Setup and Inspection Procedures

This section of the Procedure Guide covers procedures that are related to the setup, inspection or testing of components or systems in the PC. These procedures are often steps that are performed as part of a larger installation procedure.

Post-Assembly Inspection Procedure

This procedure describes some overall system checks that I recommend you perform after completing significant assembly procedures, such as a new PC build or a motherboard upgrade. While each subprocedure of a build concludes with a step recommending that you check what you just did, it is still worth a few minutes to double-check some of the more important aspects of the assembly, to reduce the chances of an unsuccessful initial turn-on of the system. I focus here primarily on the most common "gotchas" that I have run into in assembling systems.

Procedure Overview:

• Difficulty Level: 1 (Very low).
• Risk Factor: 1 (Very low).
• Hardware Required: A small flashlight is helpful but not required.
• Software Required: None.
• Time to Perform: About 5 minutes.
• Preparation / Warnings: None, other than to be careful while checking for problems not to introduce any new ones.

Procedure Steps:

1. Power Inspection: Verify the following key items related to the system power:
   • If the system case has a dual voltage switch, make sure it is set to the correct voltage for your part of the world.
   • Make sure the power switch is off. You don't want the PC booting up as soon as you connect the power cord. Most power switches are toggles; you can tell if the power is on or off by pushing the switch in several times; it will feel in most cases as if you have to push the button in farther to make it toggle, when it is on before you press the button.
   • If you are working in an AT system, double-check that the two 6-wire power cables that go between the power supply and the motherboard have been inserted fully and correctly, and that the four black wires are together in the middle.
   • If you are working in an ATX system, double-check that you have connected the power switch to the motherboard properly.
   • Make sure all your drives have a power connector attached to them correctly.
   • Make sure that the CPU fan and any additional case fans have their power connectors attached.
2. Cable Inspection: Check these cable connections to make sure they are correct. Check for "off by one" alignment errors, loose connections or cables that are overly taut. Make sure that you have lined up the red edge of the cable to pin 1 of each device:
   • Check the IDE cable(s) going to the hard disk drive and CD-ROM drive. Make sure you have lined up the red edge to pin 1 of each device.
   • Check the floppy cable going to the floppy disk drive(s).
   • Check the cables that attach the I/O port connectors and PS/2 mouse port connector to the motherboard (if appropriate).
   • Make sure the cables running to the case switches and LEDs are correct.
3. Motherboard Inspection: Double-check these configuration and installation aspects relevant to the motherboard:
   • Double-check the motherboard jumper settings. If you decide not to bother checking all of these, at least check the CPU voltage settings.
   • Make sure the memory is inserted into the correct socket(s) and is fully seated.
   • Make sure the processor is inserted correctly and is all the way into its socket.
   • Ensure that the heat sink is secured properly to the processor.
   • Wipe up any thermal compound that may have leaked out from around the CPU, if you used too much the way I always do.
   • Make sure the video card is seated properly in its slot.
4. Physical Interference Inspection: Check the following physical issues:
   • Ensure that all the drives are properly physically secured in their bays.
   • Make sure there are no loose wires in the case that may interfere with any moving objects inside the case; for the mostpart, this refers to the CPU fan.
   • You are most likely going to be turning on the PC at first with the cover off. Make sure that nothing from outside the case can poke or fall into the case by accident.

Post-Assembly Initial Boot Procedure

This procedure provides descriptions to help you handle the initial turn-on and boot-up of a system. The only time you will need to use this procedure is right after you complete significant assembly procedures, such as a new PC build or a motherboard upgrade. The reason that a special procedure in these situations makes sense is that there is a much greater chance of a problem with a newly-completed system, and you want to maximize your chances of detecting such problems if at all possible. You also want to be in a position to quickly shut the system off if problems become apparent. You also want to be ready to enter the BIOS setup program as soon as possible on the first bootup of a new system.

Procedure Overview:

