Ongoing HD problem:

[db]

it should.

if it cannot overcome the
issue you have, then there
is nothing left except tossing
the disk into a volcano.

I haven't utilized the fdisk
in ages so my recollection
of the features is foggy.

but see if the fdisk can
also work on your mbr
(master boot record).

who knows, maybe the
mbr contains an infection
as well.

also, remember, to first
delete the partitions, then
recreate them.

and make at least two
partitions with the fdisk or

maybe three if you want
and of equal proportions.

good luck!
--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces

"share the nirvana" - dbZen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Daave]

Sorry for the delay, but I have been running scans. I will try an
answer your questions (I hope the text doesn't get jumbled so they are
unreadable)

No prob.

I think I see what's going on.

By the way, inline posting is great, but in order to make it easier for
us to read your points, please make sure you interleave them with mine
(rather than copy them). Also, feel free to genrously snip as I am.
Finally, please refrain from using Quoted Printable in newsgroup posts,
which does not show any attribution marks (and yes, that makes the text
jumbled). Thanks.

Oh, it looks like you are using Google Groups. Excellent for searching,
but miserable for posting. :-(

If you plan on hanging out in these newsgroups, you will have a *much*
better experience using a newsreader (like Outlook Express, which you
have). For more information, see:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Tech_Support

and scroll down to C. Usenet.

Also see this page:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

I suppose if you are at a public library, you won't have that ability,
though...

On Mar 13, 12:18 pm, "Daave" wrote:

yes, I used a Reinstalltion CD to install XP
Excellent.

This is the point of contention. I tried running chkdsk /f again last
night but it did the same thing. However, this time I was able to
press one of the keys on the keyboard and it canceled it. Previously I
had to press f8, and select 'last know setting that worked' to get out
of it.

The disk's file structure may be off. It's important to run the Seagate
tool to know for sure.

Its an actual Seagate CD, sorry for the wording, I meant I started the
diagnostics not downloaded them. When I insert it, says: This CD
contains utilities and other helpful tools to help you install your
drive.

I installed Sea Tools on my system, It does have bootable options for
DOS but requires either a floppy drive and diskette, or a CD , but
burner software must be capable of burning a CD from ISO image.

I did run the Sea Tools long drive self test yesterday and it passed
and then ran the long generic test and it also passed.

That's a very good sign. Your drive is probably healthy.

Just earlier today, I created a bootable DOS Sea Tools CD. It's very
easy. Don't you have CD burning software? (Like Nero?) If not, even
something free like CDBurnerXP or ImgBurn will do the trick. This type
of CD will come in handy if Windows won't boot. You really should make
one for future use.

I then downloaded the file recovery program to my E: drive and scanned
my C: drive and it shows (Recognized) (highlighted in green) (1) NTFS
file, (6) FAT12 files,(highlighted in orange) (19) FAT32 files, (4)
FAT12 files, (1) NTFS file, (highlighted in red) (4) FAT 12 files,
(8) FAT 32 files, (4) FAT 16 files.

I then scanned my E: drive and it shows (highlighted in green) (1)
NTFS file

You lost me! Why would you run a recovery program after you reinstalled
Windows?

Also, installing programs to another hard drive (E could mess things
up. Actually it *will* mess things up if Windows XP is on C: and you
wind up formatting C: and starting from scratch because all the
thousands of registry entries (including entries for those programs you
installed onto E will wind up being deleted!

You should find this article helpful:

http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=326

 

[Daave]

I'm not sure of exactly how I should proceed at this point or if I
need to format my HD. As I said, I only formated the partition
not the HD when installing XP using the Reinstallation CD. The
reason I wanted to format the HD in the first place was to remove
the Trojan Horse but it seems from what Dave and Ron have said
it shouldn't be there. However the chkdsk /f and corrupted MFT
problem remains. I did use the Sea Tools and scanned the HD
(see post).

I'm still confused!

How many physical hard drives do you have (and how large are they)? I
thought you had two drives that each had one partition, but that is
obviously not the case! And please indicate which partitions are on
which drives. (In the other post, you mentioned C: and E:. Where are
they?)

Also, here are comprehensive insructions for performing a clean install
on a used hard drive:

http://www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/installxpcdoldhdd/indexfullpage.htm

Actually, that's for SP1. If you have something else, see this page:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxphome/indexreinstallguides.htm

(Since you have a Dell, there's no need to enter your Product key.)

I would copy your data to save it, and then perform a destructive
install, which means deleting all the partitions (I guess you could save
any hidden ones like a diagnostic one if it exists) and starting from
scratch.

Since your hard drive is healthy, a clean install should cure what ails
you.

