smartdrv

[Dave Patrick]

It's up to you. If you don't mind losing everything and reinstalling all of
your applications then a clean install is the best approach.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Yes, i got that far, and it is asking if i want to set up windows, or i
want
| to repair a Win XP installation.
| I have had XP on this machine before and I was wondering if choosing
repair
| does a nice job or should i just set it up again....thanks....

 

[sctc]

I tried to run repair option and it came back and said the Recovery Console
provides system repair and recovery funtionality. Then it went to th C
prompt and told me to type EXIT. I typed exit and it recycled around to to
the boot from CD and asked if i wanted to repair or setup.
The next time i tried a complete setup, it asked for a previous version of
Windows, so i put my 98 CD in. It came back with an Unknown Disk message. It
says C: Partition Unknown 38162 MB (38162) free)
It gives me the option to Install, or Delete the partition. I hit enter and
it is asking me if i want to format the partition.It gives an option of a
quick format. Is the quick format as thorough as the other option?
I am thinking that something bad happened to my computer and I am going to
have to format and reload everything. I have no idea what could have
happened to destroy my hard drive. It was working fine that morning. Is
there any type of virus that could have done this to my computer.
Thanks for your help with this....

 

[Dave Patrick]

You might want to run a disk diagnostic utility (download from the disk
manufacturer's web site)

That being the case boot the Windows XP install CD-Rom.

Setup inspects your computer's hardware configuration and then begins to
install the Setup and driver files. When the Microsoft Windows XP
Professional screen appears, press ENTER to set up Windows XP Professional.
(don't choose repair option)

Read the license agreement, and then press the F8 key to accept the terms of
the license agreement and continue the installation.

When the Windows XP Professional Setup screen appears, all the existing
partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard
disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partitions Press D to delete an
existing partition, If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must
then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System
partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this
step for each of the existing partitions When all the partitions are deleted
press F3 to exit setup, restart the pc then when you get to this point in
setup again select the remaining unpartitioned space, and then press C to
create the new partition.


Be sure to apply SP2 or at least these two below to your new install before
connecting to any network.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...be-3b8e-4f30-8245-9e368d3cdb5a&displaylang=en

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
|I tried to run repair option and it came back and said the Recovery Console
| provides system repair and recovery funtionality. Then it went to th C
| prompt and told me to type EXIT. I typed exit and it recycled around to to
| the boot from CD and asked if i wanted to repair or setup.
| The next time i tried a complete setup, it asked for a previous version of
| Windows, so i put my 98 CD in. It came back with an Unknown Disk message.
It
| says C: Partition Unknown 38162 MB (38162) free)
| It gives me the option to Install, or Delete the partition. I hit enter
and
| it is asking me if i want to format the partition.It gives an option of a
| quick format. Is the quick format as thorough as the other option?
| I am thinking that something bad happened to my computer and I am going to
| have to format and reload everything. I have no idea what could have
| happened to destroy my hard drive. It was working fine that morning. Is
| there any type of virus that could have done this to my computer.
| Thanks for your help with this....

 

[sctc]

I finally got XP to setup, after it formatted the drive. Will formatting get
rid of any and all viruses no matter where they were on the computer? I
think i am going to go back and fdisk, format and then reinstall XP. If i am
going to have to reload everything, i may as well make sure the drive is as
clean as i can get it.
Can you tell me what the correct order for the boot sequence should be?
Floppy , hard drive, CD Rom?, What is the correct order...thanks again...

You might want to run a disk diagnostic utility (download from the disk
manufacturer's web site)

That being the case boot the Windows XP install CD-Rom.

Setup inspects your computer's hardware configuration and then begins to
install the Setup and driver files. When the Microsoft Windows XP
Professional screen appears, press ENTER to set up Windows XP Professional.
(don't choose repair option)

Read the license agreement, and then press the F8 key to accept the terms of
the license agreement and continue the installation.

When the Windows XP Professional Setup screen appears, all the existing
partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard
disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partitions Press D to delete an
existing partition, If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must
then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System
partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this
step for each of the existing partitions When all the partitions are deleted
press F3 to exit setup, restart the pc then when you get to this point in
setup again select the remaining unpartitioned space, and then press C to
create the new partition.


