Crazy XP reinstall...what does this all mean???

[kim42]

-- I am at my wits end! I have been trying all day to do a reinstall of XP.
It should not be this hard to do, but I am running into all kinds of
problems. I have a Dell xp reinstallation cd that Dell sent me. I have a Dell
dimension 4600 computer.
I started the installation this morning and I cancelled the install after I
received this message: "You chose to install xp on a partition that contains
another operating system. this may cause the other operating system to not
function properly. It is not recommended to install multi systems on a single
partition."
The only choices available for me to choose were Fat or NTFS...I chose NTFS.
I was told to delete the windows partition and recreate it. after that I
will be given the option to reformat the drive. Well that didn't work
either. here is what I got when I tried to delete the partition:
"Setup is unable to perform the requested operation on the selected
partition. This partition contains temporary setup files that are required to
complete the installation." I Had to cancell the installation once again.
So, I decided to do a restore using F11 even though it wouldn't be a clean
install like I originally wanted...by this time I was getting desperate and
willing to settle. Guess what? That didn't work either! It just took me back
to the same place that the Dell cd had me.

My question at this point is: what good is the darn Dell reinstallation cd
or the restore thru F11 if it won't let you reinstall!!!!? I guess you can
tell I am not too happy right now.

My next step was to put the reinstallation cd back in and try again with the
unrecommended choice of selecting the NTFS partition again with the warning
coming up "It is not recommended to install multi systems on a single
partition." But it does give the option to go ahead with the install anyway,
so I chose that option. This what it said after I chose it "A windows folder
already exists that may contain a windows installation. If you continue, the
existing Window installation will be overwritten. All files,subfolders, users
accts.,applications, security & desktop settings for that Windows
installation will be deleted. The 'My Documents' folder may also be deleted.

To use the folder & delete the existing windows installation in it, PRESS L

To use a different folder, PRESS ESC.

F3 to quit setup

Guess what I chose? Yeah F3 again! Oh woe is me, I can't believe this day!

Should I have just selected L and deleted the existing Windows? I almost
did, but I chickened out and decided to come here first for advice.

Anyone...tell me what to do? Besides throwing this computer out the window!
Thanks for all your help!!!

kim

 

[Tim Meddick]

--

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

-- I am at my wits end! I have been trying all day to do a reinstall of
XP.
It should not be this hard to do, but I am running into all kinds of
problems. I have a Dell xp reinstallation cd that Dell sent me. I have a
Dell
dimension 4600 computer.
I started the installation this morning and I cancelled the install after
I
received this message: "You chose to install xp on a partition that
contains
another operating system. this may cause the other operating system to not
function properly. It is not recommended to install multi systems on a
single
partition."
The only choices available for me to choose were Fat or NTFS...I chose
NTFS.
I was told to delete the windows partition and recreate it. after that I
will be given the option to reformat the drive. Well that didn't work
either. here is what I got when I tried to delete the partition:
"Setup is unable to perform the requested operation on the selected
partition. This partition contains temporary setup files that are required
to
complete the installation." I Had to cancell the installation once again.
So, I decided to do a restore using F11 even though it wouldn't be a clean
install like I originally wanted...by this time I was getting desperate
and
willing to settle. Guess what? That didn't work either! It just took me
back
to the same place that the Dell cd had me.

My question at this point is: what good is the darn Dell reinstallation cd
or the restore thru F11 if it won't let you reinstall!!!!? I guess you can
tell I am not too happy right now.

My next step was to put the reinstallation cd back in and try again with
the
unrecommended choice of selecting the NTFS partition again with the
warning
coming up "It is not recommended to install multi systems on a single
partition." But it does give the option to go ahead with the install
anyway,
so I chose that option. This what it said after I chose it "A windows
folder
already exists that may contain a windows installation. If you continue,
the
existing Window installation will be overwritten. All files,subfolders,
users
accts.,applications, security & desktop settings for that Windows
installation will be deleted. The 'My Documents' folder may also be
deleted.

To use the folder & delete the existing windows installation in it, PRESS
L

To use a different folder, PRESS ESC.

F3 to quit setup

Guess what I chose? Yeah F3 again! Oh woe is me, I can't believe this day!

Should I have just selected L and deleted the existing Windows? I almost
did, but I chickened out and decided to come here first for advice.