 

[Daave]

and I’ve noticed at times that the computer is slower than usual
and others where its fast which is the norm for this computer.

Although this may be more than you bargained for (!), regarding
sluggishness in general, here are its usual causes:

1. Malicious software (malware). You need to rule this out first! This
page has excellent information:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Viruses_Malware

2. Certain programs that are designed to combat malware (e.g., Norton
and McAfee). Ironically, they can slow things down because they simply
use way too many resources. Sometime they cause conflicts with other
programs. And their default mode is to scan your entire hard drive each
time you boot up. Fortunately, there are other antimalware programs
available that use far fewer resources (e.g., NOD32, Avast, and Avira).

3. Too many of *certain types* of programs always running in the
background -- with or without your knowledge.

Use these sites to determine what these programs are and to learn how to
configure them not to always run at startup:

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php#THE_PROGRAMS
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Sometimes it is recommended to use msconfig to configure the programs to
not run at startup. A better, more thorough program is Autoruns:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

But before you do this, you should use the preference settings of the
program in question. Otherwise, for some programs, they will return to
the startup list anyway!

4. Not enough RAM, which causes the PC to overly rely on the pagefile. A
quick way to determine if this is happening is to open Task Manager
(Ctrl+Alt+Del) and click the Performance tab. Then note the three values
under Commit Charge (K): in the lower left-hand corner: Total, Limit,
and Peak.

The Total figure represents the amount of memory you are using at that
very moment. The Peak figure represents the highest amount of memory you
used since last bootup. If both these figures are below the value of
Physical Memory (K) Total, then you probably have plenty of RAM.
Otherwise, you may want to explore this further by running Page File
Monitor for Windows XP:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

5. You might also want to check that your hard drive's access mode
didn't change from DMA to PIO:

http://www.technize.com/2007/08/02/is-your-hard-disk-cddvd-drives-too-slow-while-copying/

and

http://users.bigpond.net.au/ninjaduck/itserviceduck/udma_fix/

 

[Daave]

p.s. thank for the link, I appreciate it.

Robert, although Ben may be well intentioned in his wanting to assist
you, he is unfortunately offering you poor advice. When you go to that
link he gave you, scroll down. You will see that fdisk is a tool for
Windows 95, 98, and ME!

Just use your Dell Windows XP Reinstallation Disk. It will delete
partitions, create new ones (you may just want to create one partition)
and allow you to format it/them.

 

[Navyguy]

No prob.

I think I see what's going on.

By the way, inline posting is great, but in order to make it easier for
us to read your points, please make sure you interleave them with mine
(rather than copy them). Also, feel free to genrously snip as I am.
Finally, please refrain from using Quoted Printable in newsgroup posts,
which does not show any attribution marks (and yes, that makes the text
jumbled). Thanks.

Oh, it looks like you are using Google Groups. Excellent for searching,
but miserable for posting. :-(

If you plan on hanging out in these newsgroups, you will have a *much*
better experience using a newsreader (like Outlook Express, which you
have). For more information, see:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Tech_Support

and scroll down to C. Usenet.

Also see this page:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

I suppose if you are at a public library, you won't have that ability,
though...


The disk's file structure may be off. It's important to run the Seagate
tool to know for sure.






That's a very good sign. Your drive is probably healthy.

Just earlier today, I created a bootable DOS Sea Tools CD. It's very
easy. Don't you have CD burning software? (Like Nero?) If not, even
something free like CDBurnerXP or ImgBurn will do the trick. This type
of CD will come in handy if Windows won't boot. You really should make
one for future use.



You lost me! Why would you run a recovery program after you reinstalled
Windows?

Also, installing programs to another hard drive (E could mess things
up. Actually it *will* mess things up if Windows XP is on C: and you
wind up formatting C: and starting from scratch because all the
thousands of registry entries (including entries for those programs you
installed onto E will wind up being deleted!

You should find this article helpful:

http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=326

Ok, let me try to clarify; I am using Google, and I do appreciate your
suggestion but I prefer not to use Outlook by choice, and from my end
at least my posts look readable. The File Recovery program was part of
the Sea Tools package and I only transferred it to the E: drive
because it said not to install it on the drive it would be scanning. I
did this as an extra measure to check my system and wanted to be
thorough. I have since deleted it and there is nothing on my E: drive
at present.


Robert

 

[Navyguy]

I'm still confused!

How many physical hard drives do you have (and how large are they)? I
thought you had two drives that each had one partition, but that is
obviously not the case! And please indicate which partitions are on
which drives. (In the other post, you mentioned C: and E:. Where are
they?)

Also, here are comprehensive insructions for performing a clean install
on a used hard drive:

http://www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/installxpcdoldhdd/index...

