Pls Help W/ Wiping Hard Drives Clean

[webgyrl]

Heya!

 

Sorry I haven't been around for a bit. Having some major puter troubles as of late.

 

No virus, did the checks with AVG and Norton... just having major program loading issues, clutter, certain web features not working (like Media players) and a lot of other things. I think the drives I have are taxed and I also need to upgrade to XP- it's time! 4 years of beating this beast has run it into a big mess and I can't yet replace the system with a new one. So I figure wiping nad reinstalling plus the upgrade will buy me a bit of time.. I hope anyway.

 

So, was wondering if anyone out there could give some advice on how to wipe out both drives on a two drive system. First drive is a 10 Gig C drive, second is a 38 GIG D drive. I would like to reinstall WIN 98SE and then I have the Windows XP HOME upgrade CD to upgrade the OS.

 

I have backed everything up (30 CD-Roms later!) and need to know the best way to totally WIPE and reformat both drives.

 

I was reading somewhere that I have to do some procedure to ZERO out the drive and that just reformating with my Gateway system restoration CD is not enough to totally get rid of everything and start over again CLEAN. Some articles state to only use a low-level zero-fill or diagnostic utility designed for my particular hard disk and that I can download one for free frommy drive manufacturer's web site.

 

When I look at my system properties in the DEVICE MANAGER it states that I have these two drives:

GENERIC IDE DISK TYPE1

GENERIC IDE DISK TYPE2

 

So how do I know who the manufacturer is. I think the second drive I bought is a Seagate drive, but I totally can't remember now. Does anyone know where I can get one of these Zero fill utilities?

 

When I reformat, do I do D drive first and then C drive? Will my second drive need a driver at all? I added in the 2nd drive myself a few years ago and I can't recall that it came with any driver software.

 

 

I read somewhere about "Fdisk". Can someone tell me about that or point me to an article that discusses what that is?

 

I had trouble getting a boot disk made from START -> SETTINGS ->CONTROL PANEL -> ADD/REMOVE PROGS -> STARTUP DISK It said something was missing and even when I popped in my OS disk it couldn't make the floppy disk.. so I got the WIN 98SE boot disk files from www.bootdisk.com. Wil that work OK?

 

I have a CD ROM with all my drivers on it as well in preperation

.

The instructions I have for reformatting, say to do the following:

 

1.)Start system with boot disk and Windows Installation CD and wait till you get c:\ prompt in DOS

 

2.) Type: format c: /q

 

What I want to know is that if I leave out the /q will it ZERO out all the sectors? Is this a bettere procedure than format c: /q

 

Also, I if I do reformat and zero out, will my CD ROM drive work or is there something I have to do to get that working so I can reinstall the OS? I actually replaced the original CD ROM drive with another one, so the CD ROM drive is NOT the one that came with the original system, same goes for the Video Card.. but I do have a CD with the drivers... should I put those particular drivers on Floppy as well in case I need to load them from the Floppy drive?

 

Just heading out to Borders to see if I can read up on this, but if anyone can help me out with some articles or pointers, I'd really apprecaite it.

 

Thanks a mil!

 

Nat

 

PS. Anyone know about updrading BIOS? Right now I have Intel Corp. 4W4SBOXO.15A.0017.P12

Should I upgrade the BIOS and how would I do that?

[Madmanmcp]

Whew, lots of question and a long note to read

 

Hi Nat, basically what you need to do is to have a Win98 boot disk (floppy) and then boot with this and run FDISK and FORMAT on both drives.

 

Not sure why you want to "zero" out the drive, this is usually done to clear all the information so no one else can read it. If you are keeping this drive than zeroing it out is an unnecessary step.

 

Here is a site that you can read and fine everything you will need to fdisk and format your drives.

 

http://bootdisk.com

 

After reading there if you still need help or have questions come on back.

[webgyrl]

Whew, lots of question and a long note to read

 

Hi Nat, basically what you need to do is to have a Win98 boot disk (floppy) and then boot with this and run FDISK and FORMAT on both drives.

 

Not sure why you want to "zero" out the drive, this is usually done to clear all the information so no one else can read it. If you are keeping this drive than zeroing it out is an unnecessary step.

 

Here is a site that you can read and fine everything you will need to fdisk and format your drives.

 

http://bootdisk.com

 

After reading there if you still need help or have questions come on back.

Bob,

 

Yeah, sorry about all the questions.

 

The reason I want to zero the drive out is because I want it to be like it was from the factory. In fact, the system was screwey when I first got it from Gateway and thier tech support had me wipe the drive and reinstall WIN 98 in the first week I had it.

