Correct way to reformat...

sjt269

sjt269

sjt269

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11 Dec 2004
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Hey all

I've been having trouble with this PC for a while, but with me being off at university, it's been my family who've had to put up with it. Now that I'm back, I'd like to fix it. It's got a list of problems as long as my arm, and one previous reformat (and then a 'Repair Install' my dad did later) has failed to fix them.

Brief list:

- On startup, there's always an error of some kind. Sometimes its telling me that the registry has been recovered by use of a copy, sometimes its audio, sometimes its the keyboard and mouse software (wireless keyboard and mouse, the software enables use of the shortcut keys) that's failed, other times there's an error I can't remember and the system doesn't respond; the cursor doesn't move, the keys don't type, nothing happens.

- The 'show desktop' icon in the quick launch bar has been replaced by the default Windows 'I don't know what this is' icon and it doesn't work any more.

- It takes an age to open folders, or Firefox, or anything.

- It's generally slower than my less powerful laptop.

- I can't get audio playback out of my Line 6 Toneport using ASIO drivers without all manner of annoying pops and clicks unless I bump up the latency so high that any realtime monitoring is impossible.

- Some functions just plain don't work, don't respond, and don't do anything at all no matter how long you wait or how many times you click.



So, I'm going to reformat. Again. But this time, I want to do it right. I'm worried that there's some obscure driver somewhere that I've missed previously, so if there's anyone out there with time to spare, I'd love a list of what drivers to install, and in what order (if there's any preferred order). I'm not after specific driver releases or anything, just general 'graphics driver' or 'sound driver' will do, I'll find the right ones myself.

In case you need it, system specs are as follows:

2 Ghz E2180
2Gb RAM
Gigabyte P35-DS3P
ATi HD2900 Pro
Windows XP SP2


Plenty of free hard drive space etc, not got tonnes of background processes running, I'm all out of ideas. It's locked up on me at least a dozen times during the typing of this post, and I'm doing nothing else to it, nothing more demanding than inputting text to a webpage. I think any further communications will be from my laptop.

Hope you can help. Thanks in advance.

tTz
 
The Gigabyte website should have all the drivers you need for your motherboard (including chipset, networking and audio), so start there. May we worth doing a BIOS update too if there's one available.

ATi website will have the drivers for your GPU, and it may be worth you downloading a standalone version of the XP SP3 installer so you can install that immediately after installing Windows.

After all that, run Windows Update a few times to make sure all available updates are installed (may also update drivers for you too), and then you should be good to go.
 
Make sure that everything you download is clean. Then before format+install, unplug from the Internet.

You don't want to acquire Conficker before you've even started. :p


Unplug ethernet --->Format--->Install--->Service Pack--->Firewall--->AV--->Internet
 
1) Use a working system to slipstream SP3 into your xp cd. There are numerous guides of how to do this. The main reason you'd want SP3 is that it improves dual core support in XP and I notice that you have sp2 installed. A nice easy way to do this is to use nlite, available here: http://www.nliteos.com/

2) Make sure you back up all your important data, such as documents, favourites, game saves etc..

3) Boot your computer from your new nlited CD. Choose the option to remove your current XP installation (Don't bother repairing in this case). Format your C: Drive (I presume this is your os drive). Just choose Quickformat, as otherwise you will just be waiting forever for no real gain. Then install XP as normal.

4) Install Drivers. I install in the following order: Graphics, Sound, Chipset, Peripheral, but of course others may recommend other orders such as Chipset first. Each to their own really.

5) Install an antivirus program, such as Avast Home Free Edition (http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html) before doing anything else. This helps protect your system against viruses while browsing etc... Then install adware protection (sometimes included in Antivirus but not always.) such as Spybot Search and Destroy.

6) Update Windows. Leave it going for a couple of hours by manually visiting the update site. This helps keep it up to date. Some updates may fail on first attempt due to others not installed as they need a reboot. Doesn't matter.

7) Reinstall your programs.

8) Copy your old data back over. If your system has been playing up with this past data, scan it first. It's unlikely to be the cause I know, but best to be safe.

You may want to skip a couple of steps, such as the Windows Update as this will do itself over time and is not completely essential, but this should give a good starting guide of how to reformat your system. I think this is all posted in a sticky somewhere but I could be wrong...
 
Thanks guys, I'm gathering together all the software I'm going to need on the laptop. I've already got most of the installers from the last time I formatted, but it won't hurt to check for newer ones.

I don't have any PCs running with XP SP3 on them, so I don't suppose I'm able to slipstream SP3 onto a disk, am I? The laptop I'm on at the moment is running Vista. It's no big deal, I can let Windows update itself after I've installed it with SP2 and put the rest of the drivers on. I've got antivirus and anti-spyware stuff already, all good to go.

I hate this process, reinstalling everything is such a pain, especially the music recording gear. :(
 
I'm having great fun with this. First, it kept refusing to copy files off the disc with SP2 installed onto it (at several different points during the installation) and now with the plain old XP disc, it keeps getting nearly to the end, then throwing up a lovely BSOD.

Seriously considering buying more RAM for it since it's cheap this week...does this sound like the RAM could be at fault? I've had suspicions for a while, and the link to Memtest above makes it sound like I'm not the only one with this idea. I'll try burning a Memtest CD tomorrow, I think, and see what I can find. Meanwhile, I'll give the installation another run through before I kill it off. Looks like I'll be watching DVDs on the laptop tonight.

:edit:

I've made it through, XP is installed. Now to start putting everything else onto it.

:edit2:

Bah. Wierd things be happening. This is one sick computer.
 
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I've reformatted a laptop before and the installation would stop at certain files when copying off the windows disc, turned out to be bad ram, replaced it and all was good.
 
Well, memtest is running now with over 300,000 errors on it and a screen that lit up red from the word go. Add that to SimonC's comment above, and it's looking like bad RAM. The OCZ stuff I'm using already is on offer for £20 this week. Might seem wierd to go with the same RAM again, but it's cheap, and I don't have anything against OCZ, I'll chalk this up to bad luck. Wonder if I can get an RMA or a refund...built the PC in October, I think, it should still be within warranty.

:edit:


On further testing, I have only one faulty stick of RAM. Not sure what to do now. I can reinstall with the one working stick and get the computer working again, then buy more and upgrade it afterwards, or I can hold off, order new RAM, and wait until it arrives to reinstall it. Is there a recommended way of doing this? I'd have liked the PC to have been running as soon as possible, there's a brief recording project I want to have done by Thursday that I can't really do on the laptop, but I can hold off if I have to. Any ideas?
 
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