stupid newbie question

[DriftWolf]

I have got ask how do you instal wiindows xp on a blank hard drive in a brand new computer? I read the pcmech guide but it was unclear. How can I do it and should I buy windows retail or oem? Please clarify this for me thank you very much.

[Confused]

Go into BIOS and set first boot device as CD. Put your XP CD in drive and boot your PC. XP will take care of partitioning and formatting the drive for you. Your HD should be on primary IDE as Master.

I'm assuming you have a IDE HD. SATA HD's require a slight modification to above statement.
Chas

[MulderMan]

it would be better with oem because you dont really need retail, i only go retail if im not sure with some hardware i buy.

[Izumui Abriel]

okay, first you should have thourougly read your mobo user's/instructions guide several times through. it would tell you how to set your bios up. Then it'll eventually prompt your for an operating system, you'd then put in the Windows XP(i would go with home, A. its cheaper, b. xp pro just has a little extra stuff for networking and servers)disc. Now I haven't personally installed XP, but I figure it's not such a far cry from windows 98SE, It should, now i'm not sure, but it should ask you what you want to install, apart from the operating system,such as games and acessories(ex.calculator Notepad word pad, ect.).

As far as which package to buy, unless your really going for a system that costs less, you should just go with OEM, but if your not really dependant upon it being cheap go with retail, it couldn't hurt. And as I understand it, Retail doesn't cost that much more than OEM.

good luck,
Izumui Abriel

[Nuclear Krusader]

You won't get tech support from MS if you go OEM, no big deal really, just so you know.

[pillainp]

Here's a few links to help you through the process of installing Windows XP on your new hard disk:
1) Paul Thurott's WinSuperSite for Windows XP at http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg.asp

2) http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1435

3) http://www.windowsxpatoz.com/ This last site will give you a lot of info regarding customization and troubleshooting. (there is an Ad on the first page which you can skip by clicking the link in the top right corner)

And once you are done with the install don't forget to visit Blackviper's site to get the most out of your XP box (http://www.blkviper.com/).