How to Reinstall Windows XP

Over the years, PC World has published hundreds of tips for fixing glitches in Microsoft's Windows operating system. But sometimes, the only cure for a Windows malady is a complete reinstallation. Here's how to reinstall Windows XP.

First, locate the Windows CD that shipped with your PC, along with the CDs for your application software. If you downloaded your antivirus, firewall, or other programs, copy those downloads to a CD or to some other type of removable media. (If your system didn't ship with a Windows CD, your reinstallation files are situated on your hard drive; I'll describe how to access them in just a minute.) Also, dig up the instructions that your ISP sent you for configuring your network settings, and keep them close at hand.

Copy the contents of your 'C:\Documents and Settings' folder (or whichever folder you store your personal files on) to a CD or other removable medium. Then grab any other critical data and back it up. It helps to collect the installers for the latest drivers for your PC's graphics card and other hardware, too.

Ready to Reinstall

Now insert the Windows CD that came with your PC, and reboot your system. If you didn't receive a Windows disc with your machine, the files you need are sitting in a hidden partition on your hard drive. To access them, press the keys indicated on your screen when you reboot, but before Windows loads. The keys differ from vendor to vendor, so contact your PC's manufacturer if you don't see the prompt.

In many instances, the only available option is 'Return the drive to its factory condition', which destroys all documents, photos, and other data files on your PC. That's why you made a copy of your data folders.

You get more options--including the ability to preserve your files and settings--when you use Microsoft's own Windows XP installation disc. Make your selection, and follow the on-screen prompts to complete the reinstallation.

Starting Over

Regardless of which option you choose, you'll have to reconfigure your network connections, reinstall some of your device drivers, and update XP and your applications manually.

To configure your Internet connection, right-click My Network Places, click Create a new connection, and follow the prompts, entering the appropriate information you received from your ISP.

Once you've re-established your Internet link, you must reinstall and update your firewall, antivirus, and antispyware programs.

Next, check to see which of your device drivers need updates: Rght-click My Computer and selectProperties, Hardware, Device Manager. Look for entries with yellow question marks or red exclamation points. A question mark indicates that Windows is using a generic driver for that device instead of one specifically designed for it; an exclamation point means that the device is not working.

The drivers for graphics boards, sound cards, and printers are most likely to need an update. If you haven't already done so, visit the vendors' Web sites to download updated drivers to your PC. Run the installer for each updated driver, allowing XP to reboot when needed, or right-click the entry in Device Manager, choose Update Driver, and step through the wizard, selecting No, not this time to the Windows Update question, and choosing the specified location option when it appears. When you can navigate to the driver file, select it and click OK to install it. When you finish updating your drivers, close all open windows.

Updates Galore

Your next stop is Microsoft's Windows Update site. Click Start, Windows Update, and follow the prompts. Since you'll probably be downloading many megabytes of updates, you might want to find yourself a good book or seek some other diversion while you wait.

When the downloading is complete, you'll be ready to reinstall and update your applications. Don't forget to update your critical apps as well. Microsoft Office, in particular has some important updates. Download them at the Microsoft Office Online Downloads page.

Once you've restored your applications, begin replacing your data. The first priorities are the My Documents and Application Data folders, which you'll find in the folder with your logon name inside 'C:\Documents and Settings'. To bring back your Internet Explorer favorites, restore the contents of the Favorites folder. Also restore the Shared Data and Application Data folders inside 'C:\Documents and Settings\Shared Documents'. Once you've reintroduced all of your data, your Windows refresh will be complete.

src:pcworld

How to completely close out running applications in the new iPhone iOS 4

With the newest version of iPhone firmware, you will be able to multitask. Finally, Apple has given us the ability to access more than one program at once and enjoy our Apps to the fullest. By closing an app the way you would on a 3G phone (clicking the home button), you will no longer fully quit an app. This is similar to the way things work on a Mac OS - clicking the "X" 

Learn How to completely close out running applications in the new iPhone iOS 4. For more Cell Phone, PDA, iPhone How-To Videos & Articles, visit WonderHowTo.

src  wonderhowto. 