 

When I first got the system I really had no idea about computers and I know I got a virus or two in that first year and also I really have messed up the registry. I just want to have the drives as clean as possible before I reinstall and upgrade the OS.

 

I read that writing zeros to the drive is the best way to do this. I do understand that one tends to do this when selling a computer, and yes, I do want it that clean. As if I am starting from scratch basically.

 

As for Fdisk etc... will I do this at the c:\ prompt?

 

I will read over that link you left.

 

Thanks

 

Nat

[webgyrl]

What about using:

 

http://www.killdisk.com/

 

Any thoughts?

[youneverknow]

If you have the upgrade to XP Home disk DO NOT reinstall win 98 SE!!!

Just boot from the XP CD and it will ask you to insert the 98 disk for verification. This way you do not need to install all that 98 clutter and have a clean drive with just XP.

I also agree that a format is all that is necessary forget the zero out thing.

Good Luck with this project

youneverknow

[webgyrl]

If you have the upgrade to XP Home disk DO NOT reinstall  win 98 SE!!!

Just boot from the XP CD and it will ask you to insert the 98 disk for verification.  This way you do not need to install all that 98 clutter and have a clean drive with just XP.

I also agree that a format is all that is necessary forget the zero out thing.

Good Luck with this project

youneverknow

Why do you not recommend wiping the drives and resinstalling WIN 98SE and then doing the upgrade? I am just confused as I don't want any remnant of anything on the drives.

 

If my registry etc is all messed up wouldn't this be the best procedure?

 

My main concern here is that both my drives are an absolute mess and that the registry is screwed up. I really want to wipe out everything and start from zero.

 

Just out of curiosity, why is the Zero out thing not necessary? I read that if you don't do this there are still some remnants of whatever was on the hard drive left over. Are you guys saying that just reformatting itself would wipe out any bad sectors or virus remnants etc?

 

Thanks for all the suggestions, keep em coming. I am planning to do this all tomorrow.

 

 

 

Nat

[Madmanmcp]

Nat, I was at work and didn't have time to give my reply a lot of time, I am home now and will try to do a little better.

 

youneverknow has already suggested it and I also think its better, leave win98 off the computer. The XP update CD will allow you to wipe the old disks clean with fdisk and then you can partition with NTFS (my recomendation) and install the XP Operating system clean. After this you can fdisk the second hard drive and partition it.

 

Things you will need to decide are what applications you need and will they be available. What I mean by this is your original system comes with pre-loaded software which is on your recovery CD. In some cases the only way to get this software reloaded is to install it using the recovery CD which will also load the Win98 OS. Which we are trying to avoid. So, is there any of this pre-loaded software that you will need?

 

As for the zero-filling. This is a totally unnecessary step. Once you fdisk a drive and delete all the partitions, your data is gone...sort of

 

By "sort of" I mean its possible to be recovered but only by experts with specialize programs. Once you put a new partition in and start formating and save data and files onto the disk, the slimmer the chances are to recover any of the old data. When you start install the new operating system there is no way that it can "see" or "access" any of the old data. So forget about zeroing out.

[Madmanmcp]

The reason I want to zero the drive out is because I want it to be like it was from the factory.

The Recovery CD will do this. There is usually and option to fdisk the drive, delete the partion, recreate the partition, format the drive and then copy all the data back and make it exactly like it was when you got it "from the factory".

 

The recovery CD also has the option of "recovering" from a problem. It will install everything over the current installation and not lose anything you currently have, your data and configurations will remain as they currently are.

 

Are you guys saying that just reformatting itself would wipe out any bad sectors or virus remnants etc?

 

Yes, the virus files would no longer be there and when you "format" the dirve any bad sectors will be flagged and not used.

[webgyrl]

Nat, I was at work and didn't have time to give my reply a lot of time, I am home now and will try to do a little better.

 

youneverknow has already suggested it and I also think its better, leave win98 off the computer. The XP update CD will allow you to wipe the old disks clean with fdisk and then you can partition with NTFS (my recomendation) and install the XP Operating system clean. After this you can fdisk the second hard drive and partition it.

 

Things you will need to decide are what applications you need and will they be available. What I mean by this is your original system comes with pre-loaded software which is on your recovery CD. In some cases the only way to get this software reloaded is to install it using the recovery CD which will also load the Win98 OS. Which we are trying to avoid. So, is there any of this pre-loaded software that you will need?

