creating boot disc for windows xp home edition

[Unknown]

Then, why don't YOU do that?

"If the answers aren't in the books or helpfiles there is nowhere else to
go."

Is that so? Have you heard of the world wide web? There is much, much more
easy-to-understand information there than you can possibly find in a
newsgroup. And all that is needed are reading skills, a sense of initiative
and a willingness to take responsibility.

Ted Zieglar

 

[~ FreeSpirit ~]

Actually, "how do I make a boot disk?" is one of those innocent newbie
questions that points to a profound issue.

Techs will say "everyone knows there's no such thing as a bootable NT.
If your HD can't boot, all you can do is fiddle through Recovery
Console, or try a blind 'repair' install. That's just the new
darkness that a 'better' OS brings to the party."

The newbie's response - that this is unacceptable negative value over
what one has come to expect from DOS to Win9x - is spot-on.

In fact, you may not even have those options, for two reasons:

1) Large OEM legal-but-crippled OS CDs

Big OEMs can legally ship with no CD at all, or a crippled CD that
cannot run Recovery Console (RC) or do any sort of interactive or
repair install. Some will even destroy all partition on the HD.

2) Version soup issues after instlling a Service Pack

If your installation CD is of an earlier Service Pack (SP) level than
your current HD installation - e.g. you bought the PC as XP SP1 and
installed SP2 to update it - then RC may refuse to run, and attempts
to do a repair install may fail.

Yes, my CD from HP is SP1. No one bothered to tell us if we installed SP2
we may run into problems if we need to do a repair or reinstall of our OS.

I think I need to REMOVE this SP2 as it's just a pain in the backside. I
see no advantages of using it. Where can I get *GOOD* trustworthy
information on removing it?

FS~

 

[~ FreeSpirit ~]

"If the answers aren't in the books or helpfiles there is nowhere else to
go."

Is that so? Have you heard of the world wide web? There is much, much more
easy-to-understand information there than you can possibly find in a
newsgroup. And all that is needed are reading skills, a sense of
initiative and a willingness to take responsibility.

------------------------------------------------------
There is? Where? I've run into commercial sites trying to sell me some
"fix" or other software I don't want. I've run into screwballs that know
less than I do giving advice. I've tried Forums that sold my addy to
spammers and were nothing but flame wars. I have spent hours in the past
digging through Google results and still not finding the answer to a
question I had. At least here I stand a better chance of getting someone
who knows what they're talking about. If you're just here to kill time and
insult people - why bother? Find something more productive to do with your
time then discouraging people from looking for genuine help on a MS NG with
a MS software issue. I think you have a "personal" problem. Use your
killfile for starters.

Maybe you can have all these MS NGs removed with a message for people to
search the web.....

FS~

 

[Ted Zieglar]

"And all that is needed are reading skills, a sense of initiative and a
willingness to take responsibility."

 

[~ FreeSpirit ~]

"And all that is needed are reading skills,

* Of which you seem to lack since you cannot comprehend my last post.

a sense of initiative

* I'm not a MS or PC technician. Is that a CRIME on these NGs.

and a

willingness to take responsibility."

* Why don't you? If you feel people should call MS or spend hours and hours
searching the web for answers why are you and these NGs here? Never mind,
don't bother to answer.... you have no answer. Have a wonderful New
Years....

FS~

--------------------

 

[Ted Zieglar]

"If you feel people should call MS or spend hours and hours searching the
web for answers why are you and these NGs here?"

Where do you think I find the information for most of the questions I answer
in these newsgroups? On the web. If I can do it, you can too. For the most
part, I'm nothing more than a librarian. And in the majority of cases, the
very best answer in a newsgroup contains little more than a link to the
information on the web. That way, the poster gets more than just an answer,
they learn how to find the answer on their own the next time.

Newsgroups were never intended to teach people how to use their computers.
Usenet doesn't have the infrastructure. Besides, the web is crammed full of
fabulous information that you just can't get in a newsgroup.

Over the years virtually everything I've learned about computers has come
from the web. Is there some special skill that I have that you don't that
makes me so proficient at finding information? Unlikely. All that is needed
are reading skills, a sense of initiative and a willingness to take
responsibility.

I've never called Microsoft technical support, so I can't comment on that.
In fact, I haven't picked up the phone to any technical support group in
years.

Ted Zieglar

 

[cquirke (MVP Win9x)]

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 00:34:39 -0500, "Ted Zieglar"

"If you feel people should call MS or spend hours and hours searching the
web for answers why are you and these NGs here?"

As the names suggest, these newsgroups are here for discussion of
various aspects of the computing experience; in this particular case,
perfrmance and maintenance of Windows XP. While many posts here are
either searching for advice, or giving advice in response to such
posts, that's not the sole purpose of these newsgroups.

Where do you think I find the information for most of the questions I answer
in these newsgroups? On the web. If I can do it, you can too.