How to Use Cygwin to Run Linux Apps on Windows

You'll see a lot of Linux action going down here at Null Byte. We use Linux for hacking-related stuff because it provides a more relaxed programming environment, making it easy to write exploits and tools. Linux has many features Windows is lacking, such as full control over the OS right down to the Kernel and massive availability of mature, open source (read: free & tweakable) tools & projects.

So Windows users might be wondering, "How do I use Linux applications & commands on Windows?", whether it be because you don't want to install a Virtual Machine, or simply because you don't know how to use Linux.

Cygnus Solution has a tool that can remedy this issue, called Cygwin. Cygwin uses its own DLL (Dynamic Link Library), which acts as a Linux API. It does not emulate Linux. It is acompatibility-layer (Linux-users, think Wine). You have to compile all of the Linux apps from source, no pre-compiled packages.

In this Null Byte, I'm going to show you how to install, and run a demonstration program in Cygwin.

Step 1 Download and Install Cygwin

• Download Cygwin from the official website.
• Double-click the setup.exe file from where you saved it (likely, Downloads).
• Click on "Install from Internet".

• Install Cygwin for your user only, unless you plan on everyone using it.
• Hit "Next" until you get to the part with the mirror selection (this selects what server you wish to download Cygwin packages from).
• For the sake of things working the same, you can use my mirror, as in this image below, but the choice probably doesn't matter.
• Wait for install to complete.

What Packages Do I Pick?

You should be at the package installation screen now. If you look at the word "All" at the top, to the right of it you will see "Default".  By clicking on that you will see: "Default", "Update", "Install", and "Uninstall". The setup.exe acts not only as an installer for Cygwin, but a package manager and updater as well. With this, you can control all of Cygwin, and its install software. If you don't want anything in these packages, just install the "Default" method- it only installs the minimum packages to allow Cygwin to run.

Simply hit "Next >" a few more times to install the base-packages.

By now you should be all installed and ready to go. Just navigate through the Start-menu to find Cygwin and run it.

Step 2 Using Cygwin and Installing Packages

Now, I'm going to go over how to use a few basic commands, and install a package from source in Cygwin.

You can navigate the terminal, just as you would in Linux. You have access to "cd" "cat" "gcc" and all of the other commands, just like a normal Linux rig.

To get a feel for the terminal, I'm going to just install Eggdrop, an IRC bot, to show you how a normal install goes. Linux uses different compression archives than Windows (.zip, .7z, .rar).

Installation

• Download Eggdrop source code (tar.gz).
• Move the source into C:\cygwin\home\Owner.

• Switch back to your Cygwin terminal and type "ls". You should see your package listed as a sub file/directory.

• To extract the package type:

        tar -zxvf eggdrop1.6.20.tar.gz

• After the text is done scrolling, change to the Eggdrop directory with this command:

       cd eggdrop1.6.20/

• Now we have to "compile" the code into code the computer can understand (binary executable): 

      ./configure && make && make install

• Now the program should be installed and run-able!

src:wonderhowto

How ton Install Windows 7 (Video)

Src:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j59T09UQ9uc

How-To: Install Windows 7 and live to tell about it

So you're thinking about going to Windows 7, eh? Chances are your head is swimming in a sea of TLAsand confusing charts -- enough to have the most adamant Microsoft defender reaching for a something with an Option key. Fear not, noble purchaser of legal software. Though XP users have been punished for skipping Vista by not being able to directly upgrade now, the process of backing up your data, formatting and installing Windows, and then restoring your goods again has never been easier -- even if you're on a netbook with less storage than your smartphone. Vista users have even less to worry about. We'll have our full impressions of the finally finalized OS later this week, but for now let's journey hand in hand down the gently sloped path of the upgrade process.

