This is basically what I have found to be the best procedure for me personally...
WINDOWS XP INSTALLATION GUIDE
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Before I begin let me just say when installing Windows there are many paths to
the one destination of a stable system. The method I indicate below is by no
means the only correct method for installing Windows. It is simply a tried and
true method I have repeated over and over with full success on these
motherboards. If some of you have another method that works for you then by all
means stick with what you prefer. Just be sure to at least observe the following
1. Install Service Pack 1a soon after OS is installed.
2. Install chipset drivers before any video or sound drivers
3. Install DirectX9.0 before video drivers
4. Do not use the USB drivers from the Asus CD
5. Update USB driver through the control panel letting Windows auto find the
drivers. But only after Service Pack 1a and Intel drivers are installed
Installation Order for Software on an Asus Motherboard with Intel Chipset
Quick Steps
1. Install the Operating System
2. Install Universal Plug and Play Service
3. Install any other desired Windows Services (IIS,FAX, etc.)
4. Install Windows XP Service Pack 1a Full Network Install Link
5. Install Intel INF drivers (latest version here Link .) Choose the non zipped
download.
6. Auto update your USB drivers from the device manager.
7. For HT Enabled CPU owners: Install IAA Link
8. Install DirectX 9.0 if desired Link
9. Install your LAN drivers if not provided by Windows
10. Go online and get all (non driver) Windows Updates
11. Get the latest security patched Windows Messenger Link
12. Install drivers for any PCI cards other than sound card, video card, and TV
Tuner card.
13. Install drivers for video card ATI nVidia
14. Install sound card drivers
15. Install TV Tuner card drivers.
16. Install any LAN Utility software for your NIC
17. Perform a registry clean
NOTE: Because of when you want to install LAN driver, it might be advisable to
download items from steps 1-8 ahead of time. Burn them to CDR so you have them
on hand as you begin the installation
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Step-By-Step Procedure
Preparation NOTES:
1. For a variety of reasons its probably best to use a PS/2 keyboard and mouse
until everything is properly installed and set up. If this is not possible, be
sure to set “USB Legacy Support” to Enabled in the BIOS
2. If you do not plan to use USB keyboards and mice, set “USB Legacy Support” to
Disabled
3. If you plan to use the power management state called “Suspend To RAM” it’s
advisable to enable this feature in the BIOS before you install Windows.
4. Set the primary video adapter to match your system in BIOS. If all you have
is an AGP card, for example, set as AGP.
5. Set your “PCI Latency Timer” to 64
6. Set “Boot Virus Protection” to Disabled. You can enable it later if you like,
but this setting can cause problems with some installations and Virus Scanning
software
7. Go into the power section of your BIOS and if any fan RPM is in red, set to
“ignore”
8. For Windows NT/2000/XP be sure “Plug and Play OS” is set to “disabled/No” in
BIOS
9. Set “Speech POST Reporter” to Disabled It’s known for giving erroneous
information.
10. Set your boot order as Floppy - CD/DVD – Hard drive or controller where OS
will be located. If you plan to use a combination of RAID and non RAID disks,
ask for help in the forum in setting up your boot order
11. Make sure the disk(s) you are going to use are data free and have NO
PARTITIONS on them
12. From your current computer or another computer log onto this website. Go up
to the Quick Steps Section of the Guide above. Download the software from the
links in steps 1 through 8. Find a blank CDR and burn these files to the disk so
that you are prepared for the installation.
13. Get your copy of Windows, the sticker with its product key, and a blank
floppy disk and have them available
14. If you plan to use RAID, you must set up the RAID array in the RAID BIOS
before beginning installation of Windows. If you are unfamiliar with this
process, ask for help in the forum.
15. Finally, make sure you do not have any peripherals or network cables plugged
in. These can interfere with the proper installation of Windows as outlined
below. For now just have the monitor, mouse, and keyboard plugged in. Nothing
else.
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Windows XP Step By Step Guide (cont'd)
Let’s Proceed
1. Put a blank floppy in your computer and power up. Booting will stop when it
reaches the blank floppy. Now place the Windows XP CD ROM in the CD/DVD drive.
