Reformatting my C: Drive

[Kevnvek]

Alright, it's about time for my semi-annual system reformatting. This computer is a mother-effing zombie, I know (and it's awesome lol), but every time it starts getting glitchy, a reformat always helps it. Plus I have a 1.5TB external hard drive that I pretty much store everything on anyways.

If all goes well I should be back posting later tonight or tomorrow morning, assuming I start it soon (which I plan to). I just need to make an inventory of my programs and firefox add-ons to reinstall first, then I'll cast REVIVE on this thing and reinstall all of it's drives which I have stored on my external HD.

Hopefully my color issues and whatnot will be fixed with this.

[eminutia]

I do that too, though it's a pain getting everything back to the way it was. Good luck!

[Kevnvek]

I do that too, though it's a pain getting everything back to the way it was. Good luck!

Yeah, it kind of is, but it's usually totally worth it. The thing ends up running faster and much smoother. The two main issues that are currently bugging me to the point of this current reformat are the color issues (many images, including everything I work on in photoshop, are desaturated pretty bad), and a strange Google server error (I can't access any Google based sites, or log into Youtube, Bing is cool, but I want to log into my Youtube! lol).

It's not too bad for me though since I've done it a couple times before. I have all of the drivers ready to install straight from my external, then I'll just go through and install a bunch of programs back.

Oh I did have one important question before I do this. Can it be done from a Windows XP Upgrade CD, as opposed to a regular XP CD? Someone's borrowing mine and all I found was the upgrade one, but I want to do this operation now.

[eminutia]

Oh I did have one important question before I do this. Can it be done from a Windows XP Upgrade CD, as opposed to a regular XP CD? Someone's borrowing mine and all I found was the upgrade one, but I want to do this operation now.

I'd wait until you got your original CD back. I always use the one that Dell supplied me with. I use XP too, by the way. I always liked it better than the new iterations.

[Kevnvek]

I'd wait until you got your original CD back. I always use the one that Dell supplied me with. I use XP too, by the way. I always liked it better than the new iterations.

Well looking at the instructions, I think if XP can't be installed normally from CD at boot, then it just won't give me the option to reformat. You have to try installing XP to get to the reformat page with the steps I'm using.

[Kevnvek]

Alright, I got all of the stuff not stored on external on it now that I want to keep. Now it's the moment of truth. Ima restart and try to start up the installation/reformatting process. If something goes horribly wrong, you can expect me to be posting from my Wii's internet browser at least until I get my main CD back lol.

[Ragna Dante]

Well I wish you luck dude, but I would have to say that Windows 7 is pretty effin' awesome. I was a huge Vista hater, but I was given a rather old PC and it still runs Windows 7 beautifully. If you get the chance, and have a decent PC, then I would say Windows 7 is worth a shot, but XP is still awesome.

[Kevnvek]

Well it worked. Since it was an upgrade disc I needed a disc from an older version, but luckily I found an old Windows 95 disc. So I never thought I'd say something as ridiculous as this, but, hooray for Windows 95!

Now I just need to get all my programs installed and whatnot.

As for different operating systems, I just plain love Windows XP. It's always reliable, and compatible with pretty much everything. I wouldn't want a newer operating system if it means compatibility issues, and I hear Vista had a lot of them. Would Windows 7 even be able to run any programs on any mode lower than XP?

And it looks like my computer's colorblindness has been fixed now, and I can access Google again, so I'd say this was worth it.

[eminutia]

Congratulations! Your PC now smells like a new car.

[Skylark95]

The only thing that I don't like about XP is that Microsoft is going to quit supporting it in two years.

[Nick]

Windows 7 supports everything Windows XP does.

[Dateranoth]

Windows 7 supports everything Windows XP does.

Yeah, I would certainly recommend 7, but then again, I had no problem with Vista either. More of a matter of PR than anything else. However, if XP is doing fine for you then by all means stick with it. It's a great OS, and I still run it on my server.

[Kevnvek]

The only thing that I don't like about XP is that Microsoft is going to quit supporting it in two years.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

I love XP.

So anyways, I went ahead and did a second reformat in a row lol. For some stupid reason the windows updater decided to install the .NET Framework to my external hard drive and I couldn't find any way to get rid of the **** thing from my external or tell the computer to reinstall it normally to the C: drive, so I just said eff it, do-over. Now I have two stupid .NET junk folders on my external, the only thing of which I can do to get rid of them is make them hidden. Ah well, this time I was really careful, I did ALL of the service packs and windows updates FIRST, and am now currently in the process of installing all of my programs. Works fine now. I think what happened is I installed a program from the external that required .NET 2.0 Framework, and it set it up automatically, possibly making it think it should be on the E: drive. I should have all my programs and stuff installed back in a couple hours now though.

EDIT: LOL they filtered d amn!? What is this, elementary school?

[Ragna Dante]

You're darn right it is!

[Bogey]

As long as you still have your passionate love for Fifa, it wouldn't matter if your C: Drive failed on you

[Kevnvek]

Windows 7 supports everything Windows XP does.

Well that may be, but I've got a horror story about someone not getting the right "special version" of Windows 7. I was trying to help someone who got the most basic version of Windows 7 (because it was cheaper) install some programs, but NOTHING was compatible. You have to have the intermediate (pro or whichever) version at least for it to have backwards compatibility, and Windows 7 is so new that none of the programs I tried to install supported it yet. lol

@Bogey, you mean PDZ/Kameo? I did rather enjoy both, more so than I thought I might (thanks again for the trade, em)

[Dateranoth]

Now I have two stupid .NET junk folders on my external, the only thing of which I can do to get rid of them is make them hidden.

Hey, if you want to get rid of those folders try this:

http://mintywhite.com/windows-7/7security/uac-annoying-add-take-control-to-context-menu-in-vista/

Just let it install the registry items and then use it to take over permissions so you can delete the folder. The download comes with another file to remove it from the registry once you're done.

[Kevnvek]

Hey, if you want to get rid of those folders try this:

http://mintywhite.co...-menu-in-vista/

Just let it install the registry items and then use it to take over permissions so you can delete the folder. The download comes with another file to remove it from the registry once you're done.

Thanks anyways, but unfortunately it doesn't work. The message I get when trying to delete either folder is

"Cannot delete [filename]: Access is denied.

Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected

and that the file is not currently in use."

[PeeKnuckle]

Did you try taking that folder off read only in properties?

[Dateranoth]

Thanks anyways, but unfortunately it doesn't work. The message I get when trying to delete either folder is

"Cannot delete [filename]: Access is denied.

Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected

and that the file is not currently in use."

Did you right click and Take Ownership? If so, then it must think the files are in use for some reason. You could try booting to safe mode and deleting or hooking the external drive to another computer to delete them.

Also, can read this article, if for some reason the Take Ownership command that was installed with the registry file I linked isn't working:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

[Kevnvek]

I already checked if they were read only, and have tried it from another computer. I'll try safe mode next. The Take Ownership thing seems like it's working right though, there's just something else keeping the folder from being deleted.

EDIT: Safe mode didn't work. It's not that big of a deal, I'll just keep the folders hidden and the options on that folder to not show hidden. I don't have any hidden files on the external that I won't be seeing anyways. Although it would be nice to get rid of the files, in case they are trying to run but broken or something.