Lyjotoblog

Congratulations! You have successfully built yourself a new PC computer!

You can now go ahead and put the side back on the case, and attach the screws to the back to hold it in place. The case is designed to direct air flow a certain way and you want to keep the case closed in most situations.

Installing software and learning about your new computer are probably going to be the next steps in your journey.

Buy a few books on how to run Windows, and there is a wealth of information on the Web as well for learning.

Hopefully everything went smoothly as you built your new computer, but if not we offer some troubleshooting tips and solutions in the final section.

Troubleshooting Your New Computer >

With your new installation of Windows, you have now completed building your first computer, and you are ready to start tweaking your system!

One of the first steps will be to get your internet connection up and running. You will have to select an ISP (Internet Service Provider) if you have not already, to setup a subscription to get internet service to your house. We recommend going with broadband (Cable or DSL) it is available for your area. Expect to pay £15-£25 monthly for this type of service. Dial up service is available through most regular phone carriers, but the service is slow and not as reliable. To fully take advantage of what the internet has to offer, go with broadband!

We recommend that you run Windows update, which will apply any security patches and updates to Windows that are necessary. We also recommend that you update the drivers for all of your hardware components (motherboard, video card, etc) to make sure you are running the latest and most stable drivers.

NOTE: If you have decided to go with Windows Vista, hopefully you followed our recommendations to buy hardware that is 'Vista Certified'. As with all new operating systems, driver and software support may not be universally supported. If you find yourself having trouble getting a piece of hardware to work in Vista, then try our message forums, or look to the Web for help.

Next Step: Recommendations After Your Are Done >

We have set our DVD drive to be the first bootable drive in the BIOS. Now we can continue and install Windows on our blank hard drive.

1. Start the computer with your Windows operating system install disc in the DVD drive. You may have to power the computer on once to have power to open the DVD drive.
   
   
2. The computer should now boot into Windows Setup, and start your installation. As we mentioned before, you will have the option to partition and format your drive for your Windows installation as the setup program takes care of all this for you. Follow the on screen prompts, and your documentation that came with your version of Windows to complete the installation.

Once the Windows installation is complete, you can go to the next section below.

Next Step: Update Drivers >

This step may not even be necessary, but we wanted to include it for reference. The newest versions of Windows, including Windows XP and Windows Vista, have a way to partition and format the hard drive during the installation process. If you plan on installing either of these versions of Windows on a new hard drive as a standard installation, then you do not have to do anything except specify how you want the drive setup during the install process. Skip the information below and continue on to the next step.

If you plan on installing multiple operating systems, or want the drive split up into separate sections or partitions, then you may want to so this before starting the install. Third party utilities are available to handle partitioning and formatting, some of which are free. This will need to be done to the hard drive prior to installing windows if you have a specific way you want to set the drive up. Make sure to use a compatible file type if you do your own partitioning, NTFS for Windows XP is recommended, and Windows Vista uses a newer version of NTFS so make sure your partition utility program will set the drive up to be ready for Vista if you are planning to install it.

We are going to assume that this is a standard Windows installation, and continue on to the next step.

Next Step: Install the Operating System >

We will need to access the BIOS now on your computer, and this is usually accomplished by pressing and holding down the 'delete' key after you turn on your computer. Depending on your BIOS type, the key or keys you enter may be different. Please consult your motherboard manual on how to access the BIOS if it is not the delete key.

You will also need to follow the instructions in your motherboard manual for changing the first boot up device, and you need to set the first boot device to be your DVD drive.

Why, you may ask, do we change the computer to boot from the DVD drive?

The newest versions of Windows are on media that is bootable, and will start the installation process themselves when you turn on the computer. When you have a hard drive with nothing on it, this is a quick and easy way to get your operating system installed.

We should not be too concerned with any of the other settings in the BIOS at this time. Later, after we have everything installed and working properly, we can come back to the BIOS to tweak some settings, but for now it is not necessary.

Let's get ready to install our operating system on the hard drive.

Next Step: Preparing the Hard Drive for the OS >