Sections:

From XP 32 to Windows 7 64 on a desktop

From XP 32 to Windows 7 32 on a netbook

From Vista 64 to Windows 7 64 on a laptop

Easy Transfer app

Hardware gotchas

Upgrading from XP Pro 32 to Windows 7 Ultimate 64 on a desktop

Return to top

There were conflicting reports ahead of the Windows 7 RTM release about whether XP users would or would not be able to upgrade without going through the whole backup / format / re-install / restore / cry over forgotten files process. When Microsoft finalized just who was in and who was out for the in-place upgrade party, it became very clear that anyone who took a bye on Vista had better get ready for some pain. Sure enough, our XP Pro 32-bit desktop didn't want anything to do with a Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit install disc, lacking even the dignity to display a friendly dialog box. So, it was time to make with the backups (detailed below), then boot that DVD.

The bootable Windows 7 installation disc presents a prettier interface than previous Windows versions, which will do little to make up for the ire you may feel at having to format if you weren't planning to, but it's still far better than the old DOS-based installers Microsoft was pawning off just a few versions ago. Once the install interface has loaded, clicking on "Custom Installation" allows you to quickly get a list of your partitions, and we found that all our RAID and SATA storage was recognized immediately. Wiping and creating partitions is quick, with no need to wait ages for painful system-level formats like the good 'ol days. However, we were somewhat annoyed at the mandatory 100MB hidden system partition that the installer creates -- not such a big deal here with a large drive at our disposal, but responsible for a bit more pain on the 8GB netbook coming up next.

It took 25 minutes from re-booting onto the installation DVD to get to the first Windows 7 login screen, and another three or four to get past the initial configuration to the first, honest-to-goodness Windows 7 desktop. That included deleting and creating partitions, the full install, configuring OS settings, and getting logged in. Not bad for 30 minutes work.

Overall, the process looks like this for a clean desktop install:

• Backup data
• Boot to Windows 7 installation disc
• Select "Custom Installation" and re-create primary drive partition(s)
• Patience (approximately 30 minutes)
• Re-configure OS and restore backup

Upgrading from XP Pro 32 to Windows 7 Ultimate 32 on a netbook

Return to top

Our netbooks were up next, an 8GB 1000H Eee PC and a Seashell model with a good bit more storage. We'd figured the 1000H would be a challenge, as Microsoft recommends 16GB free and 8GB of disk space as a requirement, so, we were expecting to have a little netbook with a juicy SSD bursting with the latest flavor of Windows and absolutely nothing else. Thankfully things weren't quite that bad, but they weren't far off. Again, in-place upgrading wasn't possible here on either of these two, so it was time to back-up and make with the re-partitioning.

An external DVD drive makes the installation process simpler, but Microsoft has detailed exactly how to install Windows 7 from a USB thumb drive or some other form of external storage. The instructions there are simple enough, starting with the DiskPart utility to format your thumb drive (an 8GB model will have plenty of room), copying the Win 7 install files over, and then making a one-way trip to Repartitionville. After that it's just a matter of modifying your boot order in the BIOS, running from the thumb drive, and going through the process of deleting and creating partitions before the install itself. You can also run the installer with a mere double click from Windows (as we did on the Seashell), but you get a bit less flexibility with partitions during the install -- booting to the drive is better.

That mandatory 100MB partition was now a real annoyance, as we don't really feel the need to use BitLocker and, from what we can tell, that's all it's used for. After install we had only 1.2GB free on the 1000H; even after painstakingly deleting every optional Windows contrivance we could think of (including games, DVD maker, and Media Center) we were still only able to get that up to 1.3GB of room to breathe. Knowing that we could have gotten there without having to forsake Mahjong Titans for a seemingly useless partition left us a bit sore.

The partitioning and initial installation process up to the first logon prompt took 36 minutes for the 1000H, and a further 15 were required to get to the desktop the first time. The Seashell took about the same time, and rather worryingly both suffered from black-screen crashes during their initial bootups. Thankfully this never occurred again on the 1000H, but the Seashell suffered frequent crashes after the installation was done.

Factor in the time we spent poking through the Add / Remove Programs dialog for bits and pieces we could dispatch and you're looking at a solid hour total -- a little less if you have more storage at your disposal. Again, only 1.2GB of unclaimed bits were left on the 8GB SSD, and while that isn't much, we're guessing many netbookers are getting by with less -- and there's still that 30GB second SSD to fill with apps and junk.