Actually, that's for SP1. If you have something else, see this page:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxphome/indexreinstallguides.htm

(Since you have a Dell, there's no need to enter your Product key.)

I would copy your data to save it, and then perform a destructive
install, which means deleting all the partitions (I guess you could save
any hidden ones like a diagnostic one if it exists) and starting from
scratch.

Since your hard drive is healthy, a clean install should cure what ails
you.

I have a 160G HD that I upgraded from the original 40G HD and all was
fine until the recent problems occurred re: MSN Live Hotmail not
signing on, Trojan Horse, corrupted MFT. What happened is this, I
deleted my C: drive and partitioned and formatted it. However when it
asked how big I wanted the partition I had never done this before and
was never good with numbers so I just went with the highlighted
number. In doing so it fragmented my C: drive into 127.87GB and
21.06G. So I changed the 21.06G to an E: drive which actually resides
on the C:. If you think this is confusing you can only imagine how it
must be for me who isn't that computer literate! With all these
considerations, you can well understand my desire to do a fdisk,
format and install XP(with product number). However, I've come to
another roadblock, I dont have a start up disk and the pages I found
to create one do not work on my system for one reason or another. I
can give you details if you like.


Robert

 

[Navyguy]

Robert, although Ben may be well intentioned in his wanting to assist
you, he is unfortunately offering you poor advice. When you go to that
link he gave you, scroll down. You will see that fdisk is a tool for
Windows 95, 98, and ME!

Just use your Dell Windows XP Reinstallation Disk. It will delete
partitions, create new ones (you may just want to create one partition)
and allow you to format it/them.

Yes, I noticed that the link only addressed those systems and not XP
and was also the source of one of the reasons why I couldn't create a
start up disk.

Not to worry, I'm not rushing into anything even though my wording may
seem like it. I've been dealing with this problem for well over a
month.

I did use the Reinstallation Disk for this purpose and I selected the
format option, my only fault was that I excepted the highlighted
number for the partition size which left me with 21.06G.

What bothers me is that even after doing that it still found file
problems during chkdsk and won't complete the chkdsk /f. That is the
point of contention that I need to resolve because it shouldn't have
any file problems and it should complete a chkdsk /f.


Thanks,

Robert

 

[Navyguy]

Robert, although Ben may be well intentioned in his wanting to assist
you, he is unfortunately offering you poor advice. When you go to that
link he gave you, scroll down. You will see that fdisk is a tool for
Windows 95, 98, and ME!

Just use your Dell Windows XP Reinstallation Disk. It will delete
partitions, create new ones (you may just want to create one partition)
and allow you to format it/them.

(e-mail address removed)...

and I’ve noticed at times that the computer is slower than usual > and others where its fast which is the norm for this computer. Although this may be more than you bargained for (!), regarding sluggishness in general, here are its usual causes:

1. Malicious software (malware). You need to rule this out first! This
page has excellent information:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Viruses_Malware

I never open emails that I don’t who there from and never give out any
personal information to anyone.

2. Certain programs that are designed to combat malware (e.g., Norton
and McAfee). Ironically, they can slow things down because they
simply
use way too many resources. Sometime they cause conflicts with other
programs. And their default mode is to scan your entire hard drive
each
time you boot up. Fortunately, there are other antimalware programs
available that use far fewer resources (e.g., NOD32, Avast, and
Avira).

Yes, I use to have Norton and was amazed at the speed of my computer
when I finally removed it which was very involved and tedious. In
passing, I had AVG for some time but as it let in the Trojan Horse
virus I lost confidence in it; after all isn’t that what its suppose
to prevent? I opted for Avira which I like much better. I also use to
have Comodo for my firewall but didn’t like it as it asked for too
many permissions and I’ve gone back to using Windows (set to notify)
which after all is integrated with the system. I also use to have
Spywareblaster but opted for Windows Defender for the same reasons.
I’ve used Hive cleanup for some time and just reinstalled Spybot. I
don’t know if this is overkill or not but it seems each has its
purpose.

3. Too many of *certain types* of programs always running in the
background -- with or without your knowledge.

Use these sites to determine what these programs are and to learn how
to configure them not to always run at startup:

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php#THE_PROGRAMS
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Very comprehensive resources! I’ve download and installed Autorun and
currently am reviewing all startups. So far I’ve found 11 entries with
files not found but I will continue to look for suspicious files.

Sometimes it is recommended to use msconfig to configure the programs
to not run at startup. A better, more thorough program is Autoruns:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

But before you do this, you should use the preference settings of the
program in question. Otherwise, for some programs, they will return to
the startup list anyway!

