Jackie Stewart

Step 1

Insert the Windows XP CDROM and reboot the computer making sure your system is set to boot from CD in your bios if it doesn't automatically boot to the CD. You should see a message "Press any key to boot from CD". Otherwise, you will see a message "Setup is i inspecting your computer's hardware configuration...

Step 2

You will see a series of blue screens and you will be asked to press F6 if you need to install any third-party or RAID drivers but this is usually not needed in most cases and can be ignored. Setup will load the files it needs to start XP. This may take a few minutes so be patient.

Step 3 

The "Welcome to Setup" screen now appears. In this step you can see different options, you choose "ENTER" to setup Windows XP and will examine your hard drives and removable disks.

Step 4 

You will now see the "License Agreement" You really don't have to read this it is a formality. Hit "F8=I agree" to continue.

Step 4a (** This step is for upgrade cd versions only and can usually be ignored**)

Insert qualifying media if you are attempting to clean install with a Windows XP Home or Pro Upgrade CD, you will see this screen, which requires you to insert your previous Windows CD in order to verify that you qualify for the Upgrade version. Once you've proven that you qualify, hit ENTER to continue.

Step 5

Choose an installation partition. Click on each partition and press D to delete them all individually. Once they are all deleted create a partition and choose the maximum size for the partition. Then choose the newly created partition C: to continue with setup of XP.

Step 6 

Setup will install Windows XP on partition C: but needs to format it first. Choose "Format the partition using the  NTFS file system (Quick)" since this will work much more quickly.

Step 7

If you did choose to format the drive you'll be asked to confirm the format by pressing F to continue.

Step 8

A yellow progress bar will indicate the status of the format. When this is complete and could take some time so be patient, setup will again examine your disks, and create a list of files to copy. Setup will now copy system files to the system partition just created and reboot your PC. When the system reboots, you will probably see the "Press any key to boot from CD" message again. If this happens, DO NOT press a key, you want to now boot to your C: drive. In the event that you cannot prevent the CD-based Setup from reloading again, eject the CD and reboot. Setup will ask for the CD when needed then.

Step 9

You will be presented with the main setup screen now which can take a very long time so be patient again as it detects your hardware devices. You can read promotional information about XP on the right side of the screen if you get bored.

Step 10

Regional and language Options screen where you can choose to customize the regional and language settings that will be used by XP, as well as the text input language you'd like. Users in the United States will not normally need to change anything here. Click Next to continue.

Step 11

Now enter any name and your company name (optional). The name you enter is not the same as the username you will select later. Click Next to continue.

Step 12

Now you must enter the 25-character product key that is located on the orange sticker found on the back of the CD holder that came with Windows XP or on a sticker on your tower or laptop case. You cannot install XP without a valid product key. Click Next to continue.

Windows XP Professional only:

Step 13a XP Professional

Enter a computer name and administrator password which is used to identify it on a network and a password (optional leave blank for no password) for the system Administrator, the person who controls the PC. Setup generates a random name for your PC but it can be changed to something more logical. 

Windows XP Home Edition only:

Step 13b XP Home

Enter a computer name which is used to identify it on a network. Click Next to continue.

Step 14

Enter your date, time and regional time zone. Click Next to continue.

Step 15

Choose to keep the default settings "typical settings" in this step and click Next to continue.

Step 15a (XP Professional only)

In Windows XP Professional only, you will be able to select a workgroup name. The default workgroup name in XP Pro is WORKGROUP but I recommend changing this. Click Next to continue.

Step 16

From this point on setup will continue to completion without any further need for interaction and may take a while. Setup will now copy files, complete installation, install your Start Menu items, register system components, save settings, remove any temporary files needed by Setup, and then reboot. Again, you will probably see the "Press any key to boot from CD" message on reboot. If this happens, DO NOT press a key, let your system boot to the C: drive and your new install should boot up.

Step 17

You should now be greeted with the XP splash screen on first boot. The splash screens for XP Pro and Home are only slightly different.

Step 18

You may see a Display Settings dialog appear, which asks whether you'd like XP to automatically set the resolution. Click OK and let XP change the resolution for you. Accept the settings if the screen display changes and can be read. If you can't see the display, it will time out after 30 seconds and return to the original setting.

Step 19

You are presented with XP's "Out of Box Experience," or OOBE, which presents a wizard to guide you through the final set up of your PC. Click Next to continue.

Step 20

You are asked to set up your network/Internet connection which is required for activation and registration but you are better to select no then Skip.

Step 21

You are asked to activate and register Windows I recommend selecting No here, since you can activate later when your internet connection is up and running.

Step 22

You can now set up the user names of the people who will be using the PC. I recommend you only enter one user at this stage and enter any other users once your computer is up and running using the User Accounts tool in Control Panel. Click Finish when done creating users.

Step 23

You are presented with the XP Welcome Screen for the first time. When you click on a user name, that account will logon and you'll be presented with the XP desktop. Passwords can be created using the User Accounts tool in Control Panel.