What the process looks like for a clean netbook install:

• Backup data
• Prepare thumb drive or other external storage with DiskPart utility
• Copy Windows 7 installation files
• Boot to external storage
• Select "Custom Installation" and re-create primary drive partition(s)
• Patience (about an hour)
• Re-configure OS and restore backup

Upgrading from Vista 64 to Windows 7 64 on a laptop (in-place upgrade)

Return to top

It wasn't all doom, gloom, and reformatting; we did manage one in-place upgrade, going from Vista 64 to Windows 7 64 on a Dell Studio XPS 13 laptop. The process was easy: just put the disc in, run setup, and go get a cup of coffee. But, when we'd gone back for our second and third cups, getting jittery while the install kept going and going, we'd started to wonder if perhaps doing a clean install would have been the better way to go. Our fears were later confirmed when we noticed that post-install performance improvements were negligible.

But, the installation itself was pain free, just taking ages to copy over documents and settings. Total install time was 55 minutes, which was a good bit longer than we'd have expected given the speed of the machine. But, beyond nagging performance disappointments, the upgrade was successful, with all documents, bookmarks and settings getting carried over (even an iTunes library). All the machine's hardware worked immediately except for the integrated card reader, which was up and running after a few restarts. Even Hybrid SLI worked (flawlessly, we might add) after we'd located the driver disc, despite Microsoft's claimed disinterest.

Here's the process for a Vista upgrade:

• Backup data (always a good idea)
• Insert Windows 7 disc and click "upgrade"
• Patience (about an hour)
• Double-check everything works

Easy Transfer app lives up to its name

Return to top

Since we didn't have much luck on the upgrade front and wound up re-formatting most of our machines prior to installation (which honestly is a good idea anyway), we tried out a variety of other ways to back up important data and app settings, including selectively restoring pieces of automated backups from aWindows Home Server box and the 'ol "Copy everything I think I need to a thumb drive and hope I didn't forget anything" technique. But, far and away the easiest was Microsoft's Easy Transfer application.

It's not a new tool, having been around since Vista, but we found it to be the most comprehensive way to move either from one machine to the next (if you're replacing an older PC with a new one), or to restore user accounts and permissions after a reformat. The tool is in the \support\migwiz directory on the Windows 7 DVD, and it has a simple wizard interface that lets you select which accounts to back-up and, for each account, what content to preserve. We chose to just back-up account and application settings, and then dumped the resulting archive to a thumb drive -- we even remembered to not use the one we formatted for the netbook install -- but you can push settings straight over the network to your new machine if you like.

Each account required about 70MB, excluding any actual user-generated documents, but it included everything from usernames and passwords to the custom toolbars you spent hours getting pixel-perfect in Office. It only took about five minutes to bundle all that stuff into a backup file, and even less time to restore it all after the install was complete. This app won't archive your applications themselves, so you'll still need to dust off that leaning tower of installation discs sitting in the corner of your desk, but once installed (and re-activated, where applicable) it'll be like you and they were never parted -- many apps will even remember your most recently accessed files, just like you left 'em. Naturally, this works best with Microsoft apps and internal Windows settings, but it did surprise us by grabbing our Firefox bookmarks and history. Still, we'd recommend backing up important app settings manually to be totally sure it's all there.

Hardware gotchas

Return to top

Overall the install process went well; even backing up and restoring data was straightforward, but naturally there would be a few incompatibilities. Windows 7 includes a fairly comprehensive device troubleshooter that will walk you through some steps to fix the issue, including running the driver installation process in Compatibility Mode, which allows specifying exactly which version of Windows your driver is supposed to work with. But, sometimes even that didn't work.

Visioneer's ancient 4400 USB, for example, just would not function regardless of how we tried. But, since it didn't work with Vista either, that wasn't a surprise. In this instance we have to blame the manufacturer for not supporting their hardware past XP. In fact, the only hardware we could find that we could never get to work were things that wouldn't work in Vista either, confirming that Win 7 is at least not a step backward in that regard.