If you have one problem that you want an answer to, then sure; you can
do that. If you have an interest in the topic, then you may want to
read the newsgroup regularly, contributing as you go along.

But the main thing is; don't post to a newsgroup if you have no
intention of reading replies to your post in that newsgroup.

very best answer in a newsgroup contains little more than a link to the
information on the web. That way, the poster gets more than just an answer,
they learn how to find the answer on their own the next time.

There's a downside to "off the page" stuff, as pointed to by links;
reduced peer review. If you search the web for answers, you have to
rate the quality of what you find - and that may require a level of
knowledge no every user has. Whereas if you get bad advice in a
newsgroup, other posters reading that advice will chip in to fix.

The web is crammed full of fabulous information that you just can't
get in a newsgroup.

And vice versa, perhaps. The nice thing about usenet is that it's not
dominated by the loud megaphones of high-budget media.

...virtually everything I've learned about computers has come from the web.

Interesting; a lot of what I learned has been from newsgroups, since I
started swotting up Win95 in the beta period of 1995.

Some of the difference depends on what kind of Internet access you
have. I'm on ADSL now, so I'm as happy to Google for web sites as to
read news. But until last year, I was on flat-rate dialup, and while
I could stay online as long as liked from the ISP's point of view, our
dearly-beloved telcomm company charges local phone calls per second.

So I hated having to stay online to search or read stuff on the web; I
much preferred downloading newsgroup headers in one or two minutes,
deleting and marking these, then reconnecting for a few more minutes
to pull down the message bodies I wanted.

I could then read and reply offline, and what I got was concentrated
ASCII content rather than wads of junk banners and graphics, plus
having to stay online while reading in case I had to click a "next
page" link. I hate ZD-Net style articles that serve two paragraphs of
content per page, surrounded by ads and flash junk, and thus having to
click 7 "next page" links to read one article!

------------------------ ---- --- -- - - - -

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet?

 

[~ FreeSpirit ~]

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 00:34:39 -0500, "Ted Zieglar"


As the names suggest, these newsgroups are here for discussion of
various aspects of the computing experience; in this particular case,
perfrmance and maintenance of Windows XP. While many posts here are
either searching for advice, or giving advice in response to such
posts, that's not the sole purpose of these newsgroups.


If you have one problem that you want an answer to, then sure; you can
do that. If you have an interest in the topic, then you may want to
read the newsgroup regularly, contributing as you go along.

But the main thing is; don't post to a newsgroup if you have no
intention of reading replies to your post in that newsgroup.

## I read every reply. I'm here to learn, not waste my time.

There's a downside to "off the page" stuff, as pointed to by links;
reduced peer review. If you search the web for answers, you have to
rate the quality of what you find - and that may require a level of
knowledge no every user has. Whereas if you get bad advice in a
newsgroup, other posters reading that advice will chip in to fix.

## Which is why I like the NGs. You get better information HERE than on
most posting boards I have seen.

And vice versa, perhaps. The nice thing about usenet is that it's not
dominated by the loud megaphones of high-budget media.

## Exactly - no one is trying to sell me on something.
web.

## I can't say the same - probably 50%. The rest came from CP magazines,
helpfiles, NGs, PC books and an old friend (who moved away).

Interesting; a lot of what I learned has been from newsgroups, since I
started swotting up Win95 in the beta period of 1995.

## I also started with W95, in 1996.

Some of the difference depends on what kind of Internet access you
have. I'm on ADSL now, so I'm as happy to Google for web sites as to
read news. But until last year, I was on flat-rate dialup, and while
I could stay online as long as liked from the ISP's point of view, our
dearly-beloved telcomm company charges local phone calls per second.

## I'm limited to 200 hours a month since there is no cable here. I do have
dial-up, but Satellite download.

So I hated having to stay online to search or read stuff on the web; I
much preferred downloading newsgroup headers in one or two minutes,
deleting and marking these, then reconnecting for a few more minutes
to pull down the message bodies I wanted.

I could then read and reply offline, and what I got was concentrated
ASCII content rather than wads of junk banners and graphics, plus
having to stay online while reading in case I had to click a "next
page" link. I hate ZD-Net style articles that serve two paragraphs of
content per page, surrounded by ads and flash junk, and thus having to
click 7 "next page" links to read one article!

## I agree. Since my time online is limited until or unless cable comes out
here I simply don't have unlimited time to search the web for information as
some others do. And then I can't always be sure of the info I find or get
there.

FS~

 

[Guest]

Dear Quirke: Can you please tell me how to download newsgroup headers,
delete and mark these, and read and reply offline? I am a new newsgroup
poster/reader/non-techie, and have tried to save particular posts that I
thought were very useful to my particular queries. All I can do at the
moment is to press ALT+L+Enter, and that only saves the URL address to a
particular newsgroup that I was looking at.