Some anomalies after reinstallation

[Jim Ludwig]

Hi all,
I recently wiped my sisters computer clean (fdisk and slow format) and
reinstalled WinXP Home fresh. She has a 3 yr old Dell Dimension. She was
not able to find her Win XP or driver discs. I used my copy of win xp, but
used her product key from the label on her computer and it activated fine.
I am having two problems that are more annoyance than anything:

First, when you reboot the computer, when still in the bios a screen comes
up that says,
"Please select operating system"
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
and there is a count down waiting for me to pick one or the other. If I
choose the first one, Windows boots normally. If I let the countdown
finish, it automatically chooses the first one and finishes booting. If I
choose the 2nd one, I get a message saying that it couldn't start because of
a disk hardware configuration problem. Couldn't read from selected boot
disk. Check boot path and hardware. Plus some stuff about checking the
documentation.
Any thoughts about this? I am wondering if she had a backup/restore
partition on the hard drive from the factory and maybe that's why she
couldn't find her discs. Even if that is the case, should my formatting and
fdisk have wiped that clean?

Second problem...Since she didn't have her discs, I had to get a number of
her drivers from Dell's support site using her service tag. Everything
seems to be working. However, in device manager, a number of devices are
listed twice or more. Her graphics adapter (integrated) and plug n' play
monitor are both listed twice. Under the IDE controllers heading, primary
IDE controller, secondary IDE controller, and standard dual channel PCI IDE
controller are all listed twice. Under usb heading, standard universal pci
to usb host controller is listed 4 times and usb root hub is listed 5 times.
She has 8 usb ports (6 back, 2 front). Anyway, like I said, everything
works, but why are some things listed more than once?
Thanks for any light anyone can shed.

Jim
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Bill in Co.]

Hi all,
I recently wiped my sisters computer clean (fdisk and slow format) and
reinstalled WinXP Home fresh. She has a 3 yr old Dell Dimension. She was
not able to find her Win XP or driver discs. I used my copy of win xp,
but
used her product key from the label on her computer and it activated fine.
I am having two problems that are more annoyance than anything:

First, when you reboot the computer, when still in the bios a screen comes
up that says,
"Please select operating system"
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
and there is a count down waiting for me to pick one or the other. If I
choose the first one, Windows boots normally. If I let the countdown
finish, it automatically chooses the first one and finishes booting. If I
choose the 2nd one, I get a message saying that it couldn't start because
of
a disk hardware configuration problem. Couldn't read from selected boot
disk. Check boot path and hardware. Plus some stuff about checking the
documentation.
Any thoughts about this?

I think this is due to the "boot.ini" file (still expecting to find the DSR
Dell System Restore partition). If so, you can correct that by editing it
properly.

I am wondering if she had a backup/restore
partition on the hard drive from the factory and maybe that's why she
couldn't find her discs.

Even with that, they sometimes include the Windows CD (OEM version). Mine
did.

Even if that is the case, should my formatting and
fdisk have wiped that clean?

Unfortunately, I don't think you'll be able to get the Dell System Restore
partition back now.

It's too bad you Fdisked the HD, and therein wiped the Dell System Restore
partition, as that would have been the simplest way to get the system back
as it was shipped, and with the necessary drivers, etc.

 

[DL]

Fdisk? whatever for, the winxp cd contains all the tools for preparing a
disk
Call Dell, request copies of disks, use them to nuke the sys & reinstall

 

[M.I.5¾]

Hi all,
I recently wiped my sisters computer clean (fdisk and slow format) and
reinstalled WinXP Home fresh. She has a 3 yr old Dell Dimension. She was
not able to find her Win XP or driver discs. I used my copy of win xp,
but used her product key from the label on her computer and it activated
fine. I am having two problems that are more annoyance than anything:

First, when you reboot the computer, when still in the bios a screen comes
up that says,
"Please select operating system"
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
and there is a count down waiting for me to pick one or the other. If I
choose the first one, Windows boots normally. If I let the countdown
finish, it automatically chooses the first one and finishes booting. If I
choose the 2nd one, I get a message saying that it couldn't start because
of a disk hardware configuration problem. Couldn't read from selected
boot disk. Check boot path and hardware. Plus some stuff about checking
the documentation.
Any thoughts about this? I am wondering if she had a backup/restore
partition on the hard drive from the factory and maybe that's why she
couldn't find her discs. Even if that is the case, should my formatting
and fdisk have wiped that clean?