The formerly 32-bit XP desktop has in it an older, PCI WinTV tuner and video capture card from Hauppauge that was dead post-install, but a quick trip to the company's website (once we looked up the right way to spell it) and a driver download had us back recording in time for the Mad Men season premier. Similarly, a PCI Creative Audigy2 ZS Platinum sound card did work fine after first boot into Windows 7, but the additional ports on the breakout-box it ships with did not. Updated drivers from Creative's site (far easier to spell) made everything right as rain.

For the Eee PC 1000H, everything worked out of the box except for Bluetooth and the shortcut keys. The machine was able to get on a wireless network and the touchpad worked, but multitouch was sadly missing, requiring custom drivers from Elan. Getting the shortcut and function buttons beneath the screen required additional downloads from Asus's (painfully slow) support website, as did getting other keyboard shortcuts, like Fn-F2 to enable/disable wireless connections to preserve battery life. Asus does not offer Windows 7 or even Vista drivers through its site, but the XP ones work just fine.

Sadly, the Seashell suffered from frequent crashes and we eventually had to do a System Restore to an earlier state -- after which it seemed fine. Like with the 1000H the function keys for audio, wireless and display settings weren't working after the install, and the trackpad was lacking any sort of advanced driver, but the Bluetooth and card reader were picked up and installed by the OS without effort.

Like we mentioned in the install, the card reader wasn't working out of the gate for the Studio XPS 13, but it was eventually solved by Windows Update and a few restarts. Most of the other drivers carried over fine, but we'd managed to uninstall the NVIDIA GeForce 9500 Hybrid SLI graphics drivers before we upgraded, and while Windows 7 seemed to detect something was amiss, it took inserting the driver disc to finally solve the problem. After that we still had to run the Windows Experience Index to get full Aero graphics out of the machine.

Install done, time for testing

Overall the install process for Windows 7 is relatively pain-free, but we really weren't expecting anything else. There are no major advancements here since Vista, and if anything the inability to do an in-place upgrade from XP is something of a step back. But, hardware compatibility is solid, the partitioning and installation process was quick and easy, and at the end we found ourselves with a suite of freshly reconfigured machines ready for testing. The results of that testing? Stay tuned for our full review later this week.

src:engadget

How to Install Mac OS X Snow Leopard in VirtualBox on Windows 7

Previously, we showed you how to install Mac OS X Snow Leopard using VMware in Windows 7. Since VMware license costs a lot,  the good news is that you can now install OS X in Windows using one of the most popular free virtualization software called VirtualBox. You’ll need to have a system with an Intel or AMD processor which supports hardware virtualization, OSX86 iso, VirtualBox and Windows 7, Vista or XP installed as host operating system. If you meet all these requirements, you can then install OS X Snow Leopard as a VM under Windows to enjoy the best of both worlds.

Step 1: Download and install the latest version of VirtualBox for Windows.
Step 2: Start VirtualBox and click on “New” button. This will start a wizard that will help you create a new VM in VirtualBox.

Step 3: Name your VM “OSX” and select “Mac OS X” from Operating System dropdown menu, and “Mac OS X Server” from Version dropdown menu.

Step 4: Assign your VM some Ram in megabytes. For this tutorial, I have allotted the max 1500MB of Ram.

Step 5: Now create a new hard disk for your VM, which depending on your needs should be around 20GB in size. If you use Dynamic option, it will expand on use while Static option will be fixed to the size you allotted. Select the option which best fits your needs and click on Next to finish the wizard.

Step 6: Now click on “Settings” and select “System” from the left pane and then uncheck the option for “Enable EFI (special OSes only)” in the right as shown in the screenshot below.

Step 7: Now select “Storage” from the left pane, and then select “Empty” found under the OSX.vdi. Now click on the folder with the green arrow on the right.

On this window, click Add (Plus sign on 3 CD’s) at the top. Then find and add the OSX86 iso you downloaded earlier. Now highlight it and click Select button at the bottom. Then click OK and hit the main Start button to start your VM.