4. Not enough RAM, which causes the PC to overly rely on the pagefile.
A quick way to determine if this is happening is to open Task Manager
(Ctrl+Alt+Del) and click the Performance tab. Then note the three
values under Commit Charge (K): in the lower left-hand corner: Total,
Limit, and Peak.

Under Commit Charge the values are as follows:
Total - 616576 (constantly changes)
Limit – 2522260
Peak – 949740
Tonight the computer is running fast, the slowness I experienced
recently was on eBay and it longer than usual for the individual pages
to load.

The Total figure represents the amount of memory you are using at that
very moment. The Peak figure represents the highest amount of memory
you used since last bootup. If both these figures are below the value
of Physical Memory (K) Total, then you probably have plenty of RAM.
Otherwise, you may want to explore this further by running Page File
Monitor for Windows XP:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

5. You might also want to check that your hard drive's access mode
didn't change from DMA to PIO:

http://www.technize.com/2007/08/02/is-your-hard-disk-cddvd-drives-too...

and

http://users.bigpond.net.au/ninjaduck/itserviceduck/udma_fix/

Device 0 is set to transfer mode- DMA if available with current
transfer rate of Ultra DMA Mode 5, however device 1 transfer mode is
set to DMA if available but the current transfer mode says not
applicable.

Considering the chkdsk /f and the possible MFT issues, and the fact
that my C: drive is fragmented into two partitions what would you
suggest my best course of action be at this point?



Thanks,

Robert

 

[Navyguy]

(e-mail address removed)...


1. Malicious software (malware). You need to rule this out first! This
page has excellent information:http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Viruses_Malware

I never open emails that I don’t who there from and never give out any
personal information to anyone.

2. Certain programs that are designed to combat malware (e.g., Norton
and McAfee). Ironically, they can slow things down because they
simply
use way too many resources. Sometime they cause conflicts with other
programs. And their default mode is to scan your entire hard drive
each
time you boot up. Fortunately, there are other antimalware programs
available that use far fewer resources (e.g., NOD32, Avast, and
Avira).

Yes, I use to have Norton and was amazed at the speed of my computer
when I finally removed it which was very involved and tedious. In
passing, I had AVG for some time but as it let in the Trojan Horse
virus I lost confidence in it; after all isn’t that what its suppose
to prevent? I opted for Avira which I like much better. I also use to
have Comodo for my firewall but didn’t like it as it asked for too
many permissions and I’ve gone back to using Windows (set to notify)
which after all is integrated with the system. I also use to have
Spywareblaster but opted for Windows Defender for the same reasons.
I’ve used Hive cleanup for some time and just reinstalled Spybot. I
don’t know if this is overkill or not but it seems each has its
purpose.

3. Too many of *certain types* of programs always running in the
background -- with or without your knowledge.

Use these sites to determine what these programs are and to learn how
to configure them not to always run at startup:

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startu...swersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Very comprehensive resources! I’ve download and installed Autorun and
currently am reviewing all startups. So far I’ve found 11 entries with
files not found but I will continue to look for suspicious files.

Sometimes it is recommended to use msconfig to configure the programs
to not run at startup. A better, more thorough program is Autoruns:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

But before you do this, you should use the preference settings of the
program in question. Otherwise, for some programs, they will return to
the startup list anyway!

4. Not enough RAM, which causes the PC to overly rely on the pagefile.
A quick way to determine if this is happening is to open Task Manager
(Ctrl+Alt+Del) and click the Performance tab. Then note the three
values under Commit Charge (K): in the lower left-hand corner: Total,
Limit, and Peak.

Under Commit Charge the values are as follows:
Total -  616576 (constantly changes)
Limit – 2522260
Peak – 949740
Tonight the computer is running fast, the slowness I experienced
recently was on eBay and it longer than usual for the individual pages
to load.

The Total figure represents the amount of memory you are using at that
very moment. The Peak figure represents the highest amount of memory
you used since last bootup. If both these figures are below the value
of Physical Memory (K) Total, then you probably have plenty of RAM.
Otherwise, you may want to explore this further by running Page File
Monitor for Windows XP:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

5. You might also want to check that your hard drive's access mode
didn't change from DMA to PIO:

http://www.technize.com/2007/08/02/is-your-hard-disk-cddvd-drives-too...

and

http://users.bigpond.net.au/ninjaduck/itserviceduck/udma_fix/

Device 0 is set to transfer mode- DMA if available with current
transfer rate of Ultra DMA Mode 5, however device 1 transfer mode is
set to DMA if available but the current transfer mode says not
applicable.

Considering the chkdsk /f and the possible MFT issues, and the fact
that my C: drive is fragmented into two partitions what would you
suggest my best course of action be at this point?

