While on most computers the operating system is included, it can happen instead, especially with HP, Asus and Lenovo laptops at a low price, to find on sale PCs without operating system or with Freedos system, which essentially means having only one tool to command line, complete but difficult to use for those unfamiliar with DOS commands.
When buying a new computer without an operating system or with Freedos you could, in theory, install any Windows or Linux system that you want or are licensed, even if there may be some limitations .
For example, I recently purchased an HP battle computer, costing 300 Euros, without an operating system, with Freedos.
Even if there was no assistance booklet attached to the computer, before proceeding with the installation of the operating system I found on the internet the official card where it was clearly written that it is a computer that fully supports only Windows 10 64 bit.
This does not mean that by putting a different version like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 the PC would not work, but only that HP created drivers to make that computer work only with Windows 10.
As a result, installing Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 I would have found it difficult to operate all the hardware components of the PC (sockets, ports, connections etc.).
Also, given that it is a computer with a 64-bit processor and 4 GB of RAM, if I had installed a 32-bit system, this would have used only half the RAM, sacrificing many resources.
Basically, if you buy a new PC and you need to install the Windows operating system, you should check the drivers made available by the manufacturer before proceeding and always use a 64-bit system if the computer processor is x64 .
Installing the operating system on a new computer is a very simple operation today, the only problem that you can have if you have to put Windows on a new PC is related to the license that you should buy.
Depending on the case, it is also possible to use a valid copy already used in another PC and in this regard I had written a recent article to understand how many computers you can install Windows on.
In case you do not have any usable license, the advice is to buy Windows 7 on Amazon where it costs 20 Euros or a little more.
Once you get Windows 7, you can download Windows 10 for free with a valid license by updating.
If you only need to get the installation disc, remember that you can download every version of Windows from the internet .
The installation disc is downloaded as an ISO file, which can then be burned to a DVD or copied to a USB stick using a program to burn ISO to a USB stick such as Rufus.
For Windows 10, Microsoft provides a Media Creation Tool to create the installation disc or USB stick automatically.
Insert the DVD disc or USB stick into the computer and start it by setting the boot from USB or DVD in the BIOS, changing the boot order.
Each PC has its own way to access the BIOS, usually you have to press the F2 or F11 key (on HP usually this is) or F12 or Del repeatedly immediately after pressing the power button on the computer.
Note that the keys indicated on the screen, usually the arrow keys, must be used to move around the BIOS.
By booting the computer from the installation disc, you can simply follow the wizard to complete the initial Windows configuration .
READ ALSO: Format and install Windows from scratch, to have a clean and new PC
FINAL NOTE: Obviously nothing prevents you from installing, as an operating system instead of Windows, a Linux distribution (see the most used Linux distributions in the world), which is completely free and that you can try without installation even on a PC without an operating system ( see here how to test Linux before installing).
When buying a new computer without an operating system or with Freedos you could, in theory, install any Windows or Linux system that you want or are licensed, even if there may be some limitations .
For example, I recently purchased an HP battle computer, costing 300 Euros, without an operating system, with Freedos.
Even if there was no assistance booklet attached to the computer, before proceeding with the installation of the operating system I found on the internet the official card where it was clearly written that it is a computer that fully supports only Windows 10 64 bit.
This does not mean that by putting a different version like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 the PC would not work, but only that HP created drivers to make that computer work only with Windows 10.
As a result, installing Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 I would have found it difficult to operate all the hardware components of the PC (sockets, ports, connections etc.).
Also, given that it is a computer with a 64-bit processor and 4 GB of RAM, if I had installed a 32-bit system, this would have used only half the RAM, sacrificing many resources.
Basically, if you buy a new PC and you need to install the Windows operating system, you should check the drivers made available by the manufacturer before proceeding and always use a 64-bit system if the computer processor is x64 .
Installing the operating system on a new computer is a very simple operation today, the only problem that you can have if you have to put Windows on a new PC is related to the license that you should buy.
Depending on the case, it is also possible to use a valid copy already used in another PC and in this regard I had written a recent article to understand how many computers you can install Windows on.
In case you do not have any usable license, the advice is to buy Windows 7 on Amazon where it costs 20 Euros or a little more.
Once you get Windows 7, you can download Windows 10 for free with a valid license by updating.
If you only need to get the installation disc, remember that you can download every version of Windows from the internet .
The installation disc is downloaded as an ISO file, which can then be burned to a DVD or copied to a USB stick using a program to burn ISO to a USB stick such as Rufus.
For Windows 10, Microsoft provides a Media Creation Tool to create the installation disc or USB stick automatically.
Insert the DVD disc or USB stick into the computer and start it by setting the boot from USB or DVD in the BIOS, changing the boot order.
Each PC has its own way to access the BIOS, usually you have to press the F2 or F11 key (on HP usually this is) or F12 or Del repeatedly immediately after pressing the power button on the computer.
Note that the keys indicated on the screen, usually the arrow keys, must be used to move around the BIOS.
By booting the computer from the installation disc, you can simply follow the wizard to complete the initial Windows configuration .
READ ALSO: Format and install Windows from scratch, to have a clean and new PC
FINAL NOTE: Obviously nothing prevents you from installing, as an operating system instead of Windows, a Linux distribution (see the most used Linux distributions in the world), which is completely free and that you can try without installation even on a PC without an operating system ( see here how to test Linux before installing).
