Build Your Own

Yes, I will give you the "scoop" on how to assemble and loadup windows on a new personal computer. I'm tired of doing this for you guys! It's really not that hard if you don't run into hangups and keep things simple. Sometimes a bad motherboard can ruin your day...week, etc. Usually things go sorta smoothly. :-/

Basically all you need is a slot/philips screwdriver and patience. I'm not going to type myself to death here so you can head over to Tom's site and read the article yourself:

http://www4.tomshardware.com/howto/01q1/010115/index.html

It discusses everything except for installing the operating system such as Windows95, Windows98, Windows2000, Linux, Unix or whatever is your preferred flavour.

Tip: Install a "barebones system" prior to installing the operating system to keep things simple. This means install your motherboard, cpu, memory, 1 harddrive, 1 cd-rom, video card. That's it. Install the operating system and then add your sound card, do a SHUTDOWN, then install the next piece of hardware. One at a time. If you run into a problem you will find the problem accessory easier than not being able to properly install the operating system at all.

Tip: Install your new harddrive in a friend's computer or another known working computer. Use the FDISK command at the DOS prompt and partition your new harddrive, then FORMAT it. Next copy your entire operating system cd-rom disk onto your harddrive in a folder such as "Win98" for Windows98. This speeds the entire install and solves the problem of not finding a suitable dos driver for your cd-rom drive. When you install your new harddrive in your new computer you can simply boot to the C:/ prompt and type "cd Win98" which is where you copied the Windows cd. Then type "setup" and hit the ENTER key. Follow the prompts and enter your operating system serial number. From here it will take 30-45 minutes to finish provided there are no problems.

Good luck!