Format Hard Drive

[Daave]

is there a simple answer to why the win XP will not re-intall as the
BIOS recognizes the hdd and i have not deleted the fat32 partition, i
just reformatted the NTFS partition. i have all the disks from dell -
the winxp, diagnostic disk etc. the manual says exactly what i did.
on bootup, press f12, insert winxp, choose boot from cd-drive and
follow the instructions. dell offers three restores 1) manual restore
2) PC restore 3) system restore.

why does the winxp not recognize the hdd, as its installed an working.

Sounds like there might be an issue with SATA drive drivers. We need
more info:

1. Model and model number of this Dell.

2. Does it still have its original hard drive, or did you replace it at
one time? What kind of hard drive is currently in the PC?

3. The method they provided you to restore it to its original
fresh-from-the factory condition:

a) Dell XP Reinstallation CD
b) a Dell recovery or restore CD, or
c) a hidden restore partition on the hard drive

When you mention "the winxp," it sounds like it's method A, but when you
mention that three restores are offered, it sounds like B or C. In case
you missed my other post, it would also be helpful to know about all the
partitions currently on your hard drive, what they are used for, and how
large they are.

 

[Daave]

Sounds like there might be an issue with SATA drive drivers. We need
more info:

1. Model and model number of this Dell.

2. Does it still have its original hard drive, or did you replace it
at one time? What kind of hard drive is currently in the PC?

3. The method they provided you to restore it to its original
fresh-from-the factory condition:

a) Dell XP Reinstallation CD
b) a Dell recovery or restore CD, or
c) a hidden restore partition on the hard drive

When you mention "the winxp," it sounds like it's method A, but when
you mention that three restores are offered, it sounds like B or C.
In case you missed my other post, it would also be helpful to know
about all the partitions currently on your hard drive, what they are
used for, and how large they are.

Also, have you seen this page about Dell's "PC Restore"?:

http://support.dell.com/support/top...6763B3CDC5A82B15E040AE0AB5E1250F&docid=336966

(watch the wrap)

That will be the easiest method, and you won't have to worry about any
driver issues.

 

[Mark Adams]

is there a simple answer to why the win XP will not re-intall as the BIOS
recognizes the hdd and i have not deleted the fat32 partition, i just
reformatted the NTFS partition. i have all the disks from dell - the winxp,
diagnostic disk etc. the manual says exactly what i did. on bootup, press
f12, insert winxp, choose boot from cd-drive and follow the instructions.
dell offers three restores 1) manual restore 2) PC restore 3) system restore.

why does the winxp not recognize the hdd, as its installed an working.

If you have all the disks that Dell supplied with the computer, and are
following the instructions for reinstallation that Dell provided and it still
doesn't work; I think it might be time to call Dell and have them explain why
their restoration process doesn't work. They are the manufacturer, they ought
to know.

 

[skylux]

1)The pc is Dell Dimension 8400 series.
2) This is the original hdd. WesternDigital 250gb SATA, as supplied with the
pc.
3) At one time I used a Samsung hdd and removed the WesternDigital hdd,
it worked ok.
4) I reformatted the NTFS partition of the WesternDigital hdd on a different
pc by just "hooking" it on the sata port on the motherboard and connectiog
the molex cable for power. This is when I discovered the Fat32 partition and
NTFS partition on the hdd, so I got confused if it was remnanets of the
virus, corrupted hdd etc.
5) I have the Dell XP reinstallation CD.
6) I tried the methods A and C both gives the same error message. The method
B by pressing CTRL and F11 on boot gives the msg. Cannot Restore.
7) I am at the moment running diagnostics on the hdd - ie. cannot boot the
OS - which is showing all OK.
8) I am trying to run other diagnostics from the Dell diagnostics CD ie.
test hdd etc. which gives tests results as all OK.
9) Is it possible to wipe clean the whole hdd and just install winxp?

sm

 

[Mark Adams]