• Difficulty Level: 2-4 (Low to High). The procedure is quite simple and if the system works you will not have much to do here, however troubleshooting boot problems on a new system can be quite difficult sometimes.
• Risk Factor: 2 (Low).
• Hardware Required: None.
• Software Required: Bootable floppy disk.
• Time to Perform: Less than five minutes if there are no problems, otherwise this will vary greatly.
• Preparation / Warnings:
  • I assume that you have already completed assembling the system, have checked for common problems, and have connected your external peripherals.
  • If you are going to be powering up the system with its cover off (and usually you will, the first few times) make sure that you keep objects away from the case at all times while the power is on to the system.
  • I would strongly recommend that you read and understand the page describing the system boot process before you turn on the system for the first time.
  • Your floppy boot disk should contain the necessary disk tools for setting up your hard disk. In particular, for a DOS/Windows machine you generally will need "FDISK" and "FORMAT" on the disk at a bare minimum. See this section for details on boot disks.
  • In general, it is not good to turn the system power off while the hard disk is in use or immediately after turning on the PC. However, with a brand-new setup you should be prepared to turn the system off immediately if any of the following happen: smoke or sparks come from any of the hardware; the lights in the room dim when the power turns on; or loud grinding, scraping or whining sounds come from any piece of hardware. These are signs of a short circuit, serious electrical connection problem, or mechanical interference. Go over the entire machine with a fine-toothed comb and find out what is causing the problem before turning the machine on again.
  • Make sure you know what the correct key or key combination is to enter the BIOS setup program on your motherboard before you start. On most modern systems this is either {Del} or {F2}.
  • If your system has a keylock switch, make sure that the case is not locked or the keyboard won't work and you need it for this procedure.

Procedure Steps:

1. Turn On Monitor: Turn on the system monitor and let it warm up a bit. You want to make sure you can see any messages that show up on the screen. Note that some newer monitors take several seconds to "sync" to the signal coming from the PC, so you may end up "flying blind" at first regardless.
2. Insert Boot Floppy: Put your operating system boot floppy disk into your A: floppy drive.
3. Press Power Switch: The moment of truth: hit the power switch and be ready for action. You are looking to see what happens, to make sure the system is booting properly. If it boots properly you will want to be ready to hit the appropriate key(s) to immediately enter the system BIOS program. Assuming that the system boots properly, here is what you should be checking for; bear in mind that all of this will happen very quickly:
   • The power LED will light up on the case, and depending on the system, the turbo LED may as well.
   • The fans in the power supply and on the CPU will start to spin up.
   • The hard disk will spin up.
   • You may hear a single beep when the system completes its power-on test; this is normal.
   • The first thing on the screen will probably be a message from the video card's on-board BIOS; then the motherboard will display its BIOS startup screen and begin counting the system memory.
   • You may receive an error message such as "CMOS options not set", "Date/time not set" or "CMOS checksum error". This is not uncommon when powering up a new system for the first time.
4. Enter BIOS Setup: As soon as the BIOS splash screen appears, press the appropriate key(s) to enter the BIOS setup. The right key combination will normally be displayed at the bottom of the screen.
5. Troubleshoot the System, If Necessary: You may find that the system does not boot, or that there is some sort of error message or problem at boot time. Experiencing problems when booting up a new system for the first time is certainly not uncommon, so don't let it get you down. I do not go into the details of troubleshooting here, because there is a whole Troubleshooting Guide that covers this. In particular, you may want to refer to the Boot Process Troubleshooter, which will walk you through the most common parts of the boot process step by step and will help you isolate the problem with your new system in most cases. This section was specifically developed to help debug problems with booting new systems, so do use it if you need it.

Safe BIOS Setup Procedure

This procedure describes how to set the most important BIOS parameters to "safe" settings. The focus here is on maximizing the likelihood of the system functioning properly. You will want to use this procedure when setting up a new system or when having problems with the PC. Setting the BIOS to low-risk values can help greatly to expose problems with a system and help you eliminate them. Note that I do not describe all of the various BIOS settings here; see this Reference Guide section for details on BIOS settings. This procedure is based on the structure in that section.

Procedure Overview:

• Difficulty Level: 3 (Moderate). BIOS settings can be somewhat confusing if you are new to them.
• Risk Factor: 1 (Very low).
• Hardware Required: None.
• Software Required: None.
• Time to Perform: 5 to 10 minutes.
• Preparation / Warnings:
  • You should enter the BIOS setup program before starting this procedure, obviously.
  • If this is a system that has been set up previously, you may want to consider loading the default BIOS settings before commencing. I strongly advise you to back up the current BIOS settings before you do this.
  • For assistance working within the BIOS setup program, reference this section.
  • BIOSes vary widely. Make sure to check your particular BIOS setup program and make whatever modifications are necessary to this procedure to suit your system.
  • I do not cover all possible BIOS settings here, only the most important ones for proper system operation.
  • This procedure is geared towards modern Pentium-class or later systems. Older PCs will vary significantly.
  • Be sure to remember to save your changes before quitting, or you will end up doing this all over again.

