installing Windows XP

installing Windows XP

If you are going to install XP in a dual-boot scenario, you should absolutely install XP first so you don’t have to deal with the Vista boot loader being wiped out if you install XP second. I’m not going to go through the entire installation, but here’s the highlights.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Windows XP does not have SATA drivers included.
• You’ll either need to create a slipstreamed install cd, or set SATA to IDE mode in the BIOS.
• It’s very unlikely that your graphics card or network card will work until you load the drivers. You could include those in the slipstream cd if you like.

Once you get to the screen where you can choose the partition, you have a couple of options. If you want to only install XP, you could just hit the Enter key and be done with it. If you are planning on doing a dual boot, however, you need to use “C” to create a new partition.

Note: If you get the message “Setup did not find any hard disk drives”, then you need tocreate a slipstreamed install cd.

 

Choose the size for the partition, and I recommend leaving plenty of space for both Vista and XP. There’s nothing more annoying than running out of space on one of the partitions in a dual boot.

You could create a second partition at this point if you want, or just install on the new C: partition.

The rest of the install is more or less painless, and since XP has been around for nearly a decade I’m sure you are familiar with it, but here’s your next steps:

• Install the Network Card Drivers (usually from the motherboard driver cd)
• Install the Graphics Card Drivers
• Install the rest of the drivers (motherboard, sound, etc)
• Use Windows Update to patch the system. (Make sure you are patched through SP2 at least)