Topic: HD format?

[=SEALZ=SnakeFart]

ok i really need some help, my pc is giving my some really strange error codes, its saying things like joke and what not of what happened. i think it might be some sort of virus but i cant re-install XP because i have a newer version than what is on the disk i have. any idea how to format properly or get the older version back???

[lotacus]

well. install an anti-virus program and run it. Try ad-aware or spybot to find adware programs.

You can also try booting from the windows installation disk instead of running it from within windows. If you do in fact have a virus, reinstalling windows may not remove it. It will just come back.

From the windows installation, there will be a part where it asks what partition you would like to install it onto, in that section you should be able to format the partition after selecting it. Choose a quick format. The other format option checks for bad sectors etc.. which is unessessary, and can take a VERY long time.. HOURS upon HOURS.

To format your computer through a dos prompt, is a lengthy discussion process, but includes a boot floppy with MSDOS on it.

You can also create a rescue floppy with parition magic on it.

[=SEALZ=SnakeFart]

ok how do i partition my HD? i reinstalled windows last night but it seems i still have all the files on the HD. do you got a web addy that i can read so i can format it properly, i need to wipe it out 100% and then reinstall so i can have a fresh computer.

i think SWG (Star Wars Galaxies) believe it or not did something to windows so i cant run most of my programs, this problem started after i uninstalled SWG from my HD

also i cant seem to get on the internet anymore from my otere computer. ive tried the wizard and it says it should already be configured for internet.

[lotacus]

ok. *sigh*. I will try my best here and to keep my fingers from getting tired, i'm going to try and keep it as simple as possible.


__________________________________________________________________

** WARNING: THE FOLLOWING METHOD WILL DESTROY ALL DATA AND WILL NOT BE RECOVERABLE. PLEASE MAKE ANY BACKUPS OF FILES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAVE **
__________________________________________________________________

NOTE: This method assumes that 1. you have your floppy set as one of the boot devices prior to your hard disk. 2. You have a bootable Windows 2000/NT/XP installation cdrom and that the cdrom drive is also set as one of your boot devices. 3. You understand that you will be destroying all data on the partition you are formatting, 4. That such partition is a FAT or FAT32 partition and NOT an NTFS partition. and 5. Installing a fresh copy of your chosen version of Windows.

NOTE 2: To find out what filesystem you are running, open up My Computer, right click on C:\ and choose properties from the context menu. On the next screen that pops up, you will see a pie chart and various elements pertaining to your C:\ The part you want to pay attention to is where it says "File System:" It will show either NTFS or FAT32.

Now, on with the instructions:

- BACKUP any files you wish to keep.

- Have a blank formatted floppy in the floppy drive

- go to http://filebox.vt.edu/r/rywilson/RCC/bootmec.exe (windows ME boot disk) found at http://www.bootdisk.com

- run such program and follow the instructions.

- Reboot your pc with the floppy disk inside the floppy drive.

- You *should* now see a Windows Millennium startup screen with a list of options. From this point, select the option to boot without cdrom drivers. They're not needed during this process so it should speed up the loading sequence of MSDOS as it doesn't have to scan for your cdrom drive.

- It will now start initializing MSDOS and after everything is complete, it will take you to the a:\ If not, just type in a: and hit enter.

- once you see the A:> on the left hand side of your screen with a blinking cursor, you can now type: Format (drive letter) and then hit enter, replacing (drive letter) with the chosen drive you would like to format typically it should look like this: A:> format c: and then press enter. It will ask for confirmation. Hit the Y button to confirm that you would like to continue with the format. Now let it do it's work it may take some time so be patient.

- Once the format has finished, it will ask you to label the new volume. This is optional and can be skipped by hitting the enter key.

- It may ask that you need to reboot the computer so that the changes can take effect. If this is the case. DO NOT REBOOT just yet. Take a moment of clarity.

- Take out your floppy disk. Open Your CDROM drive and insert your BOOTABLE Windows installation disk (assuming it is Windows XP). Close the cdrom drawer and NOW you can reboot.

- During the rebooting process, pay attention to the bottom of the screen. If your computers bios is set up properly it will say " Press any key to boot from cd" This is when you should strike a key. Now your Windows XP installation will continue. Ensure that during the installation you choose the newly formatted partition as your installation partition. At this point, you may also have the option to format using the NTFS filesystem, FAT32 filesystem or not to make any changes to the partition. Any is fine. I'll leave the preference up to you.

That *SHOULD* be all there is to it. I don't believe I left any critical steps out.

But PLEASE remember that this is going to wipe out EVERYTHING on that partition. I mean everything! So do your backup. To save time, anything you can redownload, or reinstall, you can skip from the backup process. Save any personal files and don't forget your IE favorites, your downloaded files, your "my recieved files", your pictures, your txt files you created to store your passwords, websites, email addresses, resume's etc etc, typically, things which you cannot reproduce, or recreate, should be the first things to back up.

Good Luck.

[=SEALZ=SnakeFart]

ok got it all good to go. got all my HD back finally andit seems to be running fine now... yay now i get to sit here for a few hours while i install everything and get the drivers i had. sigh where to start...

[M]

This is what techs do for partitioning. [ I use Partition Commander but others work just as well. Ask Mrs. X about partition commander. She uses it as well]

create a primary partition c: with about 20 GB to 25GB of space. This is where you load in the O/S and only the O/S.

create another partition E: [because D: is the CD/DVD drive] that is all available space EXCEPT 5 GB. This is where applications and data is stored. This is where you install your programs, store all your documents, media files, music files, blah blah blah.

leave the 5 GB of space as free space.