 

As for the zero-filling. This is a totally unnecessary step. Once you fdisk a drive and delete all the partitions, your data is gone...sort of

 

By "sort of" I mean its possible to be recovered but only by experts with specialize programs. Once you put a new partition in and start formating and save data and files onto the disk, the slimmer the chances are to recover any of the old data. When you start install the new operating system there is no way that it can "see" or "access" any of the old data. So forget about zeroing out.

Bob,

 

OK sounds good. Forgive me for being so ignorant on all this... I just want to make sure I do this right.

 

I don't mind about loosing everything I have on this system. I have all the software disks and I have backed up all of my files etc. I think XP Home has a "Go Back" type of thing on it so I don't need Gateway Go Back installed. I don't think it came with anything else except the seperate Microsoft Office 2000 CD and that I can install on XP seperately as it is not on the SYSTEM RESTORATION CD.

 

I am concerned about the drivers, but I have most of them on a CD ROM. My big concerns are that I installed a new CD RW Drive and a second Hard Drive (D) and I don't have drivers for these. I am trying to find them and put them on disk. The CD ROM is a Sony CD-RW CRX185e1 and I can't seem to find that Driver on Sony's Optical products site. The second drive is listed as that GENERIC type IDE Drive, and for the life of me I can't recall the manufacturer. I think it's Seagate, but I have no idea.

 

Should I be concerned about the CD ROM and the second hard drive drivers?

 

So you are saying that I should shut down my system, pop in the XP Home Upgrade CD and go from there? I guess if I do that I then don't use the System Restoration CD that came with the system from Gateway? I also have their partial backup disk that has drivers on it etc.

 

Is there a site or an article that would list the step by step proceedure for this.

 

I am a bit scared about doing all this, as I'm sure you can tell.

 

Thanks SO much for the help.

 

Nat

[webgyrl]

Just checking the Gateway System Restoration CD and it lists the following:

Partial Backup of System Software

Hardware Drivers

Windows 2000, Windows 98 or Windwos 95 restoration Program

NT4 Driver Locator utility

 

Let me pop this in my CD ROm and read exactly what software there is.... Be back in a few minutes

 

Nat

[webgyrl]

sorry.. crashed again

 

grrr

 

OK will be linking a series of screenshots to show you the system restoration cd contents:

[webgyrl]

Shot 2 of system restoration software...

 

so far I don't see anything I really need. I have a Norton Internet Security new version on CD ROm, I think Win XP has a system restoration utility built in and I can download RealPlayer and Adobe Acrobat Reader from the net later on....

[webgyrl]

Shot 3 with hardware view

 

I think I could still pop this disk in after using the WIN XP upgrade CD to install these drivers? Am I correct in this assumption? Also, I thought that WIN XP had some built in drivers for Keyboard, Mouse and Modem and I assume the latest Dirext X plugin would be on the Upgrade CD? Is that true? I guess I could try to find those SoundBlaster Drivers and have them on CD ROM... let me try to find the drivers somewhere.

[Madmanmcp]

Forgive me for being so ignorant on all this..

You don't need to apologize, only way to learn is to ask and there are lots here willing to teach 30 years ago I didn't know this stuff and had to ask others.

 

I am concerned about the drivers

 

If you have XP now I would think you would not have a problem, XP may have all the drivers you need. But you could possibly go to the MS XP upgrade page and run the program there that will check your system to see if everything is compatible.

 

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/up...heckcompat.mspx

click on the "use the Upgrade Advisor"

 

So you are saying that I should shut down my system, pop in the XP Home Upgrade CD and go from there?

If you decide to bypass win98 and install XP clean, yes.

 

I guess if I do that I then don't use the System Restoration CD that came with the system from Gateway?

 

Correct.

 

Is there a site or an article that would list the step by step proceedure for this.

At the bootdisk site I sent you.

 

I am a bit scared about doing all this, as I'm sure you can tell.

 

You are going about this the correct way, fear is good ... but asking all the questions beforehand and learning all you can will help you get over this fear.

[TCH-Thomas]

Nat,

Instead of RealPlayer try Real alternative and instead of Quick time try Quick time Alternative. With them you will get rid of the annoying pop ups that shows up often.

[webgyrl]

Bob,

 

Thanks. I truly appreciate that people here are cool with helping those who haven't done these sorts of things before... and you know me.. always with the questions, questions, questions.

 

I am downloading the Upgrade Advisor right now and will run that.

 

So far I am thinking that doing this all from the Win XP disk is a better route... now for the sake of redundancy... my procedure would be as follows:

 

Place WIN XP Upgrade CD into DC ROM

 

Shut Down

 

Start UP

 

The CD ROM will activate and lead me through upgrade procedure

 

Will I have a choice here to format BOTH C and D Drives or do I have to do this from DOS before?

