Read Latest Entries..: (Post #17) by yordan on Aug 22 2005, 06:03 PM. (Line Breaks Removed)
You do not really need a third party partitionning software.When I do a correct fresh install from scratch on a system, I only use windows, 2k or XP. You can do the same way.Choose "create a partition", choose a 10 giga or 20 giga partition for the system (I would say roughly 10% to 20% of the full disk), and install Windows on that partition. And then you use Windows to create the next ... read more.
Ugh. Whenever I think about formatting my harddisk, I feel happy. What a clean start! Refreshing, clean, new... without any spywares or pesky stuff trying to bog me down. But, I need some clarification and answers to my questions.
-What good do I get out of this format? I have lots of things to reinstall once I format - like Star Wars Galaxies, Battlefield 2, Warcraft III, etc. Will it be worth all the time?
-How do I perform this format?
-Do I have to reinstall Windows XP Professional?
-How can I provide backups of games and files?
-Will I have to update everything again? Such as my GeForce card...
-What files WON'T be affected in the format process?
-What else should or am I supposed to know about this formatting?
Erm, if you format, you'll lose everything on that partition. If you have one hdd, one partition, you'll lose everything, windows, data, games, etc...
Yes, you'll have to reinstall windowsxp and even better, it has a built-in option to format a hdd
And what's good about it, a lot. First of all, after a while of installing and uninstalling, there are lot of files on your hdd that aren't used anymore, they use space and can slow down you computer (during boot up, hdd access, ...). You can also start whith the newest driver w/o some left overs from the previous ones.
Sorry that I don't answer all your question, but I've gotta go eat now
[qutoe]Ugh. Whenever I think about formatting my harddisk, I feel happy. What a clean start! Refreshing, clean, new... without any spywares or pesky stuff trying to bog me down.[/quote]
That sort of stuff won't happen if you kept a regularly updated Antivirus, a properly configured firewall and a regularly updated anti-spyware. You wouldn't even have to format the HD also .
Wutske has already answered all your questions excellently. IMO, use only the windows XP CD for formatting the HD. Don't use Partition magic or any such third party software for formatting or anything at all for that matter. You are liable to screw up your Hard disk completely.
lol .. well what all have said is right and answers all ur questions .. but i would like u to give a tip .. wich i think most of the guys here will agree . depends tho ..
Do a clean format using the Xp CD .. and reinstall everything .. and i mean everything necessary .. ur drivers and stuff ur games .. everything u need .. and when ur done and satisfied .. use norton Ghost simple .. so the next time u have a problem .. with a virus or sum malfunction .. u can be up on a running clean installation with all ur progs in less than an hour ..
Now the only thing that depends on ppl is that if they really like to do this sorta image back up .. cause once u do this .. u would be stuck with ur drivers that u installed at that time while making a Ghost image .. well i can over write the drivers no doubt .. but like u everyone else need a clean installation too .. so depends as i said ..
But personally i love the job of installing apps manually .. lol .. call it dum .. but i like the act of manual install satisfaction
Alright. I found the Windows XP + Service Pack 2 disk.
Hmm... alright. But I'm sure I don't have any... well maybe one... spyware or adware on my computer. But that's not the point - my computer or hard disk is really old and it needs some fixing.
That's why I want to format it. By the way, how do I backup gigabytes of data?
Alright. I found the Windows XP + Service Pack 2 disk.
Hmm... alright. But I'm sure I don't have any... well maybe one... spyware or adware on my computer. But that's not the point - my computer or hard disk is really old and it needs some fixing.
That's why I want to format it. By the way, how do I backup gigabytes of data?
aight .. first off .. u dont fix a old hard disk .. u can either defragment it or u can clean format it ... i have no other way to fix a HDD other than takin it out and givin it a clean from the out side .. lol .. well if u format it once in 6 mths .. m shure u r OS will work fine n fast enuf ..
Aslong as the backup gigs is concerned .. well i suggest u get a external USB HDD .. or burn into a dvd ..
