Announcement

**Bluismycat** · 03-06-2014, 05:25 AM

Re: step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

moviemad1 -
Turn it on. The manual leaves off there because it is ready to go. It is up to you if you want to flash your BIOS but these days you can flash your BIOS in the OS and chances are it will be up to date (your BIOS, that is). It is always a good idea to go through your BIOS and adjust to settings to what you want, I do. If you are unsure...just experiment a bit. If things don't work on your settings properly there is a CMOS reset that will set everything back to default. So, install your OS. And when you have your OS installed, insert your mobo disc and autorun to install all the mobo drivers and accessories. Once that is done, you can set you SSD RAID options with Intel Rapid Storage Technology. Its is all very user friendly these days. So don't be scared...go for it. If you run into problems...you can always ask for help

**profJim** · 03-06-2014, 06:17 AM

Re: step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

@moviemad1

Welcome to the forum.

Wait for parsec or - wardog - to reply, they are the ASRock experts.
They will probably tell you to only use Instant Flash if you need to update your bios; flashing through your O/S has some possible risks.

To avoid win7 installation problems, don't connect any hard drives until after you have completed the win7 O/S installation.

After the O/S is installed, run the Intel INF install first, followed by the required drivers and software that are needed.
I don't automatically install all of the drivers and software; just the ones that I need.
Disable any hardware features in the bios that you won't be using, you can always enable them later.

**Bluismycat** · 03-06-2014, 07:45 AM

Re: step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

There are quite a few different ways to flash your BIOS. I offered the OS alternative because ASRock has a good software, or you can flash from a USB or go online from the BIOS itself but you have to ask the question....Do I REALLY need to flash it? All flashing is is updating it and more importantly THIS CAN BE DONE ANY TIME! It does not have to be when you install a new mobo. But if you do want to update your BIOS, look in the ASRock site and have a quick read through what the update actually fixes/helps/does. As I said...you might not need it.

I find it funny that you were told not to connect any hard drives until after the Win7 install because the install goes ON A HARD DRIVE! So unless you have a hard drive installed you will not be able to install an OS. BTW you don't have to do a new install of your OS just because you installed a new mobo. However if you are unsure probably a new install would be best. If you use the ASRock install disc that came with the mobo then it WILL install what you need! And if you install the ASRock suite then you will find that you have ALL you need. If you only install the bare minimum then (from experience) you will be going back and back again installing sw. Remember! You can always delete if you don't need.

Bottom line is it is not hard and you have chosen a good mobo manufacturer. I used the z68 extreme4 went to ASUS with the z77 V Pro and came back to ASRock now with the Z87 Extreme9ac. IMO ASRock are the best. As I said don't be scared to experiment a bit...it is the only way to learn and figure out what is best for you. BIOS's (Basic Input Output System's) are very user friendly now, especially ASRock.

**profJim** · 03-06-2014, 07:54 AM

Re: step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

The devil is in the details, from the first post:

ocz vertecx 3 240gbs
WD 1 TB black 7200rpm

I think that it's pretty safe to assume that his O/S will be installed on the ssd.

**Bluismycat** · 03-06-2014, 11:10 AM

Re: step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

...and you know what they say about assuming.

Now explain to me how having another drive connected will cause win 7 installation problems.

**profJim** · 03-06-2014, 11:28 AM

Re: step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

Naw, telling you would be too easy.

Do a web search using: windows 7 installation mbr problem and you'll learn for yourself.

Hint: it has to do with a "misplaced" MBR in the wrong partition when there are other partitions.

Every time I've installed win7, I had an empty ssd for the boot drive and I never connected my existing data drive until win7 completed the needed reboot cycles.

**Bluismycat** · 03-06-2014, 02:30 PM

Re: step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

Yeah profjim well your comments above can be construed as being very misleading. First of all when installing any windows OS from VISTA on, make sure the partition is formatted NTFS. Also that the dvd drive that the win 7 disc is in is set to SATA not EUFI. As long as these two settings are done (the DVD mainly) you will be fine moviemad1. You don't have to install your OS, shut down your system. Open the case up connect your data drive/s. Do it all first. Plenty of people will tell you to watch this and do that because that's how it used to be but as I said, things are a hell of a lot more user friendly now.

