Format C:\

[Duce Lewis 3]

I'm about to install XP Pro on my Gamer

But seeing that I'm not a computer wiz, I thought I'd ask for some advice

 

My plan is to transfer all documents/downloads to the D:\ HD

I suppose I should save all drivers but not sure where their all at

Next do the Format C:\ command then pop the XP Pro disk in

 

Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated

Beers are on me

[Von Paulus 8]

A step by step guide:

 

http://www.winsupers...xp_sg_clean.asp

 

You can't format c: from windows. You've to boot up from CD and then you can format C:

 

Take a look at the tutorial.

 

EDIT: A youtube video

Edited December 29, 2009 by Von Paulus

[Flyby PC 23]

Hmmmmm. Formatting your C:/ is worth thinking about HARD. It'll erase everything, and having copies of documents, drivers etc is hit or miss affair, since many have to be installed, not just copied or they maybe won't work fully. There are often dll files installed or altered, but with no obvious connection to the utility that uses them.

 

I'm not a PC expert, but I'm sure there must be a way to update your operating system without the format.

 

On the other hand, if you're happy to re-install everything, (and pay special attention to your CD Rom driver - or you'll be going nowhere). The format will blitz everything, so you'll have a blank canvas.

 

A complete format is a big step, and I'd exhaust all other options first.

Edited December 29, 2009 by Flyby PC

[Guest rscsjsuso5]

this is my first time on an OFF board i'm mostly a thirdwire person but to help out couldn't resist i would suggest if u have 2 HDs then make your old HD the slave and the new HD the master by following simple instructions on the HD sticker on the HD . u said u are going to transfer data/downloads/drivers to d: drive it is up to u but if u want to start off with a new HD then it will be labor intensive to transfer drivers etc from old to new while making your computer structure as HD1 c drive master HD2 d drive slave and thus your cd/dvd roms. u said are going to format make sure u change the bios boot so that it detect the winxp cd then u would either do a clean install or repair install up to you.

 

enjoy always take each steps you do seriously and always make a backup with an external HD, hope it comes out successful so that you have a new experience in a computer for the start of the new year.

[Duce Lewis 3]

Thanks guys, you're all a big help

 

Flyby, I know it'll be a white knucled experience but I've been wanting to do it for a while

A clean install will give the best performance and I do most of my work on my laptop anyway

 

Von Paulus, great instructions, thank you very much!

 

rscsjsuso5, I'm dim, what's the advanrage of setting up D:\ Drive as slave?

[BirdDogICT 3]

I'm about to install XP Pro on my Gamer

But seeing that I'm not a computer wiz, I thought I'd ask for some advice

 

Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated

Beers are on me

Duce,

 

Do yourself a favor and download all XP Service Packs and burn them to CD before you install XP. Install the service packs from the CD after you install XP and before you install any drivers (this is assuming, of course, that your copy of XP doesn't include any service packs). I've discovered from experience that many recent drivers won't install properly (if at all) without SP2 or SP3 installed.

 

Download the following and install in the same order:

SP1a: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0136e5f8-1684-4202-b2d0-c6a43430f12a&displaylang=en

SP2: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=049C9DBE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en

SP3: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=5B33B5A8-5E76-401F-BE08-1E1555D4F3D4&displaylang=en

 

As an alternative, you can use Windows Update to download and install the service packs, but installing from CD is fast and you can keep a permanent copy of the service packs for later use.

 

Good luck.

[UK_Widowmaker 571]

Yep...the best thing about XP SP3 is that it installs generic drivers for just about everything, in my experience!..It's great not having to go and search for drivers after the install

[Duce Lewis 3]

Cool, my XP software is SP2 already

I'll download SP3

Bar's still open BirdDog, Widow

[Guest rscsjsuso5]

Thanks guys, you're all a big help

 

Flyby, I know it'll be a white knucled experience but I've been wanting to do it for a while

A clean install will give the best performance and I do most of my work on my laptop anyway

 

Von Paulus, great instructions, thank you very much!

 

rscsjsuso5, I'm dim, what's the advanrage of setting up D:\ Drive as slave?