1)The pc is Dell Dimension 8400 series.
2) This is the original hdd. WesternDigital 250gb SATA, as supplied with the
pc.
3) At one time I used a Samsung hdd and removed the WesternDigital hdd,
it worked ok.
4) I reformatted the NTFS partition of the WesternDigital hdd on a different
pc by just "hooking" it on the sata port on the motherboard and connectiog
the molex cable for power. This is when I discovered the Fat32 partition and
NTFS partition on the hdd, so I got confused if it was remnanets of the
virus, corrupted hdd etc.
5) I have the Dell XP reinstallation CD.
6) I tried the methods A and C both gives the same error message. The method
B by pressing CTRL and F11 on boot gives the msg. Cannot Restore.
7) I am at the moment running diagnostics on the hdd - ie. cannot boot the
OS - which is showing all OK.
8) I am trying to run other diagnostics from the Dell diagnostics CD ie.
test hdd etc. which gives tests results as all OK.
9) Is it possible to wipe clean the whole hdd and just install winxp?

Yes, it is if you have a genuine unbranded Microsoft OEM installation CD. Go
to Dell's website and download the SATA drivers and copy them to a floppy
disk. Set the computer to boot from the CD and put in the Microsoft disk. As
the install routine starts, press F6 to install the SATA driver from the
floppy. If you don't have a floppy drive, you can use an external floppy
drive connected to USB. When you get to the install menu select "setup
Windows XP" or words to the effect. Delete the partitions, then create a new
partition, then format the partition. Install on the freshly formatted
partition. When you get to the point where you are asked to enter the product
key, use the key that is already on the back of the computer, it should take
that PK. Save the PK that came with the disk for another computer.

 

[Daave]

1)The pc is Dell Dimension 8400 series.
2) This is the original hdd. WesternDigital 250gb SATA, as supplied
with the pc.
3) At one time I used a Samsung hdd and removed the WesternDigital
hdd, it worked ok.
4) I reformatted the NTFS partition of the WesternDigital hdd on a
different pc by just "hooking" it on the sata port on the motherboard
and connectiog the molex cable for power. This is when I discovered
the Fat32 partition and NTFS partition on the hdd, so I got confused
if it was remnanets of the virus, corrupted hdd etc.

Am I correct to assume that other than the FAT partition, there was only
one partition (the NTFS one) on the original WD drive? If so, that was
the partition that contained the boot drive and you unfortunately
deleted the boot sector! It's too late to undo that damage.

5) I have the Dell XP reinstallation CD.

6) I tried the methods A and C both gives the same error message. The
method B by pressing CTRL and F11 on boot gives the msg. Cannot
Restore.

Sounds like you had at least three partitions originally on that hard
drive: the NTFS one, which later was formatted, the diagnostic one, and
one that contained an image that you could restore by pressing
Control+F11. (Or perhaps the image partition was never there, but it's
hard to tell now!)

You may use your Dell XP Reinstallation CD to perform a clean install.
But it sounds like you will need a floppy drive so that you may install
the SATA drive drivers. You need to do this early on in the installation
process, and you will be instructed to press F6:

http://makt3k.com/images/Guides/Win...ndows-XP-Home-Edition-2008-11-15-09-31-02.jpg

You will also need all the other drivers, too. Go to this page:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen

and enter your tag number.

Also, this is a very good guide for reinstalling XP Home:

http://www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/indexinstallguides.htm (if
drive is 100% clean)

http://www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/indexreinstallguides.htm
(if installing over existing data, etc.)

Note the Service Pack choices.

In the future, don't format the hard drive unless you are using the XP
installation CD! It's *much* easier that way!

 

[skylux]

ok, i downloaded the SATA drivers 1) R82884.exe 2) R82876.exe (floppy
version) on to a floppy drive. the first file is too large so its on the usb
stick at the moment.

below is the link to dell site.

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...D=DIM_PNT_P4_8400&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=


i booted winxp after f12 on splash screen. pressed f6 and the waited for the
prompt to insert floppy in drive a:. after a while the installation procedure
asked for insertion of floppy in drive a: and then i got the message "Can't
find txtsetup.oem" .
Press F3 to quit setup.

so what is the next step?

sm.

 

[Mark Adams]

ok, i downloaded the SATA drivers 1) R82884.exe 2) R82876.exe (floppy
version) on to a floppy drive. the first file is too large so its on the usb
stick at the moment.

below is the link to dell site.

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...D=DIM_PNT_P4_8400&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=


i booted winxp after f12 on splash screen. pressed f6 and the waited for the
prompt to insert floppy in drive a:. after a while the installation procedure
asked for insertion of floppy in drive a: and then i got the message "Can't
find txtsetup.oem" .
Press F3 to quit setup.

so what is the next step?

sm.