Anyone...tell me what to do? Besides throwing this computer out the
window!
Thanks for all your help!!!

kim

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

-- I am at my wits end! I have been trying all day to do a reinstall of
XP.
It should not be this hard to do, but I am running into all kinds of
problems. I have a Dell xp reinstallation cd that Dell sent me. I have a
Dell
dimension 4600 computer.
I started the installation this morning and I cancelled the install after
I
received this message: "You chose to install xp on a partition that
contains
another operating system. this may cause the other operating system to not
function properly. It is not recommended to install multi systems on a
single
partition."
The only choices available for me to choose were Fat or NTFS...I chose
NTFS.
I was told to delete the windows partition and recreate it. after that I
will be given the option to reformat the drive. Well that didn't work
either. here is what I got when I tried to delete the partition:
"Setup is unable to perform the requested operation on the selected
partition. This partition contains temporary setup files that are required
to
complete the installation." I Had to cancell the installation once again.
So, I decided to do a restore using F11 even though it wouldn't be a clean
install like I originally wanted...by this time I was getting desperate
and
willing to settle. Guess what? That didn't work either! It just took me
back
to the same place that the Dell cd had me.

My question at this point is: what good is the darn Dell reinstallation cd
or the restore thru F11 if it won't let you reinstall!!!!? I guess you can
tell I am not too happy right now.

My next step was to put the reinstallation cd back in and try again with
the
unrecommended choice of selecting the NTFS partition again with the
warning
coming up "It is not recommended to install multi systems on a single
partition." But it does give the option to go ahead with the install
anyway,
so I chose that option. This what it said after I chose it "A windows
folder
already exists that may contain a windows installation. If you continue,
the
existing Window installation will be overwritten. All files,subfolders,
users
accts.,applications, security & desktop settings for that Windows
installation will be deleted. The 'My Documents' folder may also be
deleted.

To use the folder & delete the existing windows installation in it, PRESS
L

To use a different folder, PRESS ESC.

F3 to quit setup

Guess what I chose? Yeah F3 again! Oh woe is me, I can't believe this day!

Should I have just selected L and deleted the existing Windows? I almost
did, but I chickened out and decided to come here first for advice.

Anyone...tell me what to do? Besides throwing this computer out the
window!
Thanks for all your help!!!

kim

Why don't you just allow the installation process to delete the existing
partition? You will, of course, lose all your data files but then I assume
that you have already saved them elsewhere.

 

[G. Morgan]

Should I have just selected L and deleted the existing Windows? I almost
did, but I chickened out and decided to come here first for advice.

Yes.

Also, are you booting from the CD or just running it in Windows? You need to
boot from it. If you don't need anything on the drive I would highly
recommend letting Windoze Setup format it (NTFS).

 

[Tim Meddick]

Create a DOS boot disk in Windows XP (using 'format' and checking the
'create MS Start-up disk') then download a floppy-sized copy of the program
'pqmagict.exe' which is rather an old version of Partition Magic for DOS but
works very well (and because it is old it is free). Booting with the DOS
disk, put in a second floppy with pqmagict.exe on it and type

a:\pqmagict

....to start the program. Using the program create two fat partitions (if
you make one 'NTFS' XP SETUP will only want to re-format it anyway). Do
this by re-sizing your Win98 partition and creating another fat partition in
the space you have created (Give Win98 about double the amount of used space
it occupies for the value of the new size).
Put the XP Installation disk in and reboot to it. You will then have an
'empty' partition in which to install XP with no issues of overwriting
anything.
Using Pqmagict.exe is relatively simple affair of using 'option keys' to
go through lists of available operations like resize; delete; make new. and
can create and format the partition in one go (unlike fdisk) and select any
partition as 'Active' (the one that tries to boot) (unlike fdisk).

link for pqmagict.exe:-
http://perso.mediaserv.net/ganja/softs/tools/Bin-2000/PQMAGICT.EXE

 

[kim42]

-- here is what I got when I tried to delete the partition:
"Setup is unable to perform the requested operation on the selected
partition. This partition contains temporary setup files that are required
to complete the installation."

Unles you are talking about my final stepof the unrecommended choice of
selecting the NTFS partition again with the warning
coming up "It is not recommended to install multi systems on a single
partition."
But it does give the option to go ahead with the install anyway,
so I chose that option. This what it said after I chose it "A windows
folder already exists that may contain a windows installation. If you
continue,the existing Window installation will be overwritten. All
files,subfolders, users accts.,applications, security & desktop settings for
that Windows installation will be deleted. The 'My Documents' folder may also
be deleted.

To use the folder & delete the existing windows installation in it, PRESS L


So, do you think I should press L and proceed?


kim

 

[Randall Flagg]

Best reply from you... EVER.

