Now that you've put everything
together, you're past all the difficult stages—the rest is a cakewalk.
Here's how to install your operating system and get everything up and running.
If you've never installed an OS before, it's remarkably
easy. If you have, I'd still suggest reading through this guide to make sure
you've got it all down. Installing Windows on a custom machine can take a few
extra steps than installing it on a pre-built machine. For this guide, we're
going to use Windows 7 as an example, but you can of course install Windows XP,
Linux, or even Mac OS X, if you're building a Hackintosh.
Step One: Edit your BIOS
When you first start up your computer, it'll tell you to
press a key to enter setup, usually DEL. This takes you to the setup of your
Basic Input/Output System, or BIOS. Here, you can configure some of the
lowest-level aspects of your new machine. You may not actually need to edit any
of these settings, but it's a good idea to go through, get acquainted with
them, and make sure everything's in good order before moving on.
Note that the BIOS will be a little bit different on
different brands of motherboard, so your screen may not look exactly like the
images here, but it should be close.
First, make sure that everything's been installed
correctly. If you have a System Information page in your BIOS, head there and
make sure the amount of RAM listed is the same amount you put in. If it isn't
detecting all of your RAM, some of it might not be seated correctly, so go back
and fix that before continuing. If there isn't a System Information page in
your BIOS, your motherboard probably lists the amount of RAM it detects on the
POST screen, right after you press the power button.
Find the SATA configuration option, and make sure its
configured as AHCI. If you're running Windows XP you'll need to change this to
IDE, otherwise AHCI is probably what you want to go with.
Lastly, find the "Boot Order" or "Boot
Priority" page. Make sure your DVD drive is the first drive on the list
(or your USB drive if you're installing from a flash drive), and that the hard
drive you'll be installing to is second. Note that some BIOS utilities split
this up into two menus—one for setting the boot order for your different media
(CD-ROM, hard disks, USB disks) and another that lets you choose the order of
just the hard drives.
If you don't see your hard drive listed, it may not be
plugged in correctly or it may be dead. Turn your computer off and re-check the
connection if necessary.
These are the most crucial BIOS options you want to tweak,
but there's a lot of other stuff going on in there. I encourage you to explore
and look things up that you don't know, since it has some other useful
settings. If you want to know more about your BIOS options, our friends at the
How-To Geek have a nice rundown of useful tweaks, so check that out when you have
some time. For now, we're going to get on with the installation process.
Step Two: Install Windows
Once you've got the right version of Windows, grab the
installation DVD (or flash drive, if that be the case) and pop it in. Start up
your computer and it should automatically boot into the Windows installer. If
you ever get a "Press any key to boot from CD" option, make sure to
hit a key on your keyboard to continue.
Once the installer loads, hit the "Install Now"
button, accept the terms of use, and choose "Custom (advanced)" when
asked what type of installation you want. Find your primary hard drive (if you
have more than one), click on the "Unallocated Space" partition, and
hit Next. Windows should start installing.
If you aren't using a brand new drive, you may have to
format it first. Click on the currently-used partition, click "Drive
options (advanced)", and then hit "Format". It should format the
drive to be Windows-compatible, after which you can hit next and let the
installation run.
From there, the rest is just a waiting game. Leave your
computer alone to do its thing. It'll copy all the necessary files to your disk
and reboot a number of times in the process. You'll know you're done when you
hear the familiar startup chime and boot into the default Windows 7 desktop.
Step Three: Install Your Drivers
The last thing you need to do before you actually use your
computer is install your drivers. If your Ethernet or Wi-Fi works
out-of-the-box, Windows may find most or all of your drivers for you. If not,
you'll need to pop in the CD that came with your motherboard to install the
Ethernet or Wi-Fi drivers you need to access the internet. Don't install any other
drivers from that CD just yet.
Once you've got the internet up and running, Windows will
install drivers for you. It might not catch everything though, so you'll have
to install some manually. The CDs that came with your motherboard, video card,
and other hardware are probably already out of date, so I don't recommend using
them to install drivers.
Instead, you'll want to download the drivers manually from
the manufacturer's web site. Head to your motherboard's support page and
download any necessary drivers, including chipset, audio, SATA, and any other
drivers listed. Note that you probably only want the drivers—you don't want the
extra bundled software it offers, unless there's something in there you really
want. For your video drivers, download them
straight from NVIDIA or AMD's web site rather than the card
manufacturer's site.
Step Four: Install Windows Updates
The last thing you'll want to do is get Windows up to
date. Chances are, you've already gotten a notification from Windows Update at
this point, but if not, head into your Start Menu, go to Programs, and hit
Windows Update. Install all the updates it gives you, and reboot your computer.
Check for updates again and it'll have a whole new slew of them for you. You'll
have to do this quite a few times, but eventually it should stop serving you
notifications and you'll be all up to date. When you are, you're ready to
actually start using your computer.
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