Thread: FFS Microsoft...get it right.

Make a dos boot disk and fdisk the bejabbers out of it. Wipe it as clean as a whistle.

I think if you're doing a upgrade install you need the old setup disks, not a system with the os on it, but it's been a long, long time since I've done anything except xp installs.

Cheers
Simon

Mate use floppy and format the drive, set up the bios on next boot after format to boot from CDROM "with XP in Drive" and install fresh that way, if XP is an upgrade it will ask for an original disc or disk of an older version to complete the install as an upgrade.

Originally Posted by Feral

I have just upgraded from Win 98 to Xp as 98 would not read a USB stick.

It was suggested to do a clean install ie. back up all your important files and proceed with a clean install. I did not do this as I did not have the equipment to do it. I have installed XP and it goes ok but I was concerned about a messy install.

I decided to start all over again.

So now I have organised my important files to be removed from the computer. I decided to format the drive and start fresh.

So when Microsoft advices that this will overwright all existing files......


WHY ARE THERE STILL FILES AND FOLDERS FROM THE ORIGINAL SETUP ON MY COMPUTER AFTER A FRESH INSTALL


FFS Microsoft..when you ask this will delete or remove all data from your drive and I say 'yes please' thats what I expect


I have all the disks for 3.11, Win 98 and now XP. I wanted a clean disk, install 3.11, then Win 98 and finally XP.

Now Xp will not allow me to format to start as a new clean disk. I imagine that this is because of the change from Fat 32 to Nfts file system.

Any other logic from our learned friends here because I am not getting any thing from Microsoft

G-day mate, first thing, don't freak out, ---- yet.

"format will overwrite all existing files......"
It is a stock standard warning by the format command, just to ensure you did not call for format by mistake.
Every file ever written to the disk is still there. When Windows "deletes" a file, all it does is scrubs the first character from the file name and replace it with a hidden character. I think most consumer level OS's do the same

" install 3.11, then Win 98 and finally XP."
That is about the dirtiest install I have heard of. If you still have a functional set of 98 boot floppys, or if your 98 disk is bootable, you might try to install a basic 98, formatting, and using FAT32 if possible, install to C\windows. Then use your XP disk to install to the same directory, overwriting the system, if your XP disk is not bootable, the windows setup program must be run from within windows, then use the built in drive converter to convert FAT32 to NTFS, then comes all the fun of re-installing all your applications and restoring your data.
98 can use FAT16 or FAT32, XP can use FAT32 or NTFS, (Vista only uses NTFS, but don't go there).

I hope this clears up some fog for you.

Shorty.

My laptop doesn't have a floppy.

Ron

Check under your laptop Ron, do you have a floppy there?

Shorty

No.

Originally Posted by p38arover

No.

You better hope its a hard drive then mate.

Shorty.

'Tis, 'tis.

Ron