And if you are worried then just turn off your data drives in the BIOS. Hit del when you post, enter your BIOS, along the top of your screen there will be icons (I am not sure if your mouse will be active in the BIOS. It is on z87 and I am pretty sure it is on z77 chipset as well but don't take my word for it, they all meld into one after a while) just scroll across to the hard drive icon, select and then disable all the drives that won't be your boot drive.

So now you have covered all bases.

And profjim...maybe you learned something here? Then again...maybe not

**parsec** · 03-06-2014, 06:03 PM

Re: step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

Originally posted by Bluismycat View Post

Yeah profjim well your comments above can be construed as being very misleading. First of all when installing any windows OS from VISTA on, make sure the partition is formatted NTFS. Also that the dvd drive that the win 7 disc is in is set to SATA not EUFI. As long as these two settings are done (the DVD mainly) you will be fine moviemad1. You don't have to install your OS, shut down your system. Open the case up connect your data drive/s. Do it all first. Plenty of people will tell you to watch this and do that because that's how it used to be but as I said, things are a hell of a lot more user friendly now.

And if you are worried then just turn off your data drives in the BIOS. Hit del when you post, enter your BIOS, along the top of your screen there will be icons (I am not sure if your mouse will be active in the BIOS. It is on z87 and I am pretty sure it is on z77 chipset as well but don't take my word for it, they all meld into one after a while) just scroll across to the hard drive icon, select and then disable all the drives that won't be your boot drive.

So now you have covered all bases.

And profjim...maybe you learned something here? Then again...maybe not

Bluismycat your comments can be positively stated to be missing or unaware of the point, and a point that matters.

It is well known that when installing Windows 7 and 8, if any storage drives besides the target OS drive are powered up during the installation, Windows will put the MBR partition on one of the other storage drives. Later on, if that other drive is removed or fails, the PC will no longer boot due to the lack of an MBR partition. The error message displayed in this situation is not obvious regarding what the problem is. The good news is this condition can be fixed with the Windows installation media, assuming that the user knows that and understands they need to run a Repair after booting from the installation media.

The bottom line is, this can be avoided by simply having only the target OS drive installed during the OS installation, or the power cables removed from the secondary storage drives. A significant detail particularly for the the new system builder.

Next, disabling drives in the UEFI/BIOS? That might be an option on some older boards, or perhaps some AMD platforms, but that does not exist in any Intel board's UEFI/BIOS that I have used in years. Your description of the icons across the top of the screen reminds me of the old style BIOS interfaces, they are still used to a degree in the far more advanced UEFI firmware interfaces, but the Storage Configuration menu where the option you described would be found, IF it existed, will be found among many other options in the Advanced menu choices.

Not sure if the mouse will be active in a UEFI firmware interface? It has been since UEFI firmware was first used on Intel 6 series chipsets (P67, Z68, etc) back in the Sandy Bridge processor days. We have since progressed to Ivy Bridge/7 series chipsets, and now Haswell/8 series chipsets, all of which have the mouse active in the UEFI interface. If you don't know, why mention it?

NTFS is the default file system type used in Windows, but changing that would be a mistake. It is correct that the UEFI label next to the optical drive entry should not be chosen when performing a Legacy OS installation, which most people will be doing, but the other label is not SATA in ASRock's UEFI interface, it will be AHCI most likely, or possibly Legacy.

All bases have been covered? Hardly...

But that's for another post.

**parsec** · 03-06-2014, 08:20 PM

Re: step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

moviemad1, Updating your UEFI/BIOS is not a priority item for you, particularly if you are new to building a PC. You don't want to add another variable like a failed UEFI update to a new build, again more so for a new builder. It would be good to identify what UEFI version you have, which can be done in the UEFI interface, or from the sticker on the UEFI/CMOS chip on your board, a small white sticker on the chip usually on the lower portion of the board.