Procedure Steps:

1. Autodetect Hard Disk: Find the entry in the BIOS setup menu for autodetecting your hard disk and use it. This should detect your hard disk and set up its basic parameters. Note that some systems do not have a separate entry in the menu for autodetecting hard disks, but instead have autodetection as an option in the Standard Settings menu, where the hard disk parameters themselves are. See this section for more information on autodetection.
2. Set Standard Settings: Enter the Standard Settings menu and configure the following options:
   • Date: Make sure you enter this in the correct format, usually MM/DD/YY.
   • Time: This is normally entered in 24-hour clock format.
   • IDE Primary Master / Primary Slave / Secondary Master / Secondary Slave: These entries contain the parameters for your IDE/ATA devices. If you successfully autodetected your hard disk(s) in the previous step then you should see the hard disk parameters that the BIOS found displayed here. These parameters are discussed in detail in this section. If your system does not have a separate autodetection menu item, it probably autodetects devices by pressing {Enter} while the cursor is on the "Type" setting; look at your motherboard or system manual. You'll have to autodetect each drive individually. I would recommend that you verify that the autodetection set the hard disk settings correctly by going through this list, because sometimes the settings are either not correct, or the BIOS tries to pick the most optimal values (and we are looking for safe values here):
     • Type: This should normally be set to "User" for hard disks. If your system has it, set this to "CD-ROM" for your CD-ROM drive.
     • Size: This is calculated and not something you can enter. Don't worry about it.
     • Cylinders / Heads / Sectors / Write Precompensation / Landing Zone: These should be left at the values that were autodetected.
     • Translation Mode: For most modern hard disks, this should be set to "LBA". Older hard disks below 504 binary megabytes (528 decimal megabytes) should be set to "Normal" or "CHS", depending on the BIOS. Do not change the translation mode on a drive that already contains data or you may trash the drive's contents.
     • Block Mode: This is supported by most hard disks but should be disabled for maximum compatibility.
     • PIO Mode: This can normally be left at whatever the BIOS detected. However, if the BIOS set it to a value that you know exceeds the maximum for the drive, reset it to whatever the maximum is. You may want to try lowering this value if you experience problems with your system. CD-ROMs generally have a maximum PIO mode of 3.
     • 32-Bit Transfer Mode: Disable this for maximum compatibility; you can re-enable it later.
   • Floppy Drive A / Floppy Drive B: Set these to the correct type for the floppy drive(s) in your system.
   • Video Display Type: Set to "VGA" or "VGA/EGA".
   • Halt On: Set to "All Errors" to make sure that all errors are trapped by the BIOS.
3. Set Advanced Features: Enter the Advanced Features menu and configure the following options:
   • Virus Protection / Virus Warning: I would strongly recommend disabling this while configuring or setting up a system, or it will drive you nuts interrupting you with warning messages when you partition and format your hard disk.
   • Internal Cache: This should be enabled. If you have to disable this to get the system to work then you have a motherboard or CPU problem that will undoubtedly manifest itself in other ways (as well as seriously degrading performance).
   • External Cache: This too, should be enabled at all times. If disabling this is required for stable operation, you probably have a motherboard hardware problem. It may also be a CPU problem, especially with processors that have integrated level 2 cache.
   • Quick Power On Self Test / Quick Boot: Disable this to ensure that all POST tests are performed at boot time.
   • Boot Sequence: The options for this parameter depend entirely on the system. You want to choose a sequence that has the floppy disk (A:) first, so that your boot disk will work properly.
   • Swap Floppy Drives: Make sure this is set correctly (normally you want it disabled) or you are going to be mighty confused about the behavior of your floppy disk drives.
   • Fast A20 / A20 Gate Option: Disable this for maximum compatibility.
   • Video BIOS Shadow: Disable for maximum compatibility.
   • System BIOS Shadow: Disable for maximum compatibility.
   • xx00-xxFF Shadow: There will be a number of options for shadowing various ranges of upper memory. Ensure that all of these are disabled.
4. Set Advanced Chipset Features: Enter the Advanced Chipset Features menu and configure the following options. Bear in mind that for the mostpart you will not want to move these values from their defaults:
   • Chipset Special Features / Global Features: Disable this for now.
   • Cache Timing: Leave this on "Auto" or whatever the appropriate setting is for your type of cache.
   • Level 2 Cache Size: If your system has this option, set it appropriately.
   • DRAM Parity Checking: Enable this if using parity or ECC memory.
   • DRAM Parity / ECC Mode: Leave this on "Parity" if using true parity memory. Set to "ECC" if using ECC memory. Parity mode is preferred for a new system or while debugging as it will tell you immediately if a problem situation is arising.
   • DRAM Speed / DRAM Timing / DRAM Auto Configuration: Set this to either "Auto" or to the correct speed of the memory you have installed. This should lock out most of the other options in this section.
   • DRAM Speculative Leadoff: If this option is not locked out, disable it.
   • Turn-Around Insertion: If this option is not locked out, disable it.
5. Set PCI / PnP Configuration Settings: Enter the PCI / PnP Configuration menu and configure the following options. Bear in mind that for the mostpart you will not want to move these values from their defaults; use "Auto" settings wherever possible:
   • Plug and Play Aware OS: If setting up a Windows 95 system, enable this, otherwise leave it disabled.
   • Automatic Resource Allocation: Leave this set to "Auto". This should lock most of the other settings in this section.
   • PCI VGA Palette Snoop: Disable unless you know for sure that your system requires it.
6. Disable Power Management: Enter the Power Management menu. You should find that the first setting is some sort of global or master setting that controls all the other power management settings. I recommend that you disable this at first when setting up a new system, or if you are experiencing hardware or system problems. Note however that if you totally disable power management, this will also eliminate some advanced power features such as the ability to have Windows turn off the PC on an ATX form factor system. As an alternative, leave power management enabled but disable the standby/suspend timing parameters so that the BIOS does not automatically turn off parts of the system after a period of time.
7. Set Integrated Peripherals Settings: Enter the Integrated Peripherals menu and configure the following options:
   • Integrated Floppy Disk Controller: Make sure this is enabled or your floppy disk will not function.
   • Integrated IDE / Hard Disk Controllers: You will either find two of these parameters--one for the primary IDE channel and the other for the secondary--or a single setting that controls both using options like "Disabled", "Primary", "Secondary" and "Both". Enable whichever channels you are using. Most systems will have at least one device on the primary channel. Some will also have a device on the secondary channel.
   • Integrated Serial Port 1 (COM1): You will normally want this enabled, and the standard resource setting is IRQ #4, with I/O address 3F8h.
   • Integrated Serial Port 2 (COM2): You will usually want this enabled, and the standard resource setting is IRQ #3, with I/O address 2F8h. Disable COM2 if you don't need it, or if you have or plan to install a modem configured using COM2's default resources. (Many modems come configured to use COM2 by default).
   • Integrated Parallel Port: You will normally want to enable this. The standard resource assignment is IRQ #7, with I/O address 378h (3BCh on some systems).
   • Integrated Parallel Port Mode: Set this to either "SPP" or "EPP". Do not set it to "ECP", as this mode involves the use of additional DMA resources and is less compatible.
   • PS/2 Mouse Enable: Set to "Auto" if your system has that option, otherwise enable it if using a PS/2 style mouse, disable otherwise.
   • USB Enable: Disable on most systems, unless using USB.
8. Set Hardware Device Settings (jumperless systems only): If you have a jumperless motherboard, enter the "CPU Soft Menu" (or whatever it is called on your system) and configure your motherboard options:
   • CPU Operating Speed: If this option is present, set your CPU's speed here. This will set and lock the "External Clock" and "Multiplier Factor" settings.
   • External Clock: Set to the correct system bus speed for your PC.
   • Multiplier Factor: Set to the multiplier factor for your PC.
   • CPU Power Plane: Set to either "Single Voltage" or "Dual Voltage" depending on what your CPU requires.
   • I/O Plane Voltage: Set the appropriate external or I/O voltage for your processor.
   • Core Plane Voltage: Set the appropriate internal or core voltage for your processor.
9. Save and Exit Setup: Return to the main menu and choose the option to save and exit the BIOS setup program. This will reboot the system. If you are setting up a new system, make sure your floppy boot disk is still in the floppy drive so that the system will boot from it.

