Pls help/advise planning reformat/reinstall attack

[Munching Downs]

I have a hand-me-up, "learning" laptop that started out with Windows
ME then got the XP Pro Upgrade (purchased in the box so licensing
isn't an issue). For several months the laptop served me well, and I
have learned enough to feel comfortable taking this *good* XP machine
online.

Now, however, due to some malfunction which has shrunken the useable
desktop size by more than half I *think* I have to reformat the
learning laptop to make it a *readable* machine. Everything's too
small to read from more than a few inches away. Previous Owner says
this happened to her before but she can't remember how she fixed it,
and the registry has approx 2000 problems, anyway, according to
*three* different registry checker/cleaner programs. That's too many
for me to play with, which is my favorite reason for going with the
extreme action of starting clean.

Is it reasonable to assume that I should start the process with the
original WinME recovery then upgrade to XP? If so, do I let any time
pass between the two (like letting a baked item set), or do I just
follow one with the other right away?

On the other hand, is it possible that simply reinstalling the XP Pro
Upgrade might fix the readability problem, maybe some of the registry
issues, and I could tackle remaining problems a few at a time? I do
like the learning-by-doing stuff when I don't need a teacher over my
shoulder. <g>

Since getting my first desktop (Tandy) back in 1986 I've never had to
do a reformat/reinstall so this whole thing feels rather scary. The
good news is that Previous Owner can't find any of the original disks
and other goodies, and the Upgrade box is empty, so apparently I have
plenty of time to plan my attack.

Please tell me if you need any *specific* info as I couldn't think of
anything else. And thank you very much for reading this.

 

[John John]

Did you by any chance do some "Registry Cleaning" before the problem
started? Throw these damed registry cleaners to the garbage! They have
little to no value and more often than not they cause more problems than
anything else!

Try reinstalling the video drivers and see if things improve.

John

 

[Anna]

I have a hand-me-up, "learning" laptop that started out with Windows
ME then got the XP Pro Upgrade (purchased in the box so licensing
isn't an issue). For several months the laptop served me well, and I
have learned enough to feel comfortable taking this *good* XP
machine
online.

Now, however, due to some malfunction which has shrunken the
useable desktop size by more than half I *think* I have to reformat
the
learning laptop to make it a *readable* machine. Everything's too
small to read from more than a few inches away. Previous Owner
says
this happened to her before but she can't remember how she fixed it,
and the registry has approx 2000 problems, anyway, according to
*three* different registry checker/cleaner programs. That's too many
for me to play with, which is my favorite reason for going with the
extreme action of starting clean.

Is it reasonable to assume that I should start the process with the
original WinME recovery then upgrade to XP? If so, do I let any
time
pass between the two (like letting a baked item set), or do I just
follow one with the other right away?

On the other hand, is it possible that simply reinstalling the XP Pro
Upgrade might fix the readability problem, maybe some of the
registry
issues, and I could tackle remaining problems a few at a time? I do
like the learning-by-doing stuff when I don't need a teacher over my
shoulder. <g>

Since getting my first desktop (Tandy) back in 1986 I've never had to
do a reformat/reinstall so this whole thing feels rather scary. The
good news is that Previous Owner can't find any of the original disks
and other goodies, and the Upgrade box is empty, so apparently I have
plenty of time to plan my attack.

Please tell me if you need any *specific* info as I couldn't think of
anything else. And thank you very much for reading this.

Munching Downs:
Obviously there are different options open to you as I think you recognize,
but based on your description of the current situation I would lean at this
point to making a fresh install of the XP OS (including SP2 of course).

I'm assuming in this that you're aware that should you take this action all
your programs and user-created data will disappear and it will be necessary
for you to reinstall these programs from the installation media you
hopefully have at hand. And, in addition, you would need to download/install
*all* the MS critical updates issued since SP2 - an onerous task if you're
using a dialup connection. Presumably you would have little or no difficulty
copying your user-created data over to removable media (CDs, DVDs, flash
drives) before undertaking this fresh install.

Otherwise, you could just do a reinstall of the XP OS and presumably salvage
your current programs & data (although you should make a prudent backup of
your user-created backup just in case...). This reinstallation of the OS is
generally considered a "Repair" install. If you're unaware as to how to
undertake this operation do a Google search of "XP repair install".

Of course, you may also be experiencing some hardware problem of one sort or
another re your "shrunken desktop". Whether that's a result of a defective
video card/screen or a video driver issue (as John John seems to think) is
open to question. So some serious defective hardware issue (if that is
indeed the case) may signal a more serious situation and may even result in
your decision to replace this "learning laptop".
Anna

P.S.
BTW, without getting into the details, I would generally agree with John
John's comments as they apply to so-called "registry cleaners" and other
registry "diagnostic tools". They can, under certain circumstances, with
competent users, be useful tools but in the main they seem to cause more
mischief than solutions.