Thanks,

Robert- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hello Dave,

I thought you might be interested in the following:

I was curious to check and see what fdisk contained about my system
but when I typed it, it said it was not recognized as an internal or
external command, operable program or batch file! I then did a chkdsk /
v . It said it found minor inconsistencies on the drive; This is not a
corruption. Then it said it was recovering lost files and completed
stage 3 of 3. It said that it discovered free space marked as
allocated in the MFT bitmap, correcting errors in the Volume Bitmap
and Windows found problems with the file system, and said to run
chkdsk /f to correct these. So I’ve schedule it yet another time it
reboots, so we’ll see if it does what it’s suppose to but given its
past history I highly doubt it.



Robert

 

[db]

can you elaborate more
on your use of fdisk?

if you booted with an
older win cd, it should
have provided your with
a dos prompt.

then you should have
been able to launch
fdisk and look at the
disk partitions.

other commands that can
be ran at the dos prompt
are help and format.



--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces

"share the nirvana" - dbZen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Navyguy]

Let's go over this, point by point to disentangle any confusion.



I will assume, then, that the original 40GB drive is not in your PC
anymore and that you have only one hard drive in it that is 160GB.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.


Okay. You got malware. It happens.


Gotcha. This eradicated the malware.


That is why I posted that link. It is very comprehensive! Here it is
again for your convenience:

<http://www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/installxpcdoldhdd/inde
xfullpage.htm>

Actually, that's for SP1. If you have something else, see this page:



To make things easier (for now), think of C: and E: as partitions,
not drives. Your "drive" is your physical 160GB hard drive. What
happened is you inadvertantly chose to partition your hard drive in
such a way that you made a C: partition which was 127.87GB and the
rest (21.06GB) is what is called Unallocated Space.


That is, after creating one partition (C:, which is 127.87GB), you
created another partition from the Unallocated Space (which is now
E.


E: does not reside on C:!

E: and C: are two partitions on your hard drive. Does that seem more
clear now?


I hope it is less confusing now.


As mentioned before, you will *not* do an fdisk! Furthermore, since
you have a Dell *and* a Dell XP Reinstallation CD (this is a full-
fledged installation aka setup CD -- it just happens to be branded),
there is no need to enter your Product Key when you perform the Clean
Install. That is how a Dell reinstallation goes. It sees (by
examining the information hard-coded to your motherboard) that you
are indeed installing the OS onto a Dell and since everything has
actually been pre-activated (yes!), there is no need to enter a
Product Key. What is happening is something called System-locked
Preinstallation. For more info:

http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000506.html

Again, no fdisk (that is command for other OSes)! Your Dell XP
Reinstallation CD will do the formatting for you.


Robert, in another post you told me you *did* have a Dell XP
Reinstallation CD. That is the *same thing* as a "start up disk"! So
there is no roadblock.


No details are necessary. You have your installation CD! Not everyone
with a Dell is that fortunate, so good for you! This CD will come in
handy if you ever want to do any of the following:

1. Run or install the XP Recovery Console

2. Perform what is called a Repair Install (which essentially lays
down a pristined version of XP while leaving all your data intact)

3. Eventually create another setup CD that will function the same but
have a more recent Service Pack level

4. Run chkdsk

5. Install ntbackup

Let's go over this, point by point to disentangle any confusion.
m:

I have a 160G HD that I upgraded from the original 40G HD

I will assume, then, that the original 40GB drive is not in your PC
anymore and that you have only one hard drive in it that is 160GB.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Correct, I no longer have the 40GB HD, only the 160GB HD

and all
was fine until the recent problems occurred re: MSN Live Hotmail
not signing on, Trojan Horse, corrupted MFT.

Okay. You got malware. It happens.

What happened is
this, I deleted my C: drive and partitioned and formatted it.

Gotcha. This eradicated the malware.

However when it asked how big I wanted the partition I had never
done this before and was never good with numbers so I just went
with the highlighted number.

That is why I posted that link. It is very comprehensive! Here it is
again for your convenience:
<http://www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/installxpcdoldhdd/inde
xfullpage.htm>
Actually, that's for SP1. If you have something else, see this page:
<http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxphome/indexreinstallguides.htm>
I thought I read all your links or at least looked at them but I guess
I missed this, I have SP3.

In doing so it fragmented my C: drive
into 127.87GB and 21.06G.

To make things easier (for now), think of C: and E: as partitions,
not drives. Your "drive" is your physical 160GB hard drive. What
happened is you inadvertantly chose to partition your hard drive in
such a way that you made a C: partition which was 127.87GB and the
rest (21.06GB) is what is called Unallocated Space.

So I changed the 21.06G to an E: drive

That is, after creating one partition (C:, which is 127.87GB), you
created another partition from the Unallocated Space (which is now
E.

which actually resides on the C:.

