP operating system is still very popular among users due to its ease of use and fairly high stability. In some ratings, it is even ahead of the "seven". Further consideration is given to the question of how to install Windows XP from a disk and perform the initial system setup. It is believed that the installation of this particular modification should not cause any particular difficulties, but in reality it is necessary to pay attention to some important nuances, without understanding which the installation of the system may be unsuccessful.
Creating a Windows XP installation disc
At the first stage, we will assume that the user does not have the original installation disk. Windows XP can be downloaded as an image from the official Microsoft website or from another (necessarily trusted) source.
In this case, you should immediately pay attention to the content of the downloaded distribution. Downloadwe recommend only the one that initially contains the second and third service packs, so that later you do not have to manually install them.
Write an image to an optical media is not difficult. To do this, you can use many programs for working with images (for example, UltraISO or Nero Burning ROM). If you need to create a Windows XP multiboot disk, it's best to use a tiny utility called WindowsSetupFromUSB, but this time to burn the distribution kit to a USB flash drive.
BIOS Presets
So, we assume that the installation distribution is written. Now you need to make sure that you can boot from it. To do this, you must use the BIOS primary I/O system settings. Typically, desktop computers log in by pressing the Del key, but different laptop models may use other keys (F1, F12) or combinations thereof.
In order for an optical drive to be recognized as bootable, you need to find a partition with a name like Boot, Boot Priority, Boot Sequence and install the optical drive (CD/DVD-ROM) first in the list of boot devices by pressing the PgUp/PgDown key.
Start installation
After all the preparatory steps have been completed, you can proceed to solving the problem of how to install Windows XP from a disk directly. After turning on the computer and starting from a removable device, a black screen will appear with a prompt line for pressing any key toboot from disk. Keep in mind that you will only have five seconds to make a decision. Otherwise, it will boot from the next device (usually a hard drive) provided that it has a bootloader, installed or even corrupted OS.
Next you will see a preload screen for the basic installation components and a line at the bottom asking you to install additional SCSI and RAID drivers. In most cases, this is not necessary, however, if the computer has several hard drives combined in the same RAID array, the installation must be applied. But it will proceed from the fact that the user has one hard drive.
Selecting a partition and formatting
At the next step, a welcome screen will appear with a suggestion of actions to choose from:
- immediate system installation;
- restoring a damaged system via the console;
- failure to install.
Select the first item by pressing the enter key. Next, we agree with the license agreement and press F8 to continue the installation (hints will appear at each stage of the installation).
After that, previously installed copies will be scanned, after which you will need to make a choice in favor of installing a new system (Esc).
Now the most important thing begins in the question of how to install Windows XP from a disk. The first step is to decide on the system partition and its size. In case of installation on a new hard drive, onwhich had no logical partitions, the unallocated area (full size) will be shown.
It is undesirable to allocate all the space for the system partition (this can later play a cruel joke). It is better to partition the disk immediately by pressing the C key and specifying the required amount in MB (40-60 GB can be allocated for the system, but not less than 20 GB). Immediately pay attention to the moment that for the normal functioning of Windows XP in the system partition, about 10-15% of its size must always remain free after installing the OS and after installing user programs. After returning to the partitioning screen, you can start formatting (but more on that later).
If the hard drive has already been partitioned and it has an old system, the user will be shown all available partitions. If necessary, all sections can be deleted (when selecting a section, press the D key). If the user's disk structure suits, simply select the desired partition in which the system was installed earlier, and proceed to formatting.
In the case of new hard drives, you can immediately choose a quick format in NTFS. If the operation is applied to an already existing partition, several options will be offered to choose from. It is best to do a full format to NTFS. But to save data, you can leave the file system unchanged. Most likely, next you will receive a warning that the Windows system directory already exists, with the suggestionoverwriting the current copy or selecting a new folder. Here - optional (all the same, the Windows XP folders of the old version, if one was previously present, will be saved).
Now it remains to wait for the files to be copied, after which the system will reboot and the installation will begin in normal graphical mode.
Setting initial parameters
In the next steps on how to install Windows XP from a disc, the user's actions are quite simple. When rebooting, be sure to remove the optical media from the drive, otherwise you will get the pre-start screen again.
After the installer starts, the language and region are selected (usually nothing needs to be changed if you have a Russian copy of the system), then, if required, the username and organization name (optional), after which the product key is entered (without installation will not continue). Working keys, by and large, can be easily found on the Internet.
At the next step, you need to enter the name of the computer and specify the administrator password (this can be done later). Next, the date and time are configured (usually nothing needs to be changed), and at the end a screen may appear with a choice of network card settings. Feel free to select "General Settings" and indicate that the computer is not participating in the network (it is better to select a group and domain after installation is completed).
Completing installation
Only now the installation of the system and device drivers will begin. Upon completion, there may be several additionalwindows. For example, the system will ask for consent to set the optimal screen resolution. You have to agree with this.
Then a welcome blue screen starts, in which most of the actions can be skipped (for example, defer protection, check the Internet connection and register with Microsoft). Finally, it remains to enter the names of the accounts that will be registered in the system. You can enter only your data, after which a notification will appear about the completion of the installation.
Pressing the "Finish" button will bring up the "Desktop" with the familiar picture. At this point, the installation can be considered complete (if the service packs were present in the distribution, they will be installed automatically, otherwise you need to install them yourself).
Typical errors when installing the system
Infrequently, of course, but you can also encounter Windows XP errors, moreover, it is during the system installation process. The most common occurrence is BSoD (blue screen). Installation is not possible due to the incorrectly set SATA controller mode for the hard drive.
In this case, it is recommended to change it in the BIOS settings by setting it to IDE or Compatibility.
If a BIOS firmware mismatch message appears, please disable ACPI during installation.
Perhaps the disc itself is damaged or scratched. Just write the distribution to another media and try to install the system again.
Initial setup of Windows XP
Initially, the system usually does not need special settings. But to reduce the load on computer resources, it is advisable to disable some background services that are activated by default and start with the system.
In the Run console (Win + R), enter the command to access the system configuration msconfig, go to the startup tab and disable everything that is there, leaving only the ctfmon process, which is responsible for displaying the language in the tray and changing layouts keyboard.
Required additional software
Then, be sure to install security software, since there is practically no protection in the "express" itself. Antiviruses for Window XP are quite diverse and do not cause installation problems. However, given that this version of the system is usually used on relatively low-power machines, you should not install heavy packages like Kaspersky Lab software products. It is better to limit yourself to some lightweight versions (Avira, Panda Cloud, etc.).
However, if you look at antiviruses for Window XP from the point of view of providing maximum protection, you can use the NOD32 or Smart Security packages from ESET. True, they will have to be activated monthly using special keys that are freely distributed on the Internet.
Finally, it remains to install the archiver, a set of codecs, a flash player for the browser, an office suite and some other applications that the user may need in the process.