Now remove the blank floppy then press Control/Alt/Delete to reboot the system.
2. Upon reboot the system will find and boot the Windows XP CDROM. (If you are
using RAID, then as soon as you see the first signs of the XP setup blue screen,
IMMEDIATELY press F6. If not using RAID ignore pressing F6)
3. If using RAID you will be prompted to insert the Floppy disk containing your
XP Compatible RAID drivers. Follow the onscreen instructions.
4. You will be brought to a License Agreement screen. A few steps later you will
be brought to a Screen that shows your hard drives and their sizes. It is from
HERE that you may set up (or delete) partitions. With Windows XP, this is the
proper place to partition your drives. If you plan on using NTFS for the OS
partition, its important that you partition your drives here and not earlier
with any DOS based utilities.
5. Once the drives are partitioned, highlight the partition to which you wish to
install Windows, then press Enter and follow the onscreen instructions
6. From there, go grab a sandwich or soda while Windows formats the OS partition
and installs Windows. Follow any onscreen prompts as best you can.
7. (For RAID users: You may get one or two warnings in a tan colored box
indicating you have a device or driver that is not approved for Windows XP. The
choices should be Yes/Continue or No/Cancel/Don’t Continue. Please choose
Yes/Continue for all tan colored box prompts.)
8. Once the automated procedures are complete, you will be at the Windows
Desktop.
9. Click Start Button. Then right click on My Computer and choose “Properties”.
Then click the “Hardware Tab” and then the “Device Manager” button. Double click
on "IDE ATA/ATAPI Devices" to expand the tree. Click on “Secondary IDE Channel”
and then click the “Advanced Settings” tab. From the available drop down boxes
choose “DMA if Available” for both devices. Then click OK to save and exit.
Repeat these steps for “Primary IDE Channel” Once done, save and return to the
desktop.
10. Click on Start Button, then Control Panel, and then click Internet Options.
Click the “Connections” tab, then click the “LAN Settings” tab. Make sure that
none of the boxes have check marks in them. If they do, remove them. Save and
exit back to the desktop.
The only exception to this is if you connect directly to a broadband modem, and
are instructed by your ISP to leave proxy settings enabled. If you use a router
or other gateway, and for most ISP, you want the check boxes mentioned above to
be empty.
11. At any point in this process feel free to Activate Windows XP from the icon
in the System tray.
12. Click on the Windows Messenger Icon in the System Tray to open Messenger.
When prompted to start entering Passport information, cancel out of that screen.
With the remaining Messenger Window, click on the word “Tools”. Then click on
“Options” and then click the “Preferences” tab. On that page remove the check
box from the setting called “Run this Program When Windows Starts.” Save and
exit back to the desktop. You can now close the Windows Mesenger Program
13. Now go to Start Button, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer
Management. From the windowed area on the left of the screen click on “Disk
Management.” On the right you will see a graphic of your hard drives and your
partitions. During Windows Installation, only the OS partition was formatted. So
from the graphic, put your mouse on any unformatted partitions. Then right click
on that partition and choose “Format.”
From the Dialog box you can choose drive letter, partition name, and allocation
unit size. Set them as you wish. One word of caution. DO NOT change the
partition letter or name for the partition that contains the Operating System.
This can have unintended consequences.
14. Now go to Start Button, Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs. Click on the
button called “Add / Remove Windows Components.” Double click on “Networking
Services” and when the next window pops up, place a check mark in the option
called “Universal Plug and Play.” Click OK. Then click the “Next” button and
follow any onscreen instructions. While you are still in the Windows Components
section of Add/Remove programs, feel free to add any other services you choose.
Some services may require you to put your Windows CD back in the drive. If so,
just follow the onscreen instructions. Once you are finished, save all settings
and return to the desktop.