And for ur spyware .. use Microsoft Anti-Spyware .. its from M$ .. but its quiet effective ...
Ahem... I said I have no problems with spyware issues. They're not going to touch my computer in a while
Anyway, it looks like I'll have to format my computer soon.
And no, I can't afford those external USB HDD - nor do I have a DVD burner. Man, those are costly!! But I'm pretty fond of those disk storage things Right now, I only have a 256mb flash disk. Hahaha...
I think the best solution is to either have two drives, one for the operating system and the other for files and programs, or to partition one drive so that the C drive has the operating system and the other partition has everything else. Whenever you install software, just make sure that it is installed on the second partition instead of C, which is the default. You will need to back up some things from the C drive as there are registry values and other files in the windows folder that you will need for the programs and games you have installed, but it is fairly quick the format the C drive and re-install the operating system and any support files there to get a clean start. I have been using this method for some time now and I will never change as long as I am running a PC. Another benefit is that most of the spyware and other things that corrupt a drive are installed on the main partition, or C drive, and if that drive is kept small by not installing the programs there or saving other types of files, then scanning with a tool to clean that drive is much faster. Your virus and spyware scans are a breeze. Scanning 20,000 files goes quite a bit faster than half a million. Enjoy!
Ugh. Whenever I think about formatting my harddisk, I feel happy. What a clean start! Refreshing, clean, new... without any spywares or pesky stuff trying to bog me down. But, I need some clarification and answers to my questions.
-What good do I get out of this format? I have lots of things to reinstall once I format - like Star Wars Galaxies, Battlefield 2, Warcraft III, etc. Will it be worth all the time?
-How do I perform this format? A boot disk from either Win 95 98 or ME
-Do I have to reinstall Windows XP Professional? Yes
-How can I provide backups of games and files? I would burn a DVD of all or a CD -Will I have to update everything again? Such as my GeForce card... Yes it will be an install -What files WON'T be affected in the format process? The MBR (possibly)
-What else should or am I supposed to know about this formatting? It completely cleans all data off your hard drive and resets the MBR Thanks in advance I am a noob
Make sure you have the product IDs and other codes, back up all your games to DVD or CDs, and or find all the original products with such codes and such.
You must have a valid code for most modern software so BEFORE formatting PLEASE locate all IDs and codes and have them at the ready or you will spend hours loking for them...this I know from a very bad experience.
Your machine will not have any viruses or such unless some of your software was already infected with malware or spyware or adware.
Also try a free online can with Panda or any of the other conline virus and adware or spyware scans before you try a reformat or reinstall... it might just fix your problems without going through all the mess to begin with and run a good firewall like Zone Alarm free or otherwise.
You do not really need a third party partitionning software. When I do a correct fresh install from scratch on a system, I only use windows, 2k or XP. You can do the same way. Choose "create a partition", choose a 10 giga or 20 giga partition for the system (I would say roughly 10% to 20% of the full disk), and install Windows on that partition. And then you use Windows to create the next patiton. No need of an external partitionning software. The additional partitionning soft is useful if you did a mistake at first install, or need to resize the initial partition.
i personally never use any 3rd party partitioning software. i prefer to get another hard disk or some dvds, back up all my stuff, and reformat from the beginning. i just use the winXP cd, and do a clean install, delete all partitions, and start from scratch. i've heard from some people that partitioning with an odd number slows down the disk, but i've tried both and haven't noticed any obvious degradation in performance. Neways, i usually forma the first partition for windows, 2nd for scratch disks, 3rd and possibly 4th for programs and other stuff. it gives you the option when you boot from the cd, to create partitions, and then it will format the first one for you with whatever you want, FAT32 or NTFS. i prefer NTFS. ....to add another benfit of doing it this way, is that if you have a FAT32 system and convert it from inside windows, using the "convert (Drive letter) /fs:ntfs" command, you don't get the security features of NTFS. it has to be done from an original format. so then when you create your partitions and are ready to install windows, it will format whichever partition it is that you're installing windows to. then for the other ones, once windows is installed, you just open explorer, right click on the other partitions, and format. again, use whichever file system you're a fan of.
