Install Windows (or other Operating System) yourself

Every personal computer will, at some point, need the hard drive replaced; they're mechanical, and mechanical things wear out. You may also want to simply replace your existing drive with a larger one, or a solid-state drive; or you may want to upgrade to a different operating system. This instructable will show you how you can do it yourself. It's not difficult, it's not dangerous, and it's a lot less expensive than paying a professional (like me!) to do it for you.

Step 1 Gather Materials

Before you start, you will need certain materials:

1. A computer (seems obvious but still...) which needs an OS.
a. Knowledge about your computer's hardware (see points 3 and 4 below).
b. A bootable CD or DVD drive, or bootable USB port.
2. A boot CD or DVD (or bootable USB thumbstick) of your chosen OS.
3. Drivers for all your hardware. This is especially critical for RAID arrays; if your OS does not "see" the RAID array without a driver, you can't install the OS on the RAID array.
4. Drivers for *ALL* your hardware. I can't emphasize this enough. In order of importance, you *MUST* have drivers for:
a. The motherboard chipset, if there is a special driver for it.
b. RAID card or other drive controller card. Some motherboards will have this built-in.
c. Network adapter.
d. Sound card.
e. Video card.
5. A good anti-virus package (yes, even for Linux and Mac). I personally recommend http://avast.com/eng/programs.htmlAvast or http://free.avg.com/download-avg-anti-virus-free-editionAVG for Windows users. Both are free for non-commercial use. Avast also makes Linux and Mac editions.
6. A suitable archiver. for Windows, you should consider 7-Zip or AlZip (and RARzilla for later). Linux and OSX will include gzip. You'll want unrar and unzip later, but they aren't critical now.

Point 1a is the most critical here; failure to identify your hardware will definitely cause issues, ranging from some things not performing well, to complete failure to install the OS, leaving you with a very expensive doorstop.

Drivers, anti-virus, and archiver(s) should be burned to a disk or disks also (and if they came in an archive package, such as ZIP files, you need to unzip them on the disk(s)).

Comments

[lemonie]

This doesn't really tell you how to do the job, more what the steps are.

e.g. "Now format and partition your hard drive-"
Nothing in the way of how.

Since OS tend to make these steps easy (don't they?) what are you providing as a professional that we couldn't manage to work out for ourselves?

L

[MairseyDotes]

What I am providing as a professional is my time. It's the most valuable thing in the universe, because you only get a fixed amount, you can never get any more, and you don't know for sure how much you have left. When I do an OS install, if you bring me the computer and all the necessary disks, CD keys, etc. it costs you a flat $100. If I have to go look stuff up and download it for you, it costs you $100 for the work plus $120 per hour (at a 1-hour minimum) spent obtaining all the drivers and so forth (plus the cost of the OS if you don't bring your own). This instructable is meant to take the fear out of the OS install process. "It's not difficult, it's not dangerous," and as you say, it's pretty easy if you just pay attention to what the screen says as you proceed. And yes, it might be good to make a different instructable for each OS. Do you have the time? Right now, I don't.

[lemonie]

I didn't think there was enough detail in this that I think it was worth your time. Although I do accept that a professional guide may have taken up too much of it. In what sense are you a professional - qualified? L

[MairseyDotes]

I maintain a stable of desktop and laptop computers around the world for my employer (and I am also part-owner). I also freelance evenings and weekends. I've had (far too) many hours of training, and years of hands-on experience (including a few years working at Intel's Network Products Division in the performance testing lab).

[lemonie]

The performance testing lab sounds like fun - but was it? L

[MairseyDotes]

My first 6 weeks there, I had to be able to show that Intel's network cards were "better" than the competition, and it had to be on a graphical application running over the network, where any data dropouts or delays would be obvious. So essentially I got paid to play Duke Nukem 40hrs/week for 6 weeks. Nice work if you can get it.

[lemonie]

Yep - it could have been dull has hell, but you got lucky! Were Intel's network cards any better? And did you manage to give 'em the stats to prove that they were?

L

[MairseyDotes]

They were, and I did. Using Intel's cards, I got smooth, steady play. The competition had "glitches," which were visible, and what's worse, which interfered with game play (take aim at an alien, shoot - oh, wait, the screen froze for part of a second, my target moved!). Partly, that was software, and partly hardware, but the bottom line was, I proved that "our" cards were superior for error-free data transfer.

[lemonie]

Oh Good! L

[NachoMahma]

. I think it's a pretty good iBle. More of an overview than a How To, but it would be rather difficult to go into detail for three OSs in one iBle (I like gmjhowe's idea of three detailed iBles). It should make a good starting point for users who aren't complete noobs or just want a standard install. . I've done a lot of "professional computer work" over the years (repair, programming, sales). Since I retired, my fee is usually paid with cakes, fried chicken, brownies, &c. :) Unless the computer is a "big brand" make that I can easily get the drivers off the 'Net (eg, Dell*), I won't touch them for any price without the install CDs. *Dell computers aren't perfect, but it sure is nice to be able to type in the serial number and get a list of all the drivers you need.

[gmjhowe]

The basic knowledge is here, but i suggest seperating this into three ibles. One for each OS. Each with more of a 'how to' like lemonie suggested. Also, maybe it would be wore adding some screen shots as you have installed each one to give people a better idea.