Second problem...Since she didn't have her discs, I had to get a number of
her drivers from Dell's support site using her service tag. Everything
seems to be working. However, in device manager, a number of devices are
listed twice or more. Her graphics adapter (integrated) and plug n' play
monitor are both listed twice. Under the IDE controllers heading, primary
IDE controller, secondary IDE controller, and standard dual channel PCI
IDE controller are all listed twice. Under usb heading, standard
universal pci to usb host controller is listed 4 times and usb root hub is
listed 5 times. She has 8 usb ports (6 back, 2 front). Anyway, like I
said, everything works, but why are some things listed more than once?
Thanks for any light anyone can shed.

The listings for the usb host controller and usb root ports are all
consitent with the 8 USB2 ports that you clearly have as you have 4 standard
USB1 host controllers and 5 root hubs (4 for USB1 and 1 for USB2). You will
also have a single enhanced USB2 controller. The graphics adapter may well
be listed twice if it is a dual head graphic card and the monitors have
reflected this. The IDE controllers do puzzle me though they may be
correct. The two PCI IDE controllers may be reasonable. If the machine
works satisfactorily then I wouldn't worry about it. If it ain't broke then
don't fix it.

The menu asking you to select the operating system is because you didn't
perform a clean install but installed the new operating system along side
the old one (or at least you did something that the install routine thought
that you had).

If you post the contents of your BOOT.INI file, I or someone will explain
what changes you need to make to make the system boot into Windows without
asking the question above.

If you are reasonably familiar with these things you need to remove the
reference to a second operating system. But if you are not, then the wrong
change can leave you with a non functioning system.

 

[M.I.5¾]

I think this is due to the "boot.ini" file (still expecting to find the
DSR Dell System Restore partition). If so, you can correct that by
editing it properly.


Even with that, they sometimes include the Windows CD (OEM version).
Mine did.


Unfortunately, I don't think you'll be able to get the Dell System Restore
partition back now.

It's too bad you Fdisked the HD, and therein wiped the Dell System Restore
partition, as that would have been the simplest way to get the system back
as it was shipped, and with the necessary drivers, etc.

I don't know about 3 years ago, but even today, Dell still ship their PCs
with a recovery disc and drivers discs rather than put a recovery partition
on the hard disc.

 

[Bill in Co.]

I don't know about 3 years ago, but even today, Dell still ship their PCs
with a recovery disc and drivers discs rather than put a recovery
partition
on the hard disc.

Well, I bought my WinXP Dell Desktop at the beginning of this year, and it
came with both the Dell System Restore partition AND the Dell OEM Windows XP
Home CD.

 

[Mazie]

I don't know about 3 years ago, but even today, Dell still ship their PCs
with a recovery disc and drivers discs rather than put a recovery partition
on the hard disc.

My very recent Dell came with,in addition to a drivers disk, both
an O/S reinstallation disk and a recovery partition. Don't know
why I need the recovery partition...

Mazie

 

[Bob I]

My very recent Dell came with,in addition to a drivers disk, both an O/S
reinstallation disk and a recovery partition. Don't know why I need the
recovery partition...

Mazie

Because its a lot faster than feeding CD's and loading drivers
individually. It sets up the factory fresh layout, but you have the
option to do a "custom" install from the CD's.

 

[HeyBub]

Hi all,
I recently wiped my sisters computer clean (fdisk and slow format) and
reinstalled WinXP Home fresh. She has a 3 yr old Dell Dimension. She was
not able to find her Win XP or driver discs. I used my copy
of win xp, but used her product key from the label on her computer
and it activated fine. I am having two problems that are more
annoyance than anything:
First, when you reboot the computer, when still in the bios a screen
comes up that says,
"Please select operating system"
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
and there is a count down waiting for me to pick one or the other. If I
choose the first one, Windows boots normally. If I let the
countdown finish, it automatically chooses the first one and finishes
booting. If I choose the 2nd one, I get a message saying that it
couldn't start because of a disk hardware configuration problem. Couldn't
read from selected boot disk. Check boot path and hardware.
Plus some stuff about checking the documentation.
Any thoughts about this? I am wondering if she had a backup/restore
partition on the hard drive from the factory and maybe that's why she
couldn't find her discs. Even if that is the case, should my
formatting and fdisk have wiped that clean?

As you no doubt discovered by now, FDISK and Format do not rewrite the
Master Boot Record. For this, and other, reasons, the two are not
appropriate for XP installations.

 

[Jim Ludwig]

Here are the contents of the boot.ini file:
[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect



How do I need to edit this file to prevent my problem? I was just going to
put a semicolon at the beginning of the very last line (at least that used
to be how we could add a comment line 20 ys. ago!), but should I just delete
the entire line instead? Also I notice the timeout=30 line. Do I need to
do anything with that?