Post-Assembly Initial Test Procedure

This procedure describes system tests that you should perform after setting up a system or completing a significant upgrade such as a motherboard upgrade. Using this procedure will help you to verify that you have completed your assembly successfully and that all the various components in your system are working properly.

Procedure Overview:

• Difficulty Level: 2 (Low).
• Risk Factor: 2 (Low).
• Hardware Required: You may need a flashlight, screwdriver or needle-nose pliers if you need to make adjustments to any of the hardware, but otherwise, no hardware is required.
• Software Required: Bootable floppy disk.
• Time to Perform: About 10 minutes.
• Preparation / Warnings:
  • Make sure you ground yourself before touching any components. Also be extremely careful when working inside the case with the power on.
  • Always power the system down safely before changing anything inside the box.
  • Your system will probably vary from the one discussed here, so be sure to test whatever your system actually contains.
  • I assume that the system has been powered up and is able to boot up from the floppy disk to a DOS prompt. If you are having problems getting the system to boot up, you need to resolve that first before commencing this procedure. Try looking at the Boot Process Troubleshooting section for help.
  • If you have an AMI BIOS with a graphical BIOS setup program, then you already know whether or not your mouse is working. Otherwise, you will have to wait until you go to install Windows to test your mouse.

Procedure Steps:

1. Check LEDs: Check the power LED and the turbo LED (if connected). Both should be on. You should also see the hard disk LED come on during the boot process, when the BIOS is doing its testing, but it may not. You may want to try reversing the leads of the hard disk LED if it does not light up, but you may also want to wait until you are sure the hard disk is in action.
2. Test Turbo Button (if applicable): If your system has an operational turbo button, press it and see if the turbo LED toggles. Note that in most systems this button does not actually do anything.
3. Check Hard Disk Drive: The hard disk should be spinning.
4. Check Fans: Make sure that the power supply fan, CPU fan, and any other fans in the system are all spinning and not obstructed.
5. Test CD-ROM Drive Mechanism: Press the eject button on the CD-ROM to test if the drive has power and the tray is working.
6. Check System Configuration (during next bootup): In the next step you will reset the system. While the system is rebooting, carefully check the system configuration screen that the BIOS displays. Make sure that all the storage devices, serial and parallel ports and other devices are listed. Check the listed total for the system memory and make sure that it is correct. Make sure the processor's listed speed is correct. Reset the system a second time if necessary (the screen may scroll past too fast).
7. Test Reset Button: Press the reset button and reboot the system.
8. Test Keylock: If your system has a keylock, test it by turning it to the locked position and rebooting. You should get an error message saying that they keyboard is locked. Unlock the case.

  After the system has been running for at least 10 minutes, continue with these steps:

9. Turn System Off: Turn the power to the system off.
10. Ground Yourself: Touch the outside of the metal box of the power supply to ensure that you are grounded.
11. Check Temperature of Processor, Memory and Cache Chips: Carefully touch the metal of the heat sink near where it attaches to the processor, or the edge of the processor itself. It should be warm but not too hot to the touch. Repeat for the memory chips, and the cache chips on the motherboard or cache module.
12. Check Temperature of Hard Disk: The middle of the hard disk may be warm, but should definitely not be hot (in fact, it will normally be not much above room temperature).

Hard Disk Partitioning and Formatting Procedure

This procedure describes how to set up a new, empty hard disk so that it is ready for an operating system to be installed on it. This process includes partitioning and formatting and results in a bootable hard disk. The procedure covers configuring the hard disk as a single large partition or splitting it into multiple, smaller partitions. The procedure provides specific instructions for using the FDISK program and is based on the Windows 95 OEM SR2 (Windows 95B) FDISK version with FAT32 support.

Warning: This procedure is intended to be used for setting up a new hard disk containing no information on it. Do not follow these steps if your hard disk has already been partitioned and formatted, or data loss will likely result.

Procedure Overview:

• Difficulty Level: 2 (Low).
• Risk Factor: 1 (Very low). This assumes that the hard disk has no data on it.
• Hardware Required: None.
• Software Required: Boot disk containing the FDISK.EXE and FORMAT.COM programs.
• Time to Perform: 5 to 20 minutes, depending on the size and speed of the hard disks.
• Preparation / Warnings:
  • To be safe, always run FDISK from DOS only.
  • Be extremely careful when using the FDISK program, as one incorrect keystroke can result in major data loss. In particular, in a system with multiple hard disk drives be careful to make sure you are working on the right physical disk or you may accidentally end up disturbing the contents of the wrong drive. Beware that DOS drive letters can change after creating or deleting partitions, and that with multiple hard disks the partitions may be lettered in an unexpected sequence. See here for more details on this.
  • Do not perform this procedure until the system is in good working order. Resolve any hardware conflicts or other issues before commencing.
  • I assume that the system has been turned on and booted from the floppy disk.
  • FDISK uses binary megabytes when displaying drive and partition sizes, not decimal megabytes. See this explanation of the difference for details.
  • All commands in DOS or within FDISK require you to press {Enter} to select them; I'm not going to repeat it a zillion times within the procedure below.

