But even with all of the past fuss, Wordpress was (and still is) the ultimate blogging platform for everyday folks like us.

Today, almost every part of the installation has gone from manual to automatic. With the help of the installer script that basically does a Wordpress auto install, you can have Wordpress up and running with just one click. Most web hosting services have included at least one script in their cPanel. The most popular two are Fantastico and Elefante.

A Better Wordpress Auto Install Alternative

But “most web hosting services” means “not all web hosting services”. For those who use webhosts without this one-click-install luxury, their options were only to install manually or move to another service.

Luckily, that too is a problem of the past because there’s a web service called SimpleScripts that can help us install and upgrade Wordpress easily on almost any hosting platform which meets the system requirements. SimpleScripts can also install many other popular web applications such as Joomla, ZenCart, Roundcube and Drupal.

SimpleScripts is available in two versions, free and pro. The free version has a limit of three installation while the pro version has no such limitation but will cost you US$15 per year.

Besides providing users with easy, one-click Wordpress auto installs, SimpleScripts will also send email notifications every time the installed web app has an available upgrade.

Using SimpleScripts

To use the service, you first have to register. Just click on the signup link at the top right corner of the web page.

The registration process requires you to provide your email address and the web hosting service. There are a number of supported hosting companies in the drop down list. Choose “Other” if the one that you use is not there.

After clicking on the “Create Account” button, you will get an email with your login information and you are ready to begin.

Choose “Wordpress” from the script list. You can see that SimpleScripts has already provided its users with the latest version of Wordpress. This is another advantage of using this service over other similar installer scripts which are usually not updated frequently enough.

The installation is easy as 1-2-3:

1. Click install
2. Fill in the necessary information (domain and FTP) and
3. Click “Update”

If all of the information you provided were correct, and if your hosting service met the system requirements, your Wordpress should be installed successfully.

You can also use SimpleScripts to upgrade your existing Wordpress installation. To do this, choose “Import” instead of “Install” in step one.

Choose the “I need to update my FTP information” link under the “Install” button if the Wordpress you want to upgrade is different from the one that you’ve already installed, or if you want to install a new one in a different location.

I personally like this service better than other similar installers simply because it puts the user in control yet being easy to use.

Have you tried SimpleScripts? Or do you know other free ways to auto install Wordpress? Share using the comments section below.

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There are couple of situations where the use of USB drive brings a certain benefit:

• When you are trying to install Windows on a netbook or your optical drive is broken
• When you want to create a live USB from an ISO image (requires some extra effort)
• Theoretically, the transfer speeds should be better and the installation process is a little faster
• You can protect your original install media from wear and tear.

There are a number of ways to create a bootable USB drive, however most of them require copying files manually – making it prone to mistakes. WinToFlash makes the entire task a lot simpler by the magic of automation.

Download WinToFlash from here. It is a portable application, all you have to do is extract the zip file and you are ready to go. Start WinToFlash, pop in the Windows CD/DVD, plug in the USB flash drive and specify the paths. Click ‘Next’ and sit back and watch WinToFlash create a bootable USB drive from the installation media. This might take some time depending upon the size of the installation media.

WinToFlash can also be used transfer Preinstalled Environments (PE’s) to a flash drive. Go to the ‘Tasks’ tab and choose the appropriate option you want to use.

Creating a bootable flash drive from an ISO image is a little more involved. WinToFlash doesn’t let you specify an ISO image as the source for Windows file. To get around this limitation, you can do one of the following:

• Extract the ISO file. Most modern archiving software can extract files from an ISO image. I used 7-zip.
• Virtually mount the ISO image (try Virtual CD-ROM control panel) and specify the virtual drive as the Windows file path in WinToFlash.

The rest of the process remain unchanged and you will get a bootable USB drive after successful completion.

I want to install Linux using a bootable flash drive?

As the name suggests WinToFlash only works with Windows installation media. If you want to install Linux using a USB drive we suggest you have a look at UNetbootin. It works well with ISO files and can even download the required files if you don’t currently have them on your computer. You can also use built-in tools included in many distributions these days, if you already have Linux installed on another computer.

