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cleaning up and starting again.

 
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alison
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 11 2:34 pm    Post subject: cleaning up and starting again. Reply with quote
    

The kids pc is dying on its feet going slower and slower, not running some programmes.

I thought I would try and do a clean install.


I have backed up the documents, on my back up external hard drive.

I have the disks to re install.

What is the best way to wipe the hard drive.

I was thinking of wiping hard drive,
reinstal os
up date any drivers that need updates
install office, and up date

How does that sound.

The bit I am unsure about is the actual wiping of hard drive. I have done quite a few new installs, but it has always been on new hard drives.

Camile



Joined: 26 Apr 2006
Posts: 376
Location: Co. Galway - Ireland
PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 11 3:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hello,

If installing windows you will have the choice when asked to select what partition.

Camile

Barefoot Andrew
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Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 22780
Location: In the 17th century
PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 11 4:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The install process should give you the option of repairing the existing installation, or removing it and starting afresh.

Removing the current install completely involves deleting the 'partition'. The sequence should be easy to follow: delete the current partition (it will give you fire and brimstone warnings about all data about to be lost etc). It should then offer to recreate the partition for you using as much of the disk as possible (*see below).

Once the partition is created, you will likely be asked to select between a quick or complete reformat. Select complete - this process takes a while but should mark out any bad areas of the disc. Also, select NTFS - not FAT or FAT32 - as it's much more robust.

Once the partition is created and reformatted, installation will proceed in the usual manner.

(*partition size: some folk prefer to split an overall hard disc into smaller spaces - creating two separate partitions that would become drives C and D. Not keen on that myself; your choice though. Plus, if you opt to use the entire drive for a single partition, it will deduct a small amount for overhead, so the partition size offered won't quite be the full disc).

A.

alison
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 11 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thank you.

I am going to try. It can't be any worse than it is at the moment!

alison
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 11 5:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

No going back now, I have pressed the button!

Barefoot Andrew
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 22780
Location: In the 17th century
PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 11 6:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    


A.

jema
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28098
Location: escaped from Swindon
PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 11 6:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

What's the score when it comes to a windows reinstall and bootsector viruses? Will they be killed?

Barefoot Andrew
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 22780
Location: In the 17th century
PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 11 6:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Don't think so - I think you specifically have to rewrite the MBR (a partition delete/create isn't sufficient).
A.

alison
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Tue Mar 29, 11 7:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

It appears I have insufficient memory to initialize windows.

I have to quit one or other program of config.sys or autoexec.bat.

I googles this, and was directed to the edit system ini, but I wasn't sure how to put the information into that bit, and I couldn't get it to save.

I am loading win98 se, and then xp update, because this is all I have.

google suggests that I may have too much ram, but do any techies have experience of this before I just play around with it.

Barefoot Andrew
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 22780
Location: In the 17th century
PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 11 6:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Hmm. Questions:-

How much memory does the machine have?

You managed to delete the partition and commence the install process?

Exactly what message/symptom are you seeing, and does this occur *during* the install process, or *afterwards* when you try and start windows normally?

Have you got as far as the XP update, or are these problems still occurring at the 98SE stage?

A.

alison
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 12918
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Wed Mar 30, 11 10:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I think I may have done it, but I'll let you know hwat I did if it is right!

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