Help please...! Windows 7 and Asrock Z68 what are the first steps after building the computer

Suspect13 · 4 Oct 2011 at 19:11

Hello! I've just built my computer and was wondering how to set it up. It turns on fine. I have the Asrock Z68 motherboard with its UEFI bios, two AMD 6950, a SSD and normal Hardrive.

Do I put the disk for the mother board first or do I put the windows disk in first?

Could somone give me a step by step guide into setting it up from scratch? or roughly what the first steps are after putting the hardware together?

Hyburnate · 4 Oct 2011 at 19:14

Windows disk first, drivers straight after, then AVG.

So start it up, it will POST, open the CD Reader and pop the disk in, follow the steps, set it up, sign into windows, download AVG, install drivers (from the sites e.g. AsRock, AMD etc) You will need Motherboard Drivers, the 6950 drivers then the Crossfire drivers.

*EDIT: Never thought of that Vader.

VaderDSL · 4 Oct 2011 at 19:14

Make sure SSD is primary drive, if you want to be totally sure disconnect the normal HDD, make sure AHCI is enabled on the Intel Sata III ports.

Insert Windows disk and install

Suspect13 · 4 Oct 2011 at 19:20

The SSD is primary and windows has successfully installed on it, cheers!

I've just put the graphics driver in and its worked fine (I now have a large resolution!)

I have a CD for the motherboard. Does this contain drivers for the motherboard or do I need to download them?

Also, at what point do I set crossfire up for my graphics cards?

VaderDSL · 4 Oct 2011 at 19:21

I would never use the CD, it'll be outdated most likely, just go to the Intel or Mobo site and download the latest drivers releases.

Or let Windows 7 install all the drivers for you

It's pretty good nowadays.

Crossfire will be in the AMD catalyst program somewhere.

Suspect13 · 4 Oct 2011 at 20:18

Windows isn't seeing my second hardrive in the 'My computer' bit. What considerations are there for getting it working? Its a large normal hard drive which Im just going to store films/music on etc

VaderDSL · 4 Oct 2011 at 20:21

If you go to the disk management section, you'll probably need to initialise it, should be in control panel under admin tools or something to that effect.

Suspect13 · 4 Oct 2011 at 20:38

thanks that worked, I made a new volume on it and it seems all good

SiriusB · 4 Oct 2011 at 20:42

Start > Right-Click Computer > Manage > Disk Management.

You should see your secondary drive, you may need to manually assign a drive letter [right-click on it > change drive letter]. Windows might even mention initializing a drive the moment you open the Disk Management. It has been a while since I needed to do it, so bit hazy on the details!

As for AVG, disregard that. Piece of crap.

MSE or Avira AntiVir are two great free AVs. MSE will have a tiny impact on Windows 7 as it was optimized to run better on Windows 7 and is a good solid anti-virus - the recent Chrome debacle notwithstanding!

As an aside, please don't be afraid to put stuff on your SSD. It is super duper awesome fast for a reason. Leave your PageFile there, install your software there, leave your temp files there.