E: does not reside on C:!
E: and C: are two partitions on your hard drive. Does that seem more
clear now?
Yes, I understand now

If you think this is confusing
you can only imagine how it must be for me who isn't that computer
literate!

I hope it is less confusing now.

With all these considerations, you can well understand
my desire to do a fdisk, format and install XP(with product
number).

As mentioned before, you will *not* do an fdisk! Furthermore, since
you have a Dell *and* a Dell XP Reinstallation CD (this is a full-
fledged installation aka setup CD -- it just happens to be branded),
there is no need to enter your Product Key when you perform the Clean
Install. That is how a Dell reinstallation goes. It sees (by
examining the information hard-coded to your motherboard) that you
are indeed installing the OS onto a Dell and since everything has
actually been pre-activated (yes!), there is no need to enter a
Product Key. What is happening is something called System-locked
Preinstallation. For more info:
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000506.html
Again, no fdisk (that is command for other OSes)! Your Dell XP
Reinstallation CD will do the formatting for you.

However, I've come to another roadblock, I dont have a
start up disk

Robert, in another post you told me you *did* have a Dell XP
Reinstallation CD. That is the *same thing* as a "start up disk"! So
there is no roadblock.

Oh ok, it’s just that there’s so much information to remember
sometimes I get a bit confused and I’ve been doing it for over a month
so I’m a bit worn.

and the pages I found to create one do not work on
my system for one reason or another. I can give you details if you
like.

No details are necessary. You have your installation CD! Not everyone
with a Dell is that fortunate, so good for you! This CD will come in
handy if you ever want to do any of the following:
1. Run or install the XP Recovery Console
2. Perform what is called a Repair Install (which essentially lays
down a pristined version of XP while leaving all your data intact)
3. Eventually create another setup CD that will function the same but
have a more recent Service Pack level
4. Run chkdsk
5. Install ntbackup
This what happened since my last post, I ran the chkdsk /f and as
before it hung in step 2 of 3 verifying indexes however this time it
wouldn’t cancel the task by pressing any of the key s or by pressing
f8! I tried both several times and finally had to hold the power
button on the computer to power it off (I know). When I started it up
again later in the day it gave me messages that it was basically
powered off abnormally and gave me the basic choices as if I pressed
f8 but not in the same format that I’m use to seeing. In any case, I
selected last known settings that worked and thankfully it brought me
back to Windows. I don’t think I’ll be messing with chkdsk /f
anymore!

Given that this happened and still have file problems, and my MFT is
possibly corrupted(is there a way for me to check this myself?) what
would you suggest I do at this point? In the meantime, I will read
through the second link for SP3 you gave me above.
Thanks,
Robert

 

[Daave]

Given that this happened and still have file problems, and my MFT
is possibly corrupted(is there a way for me to check this myself?)
what would you suggest I do at this point? In the meantime, I will
read through the second link for SP3 you gave me above.

Since the Seagate tool proclaimed your hard drive healthy, I will go
along with that. I'm thinking that the last time you installed Windows,
there was a glitch of some sort. If you do it following the directions I
linked to, your file structure, MFT, etc. should be fine.

It all depends on the SP level your Dell XP Reinstallation CD is at. If
it is "Gold" (no SP level) or SP1, use these instructions:

http://www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/installxpcdoldhdd/indexfullpage.htm

(watch the wrap, it's a long address)

If your Dell CD is at SP2 (or SP3, but I don't think Dell made any with
SP3), the use these instructions:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxphome/sp2sp3installxpcdoldhdd/indexfullpage.htm

(again, watch the wrap)

It is important you boot off the CD (I believe F10 is a quick way to do
this right after you turn the PC on ). There are many steps. You may
want to jot down notes every step of the way. This way, if you have a
question, you can tell us the precise point you need guidance on.

 

[Navyguy]

You may be *currently* running SP3 after all your updates, but what
does it say on the label of your Dell XP Reinstallation CD? That's the
SP level I was referring to. And the first link was for how to perform
a clean install of XP with Service Pack 1 on a used hard drive. Of
course, once the installation is complete, you may upgrade to either
SP2 or SP3 (SP3 is recommended).

Oh, I misunderstood.... I believe then I have SP1 since after I
installed XP I had to upgrade to SP2 and SP3. The label says:

Operating System
Reinstallation CD
Microsoft Widows XP Home Edition

It doesn't mention anything about SP1, but I should use the first link
and not the second. Correct?


Robert

 

[Navyguy]

Since the Seagate tool proclaimed your hard drive healthy, I will go
along with that. I'm thinking that the last time you installed Windows,
there was a glitch of some sort. If you do it following the directions I
linked to, your file structure, MFT, etc. should be fine.