The next step is to read the instructions on the Dell website for how to use
the R8276.exe file. I'm guessing that it is a self extracting program that
puts the drivers on a floppy disk when you run it. You then use the floppy
disk created by the program to install the drivers for SATA when you install
XP. Talk to Dell's tech. support, they should be able to to tell you what the
..exe file does.

 

[Mark Adams]

The next step is to read the instructions on the Dell website for how to use
the R8276.exe file. I'm guessing that it is a self extracting program that
puts the drivers on a floppy disk when you run it. You then use the floppy
disk created by the program to install the drivers for SATA when you install
XP. Talk to Dell's tech. support, they should be able to to tell you what the
.exe file does.

Oops, that's the R82876.exe file.

 

[skylux]

GOT IT. The problem was the BIOS setting for the SATA operation. There are 4
settings offered.

1) RAID AUTODETECT/AHCI
Raid if signed on drives otherwise AHCI - FACTORY SETTING.

2) RAID AUTODETECT/ATA
Raid if signed on drives otherwise ATA

3) RAID ON.
Sata is configured for Raid on every boot.

4) COMBINATION.
Sata/Pata combination mode.

By default the setting iwas 1. The reason for the non-detection of the hdd.

I changed it 2. Where if the drive is not Raid signed, then ATA emulation
defaults. This did the trick.

I have loaded Win XP and used PC's PK (many thanks for that idea).

Just two questions:

1) Is it better to load all the software before installing SP3 or after? As
Win XP is now up and running.

2) Will the FAT32 partition cause any problems as its still there?

Thanks for all your help.

SM : )

PS. Dell's manual is useless. Better everything is on the internet.

 

[Mark Adams]

GOT IT. The problem was the BIOS setting for the SATA operation. There are 4
settings offered.

1) RAID AUTODETECT/AHCI
Raid if signed on drives otherwise AHCI - FACTORY SETTING.

2) RAID AUTODETECT/ATA
Raid if signed on drives otherwise ATA

3) RAID ON.
Sata is configured for Raid on every boot.

4) COMBINATION.
Sata/Pata combination mode.

By default the setting iwas 1. The reason for the non-detection of the hdd.

I changed it 2. Where if the drive is not Raid signed, then ATA emulation
defaults. This did the trick.

I have loaded Win XP and used PC's PK (many thanks for that idea).

Just two questions:

1) Is it better to load all the software before installing SP3 or after? As
Win XP is now up and running.

2) Will the FAT32 partition cause any problems as its still there?

Thanks for all your help.

SM : )

PS. Dell's manual is useless. Better everything is on the internet.

If your install is at least at SP1, I would install SP3 before installing
anything else. If your install does not contain any service packs, you will
need to install SP2 before SP3. Either way, install the service packs before
any of the applications. The FAT32 partition shouldn't hurt anything. By the
way, before you get too far along. If you really want that FAT32 partition
out of there, go to the hard drive maker's website and download their,
formating tools. With this, you can erase the partitions and format to NTFS
all as one partition. You can also use the utility to copy zeros to the
entire drive to make it truly empty if you want to.

 

[JS]

Install SP3 first and then the apps.

FAT32 is fine.

 

[Terry R.]

The date and time was Thursday, April 16, 2009 1:21:01 PM, and on a
whim, skylux pounded out on the keyboard:

GOT IT. The problem was the BIOS setting for the SATA operation. There are 4
settings offered.

1) RAID AUTODETECT/AHCI
Raid if signed on drives otherwise AHCI - FACTORY SETTING.

2) RAID AUTODETECT/ATA
Raid if signed on drives otherwise ATA

3) RAID ON.
Sata is configured for Raid on every boot.

4) COMBINATION.
Sata/Pata combination mode.

By default the setting iwas 1. The reason for the non-detection of the hdd.

I changed it 2. Where if the drive is not Raid signed, then ATA emulation
defaults. This did the trick.

I have loaded Win XP and used PC's PK (many thanks for that idea).

Just two questions:

1) Is it better to load all the software before installing SP3 or after? As
Win XP is now up and running.

2) Will the FAT32 partition cause any problems as its still there?

Thanks for all your help.

