I am NEW and have a question

[POLLY]

This is my first post on this forum. I am trying to reformat my hard drive and reinstall WIN98. I bought a Fdisk floppy, and succesfully reformated several other hard drives, ( old ones) for the learning experience. However I am having trouble reformatting this current HD.

To back up and give you a bit of what is going on,
I started to install WINXP on this HD back a few months ago. It never completed the setup and I then went in and deleted some of the files, to try and get rid of it.( major " NO NO"!)...Now when it boots, I am asked " which operating system " I want to start the computer with.......1.Microsoft Windows XP Set Up", or 2. Microsoft Windows. If I choose the WindowsXP set up, it says " Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt.....
\system32\hal.dll. Please re-install a copy of the above file.

If I go to the second choice, "Microsoft Windows", my WIN98 boots up fine.

When I try to format using the Fdisk, at the format c:/s.........after the Warning, I say "Y"......then it comes up " insufficient memory".

Ok.........anyone care to help me figure this out. I would really appreciate it.
Polly

[Statica]

Hi Polly and welcome to PCMech:
First, you shouldn't have to buy an fdisk floppy. fdisk is a utility for "partitioning" a hard drive, it comes with pretty much every operating system out there. fdisk is also pretty finnicky in the way it loads up for each operating system. You are probably getting an insufficient memory error because it is probably not using the expanded memory or your version of "format" is for a different OS - please note that fdisk and format are 2 utilities that accomplish 2 entirely different tasks.

Secondly, to give you an idea of what is going on with your system -
your win98 is just fine, however when you installed XP, you either purposely or accidentally set it up such that you have 2 operating systems on your computer - it's a preferred way of doing things especially if you dont know if XP is going to run alright.
When you deleted a file (you apparently deleted system files), the XP install is corrupt, while the Win98 is just fine.

To correct your situation, we need to know exactly what you are trying to do?
Please remember that if you fdisk the drive without knowing what you are doing, you will lose everything - Win98 and WinXP. Tell us what you are trying to achieve, whether you want to get the XP working, or whether you want to get rid of XP only or whether you want Win98 and XP gone.

HTH

[POLLY]

Originally Posted by Statica Hi Polly and welcome to PCMech: To correct your situation, we need to know exactly what you are trying to do? Please remember that if you fdisk the drive without knowing what you are doing, you will lose everything - Win98 and WinXP. Tell us what you are trying to achieve, whether you want to get the XP working, or whether you want to get rid of XP only or whether you want Win98 and XP gone. HTH

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Thanks for the speedy welcome Statica. I purchased the Fdisk on Ebay. I have used it on several HDs and reformatted and installed Windows on them, as a learning tool.

A brief about me! My husband and I are retired. I sell on Ebay and love the computer. Recently I developed a desire to learn how to work on them. Hopefully sometime in the future I can go to a night school and take up a course, or even a on-line course.
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OK what I would really like to do is, if at all possible I would like to install WindowsXP and do away with the Windows98. If that isn't possible, I would like to take the XP off completely so it doesn't show up on the start up, and then reformat my HD and reinstall Windows98. Hope this makes sense.

[Statica]

Originally Posted by POLLY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks for the speedy welcome Statica. I purchased the Fdisk on Ebay. I have used it on several HDs and reformatted and installed Windows on them, as a learning tool. A brief about me! My husband and I are retired. I sell on Ebay and love the computer. Recently I developed a desire to learn how to work on them. Hopefully sometime in the future I can go to a night school and take up a course, or even a on-line course. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OK what I would really like to do is, if at all possible I would like to install WindowsXP and do away with the Windows98. If that isn't possible, I would like to take the XP off completely so it doesn't show up on the start up, and then reformat my HD and reinstall Windows98. Hope this makes sense.

I'm assuming that your XP worked fine before you deleted the files, in that all the devices and components were recognized or you had drivers for any hardware components in there. I'm also assuming that you have made a backup of any files that you wish to retain, because the procedure outlined below will erase the contents of your hard drive and start afresh.

