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Reformatting A PC

RhettRhett (Not even a monkey)
in Zocalo v2.0
Well, it has been two years since we got my mom's PC and it is now long overdue for a reformat (constant crashes, errors, other crappy MS coding errors). Problem is, I have never done it before. So could one of you kind souls post me either a website that goes into this step by step or just post it yourself. Thanks in advance. Oh, and I think I will try to find a cheap copy of XP to put on it, to take the place of the crappy ME. Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • Random ChaosRandom Chaos Actually Carefully-selected Order in disguise
    You don;t need to reformat to install a MS OS on a previous MS OS installed system.

    Just delete the Windows dir. Actually - you really only need to delete the System dir, System32 dir and win.com file in the Windows dir.

    --RC
  • BigglesBiggles <font color=#AAFFAA>The Man Without a Face</font>
    Yeah, but that doesn't clear up HDD space from all the small annoying programs that get installed over time. You're better off doing a full format after that much time to completely clear it all away.

    Step 1: Make a boot disc with CD-ROM drivers on it, or find the setup disc that came with Windows.
    Step 2: Reboot with boot disc.
    Step 3: format c: /u
    Step 4: Go to CD-ROM drive and type "setep /?"
    Step 5: Type setup again and this time attach switches to turn off the annoying advertising banners that get displayed during it.
    Step 6: Follow instructions.

    Hope that helps. I'm sure someone will point out anything I've missed, but that's pretty much it really.

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    [url="http://www.minbari.co.uk/log12.2263/"]Never eat anything bigger than your own head.[/url]
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  • RhettRhett (Not even a monkey)
    Can you be a bit more specific? I could do it with that info, but if I mess up, my ass is toast, to say the very least... [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/biggrin.gif[/img]
  • Random ChaosRandom Chaos Actually Carefully-selected Order in disguise
    What Biggles is saying is basically all there is. Just make sure you backup what you want to first. I am not a fan of reformating becuase I don't like recopying all my data - and a lot of programs don't need to be reinstalled to get them to work.

    The biggest problem is manufacturers install disks. Some of them don't let you get into a DOS prompt from which to format the disk.

    The procedure is also different with every operating system. I am not familiar with XP, but I can go though the others:

    Win9x/ME: Reboot on the CD. Select Command prompt. Proceed with Step 3.

    Win2k: Reboot on the CD. Let the entire setup load. Then follow onscreen instructions to format and partition your drive. It is all built into the Win2k setup. Do not format it before going into there unless you don't want an NTFS partition.

    On both of those Setup loads automatically if you select the Setup mode. I don't know about XP though...

    BTW, I really am not a fan of reformating when you don't need to [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img] - I usually have little bits of data that I think I backed up that I find I didn't back up...which drives me nuts trying to find afterwards.

    --RC
  • BekennBekenn Sinclair's Duck
    First things first: be sure that you're getting a full copy of WinXP; [b]not[/b] the upgrade. Once that arrives, use fdisk or something similar to remove all partitions on your drive. (The WinXP setup program should have this option somewhere in it, but I've only installed XP once and can't remember quite what the process was -- fairly straightforward, though.) Next, make sure your BIOS is set to boot from CD. Following that, slip in the WinXP CD, reboot the machine, and just sit back; the XP setup program will guide you through the rest.

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    We are here to place President Grenewetzki under arrest!
  • psycopsyco Ranger
    You may want to make sure you have 256 meg of ram before going to XP. It's a pretty resource hungry OS, I've run it on 128meg and it can get really slow even with all the eye candy settings turned down.
  • RhettRhett (Not even a monkey)
    I think I have enough RAM. There is so much crap on this PC though, I am just going to reformat. I am getting XP, and then will reformat everything, install XP, and go from there. I hope the drivers that came with the PC's startup disk are compatable with XP...
  • Vertigo1Vertigo1 Official Fuzzy Dice of FirstOnes.com
    Backup any data you want to keep before following these instructions!


    1. Pop in any Win9x boot floppy. (Even if you're installing XP or any other OS) When the boot menu shows up, hit SHIFT F5. This will send you directly to the DOS command prompt.
    2. Type format c: /u and hit ENTER. Then hit Y (for yes) and let it go. /u is the unconditional format switch. You can also format the drive to a different file system if you like. /FS:NTFS will format it using the NTFS file system.
    3. Pop the XP CD in and Reboot. (most PCs these days support having a CD as a bootable device so this shouldn't be an issue)
    4. Install Windows by following the on-screen prompts. This isn't all that hard.
    5. Install the latest drivers for your stuff, install your programs, etc.

    Thats basically it. There is no need to run FDISK and deleting any partitions. Thats just STUPID and wastes valuable time as you'll just end up re-creating it anyways.

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    [b][url="http://www.savefarscape.com/"]SAVE FARSCAPE![/url][/b]
    "Isn't the universe an amazing place? I wouldn't live anywhere else! Love to stay! Can't, have to go! Kiss! Kiss! Love! Love! Bye! *kiss*" - G'Kar

    [This message has been edited by Vertigo1 (edited 11-26-2002).]
  • Rogue TraderRogue Trader Somebody stop him...
    how would one make a boot disk for such an operation? step by step instructions would be appreciated... [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/biggrin.gif[/img]
  • RhettRhett (Not even a monkey)
    Well, here I go... Hopefully back online in less than an hour (depending how long this takes...) To create a boot disk, go to Control Panel, hit Add/Remove Programs, and then hit the tab called startup disk... See you on the flip side...
  • Vertigo1Vertigo1 Official Fuzzy Dice of FirstOnes.com
    [quote]Originally posted by Rogue Trader:
    [b]how would one make a boot disk for such an operation? step by step instructions would be appreciated... [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/biggrin.gif[/img][/b][/quote]

    It comes with the CD... [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/rolleyes.gif[/img]

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    [b][url="http://www.savefarscape.com/"]SAVE FARSCAPE![/url][/b]
    "Isn't the universe an amazing place? I wouldn't live anywhere else! Love to stay! Can't, have to go! Kiss! Kiss! Love! Love! Bye! *kiss*" - G'Kar
  • RhettRhett (Not even a monkey)
    Well, I had to put it off untill today. Everything worked fine once I got everything fixed (boot disks wouldnt work because my PC was so messed up it claimed tha the C drive was not formatable). I ended up reinstalling a fresh copy of ME (because I couldnt get XP to install) and then installing XP. My only problem now is that the sound won't work!! I am using SB Live! Lite crap that came with the PC. I have the newest drivers, but I am getting no sound out of the speakers (none at all). Sound worked fine before I switched for XP, and all the other drivers still work. So what could be wrong? Please dont tell me I need to buy a new sound card (dont know how I would be able to). Sugestions? Everything is plugged in right, the only changes are that it is a clean format of XP.

    Odd fact: I couldn't even delete the drive C partion using FDISK. Something was very messed up...
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