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https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl DIY Forum >> Alarms, Phones, Aerials, CCTV & Datacomms >> Windows XP https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1103147656 Message started by chippysmith on Dec 15^th, 2004, 9:54pm

Title: Windows XP
Post by chippysmith on Dec 15^th, 2004, 9:54pm

Had a new PC built a while ago, still a fresh install but its suffering from a glitch which is causing it to crash totally. I want to delete the OS and start afresh, no worries about data or anything it 's empty. How do you guts get rid of xp, I cant see a way of doing it! no dos or command prompt?

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by Dewy on Dec 15^th, 2004, 10:02pm

You can format with XP home edition if you installed it in FAT32 but not if its in NTFS.
I lost a hard drive when I installed XP pro. I chose FAT32 but it didnt say that it only went in as the NT type.
I'm glad I didnt put it on the main drive or would have had to buy another HD

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by billythekid on Dec 15^th, 2004, 10:34pm

you can overwrite it with your XP CD though, NTFS is only writeable by microsoft I believe coz they own it. Do it in FAT32 especially if you ever want to partition linux or anything, coz only FAT32 is fully interchangeable for reading&writing to disc.

When you stick in yer CD choose install complete or something for a complete overwrite, or you could try the maxtor reformatting tool for just a formatting, cant find the address atm but its on the maxtor site.

What OS is installed atm?

[edit] not maxtor western digital, Western Digital's own free partitioning utility, "Data Lifeguard Tools V. 11.0": http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp?cxml=n&swid=1

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by chippysmith on Dec 15^th, 2004, 10:53pm

Its XP home edition

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by supersparky on Dec 15^th, 2004, 10:54pm

im pretty sure that on our linux instal, NTFS was an option as a file system, out of about 60 that were listed ::)

ss

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by billythekid on Dec 15^th, 2004, 10:57pm

yeah but the problem was I installed linux on an NTFS partition after allocating it about 20gig or so, then when i try to alter files on either drive here it doesnt have the rights to change, so if i'm working on linux i cant modify say a script saved on the other partitions(NTFS) if they were FAT32 no trouble. I'm fixing to get rid of XP entirely and reformat both drives anyway, then re-installing linux only, once i've burnt all my stuff to CD that is!

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by supersparky on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:00pm

lol, problem with linux is lack of drivers and programmes to suit

but i like it

pluggy gave me a link to an operating system "on a disk" litraly, you can run the computer without a hard drive :)

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by billythekid on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:00pm

chippysmith, when you insert the XP home CD, does it autorun asking what you want to do? Or when you open it does it seem blank?

If blank then its just a 'restore point' CD and not the full XP(many home edition are distributed like that) Then you might not be able to reformat and re-install XP. If the CD does have the option to install fresh then you can reformat using the tool i mentioned before(or try a right click on the drive and click format, poss wont work as the system running the formatting would be killed half way through!), then re-install windows.
Do you have a second drive?

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by billythekid on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:02pm

wrote on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:00pm:

lol, problem with linux is lack of drivers and programmes to suit

but i like it

Disagree, everythings out there if you know who to ask and where to look. And hey it's free!!!!

I like it too! :)

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by supersparky on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:04pm

indeed everything is out there, but ive not found games that will run on it

i like my medal of honor and red alert...well did until it became old

ss

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by billythekid on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:07pm

try wine, its the windows emulator and runs all my games fine(the options arent saved when you quit though because of the aforementioned NTFS problems)

http://www.winehq.com

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by supersparky on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:21pm

hmm cheers for that billy.....i might go linux when i can be bothered ;)

ss

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by chippysmith on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:21pm

The maxtor program didnt work, I think because of the partition, trying a fresh install from the original CD. Have just chosen to partition the unpartitioned space.... ooh err missus.. please dont go away

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by chippysmith on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:22pm

I think it's hung >:(

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by billythekid on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:23pm

yeah it can seemingly hang for ages( isnt it about 50 odd minutes to completetly install?)

