How to set up a standalone computer system

Setting up hardware

In this section of the blog, i will demonstrate how to set up a computer system including peripherals (Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor).

Step 1: Connecting the monitor

The first step in setting up a computer system is to connect the monitor, to do this, first we pick up one end of the VGA (Or HDMI / VGA) and connect it to the VGA port on the back of the PC.

The VGA Cable

Plugged in

 Once the VGA cable is connected to the PC, it must then be connected to the monitors VGA port. Make sure the VGA is the right way up so that it fits into the port correctly, as the cable will only fit in one way and trying to force the cable in the wrong way can damage it.

Port on the monitor

Plugged in

 Once the VGA is connected, the thumb screws on either side of the VGA should be screwed into the holes and tightened to ensure a secure connection.


Step 2: Connecting the keyboard and mouse

First, you want to place your keyboard and mouse on the desk and find the end of each peripherals cable and find the port on the back of the PC. You then need to connect the cables to the correct ports.

PS/2 Cable

Connected

Step 3: Connecting the power cable

First, find your power cable and plug it into a plug socket near your system, this ensures that it will not stretch or pull out of the PC.

Plugged in

Once the cable is connected to a plug socket, the other end must be connected to the PC, the power cable port is usually on a corner of the back, coming out of the power supply. The plug should just slot in without much force needed.

Connecting the power cable

Once the power cable is connected alongside all the peripherals, turn the power on at the plug socket and flick the power switch on the back of the PC, then you can press the power button on the front of the PC to turn it on.

Turning the socket on

All set up and turned on

Installing device drivers

For this tutorial i will be using a sound card to demonstrate installing hardware.

First, turn off and unplug your computer, then take off the side panel.

Once you have clear access to the PCI slots on the motherboard, gently push the sound card into one of the slots, making sure not to damage the sound card or the motherboard.

Once the sound card is in place and pushed in firmly, it must then be screwed in to ensure that it will not disconnect. Once screwed in, the power cable must be connected. 

Now that the sound card is installed, all that is left to do is install the drivers for the sound card, so that it works as intended.

To install the needed drivers, first you need to open the device manager to check what drivers need installing, then to install the drivers i plugged in a USB which had the drivers on and then ran the drivers i needed.

Once the driver is installed, you then have to restart your PC for the drivers to take effect. 

Installing the OS

This section will demonstrate how to install a clean copy of Microsoft Windows 7 onto a blank hard drive. Before you start installation, you may want to check your system specifications to ensure you can install the OS if you are using an older machine.

Step 1, Boot from disk

First you must turn on the PC and boot into the BIOS to change the boot order to prioritize booting from a disk over booting from the hard drive. Once you have done this, save your changes and restart your PC, then when instructed, insert the Windows 7 Installation Disk to boot.

Step 2: Loading windows files

At this step, you will not have to do anything as windows is just loading the files it needs to install. When this step is completed, your PC will move on to the next step automatically.

Step 3: Basic Setup

In this step you will have to pick your desired language, time and currency format, and choose the keyboard that you will use during installation.

Step 4: Begin Installation

In this step you will be prompted to accept the user license agreement and continue with the installation.

Step 5: Type and location of installation

In this step you will have to choose where you are installing the OS to and whether or not this you are upgrading the OS, since this is an installation on an empty drive, do not pick the upgrade option. Generally, you will only have one available location to install the OS to, but if you have multiple drives, select the primary drive you will be booting from.

Step 6: Finishing up

Once you have picked a location to install to, press next and windows should finish installation its self, this step may take some time as it needs to unpack and install windows onto the hard drive.

Once windows has finished installing, the machine will restart and then boot to the OS.