Step 8: Once the VM starts booting, hit F8 and type -v at the boot prompt so that you can see what exactly went wrong if something does go wrong. All the services will run and eventually you should come to the language screen. Choose your language and then click next. If you are unable to move your mouse around then hit Right-Ctrl + I. Click Continue and Agree, and then start Disk Utility found in Utilities menu at the top.

Step 9: At this screen highlight 20GB VBOX HARDDISK. Then click erase at the right and Name it what you want in the name box and then click on “Erase…” button to erase the virtual disk. It shouldn’t take long. Once done, quit the Disk Utility so that you return back to the installer.

Now simply select the highlighted drive as shown below and click continue.

Step 10: Now click on Customize at the bottom left, and check the following:
For AMD Users:
Any Updates included at the top.
Drop down Kernels and choose Legacy kernel.
AMD option below System support.
For Intel Users:
Any Updates included at the top.
Drop down bootloaders and check the newest Chameleon.
Drop down Kernels and choose Legacy kernel.
Now click Done and hit the Install button to start the installation.

Step 11: As soon as it says installation finished and starts counting down to restart, press the Right-Ctrl and then click on Devices at the top and hit CD/DVD Devices and click Unmount CD/DVD Device. Then click Machine and Reset to restart the VM. Next you’ll see the Chameleon loader and then OS X will begin to boot.

This is it!! After it boots up, you should now be running full Mac OS X Snow Leopard in VirtualBox under Windows 7 / Vista or XP. [via Lifehacker, Tek411] src:redmondpie.

How to Install Mac OS X on a PC (Without Using a Mac)

There are many great tutorials on the web for using a Mac to install Mac OS X Snow Leopard on a PC. Unfortunately, you may be unable to follow such tutorials if you do not readily have access to a Mac to perform the preparation necessary for the installation.

Great progress has been made in hacking PCs to run OS X, and it is now possible to install Mac OS X without a Mac. Thanks to some great tools put together by some brilliant hackers, it is also much easier and does not involve nearly as much time and effort as was once required.

Step 1: Getting The Hardware Ready

I recently purchased the following set of hardware for the purposes of building a Hackintosh (often PCs running Mac OS X are referred to as such):

• Intel Core i3-530 Clarkdale 2.93GHz
• Gigabyte GA-H55M-USB3 Motherboard
• 4 GB DDR3 1333 RAM (2 x 2GB)
• DVD Burner
• MicroATX Computer Case
• 585 Watt Power Supply
• 4-pin to 8-pin Power Adapter

The motherboard has an 8-pin power connector on it, and although it is possible to connect a single 4-pin connector to it, you may encounter odd issues running with just a single 4-pin connector. To ensure that you provide sufficient power to the board, you should purchase the 4-pin to 8-pin power adapter. Alternatively, you could purchase a power supply with 3x 4-pin connectors (1 for the 20+4-pin main connector, and 2 for the 8-pin connection) or an 8-pin connector.

Ads by Google

Products Roof Ventilation roofventilation.mylivepage.com
by 1pc= 15 e so 30 e -Greese- Gaiolithos .thessaloniki greece

Green Screen Software www.TubeTape.net
Easily replace backgrounds! Chromakey software - Download now

PAGE WEB À 75$ www.webdesign-express.com
Hébergement gratuit Nom de domaine gratuit à vie

Solyndra Controversy firststreet.cqpress.com
Discover its 17 lobbyists connected to over 30 members of Congress

I did not purchase a hard drive or video card, as I used some I already had from another PC, but you will need those items as well. As of the time this article was written, you can get a 1TB drive shipped for $75 and an NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT video card for $65.

I also purchased v10.6.3 of OS X Snow Leopard retail DVD for a mere $29 (was about $35 with shipping & handling).

All-in-all, the full system (without monitor) will run you around $600 (you could also add a22″ monitor for $170). You could certainly try doing it even cheaper with different hardware, but you’ll need to figure out the appropriate changes to make in the BIOS and boot loader installation.

I did my best to put together a fairly modern system for a very reasonable price. Having used this set of hardware, I can affirm that it runs OS X Snow Leopard very well. Without a doubt, $600 – $800 is a far cry from what you would spend on an equivalent Mac from Apple. Granted it won’t be as compact or pretty as an iMac, but it will be just as functional.

