bitten nails

[RoS]

Brand new computer arriving soon as big brother to 200MMX 3Gb win ME (who
he?) system. I've an offer I can't refuse on a full retail version of XP
Pro (considerably cheaper than XP Home) and have SP2 on a CD.

Are there any particular hints, tips, etc on performing a first ever install
of XP pro? I'll do a check to make sure the BIOS is configured as per specs
but have only ever used an XP machine before rather than own one and find
that there's been quite a leap forward from previous OS's.

Only myself and wife will be using it, for normal Office apps, lots of
graphics and some video and the odd game. I've a mind to do a complete back
up as soon as the OS and major apps are installed and appear to be running
OK. Or should I do this as soon as the OS is installed, so as always to
have a basic starting point to fall back to. I've never been quite clear
where the optimal backup point is!

TIA Ros

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP]

Brand new computer arriving soon as big brother to 200MMX 3Gb win ME (who
he?) system. I've an offer I can't refuse on a full retail version of XP
Pro (considerably cheaper than XP Home) and have SP2 on a CD.

Are there any particular hints, tips, etc on performing a first ever
install
of XP pro? I'll do a check to make sure the BIOS is configured as per
specs
but have only ever used an XP machine before rather than own one and find
that there's been quite a leap forward from previous OS's.

Only myself and wife will be using it, for normal Office apps, lots of
graphics and some video and the odd game. I've a mind to do a complete
back
up as soon as the OS and major apps are installed and appear to be running
OK. Or should I do this as soon as the OS is installed, so as always to
have a basic starting point to fall back to. I've never been quite clear
where the optimal backup point is!

TIA Ros

The only hint I have is to
1. Make sure you can get your money back if it won't activate.
2. Make sure it's a retail copy, not an OEM copy. If it's an OEM version
you'll have to back up what you want to save and format the drive.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com./athome/security/protect/default.aspx

 

[Sharon F]

Brand new computer arriving soon as big brother to 200MMX 3Gb win ME (who
he?) system. I've an offer I can't refuse on a full retail version of XP
Pro (considerably cheaper than XP Home) and have SP2 on a CD.

Are there any particular hints, tips, etc on performing a first ever install
of XP pro? I'll do a check to make sure the BIOS is configured as per specs
but have only ever used an XP machine before rather than own one and find
that there's been quite a leap forward from previous OS's.

Only myself and wife will be using it, for normal Office apps, lots of
graphics and some video and the odd game. I've a mind to do a complete back
up as soon as the OS and major apps are installed and appear to be running
OK. Or should I do this as soon as the OS is installed, so as always to
have a basic starting point to fall back to. I've never been quite clear
where the optimal backup point is!

TIA Ros

You could do both: an image right after XP + SP2 is installed. Another
after all the apps are in and running. Since you have XP Pro, you could use
NTBackup's ASR (Automatic System Restore) tool but it isn't as neat of a
solution as a system image.

May want to utilize System Restore in between program installations. If one
goes bad, you can uninstall the program and then use System Restore to
revert back to just before that program was added. Many programs will
automatically create this restore point but since some do not, manually
creating a restore point is a way to insure that one exists.

As far as installing goes, read the setup documentation. There is a program
on the XP CD that can check the system's readiness before starting setup.
This program is a few years old now and outdated in some respects because
of that but at the very least it can point out any glaring problems that
need to be addressed before running XP setup.

A handy XP install reference, complete with screenshots of dialogs that
you'll run into during setup can be found here :
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

 

[Sharon F]

Are there any particular hints, tips, etc on performing a first ever install
of XP pro?

PS: Don't go online until after SP2 is installed and enable the firewall on
the internet connection.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Brand new computer arriving soon as big brother to 200MMX 3Gb
win ME
(who he?) system. I've an offer I can't refuse on a full
retail
version of XP Pro (considerably cheaper than XP Home)

Be very careful. I don't know where you got this offer you can't
refuse, but when an offer is too good to be true, it usually
isn't what you think it is.

If this is an offer you get by E-mail pointing you to a web site,
many people have gotten similar offers. When they order it, they
usually either get nothing, or a pirated copy that won't
activate.

and have SP2 on
a CD.

Are there any particular hints, tips, etc on performing a first
ever
install of XP pro? I'll do a check to make sure the BIOS is
configured as per specs but have only ever used an XP machine
before
rather than own one and find that there's been quite a leap
forward
from previous OS's.

There are dramatic changes from operating systems in the Windows
95.98.Me line, but much smaller changes fromothers in the NT
line. For example, Windows 2000 (really Windows NT 5.0 under the
hood) is very similar to XP (Windows NT 5.1).

Only myself and wife will be using it, for normal Office apps,
lots of
graphics and some video and the odd game. I've a mind to do a
complete back up as soon as the OS and major apps are installed
and
appear to be running OK.

That's a reasonable plan.

Or should I do this as soon as the OS is
installed, so as always to have a basic starting point to fall
back
to.

To me, there's little point in doing that. There would be no
difference between restoring from such a backup and just
reinstalling Windows cleanly.