Format/Install Windows in 10 steps

This is the English version of this post)

I am an interested student in informatics and, as time goes by, the words gets out by friends, family, friends of friends, etc.

People start asking for help as they know you can “fix computers”.

Virus, spy-wares and so on cause problems. The “usual” Windows’ user often needs maintenance on the computer very frequently.

“Don’t give them fish, teach them to fish”, so it’s better to spend some time explaining than having to do it yourself.

The steps I’m describing are those seen from a standard, optimistic point of view, if everything happens normally:

The first step is to backup all important information located in the Windows partition, because it will be formatted. After doing it, it’s time to start the installation procedure.
Enter the BIOS: press Del or F2 key after on the computer.
Change Boot Device Priority on Boot Settings section: Pick the CD/DVD drive as 1st Boot Device and the HDD as 2nd Boot Device. Choose Save Changes and Exit at the Exit section.
When the system reboots, press any key when asked to, in order to enter the Windows installation program. Otherwise, the computer will boot normally by disc.
The startup of the program may take a few minutes. After that chose the Configure Windows option by pressing Enter. There is also a option to repair the existent Windows partition, but that’s not the objective of this article.
After not reading the whole agreement press the F8 key. A list of the existent partitions and unused disk space is shown. If the table is correct, you only have to chose the desired partition to install the operating system. Otherwise go find information about disk partitioning (maybe I will post about it later).
A few actions-windows will be shown. The recommended file-system is NTFS for many reasons, so the chosen partition shall be formatted on that system (the quick option is normally enough). Be careful because all data on that partition will be lost! Confirm that choice by pressing F. If no problems occur, the operation is successful and the file copy will start.
A few minutes later the computer will reboot, and this time you don’t want it to boot from CD, so you can reset the Boot Priority on the BIOS. On the Boot Device Priority menu choose the HDD as 1st Boot Device. You can also set the rest as Disabled. The computer will boot the OS from disc, so the other devices are not necessary. Accept changes and the machine will now boot the fresh Windows install. But the installation is not complete yet.
During this step, a few option-windows will appear, related to idiom, region, username, etc… The standard network settings can be chosen later, leave it for now.
After answering a few questions the installation is complete! I recommend you to activate the Windows, anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-everything-else updates.

As I wrote in the beginning of this post, the idea here is to make “everyone” able of install Windows.

So next time someone asks you for assistance, you can point him/her this post.

Sorry for my rusty English and thanks for the feedback.

defrag

gathering ideas together