In what order does one install Drivers?

[billdcat4]

I am planning on building a PC, and I cannot seem to remember in what order I should install the drivers (e.g. chipset, video, sound, lan)

My Build So Far:
Intel e4300 $175
Intel P965 mobo $115
Kingston 2gb 1.8v ram $170
eVGA 7900gs $145
Bluegears benspirer sound card $110
WD se16 250gb hard drive $75
Antec P180b case $125
Edimax PCI wifi card $20

The Above at newegg with 30 dollars for shipping as well as:

OCZ PowerXStream 600watt 12v x 4 18a at ClubIT.com for only $79 !!!
shipping there is $9

TOTAL: $1054

btw, ive already got an LCD, keyboard and mouse, and lite-on optical drive.

So back to my actual topic: in what order do I install the drivers for these parts?

 

[RJ]

I am planning on building a PC, and I cannot seem to remember in what order I should install the drivers (e.g. chipset, video, sound, lan)

My Build So Far:
Intel e4300 $175
Intel P965 mobo $115
Kingston 2gb 1.8v ram $170
eVGA 7900gs $145
Bluegears benspirer sound card $110
WD se16 250gb hard drive $75
Antec P180b case $125
Edimax PCI wifi card $20

The Above at newegg with 30 dollars for shipping as well as:

OCZ PowerXStream 600watt 12v x 4 18a at ClubIT.com for only $79 !!!
shipping there is $9

TOTAL: $1054

btw, ive already got an LCD, keyboard and mouse, and lite-on optical drive.

So back to my actual topic: in what order do I install the drivers for these parts?

LAN first...get online capability up and running so you can find latest drivers. Often, while doing a MS update, it'll download drivers for you.

Please tell me you're not going with Vista right now....WAIT!

 

[scorch]

Chipset,video,nic,sound,modem. Before connecting to the internet Get firewall, antivirus and antispyware installed.Then go online and get them updated first then do the driver and os updates..Oh and definately reboot the computer after the antivirus/firewall/antispy updates.

 

[billdcat4]

LAN first...get online capability up and running so you can find latest drivers. Often, while doing a MS update, it'll download drivers for you.

I reinstalled winxp on my now deceased dell 4 times. There was a specific order to the driver installs. I have a CD with an app on it called Autopatcher. It automatically patches WinXP up to Jan07. I can always download the newest drivers and put them on a usb key. Heck, all of the products come with Driver CDs why should I expose my virgin PC to the dark dangerous internet?

Please tell me you're not going with Vista right now....WAIT!

Sweet lord almighty no! god forbid. Im just gonna install WinXP from my Dell OEM disc and bother Microsoft for an activation code

But there is an order to it, and if you dont follow it things get messed up.

 

[billdcat4]

Chipset,video,nic,sound,modem. Before connecting to the internet Get firewall, antivirus and antispyware installed and updated first then do the driver and os updates..Oh and definately reboot the computer after the antivirus/firewall/antispy updates.

See, thats what I wanted.

also:
In my case would It be worth it to go for the G965 or Q965, or P945 boards from intel. None of them can OC at any rate, but the G and Q boards have great onboard video while the P965 has none whatsoever. Heck, its always good to have a backup solution in case something goes wrong eh?

*EDIT*
Aw forget it, those intel boards are the same price but way crappier

 

[scorch]

I guess that is definately a positive point in having onboard video. I too have an intel board and overclocking isn't an option. I like stability right now and overclocking is not a mess I want to get into right now. When overclocking just ment changing the multiplier on the cpu (back in the 486 and pentium 1 days) yea I did it. But now you have to deal with memory timings, voltage settings, extra fans, adequate power supplys. It would be fun to tinker with if I had a "spare" computer to do it with but as for my main system I don't think so.

EDIT: I have said this in another post, intel boards are not crap. They are just not for extreme gamers / overclockers. If you want a nice stable board with out hassles (except the 975 boards from what I have read) intel is the way to go. The 3 year warranty is a full warranty none of that 1year full years 2 and 3 parts only. Usually a 24 to 48 hour exchange with credit card. (kind of like the deposit on a rental car). Card not charged if they recieve the bad mainboard with in a week to 10 days.

