Re: Just built pc and having problems! plz help
- From: frodo@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 19:01:43 -0000
before installing XP, be sure the box is sound. Run memtest86+ for at
least an hour, over-night would be better. It should report ZERO errors.
Even a single error requires investigation.
go here, get the "Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS - Win)", use it.
http://www.memtest.org/
----
to install xp, unplug all unnecessary devices, except the one CD
you're booting from and the HD you're installing to. Set BIOS to boot to
the CD first, followed by the HD. When setup reboots itself the first
time, just sit back; leave cd in place and don't press a key - it'll boot
the HD and continue setup.
After things are working and XP is booting well, shutdown and plug in one
new device. Boot up and let it be detected. Check it out. Then repeat.
Note your dirve letters may juggle a little. WAIT until all your drives
are plugged in, then use Disk Manager to sort things out. Note your
boot/windows drive might not be C:, and you won't be able to change it.
That's OK, don't worry about it, accept it and move on!
-----
Are you installing XP to a RAID Drive setup? [sort of sounded like you
were]. If so make sure you know what you're doing before beginning.
Prepare the RAID Volume using the bios or a floppy-boot disk - follow your
motherboard instructions. Stripe size of 64K or 128K is best for overall
system performance. Don't be fooled by benchmarks that say 4K stripes are
faster - they are in the benchmark, but not in the system as a whole.
Be sure to have a floppy prepared w/ the necessary raid drivers on it, and
press F6 at the beginning of XP setup; it will not appear to do anything
when you press the key, but in a minute or so it'll ask you to insert the
floppy and choose the drivers you want [for nForce you need to choose TWO
- read the directions that came w/ the motherboard carefully]. If you are
confused, ask in the motherboard-specific newsgroup, or go to the
motherboard maker's site for info. The chipset maker's site should also
have info (nvidia for nforce, intel for ICH5R/6R, VIA for their chips,
promise, etc). If you've done it right it should list the raid volume by
name and highlight it as the install destination. Partition it and
install normally. A 20 or 30 GB part is plenty big; 5 GB works too, if
you won't be installing too many apps. google for "xp partiton schemes"
and do some research.
-----
if hard drive has previously been partitioned it would be BEST if you
deleted all partitions and made a single new partition using the XP Setup.
[Due to alignment issues, old partitions may cause XP to run slower than
it should]. Read this:
http://aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.php
Install to this new partition, then later, after you've got xp setup to
your liking, use XP's Disk Manager to make any other part's you need.
It's ok to leave unpartitioned space, you can allocate it in the future as
needed.
.
- References:
- Just built pc and having problems! plz help
- From: Vapor
- Re: Just built pc and having problems! plz help
- From: Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)
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