I'm desperate - please help

vcd_pat

vcd_pat

1
Hi, I installed XP about a month ago, it was working fine but then developed some probs. i installed the sp1 update and it fixed lots of things then it started to go wrong again so i uninstalled the sp1 now i can't even boot my pc, even in safe mode. i tried to boot from xp cd by changing first boot device to cd-rom but it still tries to boot from the hard disc. i fortunately have 2 hard drive, one with win2k on it, but how can i reinstall winxp on my main hard drive? can i do it from within win2k and tell it to install to a specific location... even my floppy drive isn't recognised in win2k.... please help, i beg you!!
 
daveml

daveml

1
Do u still needdual boot?
If not, backup all software and files u need, and reformat the whole lot.
If u do get what you can off the xp drive.
Format that drive in dos. Start again.
Cant help u with dual boot.
1 OS is enough for me.


(this isnt my expertise! lol. Anyone else help? Dont be shy!:D)
 
vcd_pat

vcd_pat

1
Hi,
No, I don't need dual boot at all, in fact the only reason I've got 2 operating systems is purely because the 2nd hard drive was from my old computer, I just figured that the extra 7gb of space would come in handy so my mate built me a new pc and installed that too.

It's not a problem backing stuff up but I have noticed that when I try and run any set up files from my XP drive from within Win2K they either don't unpack or they say they're corrupt, is this a true corruption or is it because I'm trying to run files on my NTFS drive (XP) from my Win2K OS (FAT32)? I'm wondering if it's worth backing anything up if it's not going to work after I've reinstalled XP.

As for formatting in DOS, I wouldn't even know where to begin - would you care to elaborate?!
 
Wedge

Wedge

1
I'm a novice at this stuff but I think most will tell you that you will have problems when you attempt setup NTFS from within a FAT32 environment. If I'm wrong on this I'll be corrected.

If you want to reformat then a lot of people here can help you (including me), but you need to give specifics on how you want to set up your system, i.e., how many partitions and which filing system do you want to use? Which operation system(s)?
 
Midnightangel

Midnightangel

1
_www.easydesksoftware.com/recovery.htm

this site might help you bro.

as for formatting your drives well you need a Dos disc to start with, then what you do is:

Boot system with Dos disc in A: drive, it will ask you how you want to start your system,
1: safe boot
2: with cd rom support
3: without cdrom support.

pick 2:with cdrom support,then it will load cdrom drvers and after that it will go to the A promt (A:_)

when it is there type "C:/ FORMAT C:" (no quots), then it will warn you thats all data on drive C: will be erased continue? (Y?N), you want Y for yes, the formatting will then begin, it will count up to 100%.

after it has finished put in your cd of window$ then type E:setup.exe, the window$ setup process will then begin.

as you have a 7gig drive i would suggest useing this as your C:/ window$ directory and use your other drive for all your games, etc.. assumeming that the 7gig is your smallest drive, if it is not then use the smallest drive for windows.
if you dont have the 7gig setup as C: then you may have to swap the IDE cables around so that it is.#

if you run into trouble just check back here and if not me then someone will be able to help you further. :)
 
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vcd_pat

vcd_pat

1
@Wedge - well that would make 2 of us mate! I've been using a computer for as long as I can remember but talk to me about NTFS and the like and I'm instantly confused! Thanks for all your help tho, I will certainly bear it all in mind. I currently have 2 hard drives, one is my old one - 6.4gb and the other is my main one which is corrupt and that's just under 39gb. The 6.4gb one is partitioned in two and the bigger one is one partition. I would prefer NTFS for both drives but I don't want to end up not being able to boot from the working drive too so I'd like to get the large one working properly again before I attempt changing the smaller one to NTFS. Will keep you posted.
 
vcd_pat

vcd_pat

1
@Midnightangel - thanks mate for your detailed help. I think what I would like to try and do first is repair XP just by running the install again from bootup. The biggest problem I now have is that after booting up from my Win2K hard drive, I don't seem to have a floppy drive anymore :( Perhaps it's just a conflict, I hope so but I guess I could give it a try just by trying to boot with the only boot disc I've got and that is a WinME boot disc :( I don't like my chances tho. Will keep you informed if I need anymore help.

Cheers.
 
Wedge

Wedge

1
vcd_pat,

If you don't mind reformatting both drives then this is a peice of cake. Go ahead and try to repair but I have a feeling this may not get the results you want.

Just let us know.

Btw, I just re-read your posts........you say that you have a Win2K FAT32 partition on the smaller drive? I thought that Win2K was strictly NTFS on every computer?
 