Changing UEFI options before you install Windows depends upon your specific requirements of your PC. Such as, will you be using RAID, which is something you should set before you install Windows, since you cannot simply change to RAID mode after you install Windows. It can be done but takes some knowledge to do so. Only you know what you want your PC to do for you, and if that requires changes to UEFI options, they must be changed. The good news is most of these changes do not need to be done before you install the OS, using RAID is one example of option that does need to be configured first.

One very important thing is to ONLY use the Intel SATA ports when you install Windows. The two at the top of the stack of SATA ports, are the ASMedia SATA ports, do not try to use them until after Windows is installed. Plus the Intel ports perform much better.

You don't want to OC your CPU or memory before installing Windows, you want the PC to be stable and not introduce potential problems during the installation. Is this the first time you've installed Windows?

After installing Windows, there are only two installation programs that really must be run to insure the correct operation of your PC. They are, in order:

INF driver ver:9.3.0.1019. This installs files that identifies the hardware on your board that is used by all driver and software installation programs you run anytime in the future. Obviously, this is very important and affects everything installed after it.

Intel Management Engine driver ver:8.1.2.1318. This Intel software package is difficult to explain, there are multiple aspects to it. If you don't install it, some of the options of the Intel components on your board will not function correctly, and you'll find a problem device in Device Manager.

While Windows 7 might install drivers for some of the following components, these drivers are really a given for installation, in no particular order, although if your Internet connection is not working, the Broadcom driver is important:

Broadcom Lan driver ver:14.8.4.1. This is the driver for the network/Ethernet chip on your board.

Realtek high definition audio driver ver:6559. Obviously for the Realtek audio on your board.

Intel USB 3.0 driver ver:1.0.4.220. USB 3.0 driver for the Intel USB 3.0 ports.

ASMedia USB 3.0 driver ver:1.10.1.0. USB 3.0 driver for the extra ASMedia USB 3.0 ports.

Your video card's own driver is of course important to install.

I'll call these optional drivers, since Windows will install their native drivers for the associated components, but the specific drivers are normally better:

VGA driver ver:15.28.6.64.2857. Intel on-CPU graphics driver. Not required for it to function, but without it, it may run at a lower resolution.

Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver and utility ver:11.7.0.1013. Optional ACHI/RAID driver for the Intel SATA interface. Performs better than the standard Windows msahci driver.

ASMedia SATA3 Driver ver:1.3.1. Optional AHCI driver for the ASMedia SATA ports.

I know, many things not mentioned. The majority of them are for various features the board has, which you may or may not use. They can be installed anytime. It's best that you know what they are for before you decide whether or not to use them, but they normally won't cause any problems.

Which brings me to what you probably planned from the start, to use the automatic driver installation program on the disk provided with the board. That usually installs everything, which is overkill but relatively harmless. Many users consider many of these programs to be "bloatware" and worthless. I don't disagree with that, but to each their own. It also can be a learning experience to realize, "... why did I install this program...". Don't forget, anything can be removed any time.

Also, there is the automatic driver installation feature of Windows, that will madly install drivers for you. That can be turned off or configured in various ways. But I assume you've used Windows in the past.

I imagine that you've also learned, to ask for a "step by step" guide on what to do after you've built your PC, is asking for so much more than one person can answer in a few sentences.

**Bluismycat** · 03-07-2014, 01:49 AM

Re: step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

" If you use the ASRock install disc that came with the mobo then it WILL install what you need! And if you install the ASRock suite then you will find that you have ALL you need. If you only install the bare minimum then (from experience) you will be going back and back again installing sw. Remember! You can always delete if you don't need."

"Which brings me to what you probably planned from the start, to use the automatic driver installation program on the disk provided with the board. That usually installs everything, which is overkill but relatively harmless. Many users consider many of these programs to be "bloatware" and worthless. I don't disagree with that, but to each their own. It also can be a learning experience to realize, "... why did I install this program...". Don't forget, anything can be removed any time."

