Suggested installation order?

Balfa

Hey folks. Come christmas morning, the new box will be assembled and switched on, but what next? What's the cleanest way to install all the bits and bobs that need installing? Latest BIOS, XP, chipset driver, graphics driver, XP SP2, drivers for other motherboard devices (sound, agp, usb, etc?) hardware, directX 9 (does it come in SP2?), etc. My motherboard has a RAID controller, but I only have one HDD so I won't be using it.

Should I go into the BIOS setup before installing windows and disable all motherboard devices I don't intend to use (such as PS/2, COM, LPT, floppy controller) so that windows setup doesn't bother installing drivers it'll never use?

Also, once all the drivers are installed, I'd like to install various monitoring and status utilities, like cpuid and cpu burn-in and stuff... can anyone recommend a small, tidy fan/temp monitoring application?

hopeful

Balfa wrote:

Also, once all the drivers are installed, I'd like to install various monitoring and status utilities, like cpuid and cpu burn-in and stuff... can anyone recommend a small, tidy fan/temp monitoring application?

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

Khannie

Balfa wrote:

Should I go into the BIOS setup before installing windows and disable all motherboard devices I don't intend to use (such as PS/2, COM, LPT, floppy controller) so that windows setup doesn't bother installing drivers it'll never use?

Defo.

Beyond that I don't think it's overly important. Just make sure to get the latest chipset drivers on there sooner rather than later. Also, get yourself secured before going online. My machine got bitch slapped within 5 minutes before (as I was installing the firewall). Very upsetting after a chunk of effort.

commited

Ouch - 5minutes?
You must be a fair old target!
Out of interest - what firewall are you running now?

Khannie

Ah, the fault was that I was lazy ages ago and opened a bunch of ports on the router. Forgot about it, then installed windows on a new machine with the same IP as one that had a software firewall. Oopsie. DHCP screwed me.

I'm not currently using a firewall prog. I let the NAT do it for me. :eek: I just maintain the list of open ports + forwarding.

I was using Norton, but it was annoying me. No problems so far, though I dislike not being told when programs are attempting internet connections. I don't download warez or any of that jazz, so unless something gets past the NAT I'm safe. *crosses fingers*

Sorry for the OT balfa.

WizZard

Generally what I do is this:

1. BIOS: Disable stuff I won't use, including SATA controllers that I won't be using just yet (for boards with more that one controller)
2. Install Windows XP + SP2 (pre-downloaded and saved to CD/memory key*)
3. Install network card driver from motherboard drivers CD - if Windows has not picked it up
4. Connect to interweb through secure connection (NAT on router generally does fine)
5. Update BIOS if a new version is available
6. Go to AMD/Intel/nVidia and download chipset drivers & install
7. Go to other hardware websites and download latest drivers & install (e.g. graphics cards, printers etc)
8. Go to Microsoft Update**(not Windows Update) and update PC.
9. Reboot as needed. Revisit step 8 until no more updates remain
10. Ghost machine
11. Install office/productivity software and antivirus/antispyware software
12. Ghost machine
13. Start using machine


Note: Steps 6, 7 and 8 may be performed in different order depending on the driver's needs (e.g. DirectX 9 may be required before the graphics card drivers will install)


* Updates I generally have on hand in full form: Windows XP SP2, DirectX 9 Full, IE6 Full, .NET Framework 1.1/2.0 Full, Windows Media Player 9 Full.
These are things that often require you to install separately from Microsoft Update.


** This is a personal preference as it keeps most MS software up-to-date (e.g. MSSQL server, Office etc)

stevenmu

Leave SP2 till the end, or just before you connect to the net, or else reinstall it near the end. Installing drivers or other bits and pieces can overwrite some of the service pack files, reintroducing the problems it was supposed to fix or causing versioning problems. I think they're more resilient these days than the old NT4 service packs, but I'd still try to reinstall it after making any major changes.

jor el

You could use a program called nlite to slipstream SP2 into your existing Windows install CD. Copy the CD to hard disk, slipstream SP2 and then re-write to CD. nlite can also be used to remove crap from the Windows installer (like Internet Exploder, drivers you don't need and so on). Makes for a better Windows install anyway. You can also add in extra drivers, such as video cards, SATA/Raid controllers and modems too.

Only thing I'd recommend is to get everything you need up front. Get drivers for the motherboard, graphics card, soundcard, etc off the websites now and save to the hard disk, the ones on the CDs can often be out of date by the time you get it. Get the newest BIOS too, just in case. Have the latest installs for Mozilla/Firefox/Opera or whatever you use (not IE I hope) too.

Then install the SP2 Windows and then straight away you can put on all the drivers you need. One reboot and you should be sorted. Then install your Firewall and browser and connect yourself back to the net.

DemonOfTheFall

You beat me to it jor_el, nlite all the way.

I have no idea how I would bother with reasonably regualr reformats without nlite. IMO, it's totally necessary for a decent install of XP. Without it XP always feels slow and crappy to me. With security center, indexing service and a few other pieces of crap cut out of XP before you even install it it makes a nice difference to running speed.

I've been working on an auto installing DVD of all my programs and drivers for months but never bothered to finish it...

commited

I've had nlite for ages and only just decided then to play about with it - what a great program! The install I have at the moment is cut down - i spent ages doing it though! Think I'm going to sort a proper install soon (havent reformatted in over 6months and i use my PC heavily..) and ghost it

Gryzor

jor el wrote:

You could use a program called nlite

sorry to resurrect an old thread...but can't beleive i haven't come accross this before....looks like the dogs b*llox..:D