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vcd_pat

vcd_pat

1
@Wedge - no, i don't mind reformatting both drives but first I have to back up everything and that could take some time :( I tried to do a scan and repair by going to the tools tab on my main HD via bootup in Win2K but it said I couldn't do it and would I like to schedule a scan when I restart! Yeah, right - if it was that simple I would've done it by now - dumb XP O/S!! :( As for the FAT32 - I'm afraid I am the exception to the rule - I originally had Win98 on my bootable HD but I upgraded it to Win2K. It told me when I tried to install Win2K that this drive was a FAT32 and would I like to change it to NTFS, I said NO but it still installed perfectly fine!
 
vcd_pat

vcd_pat

1
@midnightangel - well mate, it's all rather strange - since using my Win2K I've noticed only last night that I didn't have a FLOPPY DRIVE on my system.... I asked a colleague about this and he asked if the power was plugged in... doh! of course it was, that was the first thing I checked - anyway, turns out that somehow the drive had been disabled in my BIOS and I certainly didn't do it so I'm guessing when XP crashed it did it by itself to protect the system somehow. I re-enabled it and was able to boot from the floppy with cd rom support, however - despite changing my boot device between HD00 and HD01 it still only shows the data on my Win2K drive and my XP drive isn't accessible if I use the DIR command in DOS. I don't know how i'm going to get around this coz I really need to just reinstall XP so it can repair the installation but I'm afraid that it's going to try and copy the files over the top of my Win2K drive... is there any DOS command that shows you all your hard drive letters? I read something in the WinME boot disc HELP: SCANREG /RESTORE command but will this replace system files successfully to my WinXP directory if it's a WinME boot disc? I don't know if it's any help to you or anyone else but when I choose to boot in safe mode, the drivers load so far and then it crashes and I get the blue screen.... would it help if I listed this error message? Thx
 
Midnightangel

Midnightangel

1
vcd_pat said:
despite changing my boot device between HD00 and HD01 it still only shows the data on my Win2K drive and my XP drive isn't accessible if I use the DIR command in DOS. I don't know how i'm going to get around this coz I really need to just reinstall XP so it can repair the installation but I'm afraid that it's going to try and copy the files over the top of my Win2K drive
Click to expand...
you said in your first post that you have the 2 o/s on different drives, well just pull the plug on the one with W2K on and boot your system.
i know its very simplistic but it might work given that the only drive DoS has to use is the one with XP on.

i assume you have tried the C: DIR_ and D: DIR_ lines? i apologise if this seams like it unsults your intelligence its not intended that way but sometimes the simplest things solve the most complex problems :)
 
ipdave

ipdave

1
vcd_pat,

When you say that you cannot see the XP volume from "DOS", do you mean from Win2k command prompt, or from a DOS boot floppy? A DOS boot floppy only reads (out of the box) FAT anf FAT32, not NTFS. Win2k can read XP partions (needs SP2 though for XP NTFS 5.1 compatibility, though).

To check all drives, spend $50 and get PowerQuest PartitionMagic 6, 7, or 8.0. You can boot from a floppy (or make a boot CD) and see all your drives, partitions, check and repair errors, convert back and forth from FAT to NTFS and NTFS to FAT.
 
Wedge

Wedge

1
vcd_pat said:
I tried to do a scan and repair by going to the tools tab on my main HD via bootup in Win2K but it said I couldn't do it and would I like to schedule a scan when I restart! Yeah, right - if it was that simple I would've done it by now - dumb XP O/S!!
Click to expand...

vcd_pat,

I don't know if I understand why you are choosing to not let it shedule a scan at startup. I'm using XP Home edition and under the 'tools' tab I choose 'scan' and I get the same message as you. It says it can schedule a scan for startup but cannot perform the operation right now. You are thinking that it will NOT scan the larger drive if you restart?
 
ipdave

ipdave

1
Originally posted by vcd_pat
I tried to do a scan and repair by going to the tools tab on my main HD via bootup in Win2K but it said I couldn't do it and would I like to schedule a scan when I restart! Yeah, right - if it was that simple I would've done it by now - dumb XP O/S!!

-- The reason you MUST say Yes is that XP and 2000 are both NTFS file systems, and there are open files on your active boot drive ( C: ). To scan and fix errors, you have to do it on bootup. Just the way it works, nothing nefarious there. Even Linux requires you to unmount and fsck volumes on bootup. Just the way most OS's work!
 
vcd_pat

vcd_pat

1
@Midnightangel - no offence taken :) Problem is with pulling the lead on one is that I don't know which is which as a friend (who I no longer have contact with - he's at Uni) built the pc for so I suppose I'll just have to take one out at a time and see. Yes, I did try the C: and D: DIR commands but in the bios - when I chose HD00 or HD01, when running those commands in DoS, one gave me the option of looking at C and D (I assume my Win2K HD as it's in 2 partitions) and the other time would only let me look at C, strange thing is - is that both times around, the C drive DIR command showed me the data ONLY on my Win2K drive. It's very hard to explain in a typed message but I hope you understand. Anyhow, I have to go to work now so will write later. Do you think it's best if PM's are sent rather than waffling on the forum like this? Thx
 
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