NOTE: Universal Plug and play is actually more of a “networking Plug and Play”
It is a function that is used by Windows XP Messenger, Microsoft .NET Framework,
Direct X, and MS Direct Play Gaming. This service is not imperative, but may be
useful to many people. This is the proper time to install it so that Service
Pack 1 will later adjust the configuration properly. If you decide you do not
want it, you can uninstall it after Service Pack 1 for XP is installed.
15. Now, find the CDR you made that has the files you downloaded earlier. Put
that disk in one of your drives and copy the files to a new folder you create on
your C:\ drive.
16. Once the files are copied, remove the disk. We are now ready to install
Windows XP Service pack 1a. Ensure there are no disks remaining in your CD/DVD
drive
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17. Go to where you put the downloaded files on the C:\ drive. Find the file for
Windows XP SP1a. Click on it to begin setup. At some point it will ask you if
you want a backup copy of your files made. SP1a is pretty much bug free, and a
backup copy of your original files takes up a lot of unneeded hard drive space.
So my recommendation would be to choose “No” to making a backup. Follow all
onscreen instructions including when your are told to reboot.
18. When you get back to the desktop, click Start Button. Right click on My
Computer and choose “Properties.” Click the “Remote” tab and then clear all
check boxes you see on that page. The remote call services have a way of acting
up and its best to disable them before installing software and drivers. If you
ever want to use Remote Assistance later, you can enable it on a per use bases.
Once you have cleared the check boxes, click the “Apply" button
19. Now while still in System Properties, click the tab called “Automatic
Updates.” Service pack 1 installs some new features for this tab. Review what
you see on the screen and set things up to your liking. Again click the “Apply"
button. Close everything out and return to the desktop.
20. Again using “My Computer” navigate to the saved files you coped from CDR.
Find the Intel Chipset Configuration Utility (also known as your INF drivers).
Click the application's "exe" file and let the drivers install themselves. Once
complete, reboot as instructed.
21. Now is when we want to update the USB drivers so that they are properly
installed for USB2.0 functionality. To do this, click Start Button, then right
click My Computer and choose Properties. Click the “Hardware” tab, then click
the “Device Manager” button. On the tree in the Device Manager you should see a
device with a yellow question mark over it called either “USB Controller”,
“Serial Device”, or something of similar wording.
Right click that device and choose “Update Driver.” Make sure the “dot” is in
the box called “Install the Software Automatically” – then click the “Next”
button. Windows will find the proper USB2.0 drivers and stack from Service Pack
1a and install them properly. Once the process is finished, you may be prompted
to reboot the computer. IF NOT, REBOOT NOW ANYWAY.
22. This next step is for people with a HT Enabled CPU. (Hyperthreading) Current
word from the gurus online is that for full functionality of HT you need to
install the Intel Application Accelerator Software. I am a bit skeptical of
needing to do this, but since I do not have an HT enabled CPU to run tests with,
it may be better to be safe than sorry. So for now, if you have an HT enabled
CPU, you might want to go ahead and install IAA.
23. For people without HT enabled CPUs: Since there is little to no benefit to
IAA software under Windows XP, and since I have seen IAA software interfere with
CD burning and Power Management; I recommend not installing it. This is just my
personal preference. Some people in the forum like IAA. In the end do whatever
you are most comfortable with.
24. If you are someone to wants to install DirectX 9.0, now is a good time to do
so. Find where you saved the file from your CDR and run the application
following all onscreen instructions. Reboot when instructed.
25. (If you did install DX9 and you are an ATI video card user, this next step
is for you folks. Wait until you have rebooted back to the desktop and DX9 is
installed before doing this next part. Click the Start Button and then click
“run.” In the open dialog box, type in exactly as follows including spaces
dxdiag [/whqlff] **Note there is a space between dxdiag and the whql off
bracket. Also note that the smiley face is actually a colon : followed directly
by the letter o In these forums a colon then an o creates a smiley. )
26. Now is the time you want to install your LAN drivers. Depending on your
motherboard and whether you are using a PCI NIC or onboard NIC, Windows may or
may not have drivers installed already. If you are using onboard LAN, go get
your Asus CDROM, put it in and install the LAN drivers ONLY. Do not install any
LAN Utility software if possible. Follow all instructions rebooting if required.