Thanks again!

Jim

 

[M.I.5¾]

Well, I bought my WinXP Dell Desktop at the beginning of this year, and it
came with both the Dell System Restore partition AND the Dell OEM Windows
XP Home CD.

I too bought a Dell WinXP Desktop. No recovery partition, just the restore
CD and a drivers CD.

 

[M.I.5¾]

Here are the contents of the boot.ini file:
[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect

Make a copy of the BOOT.INI file (to (say) BOOT.BAK) and then Delete the
line that says:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect

from the BOOT.INI file.

I assume from the "/NoExecute=OptIn" in the previous line that that you have
very new processor, but if you haven't it does nothing.

 

[M.I.5¾]

As you no doubt discovered by now, FDISK and Format do not rewrite the
Master Boot Record. For this, and other, reasons, the two are not
appropriate for XP installations.

FDISK can rewrite the master boot record but its academic as the XP
installation will write one as required.

 

[Bill in Co.]

I too bought a Dell WinXP Desktop. No recovery partition, just the
restore
CD and a drivers CD.

I wonder why no Dell System Restore partition (or Diagnostics partition) on
yours? Are you certain? Because I bought my Dell 530 Inspiron Desktop
in January (with WinXP as my chosen option, and NOT Vista - it was getting
harder to find WinXP on many of the Dells even back then). So why not on
yours? And I have an Dell OEM WinXP CD, not just a restore CD)

 

[Jim Ludwig]

Thanks to all! Editing the boot.ini file as suggested by M.I.5 3/4 did the
trick with the boot up problem. I still have the double entries in my
device manager, but I'm not going to worry about them. Everything is
working fine and frankly, my sister has certainly never heard of device
manager, let alone know where to find it!
Jim

Here are the contents of the boot.ini file:
[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect

Make a copy of the BOOT.INI file (to (say) BOOT.BAK) and then Delete the
line that says:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect

from the BOOT.INI file.

I assume from the "/NoExecute=OptIn" in the previous line that that you
have very new processor, but if you haven't it does nothing.

 

[M.I.5¾]

I wonder why no Dell System Restore partition (or Diagnostics partition)
on yours? Are you certain? Because I bought my Dell 530 Inspiron
Desktop in January (with WinXP as my chosen option, and NOT Vista - it was
getting harder to find WinXP on many of the Dells even back then). So
why not on yours? And I have an Dell OEM WinXP CD, not just a restore
CD)

Mine also bought in January. Definitely no restore partition. Comes with a
Dell restore CD not an OEM CD. I also got it because it had WinXP (PRO -
but what the hell) rather than Vista. Mine is also is a Dell Inspiron 530.
As you can customise the build to a considerable extent, I wonder if the
recovery method supplied is dependant on what toys the machine comes with.

 

[M.I.5¾]

Thanks to all! Editing the boot.ini file as suggested by M.I.5 3/4 did
the trick with the boot up problem. I still have the double entries in my
device manager, but I'm not going to worry about them. Everything is
working fine and frankly, my sister has certainly never heard of device
manager, let alone know where to find it!
Jim

Glad to assist, and thanks for letting us know.

Here are the contents of the boot.ini file:
[boot loader]

timeout=30

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS

[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect

Make a copy of the BOOT.INI file (to (say) BOOT.BAK) and then Delete the
line that says:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect

from the BOOT.INI file.

I assume from the "/NoExecute=OptIn" in the previous line that that you
have very new processor, but if you haven't it does nothing.

 

[Bill in Co.]

Mine also bought in January. Definitely no restore partition. Comes with
a
Dell restore CD not an OEM CD. I also got it because it had WinXP (PRO -
but what the hell) rather than Vista. Mine is also is a Dell Inspiron
530.
As you can customise the build to a considerable extent, I wonder if the
recovery method supplied is dependent on what toys the machine comes with.

Perhaps. I'm a bit surprised at all this difference, however. Perhaps
it was also due to the Pro version coming on yours.

(BTW, my CD is called the Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Service Pack 2,
Reinstallation CD).

 

[HeyBub]

FDISK can rewrite the master boot record but its academic as the XP
installation will write one as required.

Yes, FDISK CAN rewrite the MBR, but only if you specify the /MBR switch.
What I suspect is that the OP ran FDISK without the switch. Then the XP
installation finds the MBR and, instead of replacing it, added another entry
for (what it believed to be) a second OS for the drive.

Then, during the boot process, the system puts its list of OSes on the
screen: pick one. But one - the original - has been scratched by the FORMAT
process.

I may be wrong; I've been thinking a lot about ducks lately, particularly
mallards.