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This will guide you through the installation of windows (XP in this case) on your netbook(…or laptop)using an external DVD drive. This is quite detailed and at an easy to understand level for those who may not be familiar with such a process.



First of all you need:

-Netbook(capable of running the OS you plan to install, sufficient HDD etc.)
-AC adapter for the netbook(just in case it runs out of power mid-install)
-External DVD drive(or cd drive if the OS installation disc is on a CD)
-Appropiate cables for the external DVD drive(Power, USB)
-Genuine copy of the OS you plan on instaling(XP in my case!)
-Time(depending on the spec of your machine, this could be 1+hrs)

Instructions

1)Obvious , but important: Plug your netbook into the AC adapter, continue reading this when it is fully charged. Now set up your external DVD drive, plug it into the USB port on the netbook, turn on the external DVD drive, and insert your OS DVD.
Turn on your netbook. On start up, you will have the option somewhere to change where the netbook boots from. Usually a netbook will look on the hard disk for the OS and will load it from there. In this case, we want it to boot from our DVD drive!

2)To change the boot path, in my case, I have to press F9(boot device menu) . If you don’t have this option, try other bios options. Don’t fiddle with anything unless you know what you are doing, but you should quite easily find an option to change the boot path.
With the DVD drive plugged in, I have the following options:



Your options may be slightly different, but your DVD drive should be there, and a hard disk, possibly others. I select “USB HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM” and hit enter. I then press any key to boot from DVD. If I don’t , then after a few moments, the netbook will just book from the hard disk as normal.

3)Windows will then start to load files and prepare for the installation of XP



You will then be asked where you want to install windows. Different set ups are preferred for different people. If you plan on dual booting (having 2 OS’s , or more) you should make at least two partitions. You may want to have one partition for the OS, and another partition for your files. Personally, I knew all I wanted was XP on this machine, so I have one partition. Follow the on screen instructions to achieve the desired setup.



Select the partition you wish to install the OS on, and hit enter. You will then be asked if you want to format the drive. I suggest a "quick ntfs" format(bare in mind all data on hard drive will be wiped!). Select the option you want and hit enter.



4) Now you just have to play the waiting game. Installation files will be copied to your hard drive, and all you have to do is wait.







5)Your netbook should then restart and boot from the hard drive to start the installation of the OS, Keep your DVD drive plugged in!





Your will be asked to enter a name and organization, I entered “user” and left the organization blank, but to each there own!



You will then be asked date and time settings:



The installation will soon(!) finish, and the netbook will once again restart and boot from the hardd drive(you no longer need the external DVD drive connected.






6)Congratulations! You now have your OS installed, and should see a desktop as I did:



The next step you should take is to install the drivers for your hardware(chipset, graphics,wifi,ethernet,webcam,function buttons,keyboard &mouse, card reader,bluetooth…) which are normally available on the manufactures website, or a bit of googling should locate them. Be sure to install some reliable anti-virus software.

If you do not have an external DVD drive, do not fear, I intend to do another tutorial on how to install an OS from a bootable USB drive. Any suggestions,tips or queries, please leave a coment below.

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