 

hey duce the advantages of setting up d drive as slave would be for exmaple u turn on your computer it boot to c: drive your newly intalled winxp version then that would be your master (it all depends on u if you want cs cable select then u can also do it too but to better not conflict the system when reading the drives) then u goto your my computer you have c as your primary drive the one that boots and new and then you have your d the old drive which u use to reference materials like mods drivers music file what u had before . what i'm telling u is all scenarios of about how u would approach it . alternatively before u setup your new HD then you could obtain an external HD with a lot of capiacity and transfer your info to the external hd and then setup your newsly install winxp. remeber all is scenarios and the advatages would be for refernece and to make sure your files are kept in tact just in case .

 

enjoy

[Von Paulus 8]

The only important driver you must have at hand is the network driver in order to connect your PC to the internet and download the rest of the drivers in case you don't have your motherboard CD.

 

If you've SP2 it's ok at least in terms of security. But advise to install the AV and a firewall before connecting it, specially if you're not behind a router.

 

If you've any problem with drivers just give a PM and I'll help you. Unfortunatelly in the last 20 years I've formating and installing PC's at least once a day.

[almccoyjr 7]

Slipstream the XP/SP2 with your hardware drivers and make it an unattended install. You can also have SP3 loaded in a file on the same disc so when everything is installed, you won't have to go anywhere for it. Check out Bart or google "slipstream xp sp2". There are a bunch of guides and how-to.

 

What's nice is that should your new install crap out in the future, everything will be on one disc to do a complete, new reinstall.

 

My 5 cents worth.

 

plug_nickel (Al)

[Duce Lewis 3]

Minimal success so far

Found all the essentials and did a good backup to D Drive

But still being a bit nervous, I decided burning a CD would be better

That's where the frustration started as it just refused to burn no matter what I tried

That wasted last night, so this morning I zipped out & bought an 8 Gig Mem Stick

 

Backup solved, now I popped in the XP Pro CD

There were 2 options, Upgrade or Complete Overwrite

I chose the later and started the pre-install gibberish

Next it's telling me the Product Key is invalid

My copy is completely legit, bought it straight from Dell

 

Got on the horn to MS and all they'll do is check that it's legit then tell me to contact Dell

..."OK, you not ripping us off, now get outta here"

Next onto Dell and they want $139 for a single time technical support

Well I not payin that, but I manged to squeeze a little support outta them off the clock

Apparently they think the Install is comparing the Product Key to my current XP Home Key

I must boot from the CD and Format/Partition etc.

The screen mentioned installing over previous Wndowa SW so I thought I could shortcut and install from my current Windows

Sorry, I know I'm a moron at this stuff

 

So quite a bit of frustration today but I'm committed to getting this done

Off on family business now but I'll give it another go tomorrow

[Von Paulus 8]

I must boot from the CD and Format/Partition etc.

The screen mentioned installing over previous Wndowa SW so I thought I could shortcut and install from my current Windows

Sorry, I know I'm a moron at this stuff

 

So quite a bit of frustration today but I'm committed to getting this done

Off on family business now but I'll give it another go tomorrow

Yes that was when you took the wrong way, Deuce.

 

You have a Windows XP Home CD or you have a Dell Recovery CD?Or you've a different XP version, a Pro?

Edited December 30, 2009 by Von Paulus

[Duce Lewis 3]

Yes that was when you took the wrong way, Deuce.

 

You have a Windows XP Home CD or you have a Dell Recovery CD?Or you've a different XP version, a Pro?

I bought it with XP Home installed

When I upgraded to 4 Gig RAM, Home wouldn't recognize it so I bought XP Pro

[Von Paulus 8]

I see. Go ahead. Boot from XP CD. And format C, exactly like in the step 7 at the step by step guide.

