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Initial start up of a PC after assembly

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by gkheart1

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I recently purchased enough parts to assemble a
new pc for myself. What should I expect for a response from it after assembly for a first time start up. Will I need to move the bios jumper on the board (intel board)? Or will it take me to the
Biossetup on it`s own? Or will I need to start it with my windows CD in the drive? I have never
done this before and don`t know what to expect!
This will be an experience I`m sure. I would
really like some help on this please. Thanks.

11 replies

by thechas

Take this 1 step at a time.

FIRST, read ALL the manuals that came with the components.
If you bought OEM parts, download the manuals from the mfg web sites.

2. Start out with just the video card and floppy drive connected.

3. The BIOS jumper depends on the motherboard. Some Intel boards come with a 'quiet boot' feature that prevents the user from entering BIOS settings.
So, yes, you may want / need to set the jumper. But, I would wait for the second boot to do so.
Then, if you have the quiet boot feature, disable it until you are past the point of needing to get into hardware settings.

Once you have a clean boot, you want to start installing your drives and Windows.

Connect the hard drive and CD-ROM drive and verify that they are detected in BIOS settings.

Then, the proceedure for installing Windows depends on which version you are installing.

For Me, W2K, or XP, set the BIOS to boot from the CD, and follow the prompts.

For W95 or W98, you need to boot from a startup floppy.
Run fdisk to partition the hard drive.
www.fdisk.com/fdisk
www.aumha.org (article on partitioning)
Re-boot, and format at least the C: drive
Run startup from the DOS prompt.

Then, for all but XP, you need to install some drivers before you proceed.
Motherboard Chipset drivers
DirectX (check video card documentation for version required / supported)
Video card driver

Now, power down, and install any other plug in cards.

It is always a good idea to check with each hardware mfgs web site for updated drivers, and use those instead of what's on the CDs that came with them.

Once everything is running, run scandisk and defrag from safe mode.

Then, go on-line, and run Windows update.
I useually install all 'critical' and 'security' updates.
The others are up to your personal preferences.

Then, you can install your application software.

Chas

by thechas

I agree with Valhalla's sugestion.

As someone who's worked in electronics mfg for years, I take wearing a wrist strap as a given.

A few additional notes;
Douple check the polarity of all connectors and cables before connecting the AC power cord.

You have a 50% chance of having the Case LEDs plugged in backwards.
Have power off before you change the polarity on them.

Unplug the AC power cord (or switch off the power switch on the power supply) before adding or removing plug-in cards, drives or RAM.
(Modern ATX supplies and motherboards have 5 volt DC power that is always on at various points)

Chas

by cg it

Wear an anti-static grounding wrist band or someway discharge any static buildup in your body before you start working on building your PC.

Note: Chas has just about covered it except for when you hear the grinding sound, see black and white jagged lines on the monitor, and watch as a plume of black smoke rises from the back of the PC. When that happens, quickly [very quickly] flip out any CDs or floppy's from the drives and grap the nearest extinguisher.

by cg it

Seriously though, before you handle any electronic componets, it's best to guard against static discharges. I always wear an anti static wrist band grounded to a antistatic work table pad whenever I handle memory modules, CPU, expansion cards, Vid cards, HDD's ...anything electronic that's going into the box.

by guruofdos

See TheChas's answer. My only comment is that anti-static straps are NOT a necessity. So long as you are not wearing man-made fibre clothes (and let's face it, no one in IT does do they?!!), and you 'earth' yourself to the chassis of the case beforeyou handle components you will be ok. I have worked in so-called 'antistatic environments' in the past where components have failed using antistatic precautions and have been fine where no precautions were taken. Better to be at the same potential as the case, than to have a path to ground where any charge on a component is then discharged to earth rather than to an equipotential.

by rboggio1

Just another couple of comments to add: You have a lot of good information here. We do a lot of things by habit so your question comes to us loaded in some ways. The key is like CHAS stated take it one step at a time. When you take the motherboard out of the box mount the RAM, Processor, and cooling fan before you mount the motherboard in the case. Find out if the processor needs heat sink compound or if the cooler has something else on it to help heat transfer. When you mount the Motherboard in the case DO NOT FORCE IT! It is easy to scrap the bottom of the board on the mount pins and damage one of the traces on the back of the board. When you first start the system physically look and see the CPU cooler fan turning. If you are using Ultra ATA the cable has a specific way it attaches to the motherboard. Also all the ribbon cables have a pin one. Usually marked by a colored strip on the cable. Match it to pin one on the drives. Then that floppy cable, A Drive is the last connector after the twist in the cable. If you get frustrated, WALK AWAY! Don?t force the issue; it usually ends up costing you money. Take your time and you know were to find us if you need help.

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