Preparing to format HDD and reinstall OS: XP Home Sp2

[Robert J. Lafayette]

Have had terrific support preparing for my reinstallation of XP over the
past several weeks and days.

Have a notebook, and it has been four years and I am sure there are many
registry issues
and ghost files and things slowing my overall system and computer up.

Have done cleanups and defrags and all the prescribed things
and some software still run very slow.

And system even crashes occur occasionally.
most recently over memory problems.


So far no crashes for 36 hours.

I admit most of the problems are probably self caused.

All this:

Now to the point:
I learned a lot by making lots of mistakes along the way,
with many more mistakes to go, I am sure.

The notebook I have is a 40 GB HDD with a 250GB external (USB 2.0).
1.8GHz Celeron processor, 512 RAM,

I expect to use the 40GB HDD internal for OS and software,
and the 250 GB mostly as a slave for files and the like.


I will not create extra partitions on either HDD.


My manufacturer gave me some steps to follow:

Backup they said,
and explained how to use their original OS disc to format the HDD and,
load the disc.

Then I must install Windows sp2, then updates, and any drivers and then the
big job:

the software I wish to use.

Okay, that makes sense.



But specifically how do I back up say, IE6.0?
My passwords and sign-ins?

Is there a freeware utility to assist me with IE 6.0?

I have freebie OE6.0 backup software, for my addresses, and messages.
But, how about backing up settings?

What about other areas of caution might I be aware of?

For general issues?

On my C drive,
There is a folder called SWSETUP which appears to have all my software set
up files.

I suppose I can copy this folder to the 250GB HDD
and move it over when the installation is complete.

Are there any surprises to be careful of?

Or some simplified way of doing this?

Some of the instructions I have read seem so complicated.

Thank you all,

I think the next rainy day I we have
I will do it but am wanting to cover as many bases as possible.

Robert

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Have had terrific support preparing for my reinstallation of XP over the
past several weeks and days.

Have a notebook, and it has been four years and I am sure there are many
registry issues
and ghost files and things slowing my overall system and computer up.

Have done cleanups and defrags and all the prescribed things
and some software still run very slow.

And system even crashes occur occasionally.
most recently over memory problems.


So far no crashes for 36 hours.

I admit most of the problems are probably self caused.

All this:

Now to the point:
I learned a lot by making lots of mistakes along the way,
with many more mistakes to go, I am sure.

The notebook I have is a 40 GB HDD with a 250GB external (USB 2.0).
1.8GHz Celeron processor, 512 RAM,

I expect to use the 40GB HDD internal for OS and software,
and the 250 GB mostly as a slave for files and the like.


I will not create extra partitions on either HDD.


My manufacturer gave me some steps to follow:

Backup they said,
and explained how to use their original OS disc to format the HDD and,
load the disc.

Then I must install Windows sp2,

I have found that the most reliable way to install SP2 is to download the
whole thing, save it to disk, and then run it locally. This bypasses any
problems with downloading.

http://tinyurl.com/5bobl

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

The full SP2 download is about 266 meg, and the last time I downloaded it
for a client with DSL it took 45 minutes. The install, which was the
second attempt, took almost another two hours. You must *wait till it is
finished*. I was there because the first attempt failed. Another
client had to remove it with the recovery console because they used the
machine for other things while SP2 was installing, decided it had hung, and
rebooted. This disabled the machine.

Here's how to back out of a failed SP2 install. It can be necessary to use
the Recovery Console, which might not be available to you if you don't have
a Bootable XP CD (or the six-diskette boot set) even if you have installed
the recovery console to the drive.

http://support.microsoft.com/KB/875350

Here is how to install the recovery console to the drive:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307654/

then updates, and any drivers and then the
big job:

the software I wish to use.

Okay, that makes sense.



But specifically how do I back up say, IE6.0?
My passwords and sign-ins?

Often these are in the Cookies folders under your user account directory.
Some passwords aren't saved here.

This thread may be of help:
http://www.mcse.ms/archive167-2005-1-1391063.html

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/pspv.html

Is there a freeware utility to assist me with IE 6.0?

I have freebie OE6.0 backup software, for my addresses, and messages.
But, how about backing up settings?

Export the mail settings (*.iaf files). In OE, go to Tools, Accounts,
highlight the account, click Export.

Bear in mind that sometimes, the passwords are not exported. I don't know
why.

What about other areas of caution might I be aware of?

For general issues?

On my C drive,
There is a folder called SWSETUP which appears to have all my software set
up files.

I suppose I can copy this folder to the 250GB HDD
and move it over when the installation is complete.

Most likely, yes.

Are there any surprises to be careful of?

Be sure, before you start formatting, that you have the network card and
video drivers available. In the event that the XP install media turns out
to not have them, you'll be able to easily install them. It's a lot harder
to get them if you don't have the disk and can't connect to the internet.

Once you have those two, any other missing drivers are much easier to get.

HTH
-pk

 

[Harry Ohrn]

Just adding a small comment to what Patrick posted and that is to ensure
that you have unplugged the external USB drive before reinstalling XP. Not
doing so often results in the drive XP is installed being assigned a drive
letter other than C which can really make things complicated later on.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Just adding a small comment to what Patrick posted and that is to
ensure that you have unplugged the external USB drive before
reinstalling XP. Not doing so often results in the drive XP is
installed being assigned a drive letter other than C which can really
make things complicated later on.

I'll add a comment to your comment, Harry. My main computer has a diskette
drive with two built-in slots for media-card (for digital camera media).
When I installed XP, those slots grabbed drives C: and D: and the CD/DVD
drive grabbed E: So I have Windows installed on drive F:

Other than having Windows on the unusual place of Drive F: and C: being
empty most of the time (because there's no media card in the slot), once I
got used to remembering that, there really hasn't been any complications
caused by my rather unusual drive setup.

Not to disagree with your advice, which is good, but did you have any
particular complications in mind?

 

[Harry Ohrn]

Hi Ken. The main issue is with having the system drive letter assigned as
something other than C. Sooner or later the person will want it assigned
driver letter C and will be told the only way to fix this through a clean
install. It is best to avoid the problem from occurring in the first place.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi Ken. The main issue is with having the system drive letter
assigned as something other than C. Sooner or later the person will
want it assigned driver letter C and will be told the only way to fix
this through a clean install. It is best to avoid the problem from
occurring in the first place.

Yup, no argument from me. I just wanted to be sure there wasn't some other
disadvantage you had in mind

As I said, my setup is unusual, but other than that, it doesn't really
bother me.

 

[Robert J. Lafayette]

Thanks to you all.
Suggestions are great and useful.

I already have SP2 on a disc.
Should have said that up front, as my system has SP2 on it already.

Will disable USB HDD.

I have all original software an discs, drivers and the like.
My notebook system software probably has the video driver on it...


Wish me luck: possibly will format over the weekend.

Robert