Step 2: Putting The Hardware Together

If you purchase the hardware I used, along with a hard drive and NVIDIA GeForce video card, you should be able to follow the instructions exactly as I’ve laid them out. If you’ve never built a PC before but are willing to give it a try, you’ll definitely want to check outThe Idiot’s Ultimate Guide to Build Your Own PC. It is a step-by-step guide to building your own PC, with plenty of photos to help you out.

You can try following this tutorial with existing hardware you have as well, although you may need to make adjustments when configuring the BIOS and installing the boot loader. The more modern your hardware is, the better the chances are it will work for you. It would be best if you have a 64-bit Intel dual-core (or quad-core) processor, although an older CPU might still work as well. I would recommend NVIDIA GeForce video card, but ATI cards should work too.

Step 3: Prepare The Boot Disk

In addition to the hardware and a retail copy of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, you’ll also need a blank CD. You may want to use a rewritable CD if you’re using a different hardware configuration, just in case the first one I recommend doesn’t work for you. There are two boot disk images that will allow you to install OS X directly from the installation DVD:

• iBoot (by tonymacx86 and MacMan)
• Empire EFI (by Prasys)

I successfully used both of them with my hardware setup. However I recommend you try iBoot first, as it is a bit leaner and doesn’t take as long to boot. If you’re using my hardware configuration, be sure to download the iBoot Supported disk image. If you use Empire EFI, download the Empire EFI v1.085 R2 image.

You can use one of many free programs to burn CDs if you don’t have one. Be sure to use the disk image burning mode in your CD burning software. Do not just simply copy the disk image file to a blank CD. I like InfraRecorder, because it makes this very easy. All you have to do is click the Write Image button, select the image, and burn it. Once again, you may wish to use rewritable media if you’re using a different hardware configuration than mine.

Step 4: Bios Configuration

Fortunately, the Gigabyte GA-H55M-USB3 does not require a lot of configuration to run Mac OS X. When you first turn on or reboot the machine, press the delete key to enter the BIOS setup. You can just load the Optimized Defaults, and just make a few changes within three sections of the bios: Advanced BIOS Features, Integrated Peripherals, and Power Management Setup.

4.1 – First, go to Advanced BIOS Features and set the First Boot Device to CDROM. I have my USB drive as the second drive and then Hard Disk as third – you can configure yours the same way if you wish to ever boot from a USB drive. Just be sure that Hard Disk is the Second Boot Device or Third Boot Device.

4.2 – Next, configure SATA to run in AHCI mode in the Integrated Peripherals menu. You’ll need to set both PCH SATA Control Mode and Onboard SATA/IDE Ctrl Mode toAHCI.

4.3 – Finally, go to Power Management Setup and set the HPET Mode to 64-bit mode.

Step 5: Installing Mac OS X

5.1 – Insert the iBoot (or Empire EFI) boot disk.

5.2 – When you see screen below, eject the disk.

5.3 – Insert the Retail Mac OS X Snow Leopard DVD, wait a few seconds, and press F5.

5.4 – When you see the screen below, select Mac OS X Install DVD (it should already be selected) and press Enter.

5.5 – If all goes well, you should eventually see the language selection screen for the installer. If all did not go well and you do not make it to the language selection screen, try downloading a different version of iBoot or Empire EFI.

5.6 – Select your language and click the arrow to proceed.

5.7 – Next, you need to partition your drive. Click on Utilities > Disk Utility.

5.8 – Select your disk drive.

5.9 – Click Partition.

5.10 – Select 1 Partition for the partition scheme. Note: If you have a drive that is larger than 2 TB, do not create partitions larger than 1 TB. Split the drive into multiple partitions, and be sure the main installation partition is 1 TB or smaller.

5.11 – Enter a name for the partition (I used Hackintosh).

5.12 – Select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the Format.

5.13 – Click Options…, select GUID Partition Table, and then click OK.

5.14 – Click Apply.

5.15 – Quit Disk Utility and proceed with the installation. Install on the Hackintosh partition.