 

That is the part I am confused about now... when to do the drive reformat and FDISK.... BTW when do I do the FDISK and do I just type FDISK in to the DOS Prompt?

 

Thanks,

Nat

[webgyrl]

Nat,

Instead of RealPlayer try Real alternative and instead of Quick time try Quick time Alternative. With them you will get rid of the annoying pop ups that shows up often.

Where do I get these alternatives?

 

I never had any luck installing Quicktime on 98 SE, will it work with XP? I am running a 550mHz w 256 MB RAM

 

Thanks a mil!

 

Nat

[webgyrl]

Oh about the Sound Blaster Drivers.... will the WIN XP software have them?

[webgyrl]

Bob,

 

Just read this

 

What Do I Need to Know Before I Use Upgrade Advisor?

There are a few important things to note before you use Upgrade Advisor:

 

• Download size: The Upgrade Advisor download is large (approximately 50 megabytes), and is recommended only for download over a high-speed Internet connection, such as DSL or cable modem.

 

• Installation verbiage: The Upgrade Advisor is the same tool that is used to scan your system for compatibility issues before you install Windows XP. For that reason, some of the language in the tool may imply that you are actually installing Windows XP.

 

• Upgrade scenarios: The Upgrade Advisor checks for upgrade eligibility to Windows XP Professional only. Please use the link in Step 1 below to find out whether your version of Windows is eligible for upgrade.

 

• International versions: Upgrade Advisor is available only for U.S. versions of Windows. International Windows XP Web sites may be offering Upgrade Advisor in the future. Check back for links to international versions.

 

Since I am upgrading to WINDOWS XP HOME, will this Advisor do me any good?

[webgyrl]

Oh lordy....

 

Just reading the bootdisk stuff and am here:

http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.php

 

So it says these OEM CD's sometimes mess up the instalation. I am still reading through the article... but I am assuming that if I go the route we have discussed ie: popping in the XP HOME upgrade disk it should step me through a "NEW INSTALL". I am assuming I DON'T want to transfer files and settings... but how do I make sure both drives are REFORMATTED in this process?

 

Has anyone ever done this specific kind of install to XP HOME?

[webgyrl]

From here:

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

 

Ok so far this seems to be a good route:

 

If your computer is capable of booting from a CD-ROM drive and you would rather install using this method, then:

 

Start your computer and then insert the Windows XP CD into your CD-ROM drive.

 

Your computer should automatically detect the CD, and a message "Press any key to boot CD" will be displayed for 5 seconds.

 

Press a key and the CD will begin to load files that are needed to begin the installation. This make take a few minutes.

 

When asked if you wish to install Windows XP press Enter.

 

You will be presented with the End User Licensing Agreement. Press F8 to accept and continue or press F3 to cancel the install.

 

Select the partition in which you wish to install Windows XP and press the Enter key.

 

The next screen asks if you wish to use the NTFS file system. This is the preferred file system, however, if you choose to use FAT32, you will not have all the security and stability features of Windows XP.

 

If you previously had an Operating System installed you will be given a choice of Format options . Select the Format option of your choice. When asked to start the format, press the "F" key. The formatting process may take quite a bit of time.

 

Setup will begin an automated loading of files which will take several minutes.

***Note - If you are clean installing using an XP Upgrade CD you will be asked for a qualifying product at this point. Just pop the CD for your older version of Windows into the drive while the XP setup completes an authenticity check. Following this you will be prompted for the XP CD and setup will continue.

 

After this is complete the computer will restart. Leave the XP CD in the drive but this time DO NOT press any key when the message it "Press any key to boot CD" is displayed. In 5 seconds setup will continue.

 

The Windows XP Setup wizard will lead you through the process of gathering information about you and your computer.

 

If you are connected to the Internet XP will prompt you to "Activate". Do not activate at this time. You will be prompted periodically to activate but you have 30 days to do so. Remember though that at the end of 30 days, if you have still not activated you will no longer be able to access the Desktop. Information on WPA found here Technical Details on Microsoft Product Activation for Windows XP

 

Following the Activation Screen you will be given the opportunity to Register Windows XP. Registration is optional and choosing not to register will not have any negative effect on your system.

 

You will be required to enter your account password to gain access to the Windows XP Desktop.

 

Is this the best way to do the CLEAN install... what about my OEM disk from Gateway... do you think I will run into problems because it is a Gateway OS disk?i

[webgyrl]

OK-

 

So really what I would like to confirm is:

 

Do I have to reformat the drives in DOS before I pop in the WIN XP Home Upgrade CD?