 

[kim42]

--So far, I have not had the option to reformat , maybe if I go ahead and
let it delete the existing windows, it will give me the option then. I am not
sure if it is booting from the cd. I put the cd in and restarted the computer
very quickly or it just come up on windows, if I'm not fast enough. Also
remember this is a Dell reinstallation cd...not Microft. some one told me it
won't do a clean install.
kim

 

[Tim Meddick]

Does no-one get sick of acidulous replies by people they've never met to
those of us just trying to help out. It's not clever or funny and it's not
going to help you one bit in life, slagging people off like that. Do you do
it in your real life as well?

 

[kim42]

Tim, I don't have a floppy drive. Also I think this is too complicated for
me. I'M scared just reading it

 

[Tim Meddick]

It's okay kim, the wisest amongst us are the people who know themselves. Do
what 'Pegasus' suggested and move your files somewhere off this drive. If
necessary, take the drive out and give it to a friend who is computer savvy
to copy your data to a USB drive. Then you can go ahead and use the L
option with impunity.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Friday, April 24, 2009 4:21:36 PM, and on a whim,
Tim Meddick pounded out on the keyboard:

Does no-one get sick of acidulous replies by people they've never met to
those of us just trying to help out. It's not clever or funny and it's not
going to help you one bit in life, slagging people off like that. Do you do
it in your real life as well?

Like I mentioned to PeeDee, I think you need to take life lighter Timbo.
I thought it was funny!


Terry R.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Friday, April 24, 2009 4:10:29 PM, and on a whim,
Randall Flagg pounded out on the keyboard:

Best reply from you... EVER.

Cheers!


Terry R.

 

[Flyboy]

Does no-one get sick of acidulous replies by people they've never met to
those of us just trying to help out. It's not clever or funny and it's not
going to help you one bit in life, slagging people off like that. Do you do
it in your real life as well?

Quit yer cryin' Timmy. Don't you see that your tears are like blood
to a shark??

 

[Tim Meddick]

Okay, I'll try my best to 'lighten up' but is it really funny to you to know
that someone has been really upset by being hounded by people whose only
interest seems to be in making personal comments and remarks which have
nothing at all to do with the subject material?
Do these people care that I have feelings, or that I give up more time
than I really ought to on this (trying to help people with queries) only to
have people jump on me.
I smiled and really thought that the guy was praising me for what I
wrote, only to discover that somehow my post was an accidental one, with no
text. So the comment was a sarcastic one.
I spent a good twenty minutes writing the [real] post and, although the
advice was not taken I was thanked by the OP for it.

 

[Tim Meddick]

"Sharks" mmmmmm, interesting analogy there.

 

[Randall Flagg]

Do these people care that I have feelings, or that I give up more time
than I really ought to on this (trying to help people with queries) only to
have people jump on me.

Oh puhLEEZ. You're showing yourself to be a complete blubbering fool
- some might call it a girlie man - with all this whining (UK:
whinging).

You're here because you have nothing better to do, and it's kinda like
a technical chat room where you can play and while away the day until
you are finally able to fall asleep.

Stop replying to the wrong person, stop making dumb ("I missed that")
mistakes, and lighten up.

 

[Jim]

--So far, I have not had the option to reformat , maybe if I go ahead and
let it delete the existing windows, it will give me the option then. I am
not
sure if it is booting from the cd. I put the cd in and restarted the
computer
very quickly or it just come up on windows, if I'm not fast enough. Also
remember this is a Dell reinstallation cd...not Microft. some one told me
it
won't do a clean install.
kim

Well, since the only way to boot from the CD is to change the boot order in
the BIOS, and you have not mentioned changing the boot order, your system is
still booting from the hard drive.

I reinstalled the operating system on my Dell 4600 by just following the
instructions in the manual.

Jim

 

[Tim Meddick]

What f**ing mistakes? - The software mis-posted! As for 'girly-man' all I
can say is no-one is going to convince me that the sort of person that can
make such [glib] remarks while in the safety of his own living room is
anything but a bag of wind who like the sound of his own typewriter.
You obviously don't care what your words do to people, I'd be surprised
if anyone listens to you after a while.
Thankyou for you comments anyway.

 

[Randall Flagg]

What f**ing mistakes? - The software mis-posted!

Yeah, sure. It has a mind of its own and you never accidentally hit
the ENTER key before you were ready. Happens all the time.

I'll pick a recent one that you probably still remember from another
thread...