It all depends on the SP level your Dell XP Reinstallation CD is at. If
it is "Gold" (no SP level) or SP1, use these instructions:

http://www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/installxpcdoldhdd/index...

(watch the wrap, it's a long address)

If your Dell CD is at SP2 (or SP3, but I don't think Dell made any with
SP3), the use these instructions:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxphome/sp2sp3installxpcdoldhdd/ind...

(again, watch the wrap)

It is important you boot off the CD (I believe F10 is a quick way to do
this right after you turn the PC on ). There are many steps. You may
want to jot down notes every step of the way. This way, if you have a
question, you can tell us the precise point you need guidance on.

I can change the bios to boot from the CD, I'll read the instructions
for SP1, and keep notes, and if I have questions before beginning I'll
get back with you.


Thanks,

Robert

 

[Daave]

Oh, I misunderstood.... I believe then I have SP1 since after I
installed XP I had to upgrade to SP2 and SP3. The label says:

Operating System
Reinstallation CD
Microsoft Widows XP Home Edition

It doesn't mention anything about SP1, but I should use the first link
and not the second. Correct?

Correct. You have "Gold" (the original version), but that link is good
for both Gold and SP1.

Once you have installed XP with this "Gold" CD, you may upgrade directly
to SP2 (no need to upgrade to SP1 first since SP2 is cumulative). Here
is a link to the SP2 installation file:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...BE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en

 

[Navyguy]

Since the Seagate tool proclaimed your hard drive healthy, I will go
along with that. I'm thinking that the last time you installed Windows,
there was a glitch of some sort. If you do it following the directions I
linked to, your file structure, MFT, etc. should be fine.

It all depends on the SP level your Dell XP Reinstallation CD is at. If
it is "Gold" (no SP level) or SP1, use these instructions:

http://www.windowsxphome.windowsreinstall.com/installxpcdoldhdd/index...

(watch the wrap, it's a long address)

If your Dell CD is at SP2 (or SP3, but I don't think Dell made any with
SP3), the use these instructions:

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxphome/sp2sp3installxpcdoldhdd/ind...

(again, watch the wrap)

It is important you boot off the CD (I believe F10 is a quick way to do
this right after you turn the PC on ). There are many steps. You may
want to jot down notes every step of the way. This way, if you have a
question, you can tell us the precise point you need guidance on.

I read through the instructions and was very similar to what I already
did but I do have a few questions.

1. Should I use NTFS vs FAT32 to format the HD? I used NTFS last
time.

2. I know this is going to sound lame but as I said I'm terrible at
numbers, but just so I end up with one partition instead of two on my
HD how many MB's are in 160GB? If I recall it's going to have a
highlighted number in MB's as before and I will need to change it so
that it equals 160GB.

3. I have the 25 digit product number and it doesn't contain an OEM,
however when I looked under System Properties it has a 20 digit number
with an OEM (maybe a registration number?) should I be concerned about
this?

4. When it asks for a computer name can it be anything or do I have to
use the computer name under System Properties?

5. Should I say yes or no to Active Windows Option, they recommend No.
Last time I said yes.

6. Under who will use this computer should I create multiple user
accounts here? No one will use this computer except me but I thought
it might be good idea to protect my computer by using a user account
while on the Internet etc however wouldn't they be rather limited e.g.
read only?



Thanks,

Robert

 

[Navyguy]

Comments inline.




Definitely NTFS. And since you had some funky chkdsk problems earlier,
don't choose the Quick format.


I believe the formula is 1 GB equals 1,024 (instead of 1,000) MB.

However, the 160GB is more of a marketing ploy to make the drive appear
to be larger than it is. The company chooses to look at it this way:

Giga means billion (American billion, not British billion). So they
make a drive that can hold 160,000,000,000 bytes of data. In reality,
since there are 1,024 bytes in a KB and 1,024 KB in a MB, and 1,024 MB
in a GB, 1GB actually is 1,073,741,824 bytes. Dividing, we get:

160,000,000,000 bytes equals about 149 GB (the true size of your hard
drive)!

But there are 152,576 MB in 149 GB, and I'm guessing this is the
definition Windows assumes.

So if you want to create a C: partition for Windows XP and all your
programs only, you may want to reserve 50 GB for it, which is more than
enough space, and this still leaves 99 GB for data if you wish to keep
data separate on a second partition. I believe your layout still has
the small diagnostic partition. If so, I wouldn't touch that.

Keep in mind you can be very happy just with one main partion (other
than the diagnostic one) for OS, applications, *and* data. That's your
personal choice and that's why I had posted the link to Ken Blake's
article on disk partitioning in another post. Here it is again:

http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=326

So if you decide to create a C: partition that is 50GB, that would
translate to 51,200 MB (E: would then be 101,376 MB).