 

[RJ]

Chipset,video,nic,sound,modem. Before connecting to the internet Get firewall, antivirus and antispyware installed.Then go online and get them updated first then do the driver and os updates..Oh and definately reboot the computer after the antivirus/firewall/antispy updates.

...because there's sooooo much danger in connecting to the MS update site.....

too funny!

say "Norton" and I'll pee my pants

 

[billdcat4]

I guess that is definately a positive point in having onboard video. I too have an intel board and overclocking isn't an option. I like stability right now and overclocking is not a mess I want to get into right now. When overclocking just ment changing the multiplier on the cpu (back in the 486 and pentium 1 days) yea I did it. But now you have to deal with memory timings, voltage settings, extra fans, adequate power supplys. It would be fun to tinker with if I had a "spare" computer to do it with but as for my main system I don't think so.

EDIT: I have said this in another post, intel boards are not crap. They are just not for extreme gamers / overclockers. If you want a nice stable board with out hassles (except the 975 boards from what I have read) intel is the way to go. The 3 year warranty is a full warranty none of that 1year full years 2 and 3 parts only. Usually a 24 to 48 hour exchange with credit card. (kind of like the deposit on a rental car). Card not charged if they recieve the bad mainboard with in a week to 10 days.

See thats what I want, a good stable board. So what if my friend OC'ed his pentium D 805 to 3.7ghz? His power supply is now just barely holding on (450w that came wAntec Sonata 2), and the life of his CPU will be shortened greatly. I would just like to have a good stable PC that I can depend upon to always be there, and not give me headaches.

Anyone else want to share their stories about Intel Boards? So far all that I have heard is from happy Intel mobo owners whose PCs seem to last for an eternity. im happy, for now.

 

[scorch]

It is better not to take chances. Have your protection on before going online.

Oh and I read the post fine print NORTON

now piss your pants RJ

 

[Whiznot]

Check out the Tweaking Companion at the Tweak Guides web site for detailed information regarding driver installation order. The tweaking Companion also addresses BIOS optimization which can only be accomplished before Windows is installed.

Also, I always use Autopatcher (as mentioned above) to update and configure my OS.

Before installing Windows you must revert to a minimum hardware configuration. Remove soundcard, USB devices and all PCI cards.

 

[billdcat4]

Chipset,video,nic,sound,modem. Before connecting to the internet Get firewall, antivirus and antispyware installed.Then go online and get them updated first then do the driver and os updates..Oh and definately reboot the computer after the antivirus/firewall/antispy updates.

...because there's sooooo much danger in connecting to the MS update site.....

too funny!

say "Norton" and I'll pee my pants


Hey I had a tech support guy try to get me to reinstall winxp again just because I connected to the internet without the microsoft updates. And thats with ZoneAlarm AVG and Spybot. He insisted that my just connecting to the network without the latest microsoft updates my PC was completely compromised.

Also, I am planning to purchase Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite for 3 Machines for 70 dollars. I read a review of it in which the summary was: very good firewall and antivir, but somewhat lacking in antispyware.

So, is the ZoneAlarm Internet security suite good? and what is a good free or cheap AntiSpyware that at least offers realtime protection? (e.g. Spybot S&D, Spyware Sweeper, Spyware Doctor??)

 

[scorch]

Yes I will definately agree with that about installing extra hardware. Espically with video cards and USB devices and sound cards. This way if your computer dosent work after installing the add ons your not freaking out too bad and you have an idea of what caused the problem.

 

[billdcat4]

Before installing Windows you must revert to a minimum hardware configuration. Remove soundcard, USB devices and all PCI cards.

Huh? Whazat? Could someone please clarify this? Im really confused now. I thought one just throws all the parts in a box, installs winxp, and then installs the drivers in the correct order. This is what I did when I built a box for my friend.

So what is this I hear about minimum hardware configuration?

 

[scorch]

I have only used the zone alarm free ware in the past and it seemed to keep pop ups and crap off.