[Duce Lewis 3]

Thanks Von Paulus

I appreciate the pointers

[Duce Lewis 3]

Back at it tonight

System wouldn't boot from the CD but there's an F2 Command that opens the BIOS

Modified that ...pretty painless, and started the CD Boot

The Blue "Windows Setup" screen appears and chugs away a bit

Failure occurs and Windows Shuts Down

It recommends a Virus Check and running CHKDSK /F

 

2 Hours spent re-adding internet connection, installing and updating Virus Software (it's my off-line gamer)

System is clean

CHKDSK F/ fails to run as it says "the device is in use by another process"

Tried the recommended run at start-up but it justs blinks on/off real fast

CHKDSK C/, D/, & E/ all run OK

 

Windows Setup still crashes and shuts down

Only thought I had was to unplug the F Drive as that seems where the problem lies

Any suggestions?

[Von Paulus 8]

Back at it tonight

System wouldn't boot from the CD but there's an F2 Command that opens the BIOS

Modified that ...pretty painless, and started the CD Boot

The Blue "Windows Setup" screen appears and chugs away a bit

Failure occurs and Windows Shuts Down

It recommends a Virus Check and running CHKDSK /F

 

2 Hours spent re-adding internet connection, installing and updating Virus Software (it's my off-line gamer)

System is clean

CHKDSK F/ fails to run as it says "the device is in use by another process"

Tried the recommended run at start-up but it justs blinks on/off real fast

CHKDSK C/, D/, & E/ all run OK

 

Windows Setup still crashes and shuts down

Only thought I had was to unplug the F Drive as that seems where the problem lies

Any suggestions?

I'm a bit confused here, Duce.

At what point did the error occurred? You weren't in Windows right?

 

/F is a switch of the chkdsk command syntax.

When you write in a DOS prompt "chkdsk c: /f" it means it will check hardisk c and correct the errors if found.

Personally when I'm in doubt about the reliabilty of a hardisk I choose /r switch instead, which besides doing what the /f switch does it will check for bad sectors and mark them.

 

Haven't you 2 physical HD's? Or you have 1 HD with 2 partitions?

[Duce Lewis 3]

OK, it was I who was a bit confused here

Thought the /F switch was for the F DVD Drive

 

Yes, there are 2 physical drives

No, the error occured in DOS (the 1st blue screen in the Win Super Site link)

Apparently DOS starts Windows for a bit here ...but there's no Windows interface etc

 

After the errors I booted to Windows normally and ran CHKDSK C:/R fron the Run Command line

No success there as I still get the "in use by another process" failure

I opened a DOS Prompt Window but CHKDSK C:/R failed here again

CHKDSK D:/R did work here when I dismounted it

Took quite a bit of time but reported 0 bad sectors

 

Only possible option I saw was to configure the PC to boot to DOS at start-up (Settings)?

[Von Paulus 8]

This is the way to run chkdsk with your boot cd.

 

http://forums.whatthetech.com/How_run_chkdsk_Recovery_Console_t95574.html

[JimAttrill 24]

I have a Win XP pro Volume License Copy which has been installed on many computers. Even when I buy XP pro for a new computer I keep the disk but don't install that one because of the hassle of activation etc.

 

I have only ever had one failure to install from this CD and that was last year. I was overwriting the Vista Home on a new laptop - an ACER. No matter what I did it would crash with the same messages as you got above. I did manage to install Xubuntu on it though. The owner took the new laptop back to the supplier and they eventually agreed to change the hard drive. We got it back with Vista Pro installed and as that will work with Exchange Server I left it at that.

[Von Paulus 8]

Yes, there are 2 physical drives

No, the error occurred in DOS (the 1st blue screen in the Win Super Site link)

Apparently DOS starts Windows for a bit here ...but there's no Windows interface etc

You're installing Windows so it's not Windows yet.

If it's rebooting at that installation/setup phase normally it means 3 things.

You've a special/non-standard hardisk controller that needs to be installed at the beginning of the setup (when setup asks you to press F6 to install a controller) or you've a problem in your RAM. At that stage of the setup he's not even copying files to the HD, only to the RAM, so if there is some defect in your RAM it will cause a error or a reboot. So what I find odd in your case it's that message of asking you to CHKDSk your HD. I suppose you didn't come to the 3 step in supersite's guide. The reboot must have happened in the second step. Right?