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by chippysmith on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:29pm

no... it hung, just rebooted and it will not allow you to create the partition, says its reserved for windows xp. The unpartitioned space is only 8MB

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by chippysmith on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:32pm

I had to choose overite, no viable option for repartitioning :(

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by billythekid on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:36pm

overwriting in FAT32? ;D

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by chippysmith on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:38pm

It was in NTFS, hasn't given me the option to change it :(

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by billythekid on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:43pm

Yeah coz thats what they want you to use, bloody micronazi, I'm gonna be reformatting my disks soon, will see how it goes for me, That other proggie worked well here though, course i did buy one of their hard drives, but I am sure it gave the option of formatting any disk.

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by chippysmith on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:48pm

It's hung again, this time in the final stages of installation. I'm beginning to wonder if ther is a hardware fault. Afterall, it was me who put it together :-[

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by billythekid on Dec 15^th, 2004, 11:53pm

lol, what was the original trouble, were your programs hanging too?
Did you have SP2 installed or at the very least all the updates up to SP1?
Could the troubles be a software conflict?
What's your system spec?

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by chippysmith on Dec 16^th, 2004, 12:11am

Whilst at logon, it never crashed, if the missus signed in, never crashed. Only crashed with me logged on, so I guessed it was a software thingy.

Its an asus p4r800 mb
intel p4 chip 2.8
xfx geforce4 mx440 agp8x 64mb ddr
512mb pc3200 sdram
80gig hard drive

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by billythekid on Dec 16^th, 2004, 12:22am

i'd agree that it sounds like a software thing, although how long is the missus on it for compared to you? We had a system that would crash if left on too long, turned out to be a faulty heatsink/chip installation, normally insufficient heatsink would kill the chip in seconds but this lasted over 6 months(only occasional use) and took about that long to show itself. best to get the chip installed at a PC shop where they press it in properly without any risk of damaging it, they'll also put on the heatsink and the fan.

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by chippysmith on Dec 16^th, 2004, 12:27am

the heatsinks ok, pretty confident about that. The case doesn't have a fan! my other pc does??

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by billythekid on Dec 16^th, 2004, 12:39am

as long as the processor has a fan and the PSU has a fan you'll do fine, most case fans are for decoration!

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by L.Spark on Dec 16^th, 2004, 12:40am

Ditto that with the heatsink BTK, common with AMD Chips that havent been installed well or insufficient cooling.

This one froze when there was a problem with PSU connection to the motherboard, but that's unlikey to be your problem.

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by The_Trician on Dec 16^th, 2004, 12:42am

I hate XP - Never ever buy VERSION 1 of anything, especially when it comes from Microsoft.

I won't touch XP with a barge-pole.
If you've any sense, go buy a version of Windows 2000 Professional and use all available service packs to update it.

XP stinks.

TT

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by billythekid on Dec 16^th, 2004, 12:57am

better yet go linux ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by L.Spark on Dec 16^th, 2004, 2:33am

I said that before I got it TT, and having used NT and 2000 I know they were both stable to at least some degree and thought id never go for XP, I waited awhile and in end upgraded after SP1 was realsed, was a good move, never had any major problems, one or two things which I managed to sort out, still 2000 had to last some time as it's so widely used in buisness and isnt it on like SP6 now? lol

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by chippysmith on Dec 19^th, 2004, 6:27pm

I've had win 2000 pro running on the pc for a day or two now, still hanging. I've loaded no drivers so I guess its a hardware conflict. Have no idea where to start. Gues I'll put it down to experiace and buy the next one off the shelf!!

Any suggestions welcome!!

I dont really want to bin it it's all brand new!

Title: Re: Windows XP
Post by Stoday on Dec 19^th, 2004, 11:02pm

I've had this problem. Swapped everything & in the end found it was the MSI motherboard.

Never had any trouble with Asus though.