This is my 1st attempt at a posting.
My PC has 1 HD with 3 partitions;
55 mb FAT -- Partition Magic 8.0 (works fine)
300 mb FAT -- DOS 6.22 (E:) (works fine)
37 gb NTFS -- XP Pro (C:) Have valid OEM XP Pro CD w/SP2
XP really messed up. Need to reformat that partition only and re-install
the XP without messing up the other 2 partitions. Don't know for sure how
to go about it. Know very little about this PC stuff.
Any help/suggestions/etc., would be appreciated.
Regards,
Kilpatrickjr
kilpatrickjr 0 Newbie Poster
flagstar 111 Practically a Master Poster
Hi, welcome to DaniWeb.
Say your XP is a mess and you want to reformat I assume...
You have 3 partition and you want to reformat XP partition only. XP need at least 2-4GB to run so the other two partition which has less than that (55MB and 300MB) can be ignore.
Also please mark your partition with correct drive letter. Let's say your XP is in C so write it down along with drive letter for each partition. This is for future reference and to avoid reformat the wrong partition.
Also please backup this folder 'Driver' in the directory below just in case
%windir%\system32\Driver
C:\WINDOWS\system32\DriverYou said you have XP OEM cd so first insert your OEM cd to cd/dvd drive and boot from it. (You might need to set boot from cd first from bios), press any key when the line 'Press any key to boot' show up. Let it run till the process stop by itself
Tab 'Enter' to enter XP installation. Now it'll show you list of partition you need to format. Just select the NTFS partition and press 'enter' to the next screen (be careful with selecting partition to format, you may formatted the wrong partition). Select 'Format NTFS (Quick)' and press 'Enter' again. Now it'll begin installing Windows XP to the chosen partition you set.
It'll restart by itself but you don't need to do anything and don't remove OEM cd just yet. It'll begin another process afterwards and you may need to enter some information during the installation.
Afterwards, it'll restart again but this time you're in windows now. Reinstall all drivers you've backup when they prompt you too but leave that first. We'll continue after you've formatted and install Windows XP properly...
kilpatrickjr 0 Newbie Poster
Thanks for reply. C:\windows\system32\drivers would be 25 - 30 mb, right. Just wanted to make sure got right folder.
Would prefer reformat/reinstall XP Pro on 2nd PC I have for practice. If I screw up on this one, I've lost WEB contact.
2nd PC has HP XP Home partition (don't like Home) and HP Recovery partition. Save System32 drivers, right? Reformat whole HD, install XP Pro, reinstall drivers ? Add Partition Magic and DOS partitions like 1st PC, install DSL modem, etc., then go back and reformat/reinstall XP Pro on 1st PC. So, when done, both are same. Then, hope to set up LAN.
All this will have to wait as I have to check into hospital for some surgery 9am Monday. Hope recovery won't be too long.
Regards
crunchie 990 Most Valuable Poster Team Colleague Featured Poster
Looking at it, this thread has nothing to do with a virus, so I am moving you on.
Please ensure that the thread subject meets the requirements of the forum it is posted to.
kilpatrickjr 0 Newbie Poster
Sorry. Thought
I was in the XP forum area. Just trying to thank 'flagstar'
crunchie 990 Most Valuable Poster Team Colleague Featured Poster
No worries :)
flagstar 111 Practically a Master Poster
Thanks for reply. C:\windows\system32\drivers would be 25 - 30 mb, right. Just wanted to make sure got right folder.
Would prefer reformat/reinstall XP Pro on 2nd PC I have for practice. If I screw up on this one, I've lost WEB contact.
2nd PC has HP XP Home partition (don't like Home) and HP Recovery partition. Save System32 drivers, right? Reformat whole HD, install XP Pro, reinstall drivers ? Add Partition Magic and DOS partitions like 1st PC, install DSL modem, etc., then go back and reformat/reinstall XP Pro on 1st PC. So, when done, both are same. Then, hope to set up LAN.
All this will have to wait as I have to check into hospital for some surgery 9am Monday. Hope recovery won't be too long.
Regards
Yes, the driver folder is the right one, back it up first for later use...
Each computer has different system/setting/partition so you may encounter some problem reformat another computer but it's okay if you would like to do this for practice.
If you mean other data inside C: partition, you can also back it up to external drive example pendrive, external HDD etc or other unused available drive. That way you won't lose any valuable data during reformatting.
It would be easier to use Recovery Partition if your computer have one... Less hassle and also complete OEM original version right out-of-the-box setting. You don't actually need partition magic and DOS partition since you won't be using them a lot unless you do.
All the best for your recovery...
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