Step 6: Installing the Boot Loader

Do not fret when you reboot after the installation and get a boot error, as you will need to first boot the machine with iBoot (or Empire EFI). Eject the Mac OS X Snow Leopard install DVD, put your boot CD back into the drive, and reboot the machine. Now when you boot up, you should see a second choice for your installation partition (Hackintosh if you named it that way). Select the Hackintosh partition and press Enter to boot into OS X.

Once you’ve completed the first-run setup, open up Safari and download Multibeast. Multibeast is another superb tool by tonymacx86 and MacMan that makes it stupid easy to install the boot loader, along with all the drivers necessary for your Hackintosh to function properly.

In addition to downloading Multibeast, you will need to download the DSDT for the Gigabyte GA-H55M-USB3 and copy it to the desktop. Be sure to save it as DSDT.aml. Launch Multibeast and make the following selections (your choices will differ if you have a different motherboard/hardware configuration):

• UserDSDT
• System Utilities
• Advanced Options > Kexts > Audio > LegacyHDA > ALC889
• Advanced Options > Kexts > Graphics > NVEnabler
• Advanced Options > Kexts > Network > RealtekR1000SL
• Advanced Options > Patched Kernels > 10.3.1 Supported Kernel

After MultiBeast finishes installing, eject the iBoot CD and reboot the system. You should be able to boot right up from the hard drive, and all your devices should work just fine.

Step 7: Getting Started with Your New Mac

So what now? Most certainly you’ll want to check out 5 apps to get more out of your new Mac as well as 15 must-have apps for your Mac. In fact, you should probably just go ahead and browse the entire Mac section on MakeUseOf, as you’ll find a wealth of great free stuff for your new Mac in there. And most importantly make sure to download MakeUseOf’s getting started manual for Mac. Highly recommended for switchers.

If ever you encounter into problems with your new Mac, you can always seek help fromMakeUseOf Answers.

If you have any problems installing Mac OS X on your PC, just post a comment right here and we’ll do what we can to help. Just be sure to provide as much information about the hardware you’re using:

• Motherboard make and model (i.e. Gigabyte GA-H55M-USB3)
• CPU model (i.e. Intel Core i3-530 )
• GPU model (i.e. NVIDIA GeForce 9900 GT)

I never managed to get sleep to work. When I try to put the computer to sleep, it sort of goes into a coma. The fans never shut down and the machine doesn’t wake up when you press the power button. If you manage to get sleep to work with my hardware configuration, please do feel free to share your solution in the comments on this article.

There are also many great forums and sites out there that provide a lot of information and assistance with running Mac OS X on PC. Here are just a few you may want to check out:

• tonymacx86 Forum
• InsanelyMac Forum
• Hackint0sh
• Prasys’ Blog
• OSx86 Project

If you do seek assistance from any of these or similar resources, be sure to search for your problem before posting it. You will be flamed to no end if you ask a question that has already been answered. Another tip for posting in these forums: never call it a MAC (in all caps) instead of a Mac, or you will solicit many abusive responses. Mac is an abbreviation not an acronym.

Here are a few more links that provide tools and files to help you set up a Hackintosh on hardware other than what I’ve mentioned here:

• myHack – Another bootloader/kext installer, similar to Multibeast
• Kexts.com – A good resource for downloading Kexts (device drivers)
• Kext Helper – A tool that makes it easy to install new Kexts
• Kext Utility – A tool to ensure proper kext installation
• Chamelon Boot Loader – The boot loader that pretty much all the boot disks out there use (including iBoot and Empire EFI).
• netkas PC EFI – Used in combination with Chameleon to provide maximum compatibility for booting OS X. Most boot disks use this as well.
• BootCDMaker (French) – Utility (for Mac) to create your own custom boot disks

A million thanks to tonymacx86 and MacMan for developing iBoot and Multibeast to make installing Mac OS X Snow Leopard on PC a piece of cake. Enjoy your new Hackintosh and let us know what you think of it!

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-install-mac-os-x-on-a-pc-without-using-a-mac/

src: