Recent Classnotes # 1 Windows XP March 10, 2004 Windows has existed as two distinct series of products: family and Windows NT family, until the release of Windows XP. Windows XP is an upgrade for both the Windows 9x and Windows NT line of products. Windows XP offers three editions: • Windows XP home edition: Replaces the Windows 9x product line and is intended for home or small business users. • Windows XP professional edition: Replaces the Windows NT product line and is intended for business and advanced home users. • Windows XP 64-bit edition: Intended for advanced workstations using the new Intel Itanium 64-bit processor.

New and improved features in Windows XP: • Files and settings transfer wizard • Better multi-user capabilities • New media capabilities • CD burning • Compressed folders • Better help and support • New internet tools • System restore • Remote desktop

Minimum requirements: • Intel Pentium / Celeron or AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family with 233MHz min. • 64Mb supported with limited features, recommended 128MB • Hard drive space 2.0GB + • Super VGA, Minimum resolution = 800 X 600

There are three ways to install Windows XP: • Upgrade: Upgrade a previous version of Windows, retaining setup and files • New Installation: Install over existing Windows or install another OS on another hard drive. • Clean Installation: Install into a newly formatted hard drive.

Windows XP Upgrade Advisor Windows XP comes with an upgrade advisor. Upgrade advisor is a tool used to scan your system for compatibility issues during the actual installation of Windows XP. Once the scanning process is complete, the upgrade advisor displays any findings in an upgrade report. There are three possible upgrade issues: • Blocking issues that will prevent the installation of Windows XP • Hardware that may need additional files during or after an upgrade • Software that does not support Windows XP

1 The upgrade advisor is not included in the Windows XP home addition. However, you can download the application from the following web site: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp

Use the following steps to run the upgrade advisor: 1. Insert the Windows XP Professional CD and run the setup.exe program. If you downloaded the upgrade advisor, run that instead and go to step four. 2. On the welcome screen, click the check system compatibility link 3. Click the check my system automatically link. 4. The windows upgrade advisor scans your hardware and software for compatibility issues and displays a report. 5. If any compatibility issues are listed, click the Full Details button to see a full report that discusses both the consequences of the incompatibility and any recommendation solutions. 6. You can save or print the report by clicking on those actions within the dialog box. 7. Click the finish button to close the Windows Upgrade Advisor.

Using the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard The wizard provides a simple interface for transferring selected files and settings from one Windows installation to another installation running Windows XP. All settings are upgraded during the installation and the files on your computer are left in place if you are installing the Windows XP upgrade. To save information from an operating system using the “Files and Settings Transfer Wizard”, use the following steps: 1. Insert the Windows XP CD and run setup.exe 2. On the Windows XP splash screen, select the Perform Additional Tasks Link. 3. Then select the Transfer files and settings link. 4. Click next to proceed past the welcome page of the wizard 5. Select the old computer option and click next. 6. Next, the wizard displays the “Select Transfer Method” page. Click the option that best suits your needs: In our case we will select a folder on the hard drive. Click next when finished. 7. The next page of the wizard lets you specify the information you want to transfer to the new computer. Click the appropriate option to transfer settings only, files only, or both settings and files. The list box to the right of the options changes to display the files affected by your selection. 8. Click next when done. The wizard may next display a list of suggestions for software you may need to install on the new computer. 9. The wizard begins to collect the information to be saved and displays its progress as it saves the files and settings. When it is done, a summary page is displayed. Click finish to close the wizard.

After collecting the information from your old computer, the next step is to apply that information to the new computer. Use the following steps on the new computer: 1. Choose start, all programs, accessories, system tools, files and settings transfer wizard.

2 2. Click next to proceed past the welcome page of the wizard. 3. The wizard asks you to identify the computer. Select the new computer option and click next. 4. Click the “I don’t need the wizard disk option and then click next. 5. The wizard asks where it can find the information saved from the old computer. Select the hard drive folder where it was previously saved. Click next. 6. The wizard begins to apply the files and settings on your new computer. When done, it displays a dialog asking you to log off. Click Yes to log off. 7. Log back into Windows XP and the applied settings and files will be available.

