A
Ablang
September 27th, 2005
Answer Line: Create a Windows CD
Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector
My new laptop came with a recovery disc but not with a stand-alone
Windows XP CD. What can I do?
--Abdul Hamid, Denver
Microsoft requires that every PC bundled with Windows provide some way
of restoring the operating system, but too many bundled Windows XP
"restore" CDs merely return your hard drive to its factory condition,
which wipes out all of your data and any apps you've added.
Fortunately, vendors appear to be moving away from these data-wiping
recovery discs. I recently looked at new PCs from ABS, Dell, Gateway,
Lenovo, and WinBook, all of which came with either a real Windows XP
CD or another way to perform nondestructive OS reinstalls.
If your PC lacks a Windows CD, a folder named 'i386' containing the
Windows installation files is probably in the root directory of drive
C: or in your C:\Windows folder. Your system may have several i386
folders, but the one you want has a lot of files with extensions
ending in underscores (_), along with the executable files expand.exe,
regedit.exe, and winnt32.exe. Copy this folder onto a CD for
safekeeping, though you'll use the version on the hard drive to
actually reinstall Windows.
Keep your 25-character Windows Product Key handy--you'll need it to
reinstall the OS. The number is on the back of your PC, on the bottom
of your notebook, or in some other hard-to-read spot; it may be listed
in the documentation as well.
You'll also need a bootable CD for starting the install process. Bart
Lagerweij's free PE Builder creates a CD-bootable version of XP called
Bart's Pre-install Environment, or BartPE, from either a Windows CD or
the i386 folder. Download PE Builder here:
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
Open PE Builder's main dialog box and select the folder or drive
containing your i386 folder, but not the folder itself. Check Create
ISO image, click Burn to CD, and select your CD-RW drive from the
Device drop-down menu. If PE Builder doesn't support your burner,
double-click the PE Builder--created .iso file to launch your CD
authoring program and burn the CD.
To reinstall Windows, boot from the BartPE CD you just created and
select Go, Programs, A43 File Management Utility. Navigate to the hard
drive's i386 folder (do not use the i386 folder on the CD).
Double-click winnt32.exe to start the installation process. When the
installation program closes, reboot your PC, remove the CD, and select
Microsoft Windows XP Setup from the resulting boot menu. The
installation will pick up where it left off.
For more tips on keeping your PC healthy, visit PC World's Info Center
on Desktop Computers:
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/infocenter/0,ctrid,3,ic,Desktops,tk,urx,00.asp
Opaque or Transparent Desktop Text?
I fiddled with some Windows settings, and now all the icon names on my
desktop appear in a block of color rather than on top of the desktop
wallpaper. How do I revert to showing the icon names' transparent
background?
--Joshua Fisher, Newport News, Virginia
Some people like their wallpaper showing through the letters; others
hate it. To change this setting in Windows XP, right-click My Computer
and select Properties, Advanced. In the Performance box, click
Settings. Check or uncheck Use drop shadows for icon labels on the
desktop. Click Apply to see if you like the results. When you're
satisfied, click OK twice.
No other version of Windows offers this icon-label option. If you use
another Windows version and don't like the resulting color blocks
behind your icon names, check out Transparent, a free program by Jay
Guerette that makes your wallpaper shine through:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,26046,tk,urx,00.asp
For more Windows tips, visit PC World' Info Center on Windows:
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/infocenter/0,ctrid,6,ic,Windows,tk,urx,00.asp
Make a DOS App Work With a USB Printer, Again
A number of readers weren't satisfied with my advice from last June's
column for printing from an old DOS program to a new USB printer:
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,120357,tk,urx,00.asp
They were right. I concentrated on parallel versus USB port issues. A
bigger difficulty is that many of today's printers don't understand
DOS commands. The $20 DOS Printer shareware program solves this
problem by running in the background, looking for any printer
instructions headed for LPT1. When it gets these instructions, it
converts them into something Windows--and your real printer's
driver--will understand. Download it from Dave Beggs' site:
http://www.dsbglobal.com/dosprinter/
Send your tips and questions to:
answer at pcworld.com
Read Lincoln Spector's regularly published "Answer Line" columns:
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/columnist/0,colid,1,tk,ur,00.asp
===
"Under the guise of anonymity, whether it is on the internet, or on the roadway, a person's true nature will come forward."
-- Me
Answer Line: Create a Windows CD
Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector
My new laptop came with a recovery disc but not with a stand-alone
Windows XP CD. What can I do?
--Abdul Hamid, Denver
Microsoft requires that every PC bundled with Windows provide some way
of restoring the operating system, but too many bundled Windows XP
"restore" CDs merely return your hard drive to its factory condition,
which wipes out all of your data and any apps you've added.
Fortunately, vendors appear to be moving away from these data-wiping
recovery discs. I recently looked at new PCs from ABS, Dell, Gateway,
Lenovo, and WinBook, all of which came with either a real Windows XP
CD or another way to perform nondestructive OS reinstalls.
If your PC lacks a Windows CD, a folder named 'i386' containing the
Windows installation files is probably in the root directory of drive
C: or in your C:\Windows folder. Your system may have several i386
folders, but the one you want has a lot of files with extensions
ending in underscores (_), along with the executable files expand.exe,
regedit.exe, and winnt32.exe. Copy this folder onto a CD for
safekeeping, though you'll use the version on the hard drive to
actually reinstall Windows.
Keep your 25-character Windows Product Key handy--you'll need it to
reinstall the OS. The number is on the back of your PC, on the bottom
of your notebook, or in some other hard-to-read spot; it may be listed
in the documentation as well.
You'll also need a bootable CD for starting the install process. Bart
Lagerweij's free PE Builder creates a CD-bootable version of XP called
Bart's Pre-install Environment, or BartPE, from either a Windows CD or
the i386 folder. Download PE Builder here:
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
Open PE Builder's main dialog box and select the folder or drive
containing your i386 folder, but not the folder itself. Check Create
ISO image, click Burn to CD, and select your CD-RW drive from the
Device drop-down menu. If PE Builder doesn't support your burner,
double-click the PE Builder--created .iso file to launch your CD
authoring program and burn the CD.
To reinstall Windows, boot from the BartPE CD you just created and
select Go, Programs, A43 File Management Utility. Navigate to the hard
drive's i386 folder (do not use the i386 folder on the CD).
Double-click winnt32.exe to start the installation process. When the
installation program closes, reboot your PC, remove the CD, and select
Microsoft Windows XP Setup from the resulting boot menu. The
installation will pick up where it left off.
For more tips on keeping your PC healthy, visit PC World's Info Center
on Desktop Computers:
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/infocenter/0,ctrid,3,ic,Desktops,tk,urx,00.asp
Opaque or Transparent Desktop Text?
I fiddled with some Windows settings, and now all the icon names on my
desktop appear in a block of color rather than on top of the desktop
wallpaper. How do I revert to showing the icon names' transparent
background?
--Joshua Fisher, Newport News, Virginia
Some people like their wallpaper showing through the letters; others
hate it. To change this setting in Windows XP, right-click My Computer
and select Properties, Advanced. In the Performance box, click
Settings. Check or uncheck Use drop shadows for icon labels on the
desktop. Click Apply to see if you like the results. When you're
satisfied, click OK twice.
No other version of Windows offers this icon-label option. If you use
another Windows version and don't like the resulting color blocks
behind your icon names, check out Transparent, a free program by Jay
Guerette that makes your wallpaper shine through:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,26046,tk,urx,00.asp
For more Windows tips, visit PC World' Info Center on Windows:
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/infocenter/0,ctrid,6,ic,Windows,tk,urx,00.asp
Make a DOS App Work With a USB Printer, Again
A number of readers weren't satisfied with my advice from last June's
column for printing from an old DOS program to a new USB printer:
http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,120357,tk,urx,00.asp
They were right. I concentrated on parallel versus USB port issues. A
bigger difficulty is that many of today's printers don't understand
DOS commands. The $20 DOS Printer shareware program solves this
problem by running in the background, looking for any printer
instructions headed for LPT1. When it gets these instructions, it
converts them into something Windows--and your real printer's
driver--will understand. Download it from Dave Beggs' site:
http://www.dsbglobal.com/dosprinter/
Send your tips and questions to:
answer at pcworld.com
Read Lincoln Spector's regularly published "Answer Line" columns:
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/columnist/0,colid,1,tk,ur,00.asp
===
"Under the guise of anonymity, whether it is on the internet, or on the roadway, a person's true nature will come forward."
-- Me