![Pi1.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmeeGHEo1BipBunKGnZntKxXHxE2fk3n2AD8TwGotBMoVv/Pi1.jpg)

You've scooped up one of these amazing little computers, and bought or scavenged the monitor, charger, MicroSD card, and keyboard and mouse you need. [See previous tutorial here](https://steemit.com/linux/@winstonalden/another-way-to-try-linux-on-the-cheap-get-a-raspberry-pi).

Let's put an operating system on that card and power up the handiest tiny computer you've seen. 

(This tutorial assumes you have a Windows computer with a slot for your MicroSD card. These instructions should also work just as well within Linux.)

# Download a Zip file of the Raspbian Operating System

Just go to https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/ and click the link to download the zip file. (If you're comfortable downloading torrents you can use the "Download Torrent" link instead. It downloads a lot quicker this way.)

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![Screenshot 2017-09-30 08.31.31.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmZbELkPoyu9JdzL4dtg3nUDxPuJMot2HuEWCawAuhjnD8/Screenshot%202017-09-30%2008.31.31.png)
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You don't have to do anything to un-zip the file. There's a handy utility we're going to use for that.

# Download *Etcher*. 

Etcher is a handy utility for putting disk images on USB drives and SD cards. 

Go to https://etcher.io/ and click the link to download Etcher. 

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![Screenshot 2017-09-30 08.32.28.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQ6H64WLWCwSgEzDrRNy6zdMnDQKkjRhVTkjGhtQsxyuK/Screenshot%202017-09-30%2008.32.28.png)
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When it's done, click on your downloaded file to install it. Then run the program. You should see a window like this:

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![Screenshot 2017-09-30 09.11.38.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmRK6iLm9UTU6p1xc3H3B6zX7kn4LoUeYgnMUQ1dWuFCAw/Screenshot%202017-09-30%2009.11.38.png)
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Click "Select Image" on the left and find the Raspbian zip file you downloaded in the first step. 

If you've inserted your SD card in the computer already, it should appear beneath the central icon. Make sure that the size and description of the SD card match what you expect. You don't want to accidentally overwrite the wrong drive.

Then click "Flash." That's it! The process takes about ten minutes. 

# Turn On The Pi!

When that's done, take the Micro-SD card out of your computer and insert it in the Pi. Plug in your keyboard and mouse. Attach the monitor to the Pi with the HDMI cable. Plug in the power connector last. (The Pi doesn't have a power switch, so you literally turn it on by plugging it in.)

Ta-da! After some scrolling initialization screens, you should see something like this:

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![Screenshot 2017-09-30 09.43.28.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSd3JTboCCX5WhDXibW2DgqRAj2uY132ZZYsZPGYVtyYy/Screenshot%202017-09-30%2009.43.28.jpg)
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Your icons and indicators might be slightly different, but it should be close. 

That raspberry in the upper left is your start menu. Click it and have a look at all the goodies that are on here, starting with more stuff under the programming menu than I know what to do with. 

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![Screenshot 2017-09-30 09.48.17.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQQp7Zncj7UFcdxHHWGspmrUSbokFoKWLXpDKV1xSDTir/Screenshot%202017-09-30%2009.48.17.jpg)
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The *Office* menu provides you with the full, open source Libre Office suite. Under *Internet* you've got the Chromium web browser (a slightly less invasive iteration of Chrome) and an email client, as well as a link to the *MagPi Magazine* (all issues free to download) and virtualization software that lets you access your Pi remotely from another computer (more on that in another tutorial). 

*Games* provides "Minecraft Pi," because no computer, no matter how small, is complete without Minecraft. And *Accessories* has some basic stuff like a calculator, text editor, image and PDF viewers, and of course your file manager (which is already linked on the taskbar at the top, as well). 

Not bad for the price of free, huh?

Unless you plugged in an ethernet cable, the Pi should be detecting your home wifi and prompting you for a password (depending on your network). You can also configure your internet connection with the icon in the upper right, which is also where you manage your bluetooth and sound settings.

# A Quick Note About Security - CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD

Linux systems are all about openness, privacy, and security - three things which can happily coexist if we all take a little responsibility for ourselves! 

By default, the Raspbian OS has assigned you the user name "pi" and the password "raspberry." Easy enough! Except that there are likely millions of Pis out there operating under the same credentials - and this makes your new Pi eminently hack-able. So before you do anything the least bit sensitive with yours, you'll want to change the password. Here's how:

Click on the Raspberry menu in the upper left again. Scroll down to *Preferences* and then select *Raspberry Pi Configuration.* 

It's going to ask for your password. Fancy that! It's "raspberry" at the moment, remember. Go ahead and put that in. It'll bring up a configuration window like this:

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![Screenshot 2017-09-30 10.05.01.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYM8uP6cYCq28QyD2s1pWkmBFu2VeeFRDPcgdu6q4Cdj6/Screenshot%202017-09-30%2010.05.01.jpg)
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Go ahead and click *Change Password,* and put in something with lots of letters and numbers that you can remember (or write down). You can leave the pi set to auto-login (so that you don't have to enter your password every time you turn it on) but it'll still keep anyone from the big bad world from logging into your computer from afar.

# Now explore and have fun. 

You're using a fully featured Linux computer that only cost $35! 

Isn't open source...*liberating?*