Chapter 16. Operating System Installation

In this chapter

• Preparing to Install an Operating System

• Determining Installation Options

• Installing Windows 9x/Me

• Installing Windows NT 4.0

• Installing Windows 2000 Professional or XP

• Installing Windows 2000 or XP from a Disk Image and Updating the SID

• Installing Windows from a Recovery CD

• Restoring User Data Files

• Troubleshooting Your Installation

A computer without an operating system is useless. Consequently, it should be no surprise that a big part of the A+ Certification Exam concerns the process of installing operating systems. The process of preparing for an operating system installation includes

• Verifying that your system has sufficient performance and free disk space for the installation

• Verifying that you have drivers for the devices and peripherals you want to use with the operating system

• Preparing the appropriate startup disks (when required) to prepare the hard disk and start the installation

• Determining the location of the operating system if you are installing the new operating system as a dual-boot configuration that will enable you to run either the old or new operating systems