 

If so, how do I do this in DOS?

 

Nat

[webgyrl]

Ok, so far this has the best info:

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp

[webgyrl]

I keep reading in all these documents that SYSTEM RESTORATION CD's from PC Manufacturers don't count as qualifying media.

 

Anyone experienced this?

 

I also keep running into the BIOS Upgrade warning.

 

Note Before you start the upgrade process, obtain and install the latest BIOS upgrade for your computer from the computer's manufacturer. If you update the BIOS after you upgrade the computer, you may have to reinstall Windows XP to take advantage of features such as Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) support in the BIOS. Update the firmware in all of your hardware devices before you start the upgrade if you can.

 

I searched for a BIOS upgrade for my system and can't seem to find one.

 

Any ideas?

 

Nat

[TCH-Thomas]

Real Alternative

QuickTime Alternative

[webgyrl]

Real Alternative

QuickTime Alternative

Merci!

 

Nat

[webgyrl]

OK looking over the disks that came with the system I have 1. One is a System Restoration CD the other is an Operating System Backup CD Version 98

 

So maybe I won't run into qualifying media issues. I emailed Gateway Tech support to find out about a BIOS upgrade and also about the whole XP Home upgrade issue and the authentification process.

 

I will let you know what they say.

 

Nat

[TCH-Thomas]

Real Alternative

QuickTime Alternative

Merci!

 

Nat

Var så god. (You are welcome that means).

[webgyrl]

Strangely I keep getting an error when I try to run that MS Upgrade Report and it freezes my whole system. I've tried twice with no luck

 

Just came back from Borders and couldn't find any additional info.

 

Gonna check email to see if Tech Support emailed me.

 

Nat

[webgyrl]

This is the email I got from Gateway, they sort of run rings around the whole OEM disk issue- so I am not sure what to do- guess I will go ahead and try the clean install from the disk and find out by trial and error:

 

 

************************************************************************

*****************************

Hello Natalie,

 

Thank you for your e-mail.

 

Natalie, please note that the minimum system requirements for upgrading

Windows XP are listed below:

 

Processor:  300 megahertz (MHz) or higher processor clock speed

recommended; 233-MHz minimum required

 

Memory:  128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum

supported; may limit performance and some features)

 

Hard Drive:  1.5 gigabyte (GB) of available hard disk space.

 

Video:  Super VGA (800 ? 600) or higher resolution video adapter and

monitor

 

CD-ROM or DVD drive

 

Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device

 

Please click on the following Internet address for more information from

Microsoft's Web site.

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx

 

It will tell you which hardware has been certified by Microsoft to work

with Windows XP.  This is only a list of devices tested by Microsoft and

does not mean that your hardware will not work.  Please keep in mind

that Gateway does support most of the Microsoft products we sell. 

Directing you to this site is for informational purposes only, not for

support.  Gateway encourages you to visit this site for useful

information.  Please keep in mind that if you download or install

anything from another vendor's site, you are acting on your own behalf.

Gateway assumes no responsibility for support.

 

Please note that there is no need to upgrade the BIOS before upgrading

the operating system.  However, before upgrading the operating system,

please check whether all the hardware components installed in your

computer are compatible with Windows XP operating system.

 

From our records, I see that there are drivers for all the components of

the installed hardware components like video card, modem card and sound

card.

 

Driver downloads, along with other information, are available on the My

System Information area of the Gateway Web site.  Connect to your

Internet Service Provider (ISP), and click on the address shown below: 

http://support.gateway.com/support/default.asp?sn=new

 

For specific system information please enter your computer serial number

and click Go.  If you do not know the serial number, click "Look up my

serial number for me."  The next page has links to Frequently Asked

Questions (FAQ's) along with the latest support documents and user

guides.  You can also view our library of step-by-step and video

self-help tutorials, and quickly find the solution to common problems. 

 

For driver downloads, click Additional System Information.  If an

updated driver is available, there will be a Driver link to the right. 

 

For help downloading and installing updated drivers, please click the

following links:

http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/help/howto.shtml

http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers...p/install.shtml

 

However, if you like to upgrade the BIOS of your computer, then the

driver downloads, along with other system information, are available

from the Gateway Web site.  Follow the steps listed below:

 

1.  Connect to your Internet Service Provider (ISP), and click on the

address shown below: 

http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers...nter.asp?sn=new

 

2.  Click the Part Number radio button.

 

3.  Enter component part number 4000532 and click Search Now.

 

4.  The search results will return a list of drivers.  Locate the driver

for the operating system you are using and click Download.