For what it's worth, I just have one giant partition. I don't care if
my data is separate. Your call. Since the directions I gave you are for
creating one partition from the Unallocated Space, you might want to do
that. You can always use a third-party partitioning program later to
create and/or resize your partitions.


Not at all. As I mentioned in another post, since you have a Dell,
there is something called System-locked Preinstallation, and you won't
even need to enter the Product Key!


You can call your computer any name you like and this name will later
appear in the Computer Name tab in System Properties.


Do you mean the "Ready to activate Windows" screen? I believe your Dell
is pre-activated. Either way, choose No. If your had a regular (i.e.,
non-Royalty OEM without SLP) PC, you would have up to thirty days to
activate. Don't worry about it!


For now, just create one account. Once you are running Windows, you can  
create as many accounts as you like, some with limited rights if you
wish.

Hello Dave,
I guess I missed Ken Blakes link the first time around, but what he
says makes sense so I will be using only (1) partition and will be
thinking about an external HD for backups if all goes well after the
install. I want to thank you for all your good help and staying with
me through this. I'll let you know how it turns out.


Thanks,

Robert

 

[Daave]

Hello Dave,
I guess I missed Ken Blakes link the first time around, but what he
says makes sense so I will be using only (1) partition and will be
thinking about an external HD for backups if all goes well after the
install. I want to thank you for all your good help and staying with
me through this. I'll let you know how it turns out.

YW and please let us know how you make out.

 

[Navyguy]

YW and please let us know how you make out.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hello Dave,
I successfully deleted both the C: partition and the E: partition and
formatted it with the long version using NTFS and installed a fresh
copy of XP and everything ‘seemed’ to go ok. Oddly it didn’t ask me
how big I wanted to make the partition or give a highlighted number
which it did the last time. However it now shows the same (3)
partitions again, 125MB FAT (EISA Configuration) – healthy, Partition
C: has 127.87GB NTFS - healthy and the other is Unallocated with 21.06
GB. How is that possible?! I swear I checked it afterwards and it
showed only (1) partition!@!@ I wouldn’t have proceeded any further if
it showed more than (1) partition. I would have started over.

After it finished and brought to the desktop I right clicked it >
properties > settings to change the resolution but this time when I
slide the bar it gave me (3) choices of settings whereas last time it
only gave me (2). I just went back to check and it had reverted back
to the two choices either 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768, but I know there
was another setting in-between that I chose. This is weird, first the
partition changing and now the settings on the desktop!

In any case, afterwards I clicked on Start > All Programs > Windows
Update and download (1) update before I saw the Microsoft Update on
the tab above. So I selected it instead and then proceeded to download
updates e.g. SP2, SP3, IE7 and 29 more updates and MSN Live Mail. I
initially set it for automatic updates but afterwards I set it to
Notify versus Automatic.

I then installed my Santa Cruz Turtle Beach (speakers etc) – which had
an error installing
iKernel.exe(0x2000).

I had to restart the computer and I thought the Bios might be set to
boot from the CD/ROM so I did a F12. However it looked completely
different than before and gave me the following:
1. Normal
2. Boot from C:
3. Boot from CD/ROM

I selected the Normal option and it booted fine and returned to the
desktop.

I then installed and updated Avira which found (3) warnings, it use to
have (2). Since you said not to worry about the two I previously
mentioned I didn’t but here is the 3rd warning:
C:\Documents and Settings\owner\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files [0] Archive type: CAB(Microsoft) --> FP_AX_CAB_INSTALLER.exe
[WARNING] No further files can be extracted from this archive.

I then installed and updated Windows Defender and did a scan which
came out clean

Installed Hive cleanup

Installed and updated Spybot and did a scan which found (10) problems
(I have their names if interested), I fixed (deleted) them and then
ran it again and it found (1) problem and fixed that, then ran it for
a third time and it came out clean.

Installed and scanned with Sea Tools and ran a Long DST scan which
passed and ran a Long Generic Scan which also passed.

I then did a chkdsk and it said warning F parameter not specified.
Running chkdsk in read only mode. It gave me the same results as
before that Widows found problemswith the file system. Run Chkdsk with
the /f (fix) option to correct these.

This is probably a mute point at present, but on Live Hotmail do you
know of a way that I can remove the ads that appear to the right to
increase the size of the page?

So now what am I to do? I’m back where I started from. I wouldn’t have
proceed if I saw that my HD had more than (1) partition and as I said
I checked this immediately afterward to make sure it had only (1)
partition. That was the whole point of doing this along with
eliminating the other problems.


Thoughts/Suggestions?

Robert