Chapter 13: Installing and Upgrading Your OS

Labs you will perform in this chapter:

• Lab 13.1: Using FDISK and FORMAT

• Lab 13.2: Installing Windows 98

• Lab 13.3: Installing Windows 2000 Professional

• Lab 13.4: Installing Windows XP

Before any computer can be used, an operating system needs to be installed. And before the operating system can be installed, the hard drive needs to be prepared for use. If you decide to build your own computer or upgrade the hard drive, you will have to prepare the hard drive for use and then install the operating system. If you purchase a ready-to-use computer, you may want to reinstall the operating system for the experience you will gain. You will probably upgrade an operating system sometime in the life of the computer, so it is always a good idea to understand the installation process.

This chapter covers the FDISK and FORMAT utilities that allow you to prepare a hard drive for use. We will discuss the steps necessary to install Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. To become proficient at installation, you may want to consider obtaining a separate hard drive that can be FDISKed and formatted, and on which you can install all the operating systems covered in this chapter.

I recommend getting a hard drive and creating three separate partitions, one for each of the operating systems we will cover. In subsequent chapters you will be able to multiboot your system; this will let you complete all the labs. If you are going to multiboot your system, you need to install Windows 98 first, followed by Windows 2000, and finally Windows XP. When you boot, you will be able to select the operating system from a menu. To change to one of the other operating systems, reboot and select the new operating system from the same menu.

Note

For more information, see Chapter 14 of David Groth’s A+ Complete Study Guide (Sybex, 2003).