Installing Windows XP as the only operating system is real easy, I'll outline the steps here, and if you need clarifications on any particular step feel free to come back to this thread.
1) Basically you just need to boot off your XP CD and follow the onscreen directions to setup Windows. To boot from your CD, you probably need to enter your BIOS and change the boot order of devices to make your CD/DVD drive as the first boot device. If you dont know how to access your BIOS, please post back with your motherboard manufacturer & model# or your computer manufactuere & model# (if it is a brand name PC).
1a) If you cannot change the BIOS boot sequence, don't fret, you can boot up using floppies .. of course you will need 6 of them. The floppies for booting are downloadable from the Microsoft website. However, it would help to know what version of XP you are using .. XP Home original / SP1 / SP2 or XP Pro original / SP1 / SP2
2) During the first stage of install (it will be on a blue screen), you should come up to a choice where XP will detect your old failed installation and you will be asked if you want to repair it. Prompt NO and do a fresh install. The onscreen directions are pretty self-explanatory
3) When asked to select a location, what is recommended is that you delete all the old partitions (remember fdisk and format, this is XP's version of doing it). Select the partitions you see - for example, you should see C drive, and possibly D .... select the partitions and press D to delete them all off till you are left with only Unpartitioned space. Remember to read the onscreen prompts carefully, as you may be asked to confirm deletions by pressing "L".
4) Once you are left with only unpartitioned space, now it's time to create partitions from the same screen. Select the unpartitioned area and press C to start creating. Tip: Depending on the size of your drive, you would benefit from having multiple partitions. Give about 10-12GB for the first partition that will hold XP, and then go back, select the unpartitioned area and create new partitions. Once you're done partitioning out your entire drive, select the first partition - the 10-12GB one and then press Enter to install XP onto that partition. That will become your C Drive. The subsequent partitions will follow in sequence. If your drive is too small then it wont be worth the effort to have multiple partitions.
5) When you press Enter to install XP onto the first partition, you should now be given a choice of filesystems to format the partition with. XP is most effective on an NTFS partition, and unless you have specific reasons why you dont want NTFS, I would recommend you run with it.
The rest of it is just a process of waiting for the files to copy... and you should be setup with XP, with all traces of the old XP and win98 gone.
As I said, the directions on screen are pretty adequate to get you going.

If you have any issues post back and someone will be able to help you with it.

Originally Posted by POLLY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks for the speedy welcome Statica. I purchased the Fdisk on Ebay. I have used it on several HDs and reformatted and installed Windows on them, as a learning tool. A brief about me! My husband and I are retired. I sell on Ebay and love the computer. Recently I developed a desire to learn how to work on them. Hopefully sometime in the future I can go to a night school and take up a course, or even a on-line course.

Good luck with your goals. While working with computers may seem tedious at first, it's a sense of accomplishment to do these tasks on your own and to tweak your system to your needs. Learning these things will give you the tools to deal with pretty much any OS out there.

[POLLY]

Originally Posted by Statica Installing Windows XP as the only operating system is real easy, I'll outline the steps here, and if you need clarifications on any particular step feel free to come back to this thread. 1) Basically you just need to boot off your XP CD and follow the onscreen directions to setup Windows. To boot from your CD, you probably need to enter your BIOS and change

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Ok, I have learned how to change the BIOS to boot from the CDROM.( just yesterday in fact!). I think I can run this pretty easily. My concern is how do I back up my information before I removed the C and D? I know backing up files is elementary but it is something that I have never done of a entire system start before.

[digitalfreedom64]

Originally Posted by Statica First, you shouldn't have to buy an fdisk floppy. fdisk is a utility for "partitioning" a hard drive, it comes with pretty much every operating system out there.

