Appendix A: Installing or Upgrading to Windows XP

Answering the Windows Setup Wizard's Questions

Follow the steps outlined in this section to install Windows once you have started the Windows Setup Wizard and you see the Welcome To Microsoft Windows XP window, shown in Figure A-1. (The second option, Install Optional Windows Components, appears only when you run the program on a system that is already running Windows XP.) You can press ESC at any time to cancel your installation. Click Next to move from one screen of the Setup Wizard to the next.

Figure A-1: Starting the Windows installation

1. Before starting the installation, click Check System Compatibility. The Microsoft Windows Upgrade Advisor checks your system for incompatibilities with Windows XP and displays a window like this:

If your system includes hardware or software that Windows can't handle or that needs to be upgraded, you can click Details for a list. Microsoft's online hardware compatibility list is also on the Web at http://www.microsoft.com/hcl. For an installation on a blank disk, this includes information only about your hardware, since the Upgrade Advisor has no way of knowing what software you plan to install later. If the Upgrade Advisor finds Blocking Issues, you can't proceed to upgrade. If it lists only Helpful Information, you are good to go.

2. To start the installation, click Install Windows XP. The Windows Setup Wizard checks your computer for installed operating systems, and tells you whether you can upgrade or need to install Windows XP from scratch.
3. In the Windows Setup dialog box, set the Installation Type to either Upgrade or New Installation:

Choose New Installation to install to a new, blank partition (Setup can reformat a partition or disk for you), or Upgrade to update your Windows 98, Me, NT 4.0 Workstation, or 2000 installation. You won't see the Upgrade option if your existing version of Windows is too old (Windows 95 or earlier).

4. After you agree to the license agreement, the Setup Wizard prompts for your product key, a 25-character license number that appears on the Windows XP CD box. We suggest that you write this number right on the CD-ROM, using a fine-point permanent marker, on the same side that the printing appears on the disk. Don't write on (or touch) the other (bottom) side of the disk.
5. If you choose Upgrade, the Setup Wizard displays the Upgrade Report screen, which asks how much information you want on the upgrade report that it creates: hardware issues only, all issues, or no report at all. Don't choose Do Not Show Me The Report, since hardware issues may prevent Windows XP from running correctly, even if your hardware worked fine with a previous version of Windows. If you have enough disk space, the Setup Wizard stores a compressed version of your old version of Windows so that you can uninstall Windows XP later.
6. If you choose New Installation, you see the Setup Options screen.

• If you want to copy the installation files from the CD to hard disk, click Advanced Options and select the Copy All Installation Files From The Setup CD (this option is useful if you plan to install Windows options later and want to do so without needing to put the Windows XP CD-ROM into the drive). Click OK.
• If you are creating a dual-boot installation, click Advanced Options and select the I Want To Choose The Install Drive Letter And Partition During Setup check box. We recommend that you select this option if your system has more than one partition or hard disk. Don't change the To This Folder On My Hard Drive box to an entry other than \WINDOWS unless you have a good reason. Microsoft recommends that Windows XP be installed in the \Windows folder. Click OK.
• If you are installing from a network drive, or somewhere other than your CD, you can specify a pathname where the installation files are stored. Click Advanced Options and set the Copy Installation Files From This Folder box (click the Browse button to navigate to the folder). Click OK.
• If you have vision problems, click the Accessibility Options button. You can choose to enable the Microsoft Magnifier (if you want the contents of the screen magnified) or Microsoft Narrator (which can read the screen aloud) while the Setup Wizard runs. Click OK.
• Change the language if you want Windows to be installed with screens in another language (this option doesn't change the Setup Wizard). Click OK.

7. If you chose New Installation in step 3 and the disk partition to which you are installing Windows XP doesn't already use the NTFS file system, you see the Upgrading To The Windows XP NTFS File System screen, shown in Figure A-2. (Of course, the Setup Wizard may not yet know on which partition you plan to install Windows--it's just guessing.) If you plan to use only Windows XP on your computer, choose Yes. If you are creating a dual-boot system and you want older versions of Windows to be able to read files on the disk, choose No.

Figure A-2: Choosing whether to upgrade your hard disk to NTFS

8. On the Get Updated Setup Files screen, you choose whether to connect to the Internet to check the Microsoft Web site for updated Windows XP files (this feature is called Dynamic Update). If you have a working Internet connection on the computer, choose Yes; otherwise, choose No. If you choose No, or if the Setup Wizard can't get through to the Microsoft Windows Update site, you can update your Windows XP installation later using Windows Update.
9. The Setup Wizard analyzes your computer, figures out which files you need to install, and copies them from the CD-ROM to your hard disk. It reboots and displays a text-mode (nongraphical) screen.
10. If you selected the I Want To Choose The Install Drive Letter And Partition During Setup check box in step 6, you see several text-mode (gray on blue) menus.