 

Note:  For help downloading and installing updated drivers, click the

More Info. . . link, or go to one of the following addresses:

http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/help/howto.shtml

http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers...p/install.shtml

 

If you are unable to locate the BIOS update, please refer the following

link:

 

http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers...?now=1&id=14952

 

Coming to the issue with working of the System Restoration CDs, please

note that it will not work after upgrading the operating system.  Hence,

I provided all the upgraded the drivers for the new Windows XP operating

system.  In addition, software like Norton, BVRP are not compatible with

Windows XP.

 

For more information on the cost and availability of the software,

please contact a Gateway Consultant at the address below.

 

https://support.gateway.com/support/copilot...AIL-id=31055427

 

Simply click the link above to contact a Gateway Consultant.  If you are

unable to click the link follow these steps to copy and paste the link.

 

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2.  Right click on the highlighted text

 

3.  Select copy from the menu

 

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5.  Select Paste from the menu

 

6.  Press Enter

 

Consultants are available 7 days a week and 24 hours a day for your

convenience.

 

To format the hard drive and restore your computer to the original

factory settings, please use the option of calling Answers by Gateway at

(800) 229-1103, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a

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Gateway

 

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************************************************************************

 

 

 

Original Message Follows:

-------------------------

 

General Customer Service Questions

Home Phone: 3016961507

work_phone:

Subject: Gateway Technical Support Questions

System Type: Desktop

Purchase Location: I purchased from Gateway.com

Commodity: Unsure

Operating System: Windows 98

Common Question: Please choose a category                             

 

problem_system: yes

System Category: Computers

System Model: Desktop Computers (All Models)

Message Body: I am trying to Upgrade my Operating System from Windows

98SE to a Retail Edition of Windows XP Home Upgrade.

I have two questions:

1.) I keep reading that I must first UPGRADE my BIOS before doing a

Clean Install of Windows XP Home. I searched here at Gateway Support and

Also at INTEL's site for a BIOS Upgrade and can not find one. Is there a

BIOS upgrade available for my BIOS? My BIOS is:

Intel Corp. 4W4SB0X0.15A.0017.P12 12/21/1999

Can you tell me if I can upgrade this BIOS and if so, where can I get

that upgrade from.

2.) I have read in numerous places that "restore" CDs will not work as

'qualifying media' for my upgrade to XP Home. Is this true, and if it

is, how then do I manage to Upgrade my system to XP Home? I have already

purchased this software from Best Buy and opened the box. Can you please

let me know how I can make sure that the current copy of Windows 98 SE

that I have will somehow allow me to upgrade.

I am wishing to do a clean install and reformat my drive so that the

system is like new.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Kind regards,

Natalie Brown

Error Message Text:

System Details:

== SYSTEM IDENTIFICATION ==

Serial: 0018110933

Model: Gateway "

BIOS: Intel Corp. 4W4SB0X0.15A.0017.P12 12/21/1999

CPU: Intel Pentium III, 550 MHz

[Madmanmcp]

Whew! I come back and you've posted 10+ additional notes and tons of question...what have I got myself into . Ok, lets see if I can cover them all.

 

Since I am upgrading to WINDOWS XP HOME, will this Advisor do me any good?

Note You may use Upgrade Advisor to check for upgrade eligibility and compatibility information for Windows XP Home Edition with the following exception: It is not possible to upgrade from Windows NT® 4.0 or Windows 2000 Professional to Windows XP Home Edition.

 

Will I have a choice here to format BOTH C and D Drives or do I have to do this from DOS before?

 

What the process will do is start the fdisk program and ask you to select from different options and display a list of drives and partitions. You will select to delete the partitions on the C: drive and it will give you a "nag" screen asking if you are sure this is what you want to do and you reply yes. It will bring you back to the same screen and you will then delete the partitions on the D: drive. Next you will select to create partitions on the C: and then the D: drives. Not exactly sure on this step...you may have to come back later to do the D:.

 

Here is the MS instructions for C:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=313348

 

Here is the MS instructions for D:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=309000

 

Oh about the Sound Blaster Drivers.... will the WIN XP software have them?

 

Yes.

 

I am assuming I DON'T want to transfer files and settings... but how do I make sure both drives are REFORMATTED in this process?

 

See links above.

 

Has anyone ever done this specific kind of install to XP HOME?

