What to do after built

[nightscope]

Alright, this is my first built and I'm wondering what I should do next after I've put everything together and turned it on. After I install windows, what do I do? Which drivers do I need? Do the video card drivers have the chipset drivers for the motherboard? What exactly do I install? Here are the specs:

CPU: Athlon x2 4000+ Brisbane 2.0 Ghz
Video Card: MSI 8600 GT Overclocked
hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Memory: A-DATA Extreme Edition 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Motherboard: BIOSTAR TForce TF7025-M2 AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7025 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Cd/dvd Drive: SAMSUNG Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 20X DVD±R DVD Burner
Sound: Onboard Sound

Thanks in advance!

 

[runswindows95]

Once Windows is installed, you will mostly likely need to install the video, network, and sound drivers. Windows generally installs all the mobo drivers save the three mentioned. After that, go into The Device Manager and look for devices with a yellow question mark by it. After all the drivers are installed, start installing the programs you need or want.

 

[mad-dog]

Goto each manufacturers website that made hardware for your system and check for updated drivers.
CHECK FOR SYSTEM STABILITY.
Run Prime95 to burn-in the CPU and make sure the heatsink is working correctly.
Go straight to Windows Update and download all the wonderful updates to your OS.
Then download some system tools such as CCleaner, AVG antivirus, ZoneAlarm , ASquared, SpellCheck, SpeedFan, memtest86, Everest, CPU-Z, Lavasoft AdAware, Spybot S&D........................then start tweaking the system by clicking the link in my signature and reading thru all those knowledgable links i have supplied for you.

Folding@Home

 

[nightscope]

Thanks a lot guys, that really helped!

So, here it is:
Install Windows
Install network, sound, and video card drivers
Install windows updates
Go to device manager and check for missing drivers
Install all programs I need

Right?

Thanks again!

 

[Yoosty]

Thanks a lot guys, that really helped!

So, here it is:
Install Windows
Install network, sound, and video card drivers
Install windows updates
Go to device manager and check for missing drivers
Install all programs I need

Right?

Thanks again!

Would install Anti Virus/Firewall before you go Online or otherwise you leave yourself wide open for alot of possible Viruses and Trojans/worms.

 

[boner]

YOOsty is right

 

[altazi]

Can't underscore mad-dog's excellent advice enough: check system stability. FWIW, I run memtest86 BEFORE installing the OS; it is a self-booting utlility. I have seen installs in systems with 2 DIMMs, one good, one bad. The software installs and runs, sort-of. All kinds of stability problems.

So, memtest86, then install OS, run Prime95 torture tests, etc., etc. An unstable system is just a POS.

Good luck.

Altazi