Joe said:
I've looked at
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm and it
starts out saying :
"Boot the computer using the XP CD. You may need to change the boot order in
the system BIOS so the CD boots before the hard drive. Check your system
documentation for steps to access the BIOS and change the boot order".
I realize this qustion may be premature since I have not installed my new
motherboard, new processor and drivers. Will the bios screen pop up first to
select my boot order? If so, this question is moot.
Will my old XP activation code work since I have a new board and processor?
The typical default boot order is floppy, CDROM, hard drive, on the
systems I have here. The user can enter the BIOS and change that
in any way they see fit. But that order is pretty useful, simply
because by removing media from the first two items, you have
perfect control without entering the BIOS at all.
The BIOS may also have a "popup boot menu". Pressing a hot key
when the BIOS starts, such as F8 or F10, may reveal a list of
eligible boot devices. There may be a message at the bottom of
the BIOS screen, stating what keys trigger the various functions.
Most motherboard manufacturers offer the user manual for download,
as well as having a paper copy inside the motherboard box. Due to
the tiny size of the print, it is recommended to download the
PDF version and read it before the product is delivered to your
door. A good motherboard manual includes pictures of each BIOS
screen. But the explanation text next to the picture, won't explain
anything at all. You'll be left to guess as to what it all
means.
If you identify the motherboard make and model number in a future
post, that may help a bit.
You should plan on entering the BIOS anyway. It never hurts to have
a look around, and familiarize yourself with the contents. At
the very least, you'll be setting the date and time in the first
BIOS screen, and you can also use the BIOS screen for a quick check
on the detected disks and CDROM drive etc. When you're done, use
the "Save and Exit" option in the Exit menu, to save the changes
you've made.
One other thing that might be handy, is a hard drive diagnostic program.
For example, Seagate has "Seatools for DOS", available for floppy
or CDROM. You can use that for a quick check the drive is working,
before even booting the WinXP CD. Other companies may have their
version of diagnostic too.
For memory, you can use memtest86+ for a test. A couple complete
passes are recommended (you can stop the test after that). That
might take an hour or so. The best test might be Test 5, and if
you're in a rush, you can advance the test number to the test
you want.
http://www.memtest.org
Other than that, for general purpose maintenance, I like a Linux
LiveCD like Knoppix from knopper.net . That is handy, if you want
to see how another OS feels about your hardware. For example,
on one of my old systems, the graphics were unstable. I thought
it was a Windows driver problem, until one day I booted the Knoppix
CD and the graphics were twitchy on there as well. That is when I
knew it was a hardware problem. A live distro doesn't install anything
on the hard drive (unless you ask it to), which is why it is good
for a quick look at the state of a computer.
Linux distros are a large download, anywhere from 700MB (CD version)
to 4.4GB (DVD version), so playing with that stuff is only for people
with a good broadband connection. I can't imagine downloading something
like that on dialup.
HTH,
Paul