Be sure to apply SP2 or at least these two below to your new install before
connecting to any network.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...be-3b8e-4f30-8245-9e368d3cdb5a&displaylang=en

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx


--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
|I tried to run repair option and it came back and said the Recovery Console
| provides system repair and recovery funtionality. Then it went to th C
| prompt and told me to type EXIT. I typed exit and it recycled around to to
| the boot from CD and asked if i wanted to repair or setup.
| The next time i tried a complete setup, it asked for a previous version of
| Windows, so i put my 98 CD in. It came back with an Unknown Disk message.
It
| says C: Partition Unknown 38162 MB (38162) free)
| It gives me the option to Install, or Delete the partition. I hit enter
and
| it is asking me if i want to format the partition.It gives an option of a
| quick format. Is the quick format as thorough as the other option?
| I am thinking that something bad happened to my computer and I am going to
| have to format and reload everything. I have no idea what could have
| happened to destroy my hard drive. It was working fine that morning. Is
| there any type of virus that could have done this to my computer.
| Thanks for your help with this....

 

[Dave Patrick]

If you deleted all partition information as above then you should be good to
go. Generally you don't need fdisk for anything to do with Windows XP. Make
the CD-Rom drive first in boot order in cmos setup.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
|I finally got XP to setup, after it formatted the drive. Will formatting
get
| rid of any and all viruses no matter where they were on the computer? I
| think i am going to go back and fdisk, format and then reinstall XP. If i
am
| going to have to reload everything, i may as well make sure the drive is
as
| clean as i can get it.
| Can you tell me what the correct order for the boot sequence should be?
| Floppy , hard drive, CD Rom?, What is the correct order...thanks again...

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I finally got XP to setup, after it formatted the drive. Will
formatting get rid of any and all viruses no matter where they were
on the computer?

All except for boot sector viruses, where aren't as common as they used to
be.

I think i am going to go back and fdisk, format and
then reinstall XP. If i am going to have to reload everything, i may
as well make sure the drive is as clean as i can get it.
Can you tell me what the correct order for the boot sequence should
be? Floppy , hard drive, CD Rom?, What is the correct order...thanks
again...

There is no "correct order." Some people will tell you it should be floppy
first, then CD, and hard drive last, but I disagree. That will try to boot
from a floppy if you've accidentally left one in the drive, and that's
exactly how you get boot sector viruses, if the floppy is infected.

I prefer to keep the CD first, then the hard drive, with the floppy last. My
system won't boot from the CD accidentally, since it requires me to press a
key to do do so. If I ever need to boot from the floppy, I'll change the
boot order then, but only temporarily.

 

[sctc]

Just to make sure since i had formatted anyway, i fdisked and reloaded XP.
So far eveything is going well, although it took a long time to download the
updates and install them. I just looked and there were 55 updates to be
downloaded and installed. I am slowly reinstalling everything and trying to
get the network going again. That is another challenge in itself. I may be
on the networling group before all this is overwith. I really appreicate
everyones help with this. Ya'll guys are very good at this, and it is a
learning experience for me. Thanks again for the help....

 

[Dave Patrick]

You're welcome.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Just to make sure since i had formatted anyway, i fdisked and reloaded XP.
| So far eveything is going well, although it took a long time to download
the
| updates and install them. I just looked and there were 55 updates to be
| downloaded and installed. I am slowly reinstalling everything and trying
to
| get the network going again. That is another challenge in itself. I may be
| on the networling group before all this is overwith. I really appreicate
| everyones help with this. Ya'll guys are very good at this, and it is a
| learning experience for me. Thanks again for the help....

 

[Sharon F]

There is no "correct order."

Good point, Ken. For what it's worth and just to show how much the
preferred order can vary, I change it to hard drive first. I don't often
need to boot from anything else so change it to other devices as needed.

 

[sctc]

You do make a good point about the floppy being last. It sounds logical that
if the cd rom was first and the hard drive second, that it may boot up
faster. Thanks for the tip....

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

You do make a good point about the floppy being last. It sounds
logical that if the cd rom was first and the hard drive second, that
it may boot up faster. Thanks for the tip....

You're welcome. Glad to help.

It will boot fastest if the hard drive is first, since it won't have to look
at any other devices, but no matter what the order the difference in boot
speed is small enough that it can be ignored. If I were you, I would ignore
speed of booting when making my choice.

 

[sctc]

I'll take your advice, thanks

You're welcome. Glad to help.

It will boot fastest if the hard drive is first, since it won't have to look
at any other devices, but no matter what the order the difference in boot
speed is small enough that it can be ignored. If I were you, I would ignore
speed of booting when making my choice.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I'll take your advice, thanks

You're welcome. Glad to help.