Template:OS install guide

First, insert your Windows operating system installation CD in your CD drive.

If your CD is not bootable, you will also need to insert an MS-DOS boot floppy disk with CD-ROM support. You can create one on a computer running Windows 98 or ME. If one is not available or if it is not working properly, you can download a self-writing boot disk image from here.

{{{1}}} to start it.

If your CD is bootable, the virtual machine will boot from the CD and Windows Setup should start.

If your CD is not bootable, the virtual machine will boot from the floppy drive and an MS-DOS command prompt will appear.
If you are installing an operating system older than Windows 2000, you will need to partition/format your virtual drive and start setup manually. Follow these steps:

Step 1 - create a primary partition

1. at the command prompt, type FDISK
2. select Y at the "Enable large disk support" prompt, if one appears
3. select 1 to create a new partition
4. select 1 to create a new primary partition
5. select Y to mark the partition as active and use all available space
6. press Escape as prompted after the operation has completed
7. if FDISK does not automatically reboot the virtual machine, {{{2}}} to reset the virtual machine

Step 2 - format the partition

1. back at the command prompt, type FORMAT C:
2. select Y to confirm
3. enter a volume label if desired

Step 3 - start setup

1. back at the command prompt, type D: to switch to your CD-ROM drive
   • Note: some bootdisks may mount the CD-ROM drive to other letters than D: (for example X:). If entering the command above gives an error, try other drive letters.
2. with some CDs, you may need to navigate to the folder containing SETUP.EXE - use the MS-DOS commands CD to navigate to a subfolder and DIR to list the contents of the current folder
3. type SETUP

If are installing Windows 2000 or a newer version from a non-bootable CD, follow these steps to start Setup manually:

1. type D: to switch to your CD-ROM drive
2. type CD I386 to change the current directory to D:\i386
3. type WINNT to start the DOS-based installer

Installing Windows onto the virtual machine should be fairly straight-forward. If you are unsure about something, select the default option. If you encounter difficulties, please consult your operating system installation guide.

Note: all changes are being done inside your virtual machine, and do not affect your computer. The Windows installation will format your virtual hard drive, not your real one. From your computer's point of view, all changes will be made to the virtual machine files.

Follow the setup process until the virtual machine starts to your Windows desktop.