 

I just finished doing this process this afternoon, well I installed XP yesterday and finished installing the other software when I got home from work today. A friends daughter just went to college and the "admins" at school messed her PC up. It was a Dell and came with a recovery and win2000 CD, she had purchased the Win XP from the college. I bypassed the win2000 and fdisk'd to XP and did exactly what I am telling you to do. And yes its works .

 

Is this the best way to do the CLEAN install...

 

Yes

 

what about my OEM disk from Gateway...

 

What about it, file it away and save it for if you need it later.

 

Do I have to reformat the drives in DOS before I pop in the WIN XP Home Upgrade CD?

 

No. its done automatically from the XP CD.

[webgyrl]

Bob,

 

Thanks a million zillion! I am going to do my final data backups and then proceed with the Clean XP install tomorrow.

 

Will let you know how it goes... if you all don't hear from me for a while... well ya know why! LOL

 

Nat

[kevan_j]

Wow!!! All I did was go home from my shift at work last night, and log back in tonight and this humongous thread has appeared...

 

Nat,

 

was wondering where you had disappeared to.

 

Don't forget that I am 'local' in MD so if you really need some on site help, let me know. I've done a few XP installs and mucked around with hard drives quite a bit too. I looked at the thread, and I don't really have anything to add, other than moral support and, like I said, the offer of help if you need it.

[webgyrl]

Kevan

 

Thanks man! I am gonna plunge into the deed tomorrow and see what happens.

 

Thanks a million for the offer of help!

 

Hopefully it will be OK.

 

Let's all cross our cables... LOL

Nat

[Madmanmcp]

Hey Kevan, I'll hold down the fort while you're out.

 

BoB in the NOC, working the holiday as usual

[TCH-Thomas]

You guys have a holiday today?

[Madmanmcp]

You guys have a holiday today?

 

Some people do. Its Labor Day here in the states.

[webgyrl]

Ok something weird happened. I put the CD Rom in and it booted fine... went to the ELUA part and it asks to press F8 to accept, but F8 is not working... PG UP PG DWN and ESC work fine, but F* isn't working for me to accept the ELUA.

 

Any Ideas? I just bought this keyboard- it's anew Logitech iTouch one.... very strange... I can't go any further.

 

Nat

 

PS using my roomemate's system to check this thread.

I am gonna try using her keyboard on my system to see if that makes a difference.

[TCH-Thomas]

I have one of those. See if you have F lock and press it and then press F8

Edited September 6, 2004 by Jikrantz

[kevan_j]

Hey Bob,

 

I just got home from the office. Night shift sup. Worked an extra couple hours too....

 

 

yawn...

 

Uh Oh....my Windows update wants me to install SP2......

[Madmanmcp]

I have the SP2 on CD if you want to borrow it. The download is 260+ MB and takes time if you don't have cable or DSL.

[webgyrl]

Figured out about Flock after I switched keyboards...

duh- such a blonde moment

 

FYI the OEM CD DID NOT WORK

 

Had to use my roomates Win98 CD to continue installation.

 

Gateway sux!

 

So far so good I am at the part where it is installing the Start Menu Items. I converted to NTFS and it reformatted C drive before continuing with Install. Will have to reformat D drive from the XP utility after the Install is complete.

 

What's weird is in all this blur I don't recall seeing a clean install option... but here have been a few tense and blurry moments... LOL

 

Like when I popped in my OEM 98 CD and it refused to let me go... nearly went balistic and wanted to call Gateway and guve em an earful...

 

But Natty calmed down...

 

Hee Heee

 

Nat

[Madmanmcp]

Keep going Nat, you can always redo it or go back and reinstall from the recovery CD

 

The CD you use to verify ownership of a previous version doesn't matter, as long as its a "qualifying" version it will accept anyones CD. I have had lots of PC where I know the owner is a legit owner of windows but is in the same position as you are, they have a "recovery" CD which is just an "image" of the hard drive. I just slip in one of my many windows CD's and off I go.

 

::keeps fingers crossed::

[webgyrl]

So far so good. Just formatted Drive D (which is now E) and all went well.