The first quote comes from me the second from parsec. Tell me I am wrong but don't both quotes say the same thing???. I am sorry for trying to help. Profjim you are a moderator? Shouldn't you be welcoming participation? And parsec...I may not know as much as you and my terminology might not have been correct but I knew how to help him and all the rest was really incidental in it DID NOT ANSWER HIS QUESTION! Which was "What do I do now?" You basically made me feel like I had no right to join in. Inferred I was wrong because what? I have not passed your little induction ceremony to join your little "click"? Let me tell you there is ALWAYS someone that knows more than you and I should not have to defend myself to you! This is how you have made me feel! You have lost me to tweaktown forums. Big deal you say? That's where you have just no idea!

**parsec** · 03-07-2014, 02:12 AM

Re: step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

My response was entirely inspired by this:

Originally posted by Bluismycat View Post

Yeah profjim well your comments above can be construed as being very misleading. First of all when installing any windows OS from VISTA on, make sure the partition is formatted NTFS. Also that the dvd drive that the win 7 disc is in is set to SATA not EUFI. As long as these two settings are done (the DVD mainly) you will be fine moviemad1. You don't have to install your OS, shut down your system. Open the case up connect your data drive/s. Do it all first. Plenty of people will tell you to watch this and do that because that's how it used to be but as I said, things are a hell of a lot more user friendly now.

And if you are worried then just turn off your data drives in the BIOS. Hit del when you post, enter your BIOS, along the top of your screen there will be icons (I am not sure if your mouse will be active in the BIOS. It is on z87 and I am pretty sure it is on z77 chipset as well but don't take my word for it, they all meld into one after a while) just scroll across to the hard drive icon, select and then disable all the drives that won't be your boot drive.

So now you have covered all bases.

And profjim...maybe you learned something here? Then again...maybe not

Is that how you try to be friendly to people in a forum? Whether intended or not, can you see my point? Mainly the last comment.

If I have a different take on, or correct a technical point, that does not amount to a personal attack. Which is how I saw that last comment. I may be wrong about that, just being honest.

No cliques here, you don't know how much I hate that, experienced them myself. The more the merrier in this forum, sorry if you can count the regulars on one hand, just how it is, never gave it any thought.

You're more than welcome here, certainly not my personal forum, I was simply defending a friend.

**Bluismycat** · 03-07-2014, 02:48 AM

Re: step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

Read from the beginning parsec. Your friend's first comment
@moviemad1

Welcome to the forum.

Wait for parsec or - wardog - to reply, they are the ASRock experts.
was basically don't listen to him he doesn't know what he is talking about.

Is that friendly?

Then I asked him to explain what he was talking about and he says

Naw, telling you would be too easy.

Do a web search using: *windows 7 installation mbr problem* and you'll learn for yourself.

In otherwords I am not demeaning myself to answer the likes of you! Search yourself idiot! Then the smart arse little smile-the exact reason I put one in!

Is that friendly?

It is easy to partially read or hear when you only want half the story. Read it all from the beginning.
His words after I had replied the very first time were "wait for pasec or wardog" and yours "I was just defending my friend". Whether you want to admit it or not you have yourselves a "superior" little clique.

Everyone is welcome here? Then why do I feel unwelcome???

**- wardog -** · 03-07-2014, 05:25 AM

Re: step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

Wow. I see this thread is progressing quite well

@ moviemad1 If you haven't run away and you're still here, is the WD 1TB mechanical drive going to be used for programs too, or simply as a storage drive?

**Spyone1** · 03-07-2014, 06:05 AM

Re: step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

Quite apart from anything else in this thread, I did notice that the OP did NOT list an optical drive (CD/DVD/whatever) in his list of components.

It is entirely possible he is installing (as I did today) from a USB stick. If so, there is one thing he must do. Go in to BIOS and make sure that FAST BOOT is disabled.

If it is not disabled, the PC will simply not recognize the USB stick as a boot drive. This has to be done BEFORE you start installing if you are installing from a USB storage device.
(and since Microsoft give you the option of downloading an ISO of the Windows Install, it is entirely possible the OP has it on a USB stick).

Announcement

step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

step by step on what to do after you have built your computer/like bios and other steps

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment