This post is part of a series about Configuring a Sitecore Workstation. Previous post: First Boot and Preparation.

To install Windows:

• If installing more than one version of Windows, install editions in order of release (Windows XP Pro, Windows 2003, Windows Vista Enterprise or Ultimate, Windows 2008 Standard, Windows 7). As of May 2009, 64-bit software presents various challenges. Do not install 64-bit Windows without sufficient reason.
• Insert the Windows installation disk, reboot the machine, and press F12 or the equivalent keystroke to activate the boot menu.
• Select the optical drive containing the installation disk and be prepared to press any key within a few seconds.
• Delete any hard drive partitions. To remove stubborn partitions, reboot into the existing operating system installation and see the information about diskpart in an earlier post in this series, Fist Boot and Preparation.
• Create an NTFS partition of at least 40GB for each Windows edition. For a single Windows edition, create one partition consuming the entire hard drive. Quick format when new partitions when prompted.
• When creating an image to ghost onto other machines, name the machine after the model number and order number. Otherwise, name the machine after the company and vendor hardware identifier (Dell service tag).
• When prompted, enter the administrative username and password.
• Set the password for the account named Administrator, but disable the account.
• Use the Windows license key that came with the system when possible.
• Copy the i386 folder from the Windows XP CD to C:\ so that later you don’t need the XP disk to install IIS and other components.
• Eject the CD.

To configure core components:

• Install chipset driver(s).
• Install security software. For Microsoft Forefront, note that AMD64 applies to any 64-bit edition of Windows (excluding Itanium). First run MP_AMBITS.MSI. It doesn’t provide a UI, so when it appears to have finished whatever it does, run FCSSSA.MSI, which doesn’t provide a UI either. Reboot. Don’t use the notification area icon to apply updates – get them later through Windows update.
• Install the video driver.
• Install the wired LAN driver and test the network.
• Activate Windows without registering.
• Install the wireless LAN driver, but make Windows manage Wireless networks. I think you install the Dell driver, and then disable the service or startup programs. My experience is that the Intel PROSet wireless driver installers don’t let you exclude components, so you have to remove the components afterwards using the Change option in the Add and Remove Programs control panel:

• Connect to a wireless network and disconnect the physical LAN cable to test the wireless network. Then restore the physical LAN cable.
• If Windows doesn’t appear to be downloading updates, activate Windows Update manually. Check for new updates until nothing remains (except optional language packs on Windows Vista Ultimate).
• When installing or configuring IE8, see another post in this series, Configure a User Account.

To install IIS on Windows XP (or do something similar on Windows 2003, and be sure to enable ASP.NET in IIS Web Service Extensions), in Add/Remove Windows Components wizard in the Add or Remove Programs control panel, install World Wide Web Service. While you’re there, you might as well remove MSN Explorer, Outlook Express, and Windows Messenger. 

To install IIS on Windows 2008 (or something similar on Windows 2008 or Windows 7):

• IIS 6 WMI Compatibility.
• IIS Metabase and IIS 6 configuration compatibility.
• IIS Management Console.
  • ASP.NET.
  • Default Document.
  • HTTP Errors.
  • HTTP Redirection.
  • Static Content.
  • HTTP Logging.
  • HTTP Compression Dynamic.
  • Static Content Compression.

Now that IIS is is installed, check for Windows updates, and make sure .NET 3.5 service pack 1 is installed.

On to the next post in the series: Configure Applications.