 

[nschiffelbein]

I would start with John John's idea of re-installing your video
drivers. If this doesn't fix the issue the easiest thing to do would
be a Windows XP repair. You'd boot off of the Windows XP Upgrade disc,
and walk through the upgrade and when you select your current
partition as the one to install to XP will say it might be able to
repair by pressing 'r', do that. The repair and repair console are two
seperate items, you want the repair. I think it might prompt about
repairing when it looks for currently setup XP partitions.

The repair won't affect any of your current files. It simply deletes
the core operating system files and then re-copies them from the
installation disc. As a precaution I would make a backup of any files
you don't want to lose. The repair is the least invasive means of
fixing some issues like this.

The third and final approach would be a re-install as you mentioned. I
beleive, (I haven't tested this), that if you drop in your Windows XP
Upgrade disc into the drive and boot to it and format your current
install from within the Windows XP installation you should be able to
just install a clean setup of XP without the upgrade nightmare of Me
or 2000 first. If anything XP will prompt you for your Me disc so that
you prove to it you own a prior copy of Windows.

I hope this helps.

Nick

 

[Munching Downs]

Did you by any chance do some "Registry Cleaning" before the problem
started? Throw these damed registry cleaners to the garbage! They have
little to no value and more often than not they cause more problems than
anything else!

Try reinstalling the video drivers and see if things improve.

John

Hello John. I actually understand and (generally) agree with your
concerns. I use registry checker/cleaner software primarily to learn
*about* the registry and how things work or don't work when messed
with, so if the laptop goes up in smoke my only concern will be
explaining myself to the fire department. <g>

No, I didn't have any reason to check the registry until *after* the
problem started, then didn't do anything other than zap a reference to
a program I'd uninstalled. Instead, I zeroed in (regedit) on the word
"desktop" because, of all my search-word options that's the only one I
felt comfortable with; I was looking for something referring to
dimensions. I would have come here with a question first had I found
anything, but either I didn't find entries or I didn't recognize
whatever I might have found. Instead, I think I posted a general
request for a reg-key fix, if one existed, and got no response. Sorry
I don't remember which group as I was web-based at the time, user ID
"shug" which actually belongs to someone else.

Reinstalling video drivers - love the idea - device manager, yes? The
drivers listed under the ATI adapter, *not* the codecs listed
elsewhere, right? My choices are:

Update Driver
Roll Back Driver
Uninstall Driver

My brain just stopped because I don't know what could/will happen when
I hit one of the buttons. In my head it's like not knowing what's
around the next bend of an unfamiliar road with no streetlamps, no
other traffic, no people to ask ...

Please help. And thank you for responding the last time. My
goodness, it seemed as though you were sitting there waiting for my
post! <G>

<snip quoted self>

 

[what4893]

You can get the name of your video card vendor from Device Manager as
well as the model. Then go to the vendor's web site (i.e. www.ati.com)
and their support section will have driver downloads in it. Download
the file and it will actually swap out the driver in Device Manager
for you when you restart.

If you already have the driver decompressed and ready to go, then you
would use "Update Driver" in Device Manager and you'd feed Windows the
new driver and it would make the changes for you. I find that just
running the installer from the vendor is the easiest, cleanest, and
fastest way of updating and changing your drivers.

Nick

 

[John John]

Hello John. I actually understand and (generally) agree with your
concerns. I use registry checker/cleaner software primarily to learn
*about* the registry and how things work or don't work when messed
with, so if the laptop goes up in smoke my only concern will be
explaining myself to the fire department. <g>

No, I didn't have any reason to check the registry until *after* the
problem started, then didn't do anything other than zap a reference to
a program I'd uninstalled. Instead, I zeroed in (regedit) on the word
"desktop" because, of all my search-word options that's the only one I
felt comfortable with; I was looking for something referring to
dimensions. I would have come here with a question first had I found
anything, but either I didn't find entries or I didn't recognize
whatever I might have found. Instead, I think I posted a general
request for a reg-key fix, if one existed, and got no response. Sorry
I don't remember which group as I was web-based at the time, user ID
"shug" which actually belongs to someone else.

Reinstalling video drivers - love the idea - device manager, yes? The
drivers listed under the ATI adapter, *not* the codecs listed
elsewhere, right? My choices are:

Update Driver
Roll Back Driver
Uninstall Driver

My brain just stopped because I don't know what could/will happen when
I hit one of the buttons.

The first thing to do would be to go to your laptop manufacturer's
support site and check to see if Windows XP drivers are available for
your laptop. Laptops are not the same as desktops, they're pretty
finicky and they have proprietary hardware. It's important to install
the right drivers if you want it to run well. Even though your video
adapter is identified as an ATI adapter you should get the drivers from
the laptop company instead of ATI. The ATI drivers may have been
specially modified for the laptop, only rely on other (ATI) drivers if
you have absolutely no choice!

If you can get drivers from manufacturer follow the manufacturers
instructions to install them or select to update them in the Device
Manager (Display Adapters). If it doesn't help you can select to
uninstall then reboot and have Windows rediscover the hardware and
reinstall the drivers.

If you keep having further problems it may help us if you post the make
and model number of the laptop. Someone reading may have an identical
laptop or may have experience maintaining them and may be able to
provide valuable and accurate help.

John