Subject: please help..

Posted by: SkZ

Date:4/3/2003 2:30:33 PM

This is not directly related to ACID but indirectly it is, as I use my p.c in conjunction ;P so forgive me ..just thought you guys could help me out.

My problem: I'm running windows XP(home edition) I recently decided to back my work up on cd and do a fresh install of xp to clear my system of accumulated junk..
I placed the xp cd in my drive and went through all the set-up procedures' when finished i re-booted only to be greeted with a two options for xp meaning i now have my previous unchanged version plus a second' very sparse version(containing just the recycle bin icon on the desk-top)? I've tried to uninstall the second version by going into add/remove but no programs are listed there' I also tried " osuninst.exe " command but windows reports files missing..

As you can probably tell by now my system is in a right old mess,all I want to do is wipe my system clean and start again! can anyone help?

thanks

p.s. I also have quite a few service packs for xp that i downloaded from MS. How do i go about backing those up so i can rre-install them after/if i gat my pc sorted out,that is?

Subject:RE: please help..

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:4/3/2003 9:54:34 PM

Sounds like you simply installed another install of XP. Have you tried going through the whole process again? When you boot with the XP CD-ROM, it should eventually ask if you want to format and/or delete a partition. You can choose to delete the partition, which I guarantee will wipe out everything, but you'll have to format afterwards. Be sure, as always, to proceed slowly and read all on-screen instructions.

You might want to head on over to the SP1a download page and see what works best for you. SP1a can either be downloaded entirely (which is a whopping 134 MB) or use the Windows Update online service; download time depends on how recently you've visited the site.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: please help..

Reply by: clarksil

Date:4/4/2003 8:43:21 AM

I'd say you have to do delete the partition and reformat the hard drive to accomplish this.

Subject:RE: please help..

Reply by: SkZ

Date:4/4/2003 3:51:03 PM

Hey thanx guys :) thanks mD i had a feeling you would reply(they shold make you a mod round these parts! )

Well i deleted the partitions and reformated, just a couple more little problems ....

1. when booting my pc i get a Msg asking if i want to boot from HD or CD this never happend before.Whats that all about ?

2. the original config' of my 56gig HD (how it came from the shop)was split into three patitions C:windows D:backup and E:recover. now i have no partitions just C:NTFS ,will this be detrimental?

3.Also since doing all this i have an annoying problem with my keyboard. When typing this( @ )symbol i get this( " ) instead' and vice versa ? very puzzling?

All help appreciated

thanks

Subject:RE: please help..

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:4/5/2003 3:44:09 PM

1. Do you have your XP CD-ROM still in the drive? (Just take it out before rebooting.)

2. Not really. Basically, the only benefit is that you'd be able to backup material onto another partition and format another partition without affecting the one the data is backed up on. I've also heard that using partitions can degrade audio recording/playback performance.

Note that if this system came from a vendor, more than likely any extra software that was on those partitions was also deleted. Usually, the only way to get them back is to get a CD from the vendor (which usually requires a purchase). Vendors are getting really stingy nowadays in this regard, providing no hard copy of software they give with a system.

Some systems don't even come with a hard copy of Windows (!), choosing to have the "backup" of Windows right on the hard drive. (You'd also have to pay the vendor to get a hard copy of Windows on CD.) That'd be kinda tough if the hard drive fails. Not only would you be out of a hard drive, but you'd also be out of a copy of Windows.

3. Weird. The "@" symbol is above "2" on the keyboard. Quotation marks (") are above the apostrophe ('). It's almost like the keys are being remapped? Be sure to go to the Keyboard applet under Control Panel to ensure your keyboard is identified correctly.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: please help..

Reply by: SkZ

Date:4/6/2003 5:25:54 PM

Hey mD thanks once again ...Everythings getting back on track now' even tho ive still not managed to sort the keybord prob out but' i guess that's not a tremendus issue at the moment i'll get that sorted eventually...just one more question when re-downloading my service pack's from MS it recomended a driver update for my " Gforce 4 MX 420 " before installing the new drivers do i have to remove the old ones ?

cheer's

Subject:RE: please help..

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:4/6/2003 8:39:37 PM

You're welcome.

You'd uninstall previous drivers only if you installed them. More than likely, it sounds like you're using the ones Windows XP provided? If so, just proceed to install the newer drivers via Windows Update.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: please help..

Reply by: SkZ

Date:4/7/2003 9:30:37 AM

;) thank's mD