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I have been told that on a new build, with new hardware, one should NEVER put all the hardware in place then do the install of Windows. It often causes failure/difficulty in getting everything to work. I personally have experienced the negative of trying to do it the "quick and easy" way several times, then decided to follow this advice and it works much better.
For a new windows install, install the minimum hardware, install the OS, then one at a time add the additional hardware pieces and set up the drivers. This way it is easy to see what is being added and if there is a problem it is isolated to the last component added.
I havn't installed any version of Windows since early Win98 and that was so I could run Paradox for Windows.
I had to install W2K Pro on a system a couple of weeks ago and I could not get over that problems. Reboot hell as each device was detected. On a new computer FC1 installed with only two problems. NForce 2 MB support and that was the SATA controller chip. Downloading drivers from NVidia and upgrading kernel fixed all problems. :) Still took less time than installing the W2K.
The key point is that many home users that want to try Linux would get frustrated as it "Isn't the same as Windows" to install software/hardware. Of course if Windows was so great, why does new hardware come with drivers?
-- Robin Laing
