The steps of installing an operating system?

Answer 1

Answer: This article describes a method to install Windows XP. Before starting, ensure the following: * Have your original Windows XP CD and its product key handy. * Some PCs also come with a second CD that contains various drivers that must be installed after Windows XP has been re-installed. Have this CD handy as well. * Do not connect any peripheral devices (i.e.: printers, webcams, external hard drives, flash drives, etc.) to your PC except for the monitor, mouse and keyboard. The installation process: * Insert the original (not a copy) Windows XP CD into a CD or CD/DVD drive. Within seconds, a menu entitled "Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP" will be displayed. * At this point, simply Restart your PC with the CD still inside the drive and continuously depress the F8 key. * By doing this, a DOS menu will be displayed before Windows XP can be displayed. The DOS menu will provide you with 3 options, namely, (1) Boot from Floppy; (2) Boot from Hard disk and (3) Boot from CD ROM. * At this point, your mouse has been deactivated; therefore, using your keyboard, and in particular, the downward pointing arrow key, move the arrow down to "Boot from CD ROM" and select the "Accept" option. * Keep your eyes glued towards the bottom of your screen. As soon as you see the message "Press any key to boot from CD", immediately depress the Space bar to continue. Note: As I describe the remaining steps, you will occasionally see the message "Press any key to boot from CD" again; however, do not, under any circumstances, depress the Space bar again. In addition, keep the Windows XP CD in the drive until the process of installing Windows XP has been completed. * A system function called "Setup" will now inspect your computer hardware and configuration. * Setup now prepares your computer for the re-installation of Windows XP. * From this menu select "ENTER" to continue. * The system will display a License agreement. Read it, and if you agree, press "F8" to continue; otherwise, press "ESC" if you disagree. * The next step is to delete the partition that your current Windows XP is residing on. Press "D" to delete the selected partition. * Then press "ENTER" if you are sure you want the partition deleted. * Now is your final chance: Press "L" to confirm deletion of the partition. * Now you have to select where to re-install Windows XP. Press "ENTER" to confirm the partition that you want to re-install onto. * Now you need to format the hard drive and NTFS is recommended; however, you can also use FAT32. Make your decision using the arrow keys and press enter. If you are given the choice between a "Quick" format versus a "Full" format, select the "Full" format. Although the "Full" format takes considerably longer to complete, it scans the hard disk for bad sectors and if possible, repairs them. If you choose the Quick format option, the system does not scan the disk for bad sectors. Only use this option if your hard disk has been previously formatted and you are sure that your hard disk is not damaged. * The hard drive will now start to format and if you've selected the "Full" format option, the formatting process can take up to two hours depending on the capacity of the hard disk being formatted as well as the speed of your PC's CPU. * Once formatting has been completed, "Setup" will begin to copy files, which on average, takes approximately 15 minutes. * Setup now initializes the Windows XP configuration. * At some point, you will be prompted to restart Windows XP by pressing "ENTER"; otherwise, Windows will do it itself in 15 seconds. * The system re-boot will recognize that the XP CD is in the drive; do not press any keys; let setup bypass the CD boot. * Windows is now booting. * At this point, the hard disk has been completely formatted and the system starts the process of re-installing Windows XP. The entire process can range between 20 minutes to an hour depending on CPU speed. * At various points during the re-installation process, you will be prompted to enter some information. The system re-activates your mouse each time that it prompts you for information. The information required is general in nature and should not pose any problems for you. * When Windows XP has been installed, you will be prompted to restart Windows XP again. Press "ENTER" to speed up process; otherwise Windows will do it itself in 15 seconds. * The system re-boot will recognize that the XP CD is in the drive; do not press any keys; let setup bypass the CD boot. * Windows will continue loading. * Windows will now adjust your resolution. Click "OK" to continue. * If you are happy with the changes, click "OK"; otherwise, click "Cancel" to return to the old settings. * "Welcome to Microsoft Windows" is now displayed. Click on "Next" to continue. * The remaining prompts will be for information of a general nature and should not cause you any problems. Once you see the familiar "Windows XP" desktop screen, remove the Windows XP CD from its drive. Although Windows XP has successfully been installed, you may have to install various "Driver" programs that are on the second CD that I described at the outset of this article.

Answer 2

1. buy the software
2. put the disc in
3. click "install mac OS x'
4. follow the onscreen instructions
5. that's it.

Answer 3

Depends completely on the operating system in question. Normally the procedure is to insert the installation media, reboot the machine and follow the on-screen instructions