pc health check: November 2008

How to formate the ahrd disk and Insatll windows XP using windows XP setup programe. Here some steps are given below wich is help you to install windows XP.

Step 1: Partition the hard disk
a. Insert the Windows XP CD into your CD or DVD drive, or insert the first Windows XP Setup disk into the floppy disk drive, and then restart the computer to start the Windows XP Setup program.

Note If you are using the Windows XP Setup disks, insert each additional disk when you are prompted, and then press ENTER to continue after you insert each disk.
b. If you are prompted, select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD or DVD drive.
c. If your hard disk controller requires a third-party original equipment manufacturer (OEM) driver, press F6 to specify the driver.
d. At the Welcome to Setup page, press ENTER.

Note If you are using the Setup disks (six bootable disks), the setup prompts you to insert the Windows XP CD.
e. Press F8 to accept the Windows XP Licensing Agreement.
f. If an existing Windows XP installation is detected, you are prompted to repair it. To bypass the repair, press ESC.
g. All existing partitions and non-partitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard disk. Use the ARROW keys to select an existing partition, or create a new partition by selecting the non-partitioned space where you want to create a new partition. You can also press C to create a new partition using non-partitioned space.

Note If you want to create a partition where one or more partitions already exist, you must first delete the existing partition or partitions, and then create the new partition. You can press D to delete an existing partition, and then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this step for each existing partition that you want to include in the new partition. When all the partitions are deleted, select the remaining non-partitioned space, and then press C to create the new partition.
h. To create the partition with the maximum size, press ENTER. To specify the partition size, type the size in megabytes (MB) for the new partition, and then press ENTER.
i. If you want to create additional partitions, repeat steps g. and h.
j. To format the partition and install Windows XP, go to step 2.

If you do not want to install Windows XP, press F3 two times to exit the Windows Setup program, and then do not follow the remaining steps in this post

To format the partition without installing Windows XP, use a different utility.

Step 2: Format the hard disk and install Windows XP
a. Use the ARROW keys to select the partition where you want to install Windows XP, and then press ENTER.
b. Select the format option that you want to use to format the partition. You can select from the following options:
• Format the partition by using the NTFS file system (Quick)
• Format the partition by using the FAT file system (Quick)
• Format the partition by using the NTFS file system
• Format the partition by using the FAT file system
• Leave the current file system intact (no changes)
Notes
• If the selected partition is a new partition, the option to leave the current file system intact is not available.
• If the selected partition is larger than 32 gigabytes (GB), the FAT file system option is not available.
• If the selected partition is larger than 2 GB, the Windows Setup program uses the FAT32 file system (you must press ENTER to confirm).
• If the partition is smaller than 2 GB, the Windows Setup program uses the FAT16 file system.
• If you deleted and created a new System partition, but you are installing Windows XP on a different partition, you are prompted to select a file system for both the System and Startup partitions.
c. Press ENTER.
d. After the Windows Setup program formats the partition, follow the instructions that appear on the screen to install Windows XP. After the Windows Setup program is finished and you have restarted the computer, you can use the Disk Management tools in Windows XP to create or format more partitions.

Programs may have program fixes applied to them to help them run without issues in a Windows operating system. However, you may want to disable a program fix on computers in your organization.

How to disable a program fix

To disable a program fix, use a test computer to determine the registry keys to create. You can then use these registry keys to disable the fix on other computers. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Install Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0 on a test computer. To download the Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.0, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
https://connect.microsoft.com/site/sitehome.aspx?SiteID=81

2. Click Start, type compatibility, right-click Compatibility Administrator in the results list, and then click Run as Administrator.
3. In the Analyze pane, expand Applications, and then click a program.
4. In the details pane, right-click the program for which you want to disable the fix, and then click Disable Entry.

Note This action creates a registry entry in the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags
The name of the entry is the GUID that represents the program entry in the Appcompat database. The entry type is DWORD, and the entry has a value of 0x77.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for all the program fixes that you want to disable.
6. Export the newly created registry entries to a .reg file. Then, deploy the .reg file to production computers.

Program Compatibility Assistant warnings
When you try to perform a silent installation or an automated installation of a program, the Program Compatibility Assistant may display a warning. Additionally, it may stop the installation. To allow for the automated installation of a program, you may want to disable this Program Compatibility Assistant warning.

How to disable a Program Compatibility Assistant warning

To disable a Program Compatibility Assistant warning, use a test computer to determine the registry keys to create. You can then use these registry keys to disable the Program Compatibility Assistant warning on other computers. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Run the affected program on a test computer.
2. When you receive the Program Compatibility Assistant warning message, click to select the Don't show this message again check box.

Note This action creates a registry entry in the following registry subkey:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags
The name of the entry is the GUID that represents the program entry in the Appcompat database. The entry type is DWORD, and the entry has a value of 0x77.

Note The Program Compatibility Assistant warning appears only for a program that is not blocked from running.
3. Exit the program.
4. Note the registry entry that was created in step 3.
5. In the installation script, include steps to add the registry entry before the installation starts.

Before you begin to install Windows Vista, make sure that you have everything that you need for the installation. Make sure that your computer meets the minimum system requirements to install and run Windows Vista. Also, determine whether you must perform an upgrade or a clean installation of Windows Vista. Use the information in this section to help you make these determinations.

System requirements

The following list describes the recommended minimum hardware requirements for basic functionality of the different editions of Windows Vista. Actual hardware requirements vary, depending on system configuration and on the programs and the features that you install. If you install Windows Vista over a network, additional hard disk space may be required.

Windows Vista Home Basic

• 800-megahertz (MHz) 32-bit (x86) processor or 800-MHz 64-bit (x64) processor
• 512 megabytes (MB) of system memory

Note On system configurations that use system memory as graphics memory, at least 448 MB of system memory must be available to the operating system after some memory is allocated for graphics.
• DirectX 9-class graphics card
• 32 MB of graphics memory
• 20-gigabyte (GB) hard disk that has 15 GB of free hard disk space
• Internal or external DVD drive
• Internet access capability
• Audio output capability
Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business, Windows Vista Enterprise, and Windows Vista Ultimate

• 1-gigahertz (GHz) 32-bit (x86) processor or 1-GHz 64-bit (x64) processor
• 1 GB of system memory
• Windows Aero-capable graphics card

Note This includes a DirectX 9-class graphics card that supports the following:
• A WDDM driver
• Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
• 32 bits per pixel
• 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
• 40-GB hard disk that has 15 GB of free hard disk space (the 15GB of free space provides room for temporary file storage during the install or upgrade.)
• Internal or external DVD drive
• Internet access capability
• Audio output capability