Just though I'd add a little about the fdisk. You'll probly never really need one working with Windows XP but ti you ever come across the need for one again check out this website www.bootdisk.com . You can download the for free. You download the file. Put a floppy disk in your disk drive. Double click on the file and it'll ask you if you have a floppy in your drive, click ok and it writes the Boot disk (fdisk) for you.

[Statica]

Originally Posted by POLLY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ok, I have learned how to change the BIOS to boot from the CDROM.( just yesterday in fact!). I think I can run this pretty easily. My concern is how do I back up my information before I removed the C and D? I know backing up files is elementary but it is something that I have never done of a entire system start before.

Well, all you should be doing is backing up your files, like documents .. MS Office documents, or pictures or music/video files. Some typical locations and files that you need to remember to backup are (and these are just examples) your My Documents folder, your address book, your bookmarks/favorites. Remember that your programs will need to be installed afresh, it will not help to back them up. Just copy them onto any removable media and you should be fine.

Originally Posted by crashoverride Just though I'd add a little about the fdisk. You'll probly never really need one working with Windows XP but ti you ever come across the need for one again check out this website www.bootdisk.com . You can download the for free. You download the file. Put a floppy disk in your disk drive. Double click on the file and it'll ask you if you have a floppy in your drive, click ok and it writes the Boot disk (fdisk) for you.

The reason why I dont recommend bootdisk.com is because, it's always better if you are going to create bootdisks for setting up XP, then you get them from the Microsoft site. (of course bootdisk.com does link to the MS site).

[POLLY]

Where from here?


Sorry, found my answer!!! Should of read more thoroughly.......

Polly

[digitalfreedom64]

Originally Posted by Statica The reason why I dont recommend bootdisk.com is because, it's always better if you are going to create bootdisks for setting up XP, then you get them from the Microsoft site. (of course bootdisk.com does link to the MS site).

Well the reason I suggested it is just incase the need ever arises to use a boot disk for an OS prior to XP. It's kind of redundant to make a boot disk XP since it will boot from the cd.

I've found their pre 2K/XP bootdisks to work well.

[POLLY]

ok it went through the formatting and then came up with

"Setup was unable to format the partition. The disk may be damaged. Make sure the drive is switched on and properly connected to your computer. If the disk is a SCSI disk, make sure your SCSI devices are properly terminated. Consult your computer manual or SSI adapter documentation for more infomation.

You must select a different partition for WindowsXP. to continue press enter.

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Now what?

[glc]

Polly, your best bet is to boot the XP CD into Setup again, and remove all the partitions again. Then tell XP to install in the unallocated space. This will make one partition occupying the whole drive and format it for you. Keep it simple.

If this still errors out, you have a hardware problem to deal with - a defective hard drive or ram most likely.

[Statica]

What motherboard/hard drive are you using? Are you using a drive overlay? I'm assuming you are trying to format to NTFS.

[POLLY]

Originally Posted by glc Polly, your best bet is to boot the XP CD into Setup again, and remove all the partitions again. Then tell XP to install in the unallocated space. This will make one partition occupying the whole drive and format it for you. Keep it simple. If this still errors out, you have a hardware problem to deal with - a defective hard drive or ram most likely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Headed back in to try that.

[POLLY]

Originally Posted by glc Polly, your best bet is to boot the XP CD into Setup again, and remove all the partitions again. Then tell XP to install in the unallocated space. This will make one partition occupying the whole drive and format it for you. Keep it simple. If this still errors out, you have a hardware problem to deal with - a defective hard drive or ram most likely.

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Here is what I have come to now again..........

The following list shows the existing partitions and unpartitioned space on this computer.
19595 MB DISK at Id 0 on bus 0 on atapi (MBR)
c: Partion1 ( unknown) 19587MB (19587 MB free)
unpartitioned space 8mb

Now what???

[Statica]

select the C: partition and hit enter to install onto it.

[POLLY]

Originally Posted by Statica select the C: partition and hit enter to install onto it.

