computer emergincy!

[Sunshine]

i have been surching, i have no such disk.

[MarkM]

Rescue disk with regards to xp has to be made....XP does have a recovery console (ASR) which you can try to access from the install disk but still it will ask for the disk....something they kept a little quiet
If you had a pre-installed version they "should" have given you a back-up version (of windows) with the pc but if not then you are nailed and a new install will have to be done...bit of basic bios editting and the install cd and you are away.

[Sunshine]

so to fix everything i just buy windows XP, pop in the cd when that first screne comes up, and it will take me from there?

i will loose all my information, right?

[mcveighr]

Can you get into dos?

[Beemer]

Back up

ok Sunshine slow down.

First you have to make sure you cant boot to safe mode

[Sunshine]

i have no clu what dos is

Beemer: no i can't boot into safe mode

[Beemer]

on start up

you have to press and hold f8 as it boots up to get to advanced start up

[Navilin]

If you cant get into safe mode then something is really messd and you will need to reinstall..So when you start it up how long is it befor it stops and says the error.No when you reinstall all your data will not be lost but the data gatherd inbetween the last time you backed up your hard drive and to now will be lost.Or you could start it from where you are and run a virus search also if you renistall do not connect to the internet best bet would to be get a buddy to burn you the windows patchs and some sort of anti virus program.If you try to go to the microsoft website and dl the patchs yourself your gona just get a virus or some other hack becuase theres so many out there so you should play it safe and do what i said above.Yes they probly gave you the xp restore but i doubt they gave you a copy of windows. Also the restore doesnt always work either.

[Sunshine]

i will try the press and hold thing.

thanks Navilin for your help i will try and do all that.

thanks guys

[MarkM]

Originally posted by Sunshine
so to fix everything i just buy windows XP, pop in the cd when that first screne comes up, and it will take me from there?

i will loose all my information, right?

Ok information loss has been covered and safe mode not applicable so quote above to answer...

No you don't just put the cd in off it goes.

1 Turn pc on and as it is doing the memory check ect press the DELETE key (repeatedly helps if the pc doesn't "see" the first press)
2 You will now find yourself in the BIOS
3 Select the 2nd option in the list (you have to use the arrow keys and enter to go into the options.
4 When in the 2nd section you are looking for the part which says either 1st BOOT DEVICE or BOOT OPTIONS, use the arrow key to get to it when you are there use the page up and down keys to select CD-ROM (if you have 1st 2nd 3rd BOOT Devices listed in a row change them all to CD-ROM as this will stop any silly things happening)
5 Press ESCAPE (ESC) this will take you back to the first BIOS screen, select the section saying SAVE SETTINGS AND EXIT (a screen will pop up saying "save settings to bios Y / N" hit the Y key
6 Machine should start to reset, if not just make sure at this point you have put the XP cd in the CD Drive and then hit the reset button on the base unit.
7 Follow all the instructions that will now come up and XP will begin its install (use NTFS as the file system, XP will work on FAT2 but NTFS is the better)...the only instruction to ignore is the second time you find yourself back at the "similar" first screen (black screen /memory check etc) as if you follow the instructions at the bottom of the screen saying "click any key to boot from cd" you will have to do the install again (though not the bios thing )
8 When you have finally installed XP you will be given the option to register etc and all that stuff ignore all that and remove the cd from the drive and restart your pc hitting that DELETE key again to get to the BIOS..when you are there change the BOOT DEVICE to IDE 0 (or IDE 1, as the listing does vary slightly from machine to machine) then 2nd to CD-ROM and 3rd to Floppy....this list stops silly errors happening if you leave any disks in the machine by mistake but will still boot up properly.
9 Be warned that XP does not come with JAVA installed you have to go to SUN SYSTEMS to download it (I hope you have a fast connection as the file is rather large) If you don't have a fast internet connection then get a buddy who does do the same download for you and burn it onto a cd so you can install it easy.
10 XP has a lot of things that is better to switch off, like error reporting, recently installed files show as highlighted, etc so you have a good couple of hours ahead of you plus all the reinstalling of your working programs...Word, Picture editing programs, Firewalls...it's gonna be fun for you.
11 Buy a second hard drive and install it...when you get stuck on how to format it as an NTFS drop me a pm as the steps to do it aren't difficult but they are a little tucked away. The reason for a second hard drive is that you store the JAVA install files there and have all your DATA saved there too all nice and safe for the next time you ever have to do all this again...I have only had to do 1 reinstall of XP as my C drive died but I lost no email addys or data or downloaded programs as they were all saved on the second drive

[Sunshine]

I tryed the press and hold, it gave me more options but no matter which one i used it took me to the second screne.

MarkM: thanks for your instructions, do i realy have to Buy a second hard drive and install it?

btw: I realy don't care about any information, there was nothing important. and I have cable

this sounds like an adventure, i will defonitly be needing help agin soon, so check back regularly.

Thanks very much,
sunshine

[MarkM]

Originally posted by Sunshine
MarkM: thanks for your instructions, do i realy have to Buy a second hard drive and install it?

btw: I realy don't care about any information, there was nothing important. and I have cable

this sounds like an adventure, i will defonitly be needing help agin soon, so check back regularly.

Thanks very much,
sunshine

No you don't, plenty of people only have the one hard drive and most PC's only come from the shop with one hard drive but it makes sense to have a second drive and use that to save all the work you do on it for occasions like has just happened to you. This ensures that any important work or not so important stuff is all safe...plus the downloded programs and plugins you will have built up are all still available to you without having to download them all again. A good example of a good use for downloading stuff for safety would be a program like ICQ..the original version that you use would be downloaded and installed and then an updated version would appear, if you followed the normal instructions you would overwrite the original version ..this normally would be ok but with ICQ and lots of other similar programs they discover that there are bugs in the update so they release a new version but in the meantime the version that is full of bugs may not work for you so until a bug free version is released you can't use the program and the older version that worked fine is not available for download anymore..but if you use the second drive to store each version you will always have a working program. MSN messenger is a program that you don't get the chance to save in a different location as Microsoft programs always work perfectly but for other stuff if you save to a different location to where you install them you will always be able to have a working program. Ok you could use the rollback system on XP (which does work, unlike with ME which was a will it won't it situation) but saving to a second drive is easier..again not essential to have one but it does make life easier. You could even have a second drive on a removable cradle as then you can take that drive to other pc's and as long as the other pc's have the same cradle you can work on your files at another pc. To get round compatibilty problems you could even house your second drive in a USB enabled case and then it will work on pretty much any pc...bit expensive those external USB cases though but it's an idea.

[Sunshine]

this sucks balls, i have to download patches after i install windows xp. thats what a friend told me. I think i will just have my father do it.
i am on a network at my house, i have no clue how to set it up, so i would have to call him eventually.
though he is going to hit me when he sees what i downloaded , hey im 18.

anyway, he gets back from a trip on tuesday afternoon so i will tell him about it on Wednesday. I should be running strong with a few bruses on sunday.

can only post on friends computer untill then, so pce out all, and thanks for your help.



thanks very much,
sunshine

[Navilin]

Yes once you reinstall windows youll have to get the patchs for and you shouldnt dl on this computer becuase youll get a virus or something worse.You should keep your computer disconnected to the internet until you have the patchs and a firewall installed.

[PyRo]

I never downloaded the patches, and have no firewall, I havn't gotten a virus in a while :)