Procedure Steps:

1. Check Version Number: At the DOS prompt, enter the following command: "ver". The system will respond with the version of DOS/Windows you have booted. Make sure that this matches whatever you want to install on the hard disk. For Windows 95 OEM SR2 the version number will be "4.00.1111".
2. Plan Partitions: Decide how you want to partition your hard disk. In particular, for large hard disks under Windows 95 OSR2, decide if you want to set up your hard disk with a single large FAT32 partition, or several smaller FAT16 partitions. (You can of course mix these). I provide instructions for doing either of these, but cannot tell you how to set up your system. You must decide based on what makes sense for you. For assistance in making this decision, and more general information on partitioning, cluster sizes and related issues, refer to this section. Most people today prefer to set up a new system using a single FAT32 partition.
3. Run FDISK.EXE: From the command prompt, enter the command "fdisk". If you have a disk large enough to warrant the use of FAT32, you will be asked if you want to enable "large disk support". Enter "Y" if you want to enable FAT32, or "N" if you do not want to enable FAT32. If you do enable this, any partitions over 500 MB that you create will be FAT32. Note that if you do not enable FAT32, you will not be able to put your entire hard disk into one partition if it is greater than 2 GB in size.

If you decided to place your entire hard disk into a single partition, then follow this step:

4. Partition Hard Disk (Single Partition): Follow these steps to set up your hard disk:
   1. Select from the FDISK menu "1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive".
   2. Select "1. Create Primary DOS Partition". FDISK will verify drive integrity. Then it will ask if you want to use the maximum available size of the disk for the primary partition and set it active. Enter "Y". The system will allocate the whole disk to the partition, and that's that.
   3. Press {Esc} to exit FDISK.

If instead you want to set up your hard disk with multiple partitions (or if you don't have Windows 95 OEM SR2), follow this step. In order to make the process easier to follow, I am going to use an example below. In the example, a 3100 (binary) MB hard disk is being partitioned into four partitions of 1000 MB, 800 MB, 700 MB and 600 MB respectively:

4. Partition Hard Disk (Multiple Partitions): Follow these steps to set up your hard disk:
   1. Select from the FDISK menu "1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive".
   2. Select "1. Create Primary DOS Partition". FDISK will verify drive integrity. Then it will ask if you want to use the maximum available size of the disk for the primary partition and set it active. Enter "N". The system will show the size of the entire disk in MB.
   3. Enter the size of the primary partition. In our example, this would mean entering "1000". The system will tell you that it has created the primary partition, and will assign it the drive letter "C:".
   4. Press {Esc} to return to the FDISK menu.
   5. Select "2. Set active partition". Select partition 1. FDISK will report that it has set partition 1 active.
   6. Press {Esc} to return to the FDISK menu.
   7. Select from the FDISK menu "1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive".
   8. Select "2. Create Extended DOS Partition".
   9. When prompted, press {Enter} to select the entire remaining area of the disk for the extended DOS partition. FDISK will report that it has created the extended DOS partition.
   10. Press {Esc}. FDISK will automatically prompt you to create your first logical DOS volume within the extended DOS partition.
   11. Enter the size of the first logical partition (the second partition overall). In our example you would enter "800". FDISK will create the partition, label it "D:", and then say "Logical DOS Drive created, drive letters changed or added". Don't touch anything, just wait, and FDISK will prompt you for the next volume.
   12. Repeat the previous step for the remaining partitions (in our example there would be two more partitions to create, the 700 MB and 600 MB ones). When all of the partitions have been created, FDISK will report "All available space in the Extended DOS Partition is assigned to logical drives".
   13. Press {Esc} to exit FDISK.

Continue with the procedure:

5. Reboot: Reboot the system using either the Reset button or the "three-fingered salute" ({Ctrl}+{Alt}+{Delete}). Make sure the floppy disk is in its drive, since you still need it. Note that you may get "Invalid media type reading drive C" errors while rebooting. This is normal at this stage.
6. Format Primary Partition: From the "A:" DOS prompt, issue the following command: "format c:/s". Do not forget the "/s", as this is what will make your C: drive bootable. You will get a "scary" warning message such as "WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST. Proceed with Format (Y/N)?". Since of course there is no data presently on drive C:, just enter "Y" and the system will format the hard disk. The program will show you its progress as it formats and at the end will prompt you for a volume label. Enter one if you wish.
7. Format Additional Partitions (if necessary): If you set up multiple partitions, format the additional partitions now. This is done in almost the same way as formatting the primary DOS partition, except that you leave off the "/s". So normally you would be entering "format d:", "format e:" and so on, until all the partitions have been formatted. The prompts should be the same as in the preceding step.

Warning: If you have a second hard disk in the system and it has a primary DOS partition, that partition is probably assigned D: because DOS assigns letters to all primary partitions before any logical partitions. Be careful of what you format.

