New desktop arrived - what next??

longwalks1

Just recieved my new desktop from Ebuyer with no operating software on it, and wondered... what do i do next? (useless with pc's, apart from sending emails or ebaying)

Im on my laptop writing this, but where do i start? (its already out the box, plugged in, and monitor connected before you say anytihng

phxweb

britishboy wrote: »

Just recieved my new desktop from Ebuyer with no operating software on it, and wondered... what do i do next? (useless with pc's, apart from sending emails or ebaying)

Im on my laptop writing this, but where do i start? (its already out the box, plugged in, and monitor connected before you say anytihng

Do you have an operating system disk ?

If so turn on the machine put in the disk and follow on screen instructions

longwalks1

yup got windows 7 premium, will do......................

A.Penny.Saved

You need to partition your drive and then install an operating system (OS).

Whatever OS you choose, I would make a small partition of around 30GB to 40GB for windows or Linux and a home, swap and boot partitions for Linux as Logical partitions. Linux root, the first one I mentioned is probably best as a Logical partition too. It's only windows that needs primary partitions.

I wouldn't let an OS do partitioning, I always prefer to do it using separate software on a boot CD.

[EDIT after seeing that you have windows]
For windows I would make a primary partition of about 40GB and the rest of the drive I would have as a logical partition. That way it is far easier to re-install windows as all your data can be stored on the Logical partition and you just copy the few document files from the primary before you re-install.

You could have a swap partition but it won't really be of benefit if you only have one drive. I like to put a swap partition on one of my other drives at the beginning of the drive for speed. That can be a logical partition as well.

longwalks1

should i load windows 7 32-bit, or 64-bit? my pc has 4Gb of RAM, 3.0Ghz

Thanks in advance

phxweb

Depends what your processor is, try 64 - its the better one, if your processor wont support it it wont install anyway

A.Penny.Saved

64 bit is best for anything over 3GB of memory as you won't be able to use more than about 3.2GB with a 32 bit OS.

longwalks1

she's whirring away as we speak.......................

A.Penny.Saved

But get your partitioning done FIRST, you really don't want windows taking the whole drive for the OS. It will be terrible to re-install when the time comes if it's taking up the whole drive. Do yourself a favour and make a logical partition for all your data.

I have many partitions on my system with 5 hard drives. None of my drives have a single partition.

longwalks1

have created 3 partitions, is that enough? 3 x 100Gb, and the remainder is 700Gb

A.Penny.Saved

You really will regret it if you let windows just install itself without thinking ahead! A windows install cannot last forever so think what you will do when the time comes to re-install. So get it right first time and don't be over eager to get an OS onto it.

[EDIT after seeing your reply]
Why do you need 2x100GB?

100GB is a hell of a lot for an OS. You could have a 2nd windows install, I have a few myself as it helps if a system goes t*ts up.

But I don't think you will need more than 50GB at most. You can always install programs to a logical drive if you ever need to. So you will probably be wasting space using 100GB when you cannot really afford to store any data on that partition.

Make sure the 700GB is a logical drive! You don't need a data drive to be a primary as you can only have a max of 4 primary partitions one of which will be used up making a logical partition.

My biggest windows partition is only 35GB, larger appz can be installed to my data drive in a folder called Program Files [OS name]. I have multiple OS installs (windows/Linux) but most don't use a folder on my data drive.