Another reason for not getting to the step 3 is a problem with Windows XP media, or a problem with your optical device. Sometimes Windows XP doesn't like to be installed from a SATA optical drive it depends on your chipset. Is any of your Disks or Optical devices have SATA interface or PATA?

http://blog.taragana...es-295x3001.jpg Upper figure is PATA the bottom SATA.

 

Tell me why are you formating? This your PC had any strange behavior lately?

Do you know what is your Motherboard chipset? If not give the model of your computer, I'll try to find (it's a Dell right?).

 

After the errors I booted to Windows normally and ran CHKDSK C:/R fron the Run Command line

No success there as I still get the "in use by another process" failure

I opened a DOS Prompt Window but CHKDSK C:/R failed here again

CHKDSK D:/R did work here when I dismounted it

Took quite a bit of time but reported 0 bad sectors

There exist two ways for check your system disk.

Firstly you can do it inside My computer http://www.pctechgui...aint_Chkdsk.htm

Remember you'll be notified that the check cannot be performed immediately, and offered the opportunity to schedule this to occur the next time your system is booted. Answer yes.

The other way is booting with a Windows Boot CD and go to the recovery console. http://forums.whatth...ole_t95574.html

Only problem is that it seems you aren't able to come to the Recovery Console option in your windows setup boot. Your PC reboots before.

There are workarounds but are more technical ( http://www.bleepingc...utorial117.html )so go with the first it's easier.

 

[Von Paulus 8]

I have only ever had one failure to install from this CD and that was last year. I was overwriting the Vista Home on a new laptop - an ACER. No matter what I did it would crash with the same messages as you got above. I did manage to install Xubuntu on it though. The owner took the new laptop back to the supplier and they eventually agreed to change the hard drive. We got it back with Vista Pro installed and as that will work with Exchange Server I left it at that.

You should have try to do a clean install and not a overwrite. There was no need to change the HD.

[JimAttrill 24]

Clean install every time with format of the drive. It's the only way to do it. The supplier thought we were doing something wrong, but after a few days trying to install XP they also gave up and changed the hard drive. It gave the messages as above in that it thought there was a virus on the drive etc. As the drive had just been formatted this was pretty surprising. I also tried other XP installation disks and they all failed in the same way. So XP was spotting something wrong with the drive, and changing the drive fixed the problem for ever. If it quacks like a duck....

 

The strange thing is that Xubuntu installed fine. I didn't try any other OS.

[Duce Lewis 3]

You're installing Windows so it's not Windows yet.

If it's rebooting at that installation/setup phase normally it means 3 things.

You've a special/non-standard hardisk controller that needs to be installed at the beginning of the setup (when setup asks you to press F6 to install a controller)

I created the Boot CD as outlined in your Post #20

Same problem there as the set-up crashes on the Windows Setup screen (1st Blue)

Tried hitting the F6 and came up with"System could not determine the type of 1 of your mass storage devices"

Gives me an "S" Option to specify additional SCSI Adaptors or CD ROM Drives etc.

Not sure where to go here

 

or you've a problem in your RAM. At that stage of the setup he's not even copying files to the HD, only to the RAM, so if there is some defect in your RAM it will cause a error or a reboot. So what I find odd in your case it's that message of asking you to CHKDSk your HD. I suppose you didn't come to the 3 step in supersite's guide. The reboot must have happened in the second step. Right? -Yes

RAM problem rings a bell

I'm switching to Pro because Home won't recognise the 4 Gigs I've installed

It's currently only recognizing 2.5 Gigs

Could this be the problem?

 

Another reason for not getting to the step 3 is a problem with Windows XP media, or a problem with your optical device. Sometimes Windows XP doesn't like to be installed from a SATA optical drive it depends on your chipset. Is any of your Disks or Optical devices have SATA interface or PATA?

http://blog.taragana...es-295x3001.jpg Upper figure is PATA the bottom SATA.

 

Tell me why are you formating? This your PC had any strange behavior lately?

Do you know what is your Motherboard chipset? If not give the model of your computer, I'll try to find (it's a Dell right?).

Only strange behavior is some windows tend to pop up especially at start-up

C Drive is described as 500Gig Serial ATA II

D is 160 Gig SATA NCQ

No idea on the chipset, best I can say, it's an XPS 710 Rig