WIN XP problem

[Hemlock86]

My pc is on the fritz and I need help.

The other night i shut it down, then started it back up later on. When I started it, it would get to the windows loading screen, then restart itself over and over. Not letting me onto the desktop. I reinstalled windows, but in the process, it deleted alot of unknown files.

My C: still has all the info on it, but I cant use any of it. It says its not properly installed.... I tryied to reformat but the dos command keeps telling me i dont have the proper perimeters.

I just want to wipe it and start fresh and I cant even do that. I cant find the create start-up disk option either to make another startup disk

HELP!!!!!!!!!!

[Hemlock86]

....no It said I have "Required Perimeter missing" when I type c:format

[pbzmag]

The correct syntax is "format x:", where "x" is the drive letter. You don't really need the startup disk, it should boot to the CD just fine. Also, what kind of computer is it? Can you list what type of CPU, RAM, motherboard if known.

[personman]

Did you try safe mode already?
If you can get in with safe mode you can go to restore system settings or whatever..

[Hemlock86]

Im not even sure how to start in safe mode with XP. I just need to reformat....

[Restola]

I wasn't getting a "Required Perimeter Missing" error, but I had trouble trying to find out how the heck to format my hd with WinXP the other day to.

Here is what I hunted down (which was obvious once I realized what I was trying to do earlier).

- Go into BIOS, and have it "Boot from CD-ROM" (or if it lets you select the sequence, have it boot from CD-ROM first)
- Open your cd tray
- Insert your WINXP installation disk
- Close cd tray
- Turn off computer
- Turn on computer

You will then go through the installation wizard, which will let you reformat your HD and put in in FAT32, NTFS, etc.

[Will Wood]

I know the problem!! ... It's two letters.. XP! It's evil I tell ya..

Stick with 98 2nd Edition. Best.Windows.Ever.

Problem solved

[FutureMagOwner]

yeah well im having a similar problem too but i definantly do not want to reformat my hd mine whenever it does anything thats labor intensive such as games virus scan(i thought it was a virus but i doubt it is) and sometimes on start up it will just go into sleep mode(the power button goes from green to orange) and wont do anything so i need to turn the power supply off wait a bit for the orange light to turn off then turn it back on. how do i fix it!!! grrr. im almost positive it isnt a virus


yeah it seems like you just need to reformat your HD hemlock(which sucks)

[personman]

Originally posted by FutureMagOwner
yeah well im having a similar problem too but i definantly do not want to reformat my hd mine whenever it does anything thats labor intensive such as games virus scan(i thought it was a virus but i doubt it is) and sometimes on start up it will just go into sleep mode(the power button goes from green to orange) and wont do anything so i need to turn the power supply off wait a bit for the orange light to turn off then turn it back on. how do i fix it!!! grrr. im almost positive it isnt a virus


yeah it seems like you just need to reformat your HD hemlock(which sucks)

Sounds like the refresh rate is too high.. turn it down..

[FutureMagOwner]

lol im such a tool when it comes to stuff like this on this computer how do i change it

EDIT: also its not the monitor thats doing it its the accual computer however i did turn up the refresh rate on that because i know that can handle more

[Restola]

If you have a cd-rw drive, just spend an hour or two backing up all your important files, emails, favorites list, downloads, patches, drivers, documents, and passwords.

A complete format of your HD and xp install takes less than 2 hours. Then another 2-3 hours to change your settings back, copy your files over, update you drivers, and reinstall the few games you actually play.

Total time 4-5 hours. The 4-5 times I have done it over the last few years (on several different pcs) the thing has ran like it was brand new, not to mention freeing up 8+ gigs of space on my 30gig HD (and I have yet to realize I forgot anything).

It is absolutly worth the time IMHO. Do it!

[MagDog68]

When Windows XP is booting and you have what appears to be a "DOS" screen with a white bar across the bottom - there is a line that says something to the affect of "Press F8 to see additional Windows Tools". That will give you access to Safe Mode.

If you have another HDD handy, may I suggest you install it and drag all the information to it through DOS. You can also try installing your HDD into another pc as a slave or secondary IDE device and move the information to that pc. Then rebuild the operating system.

Be sure to keep your "Windows Updates" thoroughly updated and make a restoration point for your PC before installing additional software.

~Fred

[MagDog68]

Originally posted by Restola
If you have a cd-rw drive, just spend an hour or two backing up all your important files, emails, favorites list, downloads, patches, drivers, documents, and passwords.

The CD-RW will not work unless you can actually get the machine to boot.

~Fred

[digitard]

Worst comes to worst go download a LOW LEVEL FORMAT utility (or Zero Fill) ... that will write the drive from beginning to end in 0's and your all fresh, but ALL the data on it is now gone entirely.

As for XP being evil, then ya just dont know what your doin'...lol... I have XP Professional, not one single problem on any of the 3 systems in the house ... I have it at work as well on my P4 here. The only thing I recommend doing is as soon as you install it grab the SERVICE PACK 1 or the individual downloads from www.windowsupdate.com and that will fix most of your "compatability" problems.

Sincerely,
Dave

[MagDog68]

Yeah - how can anyone say that Win98SE is better than WinXP? Jesus you must be the luckiest Win98SE user on the planet!

And if you want to do a low level format, just use the Win95 boot disk and run DEBUG.

~Fred