 

[billdcat4]

Yes I will definately agree with that about installing extra hardware. Espically with video cards and USB devices and sound cards. This way if your computer dosent work after installing the add ons your not freaking out too bad and you have an idea of what caused the problem.

Gotcha, so by minimum config you mean: mobo, cpu, cpu fan, ram, hd, dvd, gpu. But I can see what you mean by that, Im not looking forward to weeding out issues. Ugh.

Also, how would I find out what part is to blame? What are some of the most common symptoms of a DOA GPU, PSU, RAM, and MOBO??
Now this is important because every day this forum receives dozens of frantic posts from people who put together their home-brew boxes to find out that something is horribly wrong. So lets get those most common symptoms out of the way!

 

[scorch]

Its mainly precautionary to rule out possible conflicts or bad hardware causing a problem. Rather then putting all the hardware and just getting the bios beeps because of a bad video card and having to trouble shoot pulling everything out one at a time, one at a time installation--if you install the video card and the computer dosen't work, you know that the video card may be bad if the computer boots fine when you pull it back out.

 

[scorch]

Usually when you put one piece in at a time and then when you boot your computer and it just does nothing or just gives beeps the hardware you just installed is the problem.

 

[billdcat4]

Its mainly precautionary to rule out possible conflicts or bad hardware causing a problem. Rather then putting all the hardware and just getting the bios beeps because of a bad video card and having to trouble shoot pulling everything out one at a time, one at a time installation--if you install the video card and the computer dosen't work, you know that the video card may be bad if the computer boots fine when you pull it back out.

Then again if you dont have a built in VGA port like on all P965 boards, you cant just pull the card out and expect the windows logo to magically appear on your screen eh?

But lets get back to my last post. Everyone contribute their experiences in weeding out DOA parts .
whee?

 

[scorch]

Crap you got me there... good one.
Then you have to go Harry Potter on the computers A*s and make the windows screen magically appear as you said. Give me minunite on that one.

 

[scorch]

Ok if you pull out all extra hardware except the videocard and it still dosen't boot then if you don't have at least an old pci videocard laying around its time to take it in or start exchanging parts. First video card, then memory, then mainboard then CPU. Then there is the possibility of the powersupply. See the problem is I have spare test parts laying around at home Im never totally backed into a corner like that.

 

[billdcat4]

Ok if you pull out all extra hardware except the videocard and it still dosen't boot then if you don't have at least an old pci videocard laying around its time to take it in or start exchanging parts. First video card, then memory, then mainboard then CPU. Then there is the possibility of the powersupply. See the problem is I have spare test parts laying around at home Im never totally backed into a corner like that.

Well I do have spare ddr533 ram and a X800GT pciexpress gpu that I believe survived my now deceased XPS's death. Basically, its PSU went haywire frying (as far as I know) my keyboard and mouse as well as my hard drive. Who knows, could be all the parts

 

[scorch]

Ok I have to go out to dinner, Ill check the post later. Hope RJ didn't ruin a good pair of pants :lol:

 

[billdcat4]

Ok if you pull out all extra hardware except the videocard and it still dosen't boot then if you don't have t.

Can we just get this down: what is the basic hardware config?? Im not going to guess, just tell me

 

[billdcat4]

Ok I have to go out to dinner, Ill check the post later. Hope RJ didn't ruin a good pair of pants :lol:

lol, ait ill be back soon also

 

[truromeo4juliet]

Chipset,video,nic,sound,modem. Before connecting to the internet Get firewall, antivirus and antispyware installed.Then go online and get them updated first then do the driver and os updates..Oh and definately reboot the computer after the antivirus/firewall/antispy updates.

I prefer this order:
Chipset, LAN/Wireless, Video, Audio, misc (56K, Cardreader, TV Tuner, etc)

um... word of advice, don't download the Video Driver updates from Microsoft's Automatic updates site... I work at a national computer repair shop, and 2/3 times at work it always gives us corrupt drivers, where the video driver either doesn't display correctly anymore, or Windows won't boot into anything except safemode and the video driver has to be removed and re-downloaded from the Manufacturer's site...

just a heads up, from my experience :thumbsup: