Written By:
Date Posted: September 5, 2001

Setup - DOS Portion Cont'd

Your computer should now be rebooting. If it isn't, you have to press the "Enter" key, since Windows does not automatically reboot at this stage. As the computer is rebooting, you'll get a message at the top left saying that Setup is inspecting your configuration. This is normal, and takes about 10 seconds.

Note: If you booted from the CD to install, and not as I outlined the last page, this will be where you begin. Like I said earlier, the first steps are the one you skipped.

Setup will continue, and you'll be presented with a blue screen. Note the text on the bottom asking if you have a SCSI or RAID controller, to press F6. Now, whether or not you need to do anything depends on your hardware. Older, pre-2000 hardware likely will be detected, but if your hard drive(s) is configured in a RAID array, or if your disks are dependant on a SCSI controller, you will likely need to press F6. You only got about 5 seconds to decide, so make sure you got your drivers handy. As far as I know, you will need these drivers on FLOPPY disk. Yes, the old moldy 3 1/2" diskette. If anyone knows of another way, feel free to drop me a line, otherwise you'll have to do it this way.

I'm going to go ahead and explain this part anyways, since I got a RAID array myself, and I'm sure some of you also. Like I said, you don't have much time, so press F6 if you need to configure the RAID or SCSI controller, otherwise, ignore it and setup will continue.

After pressing F6 (like I said, not everyone has to), setup will continue to load a few more Windows files, then you'll be presented with another screen, outlining what you're supposed to do if you need to setup a RAID or SCSI controller. Chances are, you will need to install drivers yourself, so press the "S" key. If you have nothing to setup, and pressed F6 in a panic, don't worry, just press "Enter" to continue.

After pressing "S" you'll be presented with a screen asking you to insert your driver disk. If you have it handy, put it in. If not, you better go find it. Once you do, press "Enter" and Windows setup will scan the disk for compatible drivers.

You should be presented with a choice of drivers. Highlight the Windows 2000 ones, if available, otherwise it's sometimes safe to select Windows NT drivers. I do suggest trying to find 2000 drivers though. Press enter, and you'll be dropped back to the previous screen where you can press "S" for another driver if you need so. You'll note that your selected driver should be on the screen now. You can continue to select more drivers, or press "Enter" to continue with the Windows setup. You should leave the RAID and/or SCSI drivers in your floppy, in case Windows asks for them again. Typically it doesn't, but it'll depend on your hardware.

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