[thedarkprince]

Hi,

Can someone very quickly explain what i'll need for a complete reformat of XP pro? The annoying thing is that XP was installed over the top of Windows ME. WIll this cause any problems?

What's the bootable floppy disk called? And will i need the one for ME or XP? Or is it just a generic one?

Cheers guys

Edited by thedarkprince, 05 July 2005 - 11:33 AM.

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Howdy:

All you need is yopur WinXP cd and to make sure the first boot device in BIOS is set to boot from the cd-rom first..

Put the XP cd in and choose "boot from cd" (if given the option).. from there, just follow the prompts.. One of your options will be to remove all partitions and install XP.. use that one..

Murray

[Murray S.]

Howdy:

All you need is yopur WinXP cd and to make sure the first boot device in BIOS is set to boot from the cd-rom first..

Put the XP cd in and choose "boot from cd" (if given the option).. from there, just follow the prompts.. One of your options will be to remove all partitions and install XP.. use that one..

Murray

[thedarkprince]

Wow, that simple?!

Why is it you always think its going to be a lot more complicated

Cheers




EDIT: If i want to put ME back on (XP was put on from a copied disc), is it exactly the same process? I'm assuming it is.

Edited by thedarkprince, 04 July 2005 - 09:52 AM.

[Murray S.]

That simple as long as the XP cd is original.. If it is a copy you or someone made for you, then it is a tad more drawn out!!

Murray

[thedarkprince]

What about the edited bit to the post?...

EDIT: If i want to put ME back on (XP was put on from a copied disc), is it exactly the same process? I'm assuming it is.


Cheers

[Murray S.]

If XP was a copied cd then your support for that ends now and the instructions I gave you won't work !!

As for ME, no.. that will be entirely different..

Murray

[thedarkprince]

Like i said, the XP IS a copied version which is why i don't want to put it back on, I want to put on the original WIN ME.

Any chance you could move this topic to the other OS forum for me? Or shall i start a new thread?

Cheers dude


EDIT: Reading that back, it sounds a bit of a sh*tty response . Apologies if you read it that way too, no offence intended.

Edited by thedarkprince, 04 July 2005 - 10:07 AM.

[Murray S.]

No offense taken..

You will need a WinME boot floppy.. You can get the needed file from www.bootdisk.com.. Download it and then run the self-extracting .exe file to install the required files on a clean formatted floppy..

Once that is done, you will need to make sure your system is set to boot from the floppy drive first (setup in BIOS)..

Save the change, put the floppy in the drive and reboot your system..

When you get to a:>/ prompt, type in fdisk Now, you will need to choose the option to remove all NON-DOS Partitions.. Say YES to all questions..

When those have been removed, use the option to remove the Primary DOS partition.. Again, say YES..

That being done, reboot leaving the floppy in..

Once you are back at a prompt, type in fdisk again and press <enter>

This time you will be setting up a Primary DOS Partition.. YES to all questions..

Once the partition has been setup, reboot (floppy stays in).. This time when you get to a:>/ prompt, type in format c: and press <enter> YES again !!

Almost done.. Once formatting has finished, reboot (floppy stays in).. Make sure you choose the option to "Start WITH cd-rom support".. Once everything has loaded, put your WinME cd into the drive.. change the drive prompt to your cd-rom drive letter and type in setup

Away you go!!

Murray

[thedarkprince]

Thanks for that, i'll be ginving it a go later this evening.

Will let you know how it goes.

Cheers

[thedarkprince]

Houston, we have a problem

The reformatting went okay. The instructions were spot on. Everything was looking good except when installing ME, the screen went fuzzy and the PC froze. I left it for 30mins thinking it may just be temporarily hanging but no joy. Checked back an hour later, still nothing. Started tapping escape, F1, CTRL + ALT + DELETE, nothing.

In the end, i had to hold the power button in to turn it off. Went to start it up again (with the floppy disk in and CD in) but again nothing. It doesn't even get far enough to power up the monitor

Is there anything i can do to get this going again? I have my PC here as well, could i put the hard disk into my PC an do something from there?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Cheers

[Murray S.]

Check your power supply or the CPU fan and heatsink..

Murray

[thedarkprince]

Okay, I have the PC open. I have checked the power supply and it all seems fine and i would check the heatsink, if i knew what it was

Sorry, i don't know a great deal about the inner workings.

[Murray S.]

The heatsink and CPU fan are the items attached to the CPU for heat dissipation..

Make sure they are clean as well as the fan and cooling slots for your power supply..

Murray

[thedarkprince]

Yeah, it all looks good. Checked every single connection and cleaned the fan of a small amount of dust but still no joy.

Any other ideas?

[gerryf]

your problems are consistant with a failed cpu (the actual chip) or power supply.


When you press the power button

a) do you here fans?
b) any beeps?