Hard Drive Reformat- Fresh XP Install
Rewired
Member
Howdy. I know there are some threads out there on the subject, but I’ve been having trouble deciphering them. My question is, I’d like to format my hard drive and run a fresh installation of Windows XP: Pro. Right now I’m running ME (This is happens to be my older computer). What’s the best way to do this? Thanks so much for your help.
-Michael
-Michael
0
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What kind of CD do you have? Retail boxed? OEM?
Tex
PrimeSuspect, I have a boxed version of XP: Pro.
Thanks for your help!
It was not the same as a total reformat.
But I chose FAT32 format and not NTFS, because the recommendation for a small hard drive was FAT32.
Maybe changing the file format would have cleaned it up better.
If you booted from the cd it will ask you which partitoin tyo install to and you would even then have to choose to leave the old filesystem intact.
You never really want fat32 with XP. You always want ntfs. It is 100 times more stable.
but you CAN do a clean install of XP even with a upgrade version if you have the cd's for the OS being upgraded.
We seem to be getting a lot of factors confused and I'm trying to dort tem out for ya one by one
Tex
The recommendation in the brochure that came with XP said select FAT32 if HD is <32 GB so that's what I did. (I booted from the XP disk.) His hard drive is like 18 GB, but he doesn't have much installed, just some music and selected parts of MS Works. Would I get better performance if I started from scratch and used NTFS? And would the HD size be a problem?
He has 1.3 GHz P4 processor, 128 MB RAM. Would 256 help a lot or a little? It seems REALLY slow when switching users.
I'd like to get it running well for him. At least it's running.. when I started, it was nearly unusable and that frustrated him. I'd like to see him really learn to use it. I'm hoping that with XP, I can set the user profiles so the grandkids can't do that much damage.
but you CAN do a clean install of XP even with a upgrade version if you have the cd's for the OS being upgraded. I have the Dell disks for his ME OS. You're saying that does not necessarily get rid of the "junk"? If I select NTFS, would that be a "reformat", or would I have to do a "format C:" or something first?
Gayle
Rocky is butting in: I tried this but get a message "I have an older version of Windows". This is due to SP2. I also have the SP2 disc. If I could only format and reinstall everything I would be happy. My system is freezing a few times per day. Especially when Norton runs at 4pm or I download in MSN Money. I have done everything; check disc, degram, clean disc, anti-virus, SpySweeper, CyberSCrub and even deleted many unnecessary programs. I trade in real time and must solve this problem.
You'll notice that the beginning of this thread is over a year old. What exactly is the nature of your problem and we'll see if we can help you.
Are you trying to upgrade an existing OS or are you wanting to start from absolute scratch with a clean install?
get memtest and check your memory. I believe the download page here has it. If not prime can hook you up.
sorry, didn't check the date.
I could try to upgrade the present HomeXP or completely reformat & install.
I tried again an hour ago. I used the XP CD (w/o SP2) and hit R for the Reinstall Module:nothing. I hit Enter to completely install a new version to a new folder:nothing. I hit F3 to escape:NOTHING. I performed all this twice.
The problem: I'm freezing up a few times per day and must reboot from the cpu. This is very evident when Norton Anti-Virus runs at 4pm or when I download from broker & bank in MSFT Money 2004. However, it has occurred when these are not running. I've used check disk, clean disk, defrag, spy-sweeper from Webroot plus MSFT anti-spyware which runs @ 6pm each day. I went to www.Komando.com and downloaded her reformat article to follow. The boot CD locked on the blue Windows Startup screen twice. I used the MSFT DOS boot disk from the MSFT site but did not know to type "format c:" at the dot prompt so that didn't work. I went to CNET site, CYBER site and a few others for info. Oh, I also ran Registry Medic to clean the registry. All these utilities have been on my system and running fine without interference.
However, I had loads of software, toolbars & utilities and never really used them. Therefore I used add/remove to uninstall many and the problem still persists.
Thanks for your interest.
What you are trying to do is install Windows without formatting the hard drive as you said you were installing it to a new folder. That can lead to problems.
Before you do anything else. Have you backed up your important files to a CD? Formatting a hard drive is like wiping the chalkboard clean...nothing will be left.
Backing up your email can be a little complicated for a new user but the easiest way to do it is to highlight any email in your inbox and press CTRL-A. That selects every email. Drag the selection to a folder on your desktop. Repeat the process for your sent items, contacts etc. to appropriately named folders. You then back up those folders to a CD then drag them back when you've re-set up your email.
There is another way but it involves knowing where the outlook PST file is and that may be complicated for some.
Make sure you write down all the setting for your email login etc before you format a hard drive. Example: your SMTP address, username login etc. So you know how to set it up afterwards.
Here is a guide that will help you a lot in how to set up a hard drive and install windows PLUS a way to partition it to save yourself some grief later on.
The easy way to set up the hard drive and set up the system
Now...if you really want to get tricky...this guide will show you how to integrate all the service packs, hotfixes and some drivers into a new install CD so it sets them up during the install phase.
Slipstream Windows Easy
I think what your problem is with what you are currently doing is trying to install a new copy of windows without formatting the drive first.
But, again, before you begin BACK UP your important files and documents to a CD. Take your time and make sure you've got your important files and that you can see them on a CD. Also...formatting a hard drive erases all the programs you've installed so make sure you've got install disks or the original install files for the programs you need.
Hope this helps.
What problems does this lead to exactly? unless you simply have to chkdsk the drive if the filesystem was dirty I mean?
I have done this a hundred times or more. And have never once run into problems. maybe I am just living a charmed life but this shouldnt cause any probs to install the same OS on the same drive in a new folder.
Tex
0. Back up bookmarks, email, cookies.
1. Reinstall Windows XP
2. Flash BIOS w/ the newest one online (using another machine to get the latest update)
3. Install firewall (I use ZoneAlarm)
4. Install virus protection (I use Anti Virus Guard)
5. Install spyware protection (I use AdAware)
6. Install external network adapter driver
7. Make certain router is WEP-64 bit encrypted
8. Update firewall
9. Update virus protection
10. Update spyware protection
11. Update Windows XP
12. Scan everything for adware & viruses
13. Defrag OS drive
14. Get & install latest drivers for video & audio
15. "Reinstall" any other software on data drive so registry knows it those programs exist (isn't there was a way to copy the registry so I wouldn't have to do this?)
16. Defrag data drive
17. Remove unnecessary files from OS & data drives
18. Compress unused files
19. CHKDSK
Step 15 is the one I'm most curious about. I'm fairly certain a friend of mine told me there's a way to "copy" the registry before reinstalling, so I don't have to reinstall any software (like my games), but I can't remember what the process included. Does anyone know?
- Orion