You are right, when mentionning the second part of cyborgxxi question. The first part was "how", most of us answered "Partion Magic". The second part was "Is there a utility to do it?" And my answer is "yes", of course. Now, most of us have large files (pictures, small movies, huge excel spreadsheets or powerpoint documents). Usually you work on them and then delete them. And then you have to defrag your hard drive. And running a defragmentation on an empty partition goes rather fast. Doing it on a half-full disk is very long. So, put your data on the D or E partition and do often a defrag. And, if you experience the same thing like me, lost space on an empty disk, simply format your d: disk, you will loose nothing on your system disk! Hope this helped yordan
Anyway... can someone tell me about making partitions on a hard drive? Is there a utility to do it?
partition magic can do the trick for you, no need to go in command promp, no startup disks, just install and partition or resize on ur existing OS with a fairly simple GUI.
Make sure you have the product IDs and other codes,
OK, Houdini is fully right. I would add something else. You will format only your C: disk. You will not touch your D: disk. so, I would say : let's first make a full backup (norton ghost or PQDI) of your system disk. so, in case you loose your software ID's and you did not write them on your papers, you can go back and reload your ghost backup and come back to your today's situation.
I've had this happen to 3 hard drives in the last couple of months. First, a friend gave me his
80 GB HD which he had dropped from about a foot off the desk. It registers in the BIOS as an 80GB
disk, but windows refuses to go past that. I'm thinking he knocked the needle out of alignment,
and whether this is the case or not, is it repairable? The second thing that happened, both to the
C partition of a brand new laptop, and to a brand new 120GB hard disk i bought. the first was
formatted with basic, the second dynamic. All NTFS of course. So one fine day they j....
I have a 2.5' Laptop harddisk. so, I bought a USB case for it to make it portable. It works fine
if I connected this portable harddisk to my laptop's USB port. However, it doesn't work if
I connected it to a USB Hub. Windows XP cannot detect it. My USB Hub is connected to power supply.
any idea to solve this problem?? ....
Hi, just encountered these problems recently myself and want to clear some things up. 1. I had to
work on a Lexmark Optra T610 printer today and it wasn't being picked up by the iMacs in the
room. Replaced the system board and then had to configure everything. The problem was that only
one of the iMacs have the driver installed (strange?). We thought auto detect would pick it up in
Chooser (using Mac OS 9.1) but it didn't except for that one. Question is, is this just a
coincidence that it has the drivers or was the driver downloaded from the internet at one....
Hi, I bought a Dell Axim X30 last week (didn't arrive here yet) and have a couple of questions
to ask. 1. Can the Pocket PC run any regular Windows programs? I was told that it can't and
just want to confirm this. 2. I created a program in Visual Basic and want to use this on this PDA.
How should I convert it so that it works on Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition (that's the
operating system it will come with)? Or what programming language does it accept? 3. This question
has been bothering me a little. Will turning the PDA on and off frequently damage....
I just get a 40GB hard disk from my friend. And installed to my windows XP pc. Before I boot into
windows xp, I just run fdisk command in win98 bootdisk (DOS mode). But it shows it has 32GB only,
not 40GB.. /sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /> After that, I
run PartitionMagic in windows XP to make partition again. PartitionMagic also it has 32GB only.
Where do that 8GB go?? I could not find any hidden partation. I have another 120GB hard disk
installed in this PC. It works just fine. So I think the setting in BIOS is correct. the P....
I just found some harddisk pic in a japaness webside. they are so big (size, but not capacity)...
1983, NEC, 14inch, KU800 3620rpm ，2.7GB NEC, 「JS4380(PATTY) 1982, 400MB/3,000rpm
「F6421(Eagle1)」10/1981, 10.5inch, 446MB 3,600rpm 「JS470(Gemmy), 9/1987,
2,200MB/3,000rpm The first 2.5inch HDD「PrairieTek 220」, 21.3MB/3,307rpm ....
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I am a noob
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.. but its quiet effective ...