SM : )

PS. Dell's manual is useless. Better everything is on the internet.

I usually update the OS with everything needed prior to installing apps.
That way you won't wind up locking in anything. Kind of like those
who installed IE7 and then SP3. The only way to remove IE7 was to
uninstall SP3. If the OS is completely updated first, you won't have
any issues.

Just watch out for Windows Updates, as it tries to sneak in IE7, and it
might be before SP3.

Now that you are up and running, is there anything on the FAT32
partition? If not, remove it and expand the partition to use the whole
drive using Easeus Partition Manager like I suggested earlier.

And you're welcome.

Terry R.

 

[Lil' Dave]

Why?

--
Dave
April 16th, 2009 Day 1 post Tea Party.
This day in history occurred:
Nancy Pelosi response was undignified per her allegation that such are
funded by right wing money big money and attended exclusively by right wing
extremists.
White House staff indicated that officially not recognizing the nation-wide
gatherings in any fashion.
Some news reporters were found attempting to goad responses from attendees
at the gatherings with response not filling their (some rnews reporters( TV
political needs. Too bad for them.
Woebama in Mexico. 2nd amendment rights being pinged again. Ignoring
locking down the U.S/Mexico border again.
We thte people...
No political party or otherwise in that.
Locked signature to prevent subsequent historical revisionism.

 

[Johnny Fosse]

Why?

--
Dave
April 16th, 2009 Day 1 post Tea Party.
This day in history occurred:
Nancy Pelosi response was undignified per her allegation that such are
funded by right wing money big money and attended exclusively by right wing
extremists.
White House staff indicated that officially not recognizing the nation-wide
gatherings in any fashion.
Some news reporters were found attempting to goad responses from attendees
at the gatherings with response not filling their (some rnews reporters( TV
political needs. Too bad for them.
Woebama in Mexico. 2nd amendment rights being pinged again. Ignoring
locking down the U.S/Mexico border again.
We thte people...
No political party or otherwise in that.
Locked signature to prevent subsequent historical revisionism.

It's obvious that "Lil" refers to your tiny pee-pee, judging from your
overcompensating for it with the ridiculously large (and freaking
annoying) sig.

 

[Lil' Dave]

It's obvious that "Lil" refers to your tiny pee-pee, judging from your
overcompensating for it with the ridiculously large (and freaking
annoying) sig.

Thank you, Nancy. That was very insightful that you could observe such
length and girth from your PC into my desktop. I can understand why free
speech can be annoying to you, Nancy. Keep pluggin' away, maybe someday
it'll all work out and all people with minds of their own will shutup.

 

[Johnny Fosse]

Thank you, Nancy. That was very insightful that you could observe such
length and girth from your PC into my desktop. I can understand why free
speech can be annoying to you, Nancy. Keep pluggin' away, maybe someday
it'll all work out and all people with minds of their own will shutup.

You don't even know who or what you're replying to. You're one smooth
operator, bozo.

 

[Lil' Dave]

You don't even know who or what you're replying to. You're one smooth
operator, bozo.

Its probably over your head, but if you read the entire signature paragraph,
you might understand. If it makes you feel better, I can remain a
clown/nuts/weird to suit your comprehension abilities. That's what Nancy
does too... (clueerson substitution)
--
Dave
April 16th, 2009 Day 1 post Tea Party.
This day in history occurred:
Nancy Pelosi response was undignified per her allegation that such are
funded by right wing money big money and attended exclusively by right wing
extremists.
White House staff indicated that officially not recognizing the nation-wide
gatherings in any fashion.
Some news reporters were found attempting to goad responses from attendees
at the gatherings with response not filling their (some news reporters) TV
political needs. Too bad for them.
Woebama in Mexico. 2nd amendment rights being pinged again. Ignoring
locking down the U.S/Mexico border again.
We the people...
No political party or otherwise in that.
Locked signature to prevent subsequent historical revisionism.

 

[Johnny Fosse]

Its probably over your head, but if you read the entire signature paragraph,
you might understand.

I don't read sigs. Haven't even read yours other than to notice that
it is idiotically large.

It has been a long-standing tradition on Usenet that a sig should be
limited to 4 lines.

Some of the MVPs here are the worst violators... so I guess they
suffer from having tiny genitals as well.