 

The only bumps I have run into so far are:

 

 

1.) I got an error message that said:

your system is low on virtual memory. Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory paging file. During this process, memory requests for some applications may be denied. For more information see HELP

 

So it did its thing and so far I have not had this error again. Not sure what that was all about

 

2.) Noticing that my C drive makes a very loud short burst grinding noise after I Log In and load personal settings... like when it's loading everything in. So far I have Office 2000 Pro and Norton Internet Security Installed and nothing else. Not sure why this grinding noise is happening now. Kinda freaked me out because it did not do that under Win 98SE

 

3) Kind of a BIG issue with my internet connection:

I have been doing the WIN XP updates via Update Manager and have been running into problems with my Internet Connection

I did the first XP Update and it had to update the Update Manager software. It did the download and install then prompted for a restart. I did this and when I logged back on I could not access the internet. It's been wonky ever since. I logged on to my roomates system and searched and found a tip that says to go into the Device Manager and UNINSTALL the Ethernet Card. I have a LinkSys NC100 Fast Ethernet Adapter. The only drivers they have on the site are for WIN NT, WIN 2000, 95 and 98. I can't see that it's a driver issue as it is not stating that there is a conflict. It just is strange. I did a networking diagnostic and it FAILED.

[00000001] LinkSys NC100 Fast Ethernet Adapter [FAILED}

Request Timed Out

 

I keep unistalling the network card, shutting down and then starting up and it walked me thru the Network thingy and then I shut down and it failed to connect to the internet again. I connect to the internet thru my Roomates XP Home system on a Cable modem. I have a CAT 5 cable linking to the Wireless G Broadband Router from my system.

 

The lights on the back of the Card where the cable is are Green and Yellow steady.

 

Any reason why the internet connection would be so weird?

 

4.) I have a strange COM Port 2 Conflict that I can't for the life of me figure out.

 

It says:

Device Cannot Start (Code 10)

 

Anyone got any clue as to what this could be? I think my printer might be on this port and I know I have to upgrade the drivers from HP as it is not showing up. The printer is an HP 970cxi.

 

Just going to install SP2 at the moment and then continue with driver updates. Then I will start installing software and files again.

 

Phew... this is taking a while... but it is kinds fun despite the tense moments! LOL

 

Nat

[webgyrl]

Keep going Nat, you can always redo it or go back and reinstall from the recovery CD

 

The CD you use to verify ownership of a previous version doesn't matter, as long as its a "qualifying" version it will accept anyones CD. I have had lots of PC where I know the owner is a legit owner of windows but is in the same position as you are, they have a "recovery" CD which is just an "image" of the hard drive. I just slip in one of my many windows CD's and off I go.

 

::keeps fingers crossed::

Yeah good thing my roomie had that disk! I woulda been up the Gateway Creek without a paddle for sure!

[Madmanmcp]

Sounds like you are almost there Nat.

 

Noticing that my C drive makes a very loud short burst grinding noise

You may need to defrag the drive or its the drive "thrashing" because of the larger swap file created for the "virtual memory" that you mentioned. this maybe a minor issue, lets worry about it later.

 

I did this and when I logged back on I could not access the internet. It's been wonky ever since.

 

Ok, XP comes with a "System Restore" feature and I would suggest we restore to before you started those updates. This "should" put you back to where you started with a working NIC and a good internet connection. These "updates" are not necessary if you have the SP2 to use. All updates are included in the SP2 upgrade package and going thru all those updates at the Windows update site are not necessary.

 

START | PROGRAMS | ACCESSORIES | SYSTEM TOOLS | SYSTEM RESTORE

 

the first screen of system restore you select the option to "Restore my computer to an earlier time". and click NEXT

 

 

from the calander select todays date from the left side and in there should be an entry(s) to select from the right. Select the earliest one and click NEXT.

 

 

it will ask you to reboot to restore the change and you should be back to where you were after the XP install.

 

I have a strange COM Port 2 Conflict that I can't for the life of me figure out.

 

COM2 is usually a modem, there maybe a driver you need for it to work in XP. But if you are on cable and don't use the modem...

[webgyrl]

Ah I did the SP 2 Update already!

 

Seems that the network card is fine and i've been able to get online with no problems since that glitch. Will keep an eye on it.

 

Will do a C defrag this week to see if it helps with the grinding noise. That is a bit strange for sure.

 

I think you are right about COM 2. I deleted the COM in the Device manager. I am on cable for now so I don't need the modem active. If I do need the modem active I guess I will have to sort that out then, but I sure hope I don't ever have to go back to dialup.

 

So far I am totally impressed by XP! This machine is running way faster now- everything is much more stable and so fast!

 

I am still reinstalling software and tweaking settings. Probably will take most of the week to get it all done.

 

I have to thank everyone for the help. I was terrified of doing the drive wipe and upgrade to XP but it went much more smoothly than I thought- thanks to all of the great people here. Thanks esp to you Bob for all your handholding and great guideance.

 

Will post followups if there are any.

 

Woot Woot! I am in the new age!

 

Nat

[Madmanmcp]

Glad to help Nat and you're welcome. Good job and hope everything is smooth from here on.