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came back with the same thing.
I will brain storm some more here......

[Statica]

Originally Posted by glc If this still errors out, you have a hardware problem to deal with - a defective hard drive or ram most likely.

That does sound like a hardware issue as mentioned by GLC. You could try installing Win98, it's a lot less finnicky about RAM. The procedure is roughly the same, you need to boot with the Win98 CD.

[POLLY]

Originally Posted by Statica That does sound like a hardware issue as mentioned by GLC. You could try installing Win98, it's a lot less finnicky about RAM. The procedure is roughly the same, you need to boot with the Win98 CD.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Will try my WIN98 now......
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Ok I have started the WIN98. It now says
"Set up has found non MS-DOS operating system files on your computer.
If your computer has OS/2 on it, see SETUP.TXT on SETUP DISK1.

options then are
REMOVE the FILES
DONOT REMOVE THE FILES.

Does this make any sense?

[Statica]

Remove the files. Win98 does not recognize NTFS, and can only identify it as non DOS files.

[POLLY]

Originally Posted by Statica Remove the files. Win98 does not recognize NTFS, and can only identify it as non DOS files.

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Now do not choose the large disk support, or enable large disk support?

Sheesh.........I am learning volumes today.

[glc]

Originally Posted by POLLY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is what I have come to now again.......... The following list shows the existing partitions and unpartitioned space on this computer. 19595 MB DISK at Id 0 on bus 0 on atapi (MBR) c: Partion1 ( unknown) 19587MB (19587 MB free) unpartitioned space 8mb Now what???

DELETE Partition 1. Then you should have all unpartitioned space. NOW install XP on the unpartitioned space.

if that doesn't work, post back with the brand of the hard drive.

[Statica]

Yes. That is a legacy setting for Windows to be able to use larger hard drives, the filesystem should now default to FAT32.

[POLLY]

Originally Posted by glc DELETE Partition 1. Then you should have all unpartitioned space. NOW install XP on the unpartitioned space. if that doesn't work, post back with the brand of the hard drive.

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Quantum Fireball............I have gone ahead and put in WIN98. See my post above to Statica.

[POLLY]

Originally Posted by POLLY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quantum Fireball............I have gone ahead and put in WIN98. See my post above to Statica.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WEll boo hoo!!!

Now it is saying that Setup cannot install Windows 98 on your computer.
An error was detected while formatting your primary hard drive partition.
Press enter to quit Setup.

[POLLY]

Originally Posted by POLLY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WEll boo hoo!!! Now it is saying that Setup cannot install Windows 98 on your computer. An error was detected while formatting your primary hard drive partition. Press enter to quit Setup.

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I just put the Fdisk back in and tried that again. I got to the A:\> format c:\s and it said " not ready. Format terminated"........does that info help any?

[glc]

I think your hard drive may be defective. You need to download Maxtor Powermax to test it. Maxtor bought out Quantum, this is why I asked for the drive manufacturer so I could point you to the right diagnostic.

http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Ma...&downloadID=22

This is a floppy disk maker. Download it to your hard drive, then run it with a blank floppy in your drive. Then boot the problem computer with it and test the hard drive.

[POLLY]

Originally Posted by glc I think your hard drive may be defective. You need to download Maxtor Powermax to test it. Maxtor bought out Quantum, this is why I asked for the drive manufacturer so I could point you to the right diagnostic. http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Ma...&downloadID=22 This is a floppy disk maker. Download it to your hard drive, then run it with a blank floppy in your drive. Then boot the problem computer with it and test the hard drive.

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Thanks for the link GLC. I am happy to report that I found a setting when I Fdisked last night and opted for the "set active partition ", which did away with the XP set up at start, and WINDOW98 boots up now great. I haven't a clue what I did, but whatever it was I finally choose the right thing. I will download this now.
This is a very helpful forum.Glad I found it.
Thank you,
POLLY