How do I check if my computer can boot from USB drive?

That is a question I get asked many a times. You can refer to your computer’s manual to check if you are able to boot from a USB drive. If that doesn’t work or you have a custom-built computer than you can always check the BIOS settings to see if there is an option to boot from External drive or USB drive. If there is one, make sure your computer is configured to look for a USB drive before it defaults to boot from the hard disk.

After you are through with the installation, I would suggest that you move the USB drive option back down the order and protect the BIOS settings with a password to minimize the risk of your computer being compromised.

If you have some other nifty ideas on installing/upgrading operating systems without burning a DVD, we would love to hear about them in the comments!

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But that’s no reason to abandon the project and look up the phone number for your local Dell representative, because as usual, MakeUseOf has you covered. With the complete amateur in mind who has no technical knowledge whatsoever, we are going to show you how to build your own PC! This is a guide where we literally ‘hold your hand’ every step of the way.

MakeUseOf has teamed up with our very own Karl Gechlik at Ask The Admin to bring you nearly 50 pages full of screenshots, links to video demos and easy how-to instructions for every step involved. The result? The Idiot’s Guide To Building A PC.   This guide is so easy to follow, even your technophobe grandmother could do it.

It’s definitely one of the better manuals out there. You can take a look at the screenshot showing the table of contents below.

Table Of Contents: Build Your Own PC

In case you’re also wondering WHY you would want to build your own computer, there are a lot of reasons.

• First of all, you should know that building a computer has become A LOT easier than it was 5 years ago. Parts are easier to install, cases are readily available and there is a crap load of free support available on the internet.
• This is great for paranoid freaks and geeks alike!
• By building your own machine you know each and every component of your machine
  intimately.
• You are not affected by the Operating System bloat that companies like Dell and Gateway
  are notorious for.
• You can also build a system that is geared towards exactly what YOU do. A computer built by you for you. Imagine that?
• Oh and don’t forget the Geek Cred you get from having a machine you built yourself! Not so great with the ladies but hey in a room full of geeks you can get lots of ohh’s and ahhh’s!

So, download your free no strings attached manual here and build your own pc.

Enjoy and spread the word!

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During the installation you will be prompted if you wish to use the recovery console to repair a Windows installation. The recovery console is rather limited in its use, so just press the Enter key to proceed with the installation as you would normally.

Press F8 to continue past the Licensing Agreement.

The next screen should display a prompt asking you if you wish to repair an existing installation.  Select your Windows installation (most likely it is the only one) and press R.

This will begin the repair and reinstallation of Windows. The installation will copy files to the hard drive, reboot the system, and then proceed just like a normal installation. Follow the prompts just as you normally would any normal Windows installation.

When the installation completes, you should still be able to access all of your documents and installed programs.

Full Windows Reinstall Without Loosing Data and Programs

I personally prefer to perform a full clean reinstallation of Windows. With the clean install, the hard drive is formatted and programs are reinstalled. If you want to use this method, you can use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (AKA FAST).

To use FAST, you first have to run it from the old Windows installation. Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.

Tell FAST that you are on the Old Computer, then click Next.

Finally, select the location where you would wish to save the files.  Portable USB drives were born for stuff like this.  Be warned though, the drive may not be big enough.  Another option would be to save the settings somewhere on your hard drive first, and then move them over to multiple USB drives or burn them to CDs/DVDs.

Click Next, and wait for the files to be copied. If you have a lot of data, it may take quite a while for the process to complete.  Once it has completed, your settings are ready for the new installation.

Once you’ve reinstalled Windows, launch FAST just as you did initially to save your settings:

Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.  Click Next. This time when prompted which computer you are using, select New computer. Click Next.

The following screen will ask you if you have a Windows XP installation CD for creating a wizard disk.  A wizard disk can be used for loading settings from another computer. In this case, a wizard disk is not necessary since the files have been saved to another location.

