Question regarding clean install of Windows XP

[mschwart]

Hey guys, not sure if this is the right place to post this, so if not, sorry. Anyway, my PC has recently been giving me a ton of issues and after two and a half years with the same install, I figure it's time to do a clean install of windows. Now I've backed up everything important that I want to save, and I'm a little confused on some of the next steps.
Right now my HDD has two partitions, a 30GB and an 80GB (Sizes are rough and according to what the total size is when the drive is highlighted in My Computer). Now, from what I understand, when I begin the new installation, it will ask me which partition to install on, and will delete everything on that partition. What I would like to do however, is remove the partition and start completely over, with a clean, partitionless HDD. So i guess I'm asking, what do I need to do to accomplish that?
Sorry for the long and confusing post, and any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[lxskllr]

I usually use Gparted to repartition my HDs. Boot to the CD, and follow the prompts for repartitioning.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

 

[mschwart]

Should I use that before or after I reinstall windows? Thanks for the help btw.

 

[McLovin]

During the install of XP, (vista or 7 for that matter) it will ask you which partition you would like to use. You can select either of the partitions currently on your drive, hit the D key to delete the partition, confirm the choice, and do the same for the remaining partition. It should then show you that there is only 1 whole un-partitioned spaced left on the drive, select the quick format option, and you should be good to go.

Easy as pie!

 

[lxskllr]

You'd partition the drive(with either method presented) before installing Windows. You can edit partitions after a Windows install using Gparted, but it's not a completely safe operation. I've never had problems, but they can always occur. Back up any data you have if you edit your partitions on a live system.

 

[mschwart]

Alright, thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it.


Edit: So everything goes smoothly and Windows XP is freshly installed. However, there are two problems. First, it won't connect to the internet. My PC connects to the internet through an ethernet cord to a wireless router, and from what I understand, it should connect to the internet automatically. But for some reason it's not. Now I understand very little when it comes to networking, so I am completely lost. Do any of you guys have an idea of what's wrong?

Second, there is no sound (this issue carried over from the previous installation). Now I've checked the control panel and it shows no audio device connected. However, the speakers are connected to the computer, the drivers should be there, etc. I use onboard sound and I've checked to make sure its enabled in the BIOS. I have no clue what's wrong. The odd thing is that about a month after this started, the sound simply came back, and then a few days later I received the same error messages. Any ideas?

Btw, thanks for helping with these issues.

 

[RebateMonger]

You likely need to install appropriate Windows drivers for your network interface and for your sound device. XP needed drivers for many NICs and sound devices.

 

[mschwart]

I installed the chipset drivers and my ethernet port and all that is up and running, it just wont connect to the internet. The drivers I installed came from the CD that came with my mobo (DFI 875 Infinity). Maybe this will help- in the Network Connections screen there are two items, both listed under "Lan or High-Speed Internet". The two items are "1394 Connection" and "Local area Connection"

 

[lxskllr]

You'd be connecting through Local area Connection. Did you try repairing the connection by right clicking "local area connection", and choosing repair?

 

[mschwart]

Ok, so I just tried that and it said (after several minutes of repairing)- "Could not repair because of the following issue: renewing ip address" And unfortunately, I have no clue what that means. Thanks for helping me with this

 

[lxskllr]

 

[mschwart]

Ok, followed the diagram exactly and it still doesn't work. But what is so frustrating is that earlier today I was having similar problems- it wouldn't connect after reinstallation. However that was due to the fact that I hadn't installed the chipset drivers. Once I did, it connected. Then I installed a sound card (which is also presenting its own problems, but thats for another thread), and when I turned the PC back on, I couldn't connect.

 

[lxskllr]

Hmm... Lets go back to the beginning. Were network issues one of the reasons you reinstalled? I wonder if your network adapter's going bad. You could also try reinstalling your chipset drivers, or look for drivers specific to your adapter.

 

[mschwart]

No, I wasn't having any network issues- I reinstalled due to the lack of sound as I mentioned earlier, in addition to sluggish performance. How do I find what type of adapter I have?

 

[lxskllr]

Go to this page, and enter in the relevant info for your specific mb. You should then be able to get the most up to date network drivers.

http://www.dfi.com.tw/portal/CM/cmdownload

 

[mschwart]

Ok, two quick questions before I do something stupid- 1. My mb is a DFI nForce 4 Infinity 875- is it safe to assume that this http://www.dfi.com.tw/portal/CM/cmproduct/XX_cmproddetail/XX_WbProdsWindow?action=e&windowstate=normal&mode=view
is the chipset I'm looking for? And second- whats the best way to get that set of files from this computer to the PC?

 

[lxskllr]

That link just takes me to the DFI home page. I'm not familiar with DFI mbs, but the model number you listed is confusing me a bit. nforce 4 would indicate a Nvidia chipset, but the 875 sounds like Intel. I may be misinterpreting their model numbers, but are you sure you listed the model correctly. I couldn't find an exact match in phaseout products.

To get the files onto that computer, I'd download from a good net connection, and use a thumb drive to get them on that computer.

 

[RebateMonger]

I looked at DFI's site and found an Infinity 875 motherboard among the discontinued products. That board has an Intel 875 chipset. I see no reference to nForce in its product page.

http://lp.lanparty.com.tw/portal/CM...sWindow?action=e&windowstate=normal&mode=view

If Windows Device Manager shows a Network Interface Card with drivers installed, then the problem is likely a configuration problem with the network settings on the PC. It's also possible there could be hardware problems, including cabling, network equipment, or a failing NIC (even though Windows Device Manager thinks it's OK).

Ok, so I just tried that and it said (after several minutes of repairing)- "Could not repair because of the following issue: renewing ip address" And unfortunately, I have no clue what that means. Thanks for helping me with this

That means that the network card isn't talking to the DHCP server (probably a local router) that provides its IP address.

If the local router is working with other PCs try changing out the network patch cable with a known-good one. Also, you can go into a DOS window and release the stored IP address ("IPConfig /release"). Then try repairing the connection again.

 

[mschwart]

Ok, so I went out and bought a 15 dollar network card and that fixed it, but thanks for all of yalls time anyway.