• If your system already contains an installation of Windows XP, a menu asks whether you would rather repair it or install a fresh copy of Windows. Press ESC to install a fresh copy of Windows (either on the same partition or a different one).
• Then you see a list of your partitions, as shown in Figure A-3. You can select a partition and delete it, if it contains a version of Windows you no longer want. You can create a new partition in unpartitioned space. Don't choose a partition that already contains a version of Windows. If you are replacing your existing Windows installation, delete the partition that contains Windows and create a new partition in its place for Windows XP (just make sure that you have a backup of any files on that partition that you want to keep!).
• If you create a partition, you can specify how much of the unpartitioned space to use (in kilobytes). Make the partition at least 2GB to leave room for Windows.
• When you are finished, select the partition on which to install Windows XP and press ENTER. Then choose whether to use FAT32 or NTFS for the partition (use NTFS unless you have a specific reason for using FAT32). Don't choose the Quick Format options--let the Setup Wizard make sure that the hard disk has no bad sectors or other problems.

Figure A-3: Choosing the partition in which to install Windows

11. Windows reboots again and displays a graphical screen during the final part of the installation. (This step can take more than half an hour.)
12. If you chose New Installation rather than Upgrade in step 3, the Setup Wizard asks you a series of questions. (If you are upgrading, the Wizard can get this information from your old version of Windows.) It asks about the following:

• Regional and Language Options You can change the way dates, numbers, and money are displayed. You can also change these settings later.
• Text Input Languages You can choose your default language and keyboard layout.
• Name and Organization Applications can get your name and company name from Windows (for example, Outlook Express does this). You can change your name in most applications, but getting it right the first time is more convenient.
• Computer name This is the name you want to use for your computer. If your computer is connected to a local area network (LAN), the LAN administrator might want to issue your computer a name.
• Administrator password This is the password you'll type when you log onto Windows with the Administrator user account. Don't leave it blank. (In Windows XP Home Edition, this is the Owner password.)
• Country, area code, and outside line number Windows uses these numbers when configuring dial-up connections to the Internet.
• Date and time Set your clock, and remember to set the time zone. When you connect to the Internet, it will automatically update your clock to the correct time for your area. If Windows thinks you are in the wrong time zone, the time will be wrong!
• Network settings If the Setup Wizard detects a network adapter, it asks whether to create LAN connections using TCP/IP (the protocol used on the Internet and many LANs) and Client For Microsoft Networks (Microsoft's LAN client program). You can click Custom Settings to use a different protocol (like IPX/SPX) or client (like NetWare). See Chapter 27 for more information.
• Workgroup or domain name This is the name of the workgroup or domain your computer is part of, if your computer is on a LAN. Ask your LAN administrator for the workgroup or domain name (Windows suggests WORKGROUP or MSHOME). See Chapter 28 if your computer is part of a workgroup.

13. When Windows is installed, it prompts you to help it set up your computer. The exact order of the next couple of steps depends on whether your computer is connected to a LAN or the Internet, and whether you are upgrading or doing a new installation.
14. If the Setup Wizard detects a LAN connection, it asks whether you connect to the Internet via the LAN or connect directly.
15. When you see the Ready To Activate Windows screen, you can choose whether to activate Windows now or later. You must activate Windows--you can put it off, but after a grace period, Windows won't let you log in if you haven't activated it. You don't need to register though (registration gives Microsoft your name, address, and other information; activation gives Microsoft only the technical "signature" of your computer and your Windows XP serial number). Windows tries to connect to the Internet, and if it can't, it reminds you to activate later. If you don't have an Internet connection, you can activate Windows over the phone.

Wait a few days before activating, to make sure that the system works and that you are happy with the hardware. When you activate, the activation ID records the current state of the computer's hardware, and if you change it significantly, you'll need to call Microsoft later if you reinstall Windows.

16. If the Setup Wizard hasn't already figured out how you connect to the Internet (if you have a LAN connection), you see the Let's Get On The Internet screen. Microsoft suggests that you sign up for their MSN Internet service. If you have another account, choose Create A New Internet Account After I Finish Setting Up Windows. If the Setup Wizard detects a modem, it may offer to call the Microsoft Referral Service to suggest one of the ISPs that has signed up with its referral program. If so, click Skip to set up your Internet account yourself after the setup is finished (choose Start | Internet and refer to Chapter 22).
17. On the Who Will Use This Computer screen, type the names of up to five people who will use this computer, so that the Setup Wizard can create user accounts for each one. If you will be the only user, type just your name (first, last, both, or whatever you would like your user account name to be). If you want to create more than five user accounts, you can add them later.
18. After you click Finish on the Setup Wizard's last screen, if you are upgrading from a previous version of Windows to Windows XP Professional, you see the Password Creation dialog box, which lists the user accounts that were created during installation, not counting the names you typed in the previous step. Windows XP Professional creates an additional user named Administrator. Windows XP Home Edition's additional user account is named Owner. Type a password to use for all the accounts listed. You can change these passwords later.
19. You see the Windows logon screen. Choose a user name you specified in step 17 and type the password you specified in step 18 to log on. (If Windows didn't ask you for a password in step 18, it shouldn't ask for one now, either.)

You see the Windows desktop. You are ready to test Windows and install your programs!

To see the release notes for your version of Windows XP, insert the Windows XP CD-ROM in the CD drive, start the Setup program, choose Perform Additional Tasks, choose Browse This CD, and open the Readme.htm file (click or double-click the filename to display it in Internet Explorer or your default Web browser).