1
Boot from CD
Place your Windows XP CD into your drive before restarting your computer. If booting from CD is enabled in the BIOS, you’ll be prompted to press any key to boot from the CD. You only have a few seconds to do this, so be quick.
2
Accept the License
Having confirmed that you want to start installing Windows XP, you’ll see the full text of the End User License. Read through it, and press F8 to show that you acceptance its terms.
3
Choose a partition
The set-up program interrogates your hard disk(s) and reports the current partitions. You may have two if you had a dual boot system. You can create or delete partitions here, but the process is destructive, unlike GParted. Choose the one you want to house XP and press Enter.
4
Format Options
Now you are presented with a number of format options. Unless you have a very good reason to choose otherwise, the best option for stability and good performance is Format the partition using the NTFS file system. Choose it and press Enter.
5
Are you sure?
To double check your option, setup describes the partition you chose to format. Press F to continue. Your drive will now be wiped and you’ll start the installation of Windows XP.
6
Copy Installation Files
Once your hard drive has been formatted, all installation files are copied from the CD to the drive. This takes some time, but it means that later parts of the installation go more quickly. Your computer restarts. You see the familiar Windows XP splash screen before the installation proper takes place.
7
Regional Settings
Part way through the installation you’ll be asked to confirm the regional settings. Click Customize and set the location to the correct country and time setting. Also click Details to select the language and keyboard settings so that your keys match the characters on screen.
8
Product Key
Once you’ve entered your product key, you’ll be asked for a name for your PC. This will identify it on your home network, if you have one. The name can be up to 15 characters long. Enter your name and, optionally, that of your company. This will appear on your software declaring that it is licensed for your use
9
Networking
Finally, you’re asked to provide network details. Accept the default of Typical settings and click Next. Unless you’re on a corporate network, you don’t need to provide domain information. If you have a name for the workgroup for your home network you can supply it here.
