HOW-TO:Installing OpenELEC/Installing OpenELEC

Insert your installation USB key into your powered-off HTPC. Start the computer and make sure it boots from the USB key - you may need to change a setting in the BIOS or simply press F8 or F11 on boot, but that depends on your computer.

If all goes well, you should get a few messages then see a blue curses screen welcoming you to the installation program:



Click OK to get the installer menu:



We're going to carry out a quick install, so just hit enter to get to the next screen. This next screen shows the locations it's possible to install OpenELEC to. My machine is going to boot from a 2G USB stick I found laying around and there's no other disks in the machine (my media all comes from a network file server) so I've only got one option.

If you've got more than one disk, make sure you select the right one as the installer will wipe the disk.

Press OK to select the disk:



The installer will now go away and wipe, partition and format the disk for you. After that, it will copy over the OpenELEC files and make the disk bootable. Expect this to take a few minutes:



Once it's finished, the installer will take you back to the main menu. We don't need anything else here, so use the right cursor to select 'Reboot' and hit enter.

When the machine reboots, remove the installer USB key as we don't need it any longer. As long as you've got the system to boot from the media you just installed to, your computer should now boot straight into OpenELEC.

Well, almost finished. You'll very likely need to now head over to the OpenELEC Configuration Utility, which is an "Add-On" in your newly installed XBMC. So go to "programs" and look for it there. Within the Configuration Utility are networking settings (e.g. WiFi) and other important options and parameters.

 Enjoy! 

Custom Install of OpenELEC
In case KERNEL or SYSTEM files got corrupted or updated with wrong OpenELEC version the system can be restored to working state with Custom Install of OpenELEC. It will only overwrite KERNEL and SYSTEM files on Storage partition and it will not format the target drive. Just use correct OpenELEC version.