Driver Installation

Every hardware component has a software driver associated with it. Windows XP has general purpose drivers built in that let most hardware components function to some sufficient degree, although usually not efficiently and probably not completely. That's why the computer is sluggish at the moment. So far a lot of hardware has been installed, but really nothing in the way of software drivers. Next we'll be making up for that by doing a lot of software driver installation.

Install GoBack

The rest of the Windows XP operating system, in my opinion, is provided via Norton's GoBack. While Windows XP has a limited disk/file restoral capability, I still strongly recommend GoBack, which is available through Amazon.com, for a full featured capability. It's important to have GoBack installed since from here on out we will be making mostly software changes. It's very easy for something to go wrong, so it will be a big help to be able to return the hard drive to a previous state before the unfortunate action was taken.

One of the first things a computer needs is a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader since frequently this file format is used for manuals and information. Fortunately, many things, including GoBack, provide an option to install a copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader, so do that.

A point about GoBack. GoBack makes it's disk restoral log when the PC is idle. So after 10 seconds of inactivity, you'll suddenly see the hard drive light spring to life while GoBack catches up with the disk changes. After making any disk change, such as rebooting the computer, downloading a file or installing a driver, wait and give GoBack a chance to catch up before proceeding.

Install A Zip Utility - ZipCentral

Windows XP comes with a zip utility built in, which is good because you need a zip-file decompression utility right away since you never know what other software you'll be installing that will need it. All zip utilities should be pretty much the same and should even be compatible with each other's files. But the zip utility I know and trust is ZipCentral so that's the one I'll be using. It's completely free and works great. Fortunately, it fits on a single floppy so you can download it from another computer and bring it over to this one via a floppy disk. You can get it from the ZipCentral site.

Getting Software Drivers To The New Computer

There are a number of ways to get the software drivers that are needed over to the new computer.

A first way is to simply use the software drivers that are provided on CD with the corresponding hardware. This is nice and easy, but as a general rule I'm not too keen on this idea. It's a certainty that the software drivers that are on the CD are older than the latest ones available as a download from the component maker's web-site. You may even run into a driver CD that does not include a compatible driver for Windows XP, although by now Windows XP has been out long enough that I would hope all retail packages in the consumer pipeline would have had time to have a Windows XP compatible driver. But one of the superior qualities of building your own computer is knowing that it has the latest drivers for everything. So for each driver, I'll be describing how I went to the manufacturer's web-site to get the latest copy.

A second way to get software drivers is to download the drivers directly to the computer. That's why the next step is the installation of the modem. Even so, you'll have to use one of the other options for things that are needed before the modem is installed, like the modem driver itself.

A third way is to download them on another computer, burn them to a CD on that computer, bring the CD over to the new computer and then copy them onto the new computer. This works fine, but assumes you have access to a CD drive on another computer that can burn CD's.

A variation of the third way is to use floppy disks instead of CD's. Since every computer (pretty much) has a floppy drive in it, all you need is a computer with internet access. The inconvenient part is that a floppy only holds 1.44MB and most software drivers are bigger than this. I describe on the next page the process for copying from one computer to another files that are too big to fit on one floppy disk using multiple floppy disks.

Another variation of the third way is to use a portable mass media device, such as a USB thumb drive like the one shown on the left, or an IDE hard drive placed inside an external hard drive enclosure that connects to the computer using either IEEE 1394 firewire or USB, like the one shown on the right. Either will be recognized and function properly at this point in the PC assembly.

Whichever way you decide to get the software drivers you need, be sure and have GoBack installed in case you need it.

Next: Computer Assembly - How To Copy Big Files From Another Computer Using Just a Floppy Drive

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How To Build A Computer. Step By Step Instructions To Assemble. Skip To Any Assembly Step.

	Parts List [go]
	Tools [go]
	Antistatic Wrist Strap [go]
	Computer Case and Power Supply [go]
	Motherboard [go]
	Processor, CPU Cooler and Thermal Compound [go]
	RAM - System Memory [go]
	Video Card [go]
	Monitor [go]
	Keyboard and Mouse [go]
	Floppy Drive [go]
	Hard Drive [go]
	CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD RW [go]
	Sound Card and Speakers [go]
	Modem [go]
	Install the Processor onto the Motherboard [go]
	Install the CPU Cooler [go]
	Install the RAM - System Memory [go]
	Install the Motherboard into the Computer Case [go]
	Install the Video Card [go]
	Connect the Power Supply to the Motherboard [20-pin Connector  or  24-pin Connector]
	Connect the PN1 and PN2 Indicators to the Motherboard [KS-282 to EPoX 8RDA+  or  Sonata to MSI K8N Neo Platinum]
	Ready the Monitor [go]
	Ready the Keyboard and Mouse [go]
	First Boot [go]
	First Boot Common Problems [go]
	Install the CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD RW Drives [go]
	Install the Hard Drive and Floppy Drive [PATA Hard Drive  or  SATA Hard Drive]
	Connect the Speakers (if using built-in sound) [go]
	Second Boot [PATA  or  SATA]
	Configure the BIOS Parameter Settings [EPoX 8RDA+  or  MSI K8N Neo Platinum]
	Test The Hard Drive [PATA  or  SATA]
	Install a Second SATA Hard Drive For RAID (optional) [go]
	Install the Operating System - Windows XP [on PATA hard drive  or  on SATA hard drive]
	Driver Installation [go]
	How To Copy Big Files From Another Computer Using Just a Floppy Drive [go]
	Install the Modem [go]
	Install the Motherboard Chipset Drivers [EPoX 8RDA+  or  MSI K8N Neo Platinum]
	Install the Monitor Driver [go]
	Install the Video Card Drivers [EPoX 8RDA+  or  MSI K8N Neo Platinum]
	Install the Sound Card and Speakers [go]
	Install System Information Utility - EVEREST [go]
	Diagnostic Test - DirectX [go]
	Speed Test - System Memory (RAM) Performance [go]
	Speed Test - Hard Drive Performance [PATA and SATA results]
	Speed Test - CD Performance [go]
	Speed Test - Total System Performance [go]
	Stress/Torture Tests [go]
	Connect Front Panel Ports For Audio, Firewire and USB 2.0 [go]
	Install Rear Panel Ports For Firewire And USB 2.0 [go]
	Install The Computer Case Fans [go]
	Post Assembly Needs [go]
	Graduation [go]
	Video Card Driver Settings [go]
	BIOS Flash Update [go]
	BIOS Settings [go]

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