The reason for this is if the O/S takes a header into the abyss, you can wipe the C: drive and start over without losing data and applications.? you will have to recreate the shortcuts and with programs like Office or Sonic Foundry or any other programs with product key registration, will require reinstall for product key [which is stored in on the C: drive] but you don't lose the program.? Nor do you lose any data.

The 5 GB of free space is so you can install a second O/S like W2K or XP and gain access to the C: drive to save stuff you forgot to put in the E: drive. Afterward you can delete the second O/S and make the 5 GB free space again. If you run out of space on the C: drive [which if you just keep the O/S on there you shouldn't] you can steal a couple of GBs from free space and resize C: [another nifty tool with partition commander].  ?

Note: the 20 to 25 GB of space in C:  is enough for the Windows XP SP2 and all hotfixes along with other Microsoft programs like Media Player that do not have a change install location option. You should use about 10 10 12GB of space when all is said and done, plus gives enough free space for virtual memory/ swap/page file.

[lotacus]

Hey. Nice idea. I've always tried to do it the way you discribed, but it seems to take more time doing so. Some times installing new programs still point to default c:\ when asking where to install, which makes it a tiny pain in the a$$. Not to mention  a lot of programs install files in the system directory, which means if the system goes, then you still have to install the entire program all over again.

Also, I didn't know how to change the default location for my documents and all those user folders. And while changing those to another location, would that disrupt windows in anyway when trying to save somet;hing to "my documents" when it isn't in it's default location, but located somewhere else. For example, when someone sends you something from msn messenger.

As of now, I have my OS on a WD Raptor 10K (with all my programs), my swap on a 2x0 RAID and my temp on another 2x0 raid.

I used to think my computer was slow, until I started up my sisters P4 with a WD 145? GB hard drive in it and 512MB of ram. At the time my system had 512MB also. My sisters computer was sooo slow and made me appreciate my system alot more.

[M]

lotacus, most programs allow you to install them in a different directory. yes, they install .dlls and some system files in the C:\WINNT\system32 folders but for the most part you can install them on a different drive and the .exe is an Icon in that folder. For instance a game like Eve Online. you can install it on a different partiton and it creates an .exe file. all you have to do is create a shortcut onto the desktop to launch the program if you have to wipe the and reinstall the O/S.

folder redirection in Windows XP is a group policy setting but you can just click file save and choose a folder on another partition. If you don't want to muck with that here's a link describing the group policy on folder redirection for XP

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/folderredirectionhowto.mspx

Note: on the local machine click run, type mmc. with the mmc snap in window open choose add/remove snap in. in the add/remove snap in window choose group policy. it will ask for local machine group policy choose yes. this will open up the local machine group policy settings. follow the directions in the above link for configuring my documents folder redirection in creating the group policy for you machine. remember the my documents folder has sub folders, my pictures, my music, my videos, my ebooks and my captured files which will also be redirected.

[lotacus]

I don't seem to have that option for folder redirection and I have Windows XP professional. *sigh* That really sucks. I guess i'm going to just have to find some 3rd party software to do it for me or something, or google some hacks for it. I dont know. I wanna redirect my special folders to my usb thumb drive.

[=SEALZ=SnakeFart]

ahhh fresh HD, runs smooth, does everything i ask now. its like driving a new car after owning a junker for 1/2 ur life.

but 1 thing im having a problem with, everytime i start windows as soon as i can see my desktop i get the searching for new harware pop-up and it doesnt say what the hardware is so i dont know what i need to download.

can anyone help me troubleshoot this???

teletype test...

[M]

look in device manager and see if you have anything with a ! mark.

you might have some uPnP devices Windows detects like motherboard stuff. Onboard sound, onboard USB ports, onboard NIC, etc.

Device manager is navigated to? from start, control panel, system. On the system properties page, click on the hardware tab. On the hardware properties page, click the device manager radio button. If there is hardware with a ! mark and you don't use it, disable the device so Windows won't try to find drivers. If its a motherboard device, disable it in the BIOS.

[=SEALZ=SnakeFart]

it says its something on my video card but i have the video card installed on the display devices tab. if i disable those will i be able to play games and what not?

[M]

If you have a yellow exclamation mark in device manager for your video card, it means that the drivers hasn't been install properly. That is regardless of what is shown in the display properties.

If you installed the video drivers but did not reboot your computer, reboot it. If you did not install video drivers, install them. The Installer package should require you to reboot to make the changes.

If the above process doesn't work, uninstall from the video card from within device manager, reboot the computer which will start the new hardware wizard. Click through the wizard screens until finished. Install your video card drivers. Reboot the computer. 

[=FC=DirtyHarry]

**offtopic**

M - check your inbox or get in contact with me at fcdirtyharry@hotmail.co.uk

Thanks

[=SEALZ=MrsX]

well as i said on the other post you had made, is this,,pop the hard drive into another system as a secondary drive access it through your my computer icon, take all the critical info off it you need save it to the primary hard drive, pop the hard drive back inot its orignial  box formatt the bugger, either with a floppy boot disk or partition commander, put your operating sytem on the partitioned c drive, how ever you big you wanna make it, like M said 25 gig should be good enough for service packs hotfixes and what not,,,, the create another partition as your d drive for all the programs and what not you wanna put back on the system after you get it back up and running,,, always leave some free space on your hard drive just incase you need to move things around...........and viola,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,youre done if i can do it,,,,,,,,,,anybody can do it,,,,,,,,im such an air head some times ahahahah 6.^