Upgrading to Windows XP When upgrading, the setup program uses the settings from the existing version of Windows. Upgrading results in the following: • Current system files are retained if Windows XP is uninstalled. • Most hardware settings are retained. • There is no need to reinstall applications.

The process to upgrade to Windows XP is as follows: 1. Insert the windows XP installation CD and run the setup.exe program 2. Click the install Windows XP link. 3. On the installation type drop-down list, select upgrade. 4. Read the license agreement and to continue accept the agreement and click next. 5. Enter the 25 digit product key and click next. 6. Setup displays the upgrade report screen. Click next to go on. 7. Setup offers to download updated setup files from the Microsoft web site. Click next when ready. 8. Setup will display incompatible hardware or software if detected. Click next when ready. 9. At this point, setup copies files from the CD, reboots your computer, etc.

New Installation of Windows XP Windows XP is installed over your existing version of Windows without retaining any of your application or system settings. The installation retains the existing folder and file structure on your hard drive but all applications will have to be reinstalled. Also, the Windows registry database is replaced by the Windows XP version. Any documents that you created are left intact (no changes made). The new installation method allows you to dual boot between your previous operating system and Windows XP. The process for a new installation of Windows XP is: 1. Insert the Windows XP CD and sun setup.exe program 2. Click the install Windows XP link. 3. On the installation drop-down list, select New Installation and click next. 4. Read license agreement and accept to continue. 5. Enter the product key and click next. 6. Windows setup displays a setup option page. You can set up three types of options: Advanced options, accessibility options, and language settings.

3 7. Next, setup offers to download setup files over the internet. You can also download later. Click next. 8. Setup now copies files from the CD, reboots your computer, etc.

Clean Installation of Windows XP A clean installation is where you boot your computer using the Windows XP CD and install Windows XP on a blank, formatted hard-disk partition. Setup allows you to also to partition and/or format your hard drive. If your computer does not support booting from a CD, you can download files to create a disk image on a floppy. Go to http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q310994. A clean installation is the best method of installing an operating system since upgrading brings along previous files and system settings that might not be desirable. For example: baggage can include files and registry entries left behind from uninstall application, applications that are still installed but forgotten, system settings that are less than optimal, temporary files scattered all over the place, and so on. A clean install is a chance to wipe everything out and start over from scratch. This will result in a more stable and better organized system. To perform a clean installation of Windows XP, use the following steps: 1. Boot your computer with the Windows XP CD or floppy disk. 2. During the initial phase, Windows scans your system for any hard drives that match its list of supported software drivers. If you need to install drivers for Windows to recognize your drive, press F6. 3. After scanning, a welcome screen appears. Press enter to continue. 4. Read the license agreement and press F8 to continue 5. The partitioning screen is displayed next. You have three options: • Setup Windows in the partition that is currently selected. • Create a new partition in un-partitioned space. • Delete a partition 6. You can also format a partition using NTFS or FAT32 file systems. If the selected partition has already been format, you are offered a quick version of each of these format options. A full format is preferable since it includes a full disk scan during the format process. 7. Windows will start to copy files and reboot afterwards. 8. Setup continues with configuring Regional and language options. Click next 9. Enter your name and organization name. Click next 10. Enter the 25 digit product key and click next. 11. Enter a name for the computer. The computer name is used to identify the computer on a network. 12. System date and time is next. Click next when finish setting date and time. 13. Setup displays networks settings dialog box with two options: Typical settings and Custom settings. 14. Setup the computer to be a member of a workgroup or Windows domain. 15. Setup finalizes the installation and restarts your computer. You are now ready to start using Windows XP.

4 Uninstalling Windows XP Should you decide to uninstall Windows XP and revert back to a previously installed operating system, then follow these steps: 1. Click start and open the control panel 2. Click the “Add or Remove” program icons. 3. The “Add or Remove” program window appears, displaying a list of programs installed on your computer. Select the Windows XP un-install entry and click the change/remove button. This opens the Uninstall Windows XP dialog box. 4. Select the Uninstall Windows XP option and click continue. 5. A dialog box appears to confirm your choice. Click Yes. 6. Windows runs the un-installation program and restarts using the previous operating system.

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