8. Remove Boot Floppy: Eject the boot floppy from the floppy disk.
9. Reboot: Reboot the system using either the Reset button or {Ctrl}+{Alt}+{Delete}. The system should boot up from the hard disk this time, and stop at the "C:" prompt. Note that if you get an error such as "NO ROM BASIC, SYSTEM HALTED" or "No boot device found" at this stage, this means you forgot to set the primary DOS partition "active". Reboot from the floppy, run FDISK again and use option 2 to set the primary partition active, then reboot. If you get an error like "No operating system", this means you probably forgot the "/s" parameter when formatting the C: drive. Put the floppy disk back in the drive and then return to step 5. See the Troubleshooting Expert for more help with any errors you may encounter.

CD-ROM Driver Installation Procedure

This procedure provides instructions for installing the CD-ROM driver for your CD-ROM drive. (Driver, not drive; if you are looking for the procedure to install the CD-ROM drive itself please look here instead.) This procedure is necessary in order to prepare a new system for the installation of Windows, because CD-ROMs cannot be read natively by the PC without a driver the way hard disks can. For more information, refer to the page on CD-ROM configuration.

This procedure is designed for new systems that need to get the CD-ROM working in order to allow Windows to be loaded from CD-ROM, but should apply as well to those setting up a CD-ROM drive under DOS or Windows 3.x. Note that you do not need to run this procedure to set up a CD-ROM drive for use on a system already equipped with Windows 95 or Windows NT, because these operating systems have built-in CD-ROM drivers. You need it only for installing DOS, Windows 3.x, or for setting up a new Windows 95/NT system that doesn't already have Windows installed.

Procedure Overview:

• Difficulty Level: 2-3 (Low to Moderate). Some finesse may be required depending on how good your install software is.
• Risk Factor: 1 (Very low).
• Hardware Required: None.
• Software Required:
  • CD-ROM driver disk. If the driver disk does not contain MSCDEX.EXE, you will need this file as well; it may be on your operating system boot disk, or Windows 95 startup disk.
  • Windows (or other operating system) CD-ROM.
• Time to Perform: About 5 minutes assuming there aren't any problems.
• Preparation / Warnings:
  • If this is a new system, your hard disk should be partitioned and formatted before you begin.
  • I strongly recommend having some sort of text editor, such as EDIT.COM, available for use in this procedure.
  • Some CD-ROM driver install programs are totally brain-dead. I have no idea why some companies are so lame that they cannot even do something as simple as this properly, but it happens all the time. If you have troubles with this procedure, it may be due to a hardware problem, but it is also highly possible that the driver install program has done something stupid. Watch out for the following in particular:
    • Some install programs will not run if MSCDEX.EXE is not already on the hard disk, even if you have it on the same floppy as the install program. You need to copy it over before you start.
    • Some install programs will not run if MSCDEX.EXE is not in the C:\DOS directory on your hard disk, and they won't tell you this either! They'll just say "MSCDEX not found" and stop. "C:\DOS" is the traditional place for the MSCDEX.EXE file on older DOS 6.22 and earlier PCs.
    • Many install programs will put the path names in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT incorrectly, sometimes leaving off the drive letter.
    • Many install programs cannot deal at all with boot menus in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. You'll have to manually edit the files to fix them.
    • Some programs get mighty confused if you try to run them with no CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files on the hard disk already; they aren't smart enough to create them.
  • I assume that you have the system booted and are at the DOS prompt, root directory of the C: drive.

Procedure Steps:

1. Insert Disk: Place your CD-ROM driver disk into the floppy drive. Type "dir a:" and {Enter} to verify that the disk is readable.
2. Copy Editor: If you have an editor on the floppy disk, copy it to the hard disk, it will be easier to use this way. If it is EDIT.COM and the file is on the floppy, this command will do the job, issued from the C: root directory: "copy a:edit.com c:".
3. Create System Files (if necessary): On a new system I recommend that you make sure you have the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files already on the hard disk, as some install programs are too dumb to figure out to make them and will malfunction. You can do this the easy way or the hard way:
   • Using an Editor: Create an empty file using your editor, and then save it as "CONFIG.SYS". You can do this by entering the command "edit config.sys", if you have EDIT.COM, and then pressing the {Space Bar} once and choosing the option to save the file. Repeat for "AUTOEXEC.BAT" or copy CONFIG.SYS to AUTOEXEC.BAT.
   • Using COPY: Follow these steps to create empty CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files:
     1. From the command prompt, type this command: "copy con: config.sys". The system will not respond, but rather will just drop the cursor down one line and send it to the left edge of the screen.
     2. Press the {Space Bar} once; the cursor will move one position to the right.
     3. Press Control-Z (typed as {Ctrl}+{Z}). "^Z" will appear on the screen.
     4. Press {Enter}. The system will respond "1 file(s) copied". CONFIG.SYS has now been created with one space character in it.
     5. Enter this command: "copy config.sys autoexec.bat". This will create the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
4. Run Driver Install Program: Execute the driver install program. The exact command will depend on what is on your driver disk, but usually "a:setup" or "a:install" is what you want. Respond to the questions that you are asked, and allow the program to modify your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. The program will respond by telling you to reboot the system in order to activate the driver.
5. Check System Files: Check your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files by either editing them or displaying them to the screen using the command "type config.sys" or "type autoexec.bat". You should see the following:
   • CONFIG.SYS: There should be a line reading something like "DEVICE=C:\CDROM\CDATAPI.SYS /D:MSCD001", and there may be other "/" parameters in there as well.
   • AUTOEXEC.BAT: Look for a line that reads "C:\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001". The parameter after "/D:" should match that of CONFIG.SYS. There may be other parameters as well.
6. Change CD-ROM Drive Letter: By default, the CD-ROM will be assigned the next drive letter after whatever your hard disk partitions are using. The problem with this is that if you later add another hard disk, that will take the letter your CD-ROM was using, and this can cause a lot of your CD-ROM-based software to stop working properly. This section in the Troubleshooting Guide explains what can happen. To avoid this, it's best to pick a drive letter much "higher up" in the alphabet; I like to use "J:" for my CD-ROM (use a higher letter if you have a lot of hard disk partitions). Then, tell the system to use this letter by editing AUTOEXEC.BAT and adding this parameter to the MSCDEX.EXE line: "/L:J" (change "J" to whatever letter you want to use). So the line will now look something like "C:\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001 /L:J" (plus whatever other parameters were there before).

Warning: Some people decide to wait until after installing Windows to change the drive letter; I don't recommend this because if you do, Windows will always try to look for its CD at the old location whenever it needs drivers later on. Change it now, and Windows will keep the change and things will work much better.

7. Reboot: Remove the driver floppy disk from the floppy drive and reboot the system. After the hard disk boots, you should see a message from the CD-ROM driver as it loads, and then from MSCDEX as well, telling you that the CD-ROM has been assigned a drive letter. If you encounter any errors, try to address them by making sure the hardware is properly connected, and double-checking the commands in the system files. Bear in mind the notes I put in at the top of this procedure about how sometimes the install programs don't set up the files properly.
8. Insert CD-ROM and Access It: Place your Windows CD-ROM (or other disk) in the CD-ROM drive. Type "dir J:" (or whatever your CD-ROM letter is) and the contents of the CD-ROM should be displayed. If this works, the driver is installed and you are ready to install the operating system. Note that it can take a few seconds for the disk to be registered, so be patient. If you get an error message like "Invalid drive specification", this probably means that your driver isn't installed properly or your drive was not found. If you get other errors you may have a problem with your drive or the particular disk you inserted. You may find the solution in this section of The Troubleshooting Expert.

System Documentation Procedure

This procedure describes how to document certain critical information about your PC. Recording and organizing information about your PC is a prudent investment of a few minutes of your time. It will greatly help you if/when you have system problems or go to upgrade your machine. You'll want to perform this procedure after building or buying a new system, or performing significant upgrades.

Procedure Overview:

• Difficulty Level: 1 (Very low).
• Risk Factor: 1 (Very low).
• Hardware Required: Paper and pen?
• Software Required: Possibly a blank floppy disk.
• Time to Perform: About 5 minutes.
• Preparation / Warnings: There will probably be other specifics about your system that you'll want to record in addition to what is written here.

Procedure Steps:

1. Record BIOS Settings: Go into the BIOS setup program and record your BIOS settings. This is critical to restoring your system to working condition in the event that your BIOS settings ever become cleared. See this section of the System Care Guide for more information on this.
2. Record Jumper Settings: For a homebuilt system, write down the jumper settings that you determined when configuring the motherboard.
3. Make Copy of System Files: I recommend printing out or archiving to floppy disk the following files:
   • C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT
   • C:\CONFIG.SYS
   • C:\WINDOWS\WIN.INI
   • C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.INI
4. Record Assembly Notes: If you built the system yourself, I strongly recommend that you record some notes about what you did during your assembly. Write down anything unusual or noteworthy about what you did during assembly now, while you remember it. Concentrate on anything that is out of the ordinary that you might not remember doing six months from now.
5. Gather Manuals: Collect together the various documents and manuals that came with your system or components.
6. Store Documentation: Store the information you recorded and the manuals you gathered in a safe place where you will be able to find them if you need them in the future.
7. Back Up System: Assuming you have a backup method for your PC (and you should), back up the PC now. See this section for more details on backup.