Select I don’t need the Wizard Disk. I already have collected my files and settings from my old computer. Click Next to proceed.

Finally, you will be prompted for the location of the files and settings. Select the Other radio button and browse to the location where you saved the files and click Next.

The files and settings will then be copied to the new computer. You may want to install all of the same programs you had on the old computer that you intend to use, before you run FAST. This will help to ensure that your settings will work properly with them.

What tools do you use to reinstall Windows without losing data?

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When you proceed with an unattended installation, you do still have to manually select the drive where you wish to install Windows (during the blue screen portion of the setup). However, once you’ve done that and started the installation you can walk away, grab a cup of coffee, eat some french toast, brush your teeth, check the weather, and by the time you get back you’ll see your new Windows XP desktop.

To create an unattended disk, you will of course need a Windows XP installation disk. You will also need to download nLite. nLite is a free program that allows you to create customized XP installation disks. Customizations you can perform include the integration of service packs, Windows updates, addition of drivers, preselection of installation options, preselection of components to install, and even more.

As a first step to unattended windows setup reference, you will need to get the latest Windows XP updates for your installation disk. Which updates you will need depends on how old your installation disk is. If you have a very old disk, you may need to download service pack 3 in addition to the updates that have taken place since the release of service pack 3. In the installation instructions below, you will learn how to find out whether or not Service Pack 3 is included on your installation disk.

Launch nLite, select your language, and click Next. Click the browse button to navigate to your the location of your installation CD. You will then be prompted for a location on the hard disk to store the files for processing. Select where you want to store the files and wait for the files to be copied.

Once the files have completed copying, nLite will detect what version of Windows XP is on the installation CD. If it says the installation has Service Pack 3, then you will not need to download the service pack. Otherwise you can download the service pack here. Proceed to the next step.

Since this is the first time you’ve run nLite, you will not have any presets. Just click Next to advance to the Task Selection page. On the task selection page, select Hotfixes, Add-ons, and Update Packs, Unattended, and Bootable ISO. If you had to download Service Pack 3 because you have an older version, select Service Pack as well.

If you are feeling adventurous, you can also include Drivers, select Components for removal, select Options, and Tweaks as well. These are more advanced options that will not be discussed in this particular How-To. Click the Next button to proceed.

If you need to integrate Service Pack 3, you will advance to the Service Pack page. Select the location of where you downloaded Service Pack 3. Once you’re done, click Next to advance to Hotfixes, Add-ons, and Update Packs.

Click the Insert button (in nLite, not on your keyboard) and navigate to the location of the update pack. Click Next to proceed to the Unattended settings. In order to avoid any interaction with the installation (other than selecting/formatting the hard drive in the blue screens), you will need to update the following:

• General Tab: Set Unattended Mode to Hide Pages
• General Tab: Enter your Product Key
• Users Tab: Password for the Administrator login (or check Blank password)
• User Tab: Add a new User and set the password (or check Blank password)
• User Tab: Set the Autologon to the new user you just added
• Owner and Network ID Tab: Computer Name
• Owner and Network ID Tab: Workgroup
• Owner and Network ID Tab: Full Name
• Owner and Network ID Tab: Organization
• Regional Tab: Timezone

Once you’ve updated those settings, and any others you would like to update, click Next. Continue when prompted if you would like to start the process. When the process is complete, click Next to proceed to the Bootable ISO section.

Under Mode, select whether you want to Create an Image or perform a Direct Burn to a CD. Direct Burn is probably the easier choice, because nLite will write it directly to disk. When you’ve made your selection click Make ISO. If you decide to burn to an image, use your favorite image burning software to write it to a disk.

That’s all there is to it! Just take the disk, pop it into the target machine, boot it up, select where you want to install/format, and then go take a little walk. Upon your return, your machine will have a fresh installation of Windows XP running on it!

Have you made unattended installation disks before? If so, what tools did you use and where did you obtain your update packs and addons?

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