27. Now plug in your network cable and open Internet explorer to see if you can
get online. If you have any troubles getting online ask for help in the forum.
28. Go to Windows Update and install all available “non driver” updates. If some
updates need to be installed by themselves, the site will prompt you. If this
happens you will want to return to Windows Update after rebooting to get the
remainder of any “non driver” updates.
29. Once all “non driver” Windows Updates are installed, continue to the next
step.
30. Once back at the desktop, open Internet Explorer and come here to
www.asusboards.com Once at Asusboards, come into the forum and find this Guide
and scroll down to step 31. Also be sure to bookmark Asusboards so you can find
your way back easily. The reason for doing this is, in the steps ahead you may
be asked to click on some links here in the Guide. This will save you time from
hunting links down yourself.
31. Click on the following link to install the latest security patched version
of Windows XP Messenger. Even if you have no plans on using this application, it
is wise to at least be sure it’s patched. Click the following link. Link And on
the webpage, click the “Download” button. Then just follow the onscreen
instructions. Once Messenger is updated, again enter Messenger and verify that
it is NOT set to run when Windows starts up. Once that’s all done, FIRST close
all Internet Explorer windows, then close and disable Messenger. Due to an MS
bug if you don’t do it in this order you might get an error message.
32. Now is when you want to update the drivers for any PCI cards you have OTHER
THAN your video card, sound card, and TV Tuner card. Video, sound, and any
device that relies on video and sound should have their drivers installed last.
Try whenever possible to use WHQL certified drivers for best compatibility and system stability.
33. Now you want to install your video card drivers. Here are the links to get
the latest drivers for your video card - ATI.com & nVidia.com -
Once downloaded install the drivers following all onscreen directions.
34. (For ATI card owners: When you go to the link above, be sure to download
both the latest ATI Drivers and the Control Panel. Then use the following method
for installing the drivers. Install the ATI driver. DO NOT REBOOT. Install the
ATI Control Panel. DO NOT REBOOT. Go into the Administrative tools of the
Windows Control Panel and then go into "Services." Make sure the ATI Smart
Service is set to run "automatically.” NOW reboot.)
35. nVidia drivers install pretty much straightforwardly.
36. Once the video drivers and software are installed and you are back at the
desktop, go ahead and install your Sound Card drivers.
37. Now install any TV Tuner card drivers if you have such a device.
38. Once everything is complete, see if you can find $40-60 in your piggy bank.
Head over to Walmart or CompUsa and grab a copy of Norton Utilities. You’re not
going to want to install it, just run a utility from the disk.
Once you have this in hand; pop the disk in the CD drive and choose to "Launch
Utilities from CD" Then choose Norton Windoctor and run the application. It
should return a minimum of 17 to 30 errors. These are bugs / coding problems
with Windows and actually is the lowest count for any MS OS so far. Therefore
actually 17 to 30 errors isn’t bad for Microsoft...LOL.
Once the application is done running, choose the button called "Repair All" Let
it do its thing and then exit the program and reboot the computer.
**This application itself is worth the full price of the Norton software. You’d
be amazed how many problems with your computer it automatically fixes. It is a
great stability tool. There are also lots of other good registry cleaning
software packages out there. If you want to use another brand, be sure to read
reviews and ask forum members what they recommend.
38. You’re done CONGRATULATIONS! Enjoy your new system
39. Also something I forgot to mention is to defrag your Hard drive or drives when done because I have found my drives to be as much as 30% defragmented when done installing a OS...
PS: If you are confused by anything I have put down here please let me know & I will go into more detail with you about the item you are confused about if you like...
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SIMPLY AWESOME!!
Anyway, long and the short of it is that I did that, and followed the tech support person's instructions to reinstall OS & Drivers. By the way, I don't recall the exact details of the reinstall (did that 2 days before I had ACL reconstruction surgery and so a great deal has been a blur!!), but I think I recall that the person had me install the chipset drivers...
