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Reformat c drive to remove 98 and install xp


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#1
dannma

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For various reasons I am trying toi reformat my c drive. When I originally purchased the computer the 40GB hard drive was partioned. I have moved all the files I wish to save to the d drive and am now looking to remove 98 and install xp. I have gone in explorer and selected the c drive right clicked and selected format but I just get ' windows cannot format this drive because it contains files in use by windows'. Can someone point me in the direct of a step by step guide of how I carry out this reinstall please? I have all the original driver disks and an old colleague gave me a cd copy of the image after all the drivers were originally added and before any otrher software was installed.

THANKS IN ANTICIPATION OF ANY HELP.

Mark
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#2
Murray S.

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Howdy and welcome to G2G:

All you have to do is boot into BIOS and make sure the first boot device is set to the cd-rom.. Put the XP cd in, save the change to BIOS and exit..

The system will reboot on its own and XP will start up..

You may get the option to boot from the harddrive or boot from the cd.. Pick the cd option..

From there, just follow the prompts... When it gives you the option to where you want to install XP, tell it to remove all partitions and then install XP..

Murray
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#3
dannma

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Many thanks for your prompt reply. When I reboot in Bios mode will I get the option to format only the c drive rather than destroying than the saved data on the d drive. Also when do I have to add all the drivers for the hardware?

Thank you again

Mark
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#4
caspdown

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ya make sure you do not touch the d drive pay attention to the the kb's also all drivers you install after windows install
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#5
dannma

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Ok so I have booted into the CMOS Setup Utility. I selected Advanced BIOS Features and set the First Boot Device to CDROM. The Second is IDE -O and the Third is set as the same. I have saved the settings and rebooted again. When rebooted the system is a little slower and continues to start in Win 98 and goes through to the desktop as such. I can saee via explorer that the XP cd is there and opens Ok. Am I going in the right direction?

Thanks

Mark
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#6
wannabe1

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Hey Mark...Welcome to G2G!

Sounds like you let it go a little too far. Suggestion: Reboot your computer with the XP cd in the drive. Towards the end of the boot sequence, but before Windows 98 actually starts to load, there should be a prompt at the bottom of the screen which states "Press any key to boot from cd". At this point, tap a key like the space bar and then follow Murray's advice from earlier.

One bit of clarification for me, though...Is your D drive actually a separate drive from your C drive or is it a partition on the C drive? If it is a partition on the C drive then you will not want to remove all partitians from the drive if you wish to save the data on D. If they are separate physical drives then just follow the prompts.

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#7
dannma

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Thanks for the last info. and my profuse apologies for a step by step understanding on this matter.
I have carried out the instructions and have now been able to get into the XP Boot Screen. Just to clarify previous comments the c and d drive are the same 40GB hard drive but divided up as 30GB c and 10 d. I am now at the point where the details of the 2 drives are shown as Partion 1 C (Main) and Partion 2 (Diskimage) both are fat32. Above this info I am given 3 options.

1 To set up Win XP on the selected item (ie c or d) press ENTER
2.To create a partition on the unpartioned space press C
3. To delete the selected partion press D

To recap I am looking to reformat the c drive as I have saved my data onto D. Should I therefore

Select the c drive and press D to reformat it
Or should I just go to option 1 to install XP. Concern with this option is that I am just retaining win 98 and the bad data on the c drive.

Sorry for my ignorance.

Thanks for your replies.
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#8
wannabe1

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Hi, Mark...

Ignorance would be plowing ahead without asking questions....

What kind of bad data is present on drive C? Do you suspect malware or viral infection?

The safest route would be to choose to Setup XP on the C drive (choice 1) If you suspect malware, the experts in the malware forum are very good at cleaning things up. XP is going to really change a lot of things when it installs and may just take care of your concerns just by installing...but then, if the data on the D partition is infected, it will reinfect everything when you transfer it to the C drive anyway.

If it were me, I would choose option 1 and install XP on the C drive as it is. Get the system up and running and check it with the software available in the malware forums before moving anything over from the D drive...that way you can clean up that data before moving it. If it were me.....

It may not be a bad idea to hold off until you have an opinion from a G2G Staffer as they have most likely dealt with similar situations in the past...better safe than sorry!

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

wannabe1
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#9
dannma

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Wannabe 1 don't you guys sleep over in US.
Problem regarding the reformat is that for some reason the computer locks up very regularly. I am currently unable to print or save anything on to usb stick. I can only close the comp down by switching off at the wall socket even by doing Ctr Alt Del it locks. It also takes a long time to log in even though I have unchecked as many things as possible by using Starter v5.6. Whenever I try to open a programme I always get the message INTERNET EXPLORER SCRIPT EDITOR An error has occured in the script on this page, do you want to continue running scripts on this page YES or
NO?

I have run adaware, grisoft6, search and destroy all with their latest updates. My only solution I could come up with then was a reformat especially as I use XP at work and I think now is the time to migrate to a slightly better supported product.

I certainly take your point re the transfer of original data from the d drive take to the c. I will await a reply from the G2G Staffer before progressing.

Thanks again, hopefully I will get there in the end.
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#10
peterm

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Hi Mark
Ok you leave the partition alone. Do you have access to another computer
just in case you slipup.

1) Reboot with theXP disc in the Drive, watch for the press any key to boot from cd.
2) take option 1. it should give you the option to install where you like
it should ask if you want to format the partition say yes to partition c drive.
YOU must format it as FAT 32 if you use NTFS you will not be able to read
your D drive.
XP may not fix your shutdown problems. I have a 40gig drive and run
98 & xp when I shut down in xp 90% of the time it won't turn the computer off. All you have to do is hold the on button in for about 5 seconds.

IF IN DOUBT DO NOTHING AND ASK.
Cheers
Peterm
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#11
dannma

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Yes thanks for your comment Peter. I do have a spare computer that I have dragged out of the loft and reset up to comnicate with the outside world. Unfortunately it is only a 233 put seems to do the job ok. Other reason for the change to XP is that whilst I have ethernet cards installed on both machines I am having difficulty commnicating between them as I was hoping to save the data from the faulty machine onto the old machine. Hopefully when I get this XP issue resolved I will be able to move on to sorting that out in a different forum. Whilst it would probably have been so much easier to have gone out and purchased a new machine for £500 that would have been the easy option and no sense of achievement if I final reach my goal with you your assitance.
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#12
peterm

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ok do you have a hub or a cross over cable?
to talk between both you need 1 or the other
what system is on the old machine
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#13
dannma

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The old computer is running win98. I have a yellow network cable that came with the ethernet cards. I have in the past managed to adjust the settings in control panel/network settings to ensure both computers can see each other, but I am struggling to replicate again. I can see lots of network controller options from the list and the Primary Networl Login is saying Client for Microsoft Networks. Both the computers have names are there any other tweaks I should check?

Thanks

Mark
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#14
peterm

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back in a sec I will reboot into 98
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#15
peterm

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ok you should have an icon on the desktop network neighborhood
Right click > properties
this should give you a list of of items 1 of them should be TCP IP
you should have 2 - 1 for your internet connection and 1 for you network card
highlight your network card and click on properties. click on specify an IP address. Put in 192.168.0.5 sub net mask should fill in if not put in
255.255.255.0 click ok It wil then ask to reboot click yes.
Do this on both machines but on the other machine put in 192.168.0.6 If you do not have TCP IP in the list then we will have to add it. also you will have to share your hard drive so we can copy things. if you dont know how I will walk you through it.
are you using dial up or asdl
IF IN DOUBT DO NOTHING

Edited by peterm, 11 June 2005 - 03:21 AM.

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