this blows, any help please!

[rise]

i had a serious crash yesterday, losrt a bunch of proggies and all and asked for help and when someone replied i should run a diagnostic on my HDD's i did tonight and WD is reading my raptor and caviar ata's as ide, not sata.
i'm sure i had downloaded with F6 during install, but i'm confused now.
does this mean i have torun a whole new install? can i just boot from windows cd and hit f6 and just get the drivers? or is WD, unlikely to me, reading them wrong?

 

[mechBgon]

Don't worry about what it calls them... what are the results of the diagnostics? Integrated Device Electronics = IDE and as far as I know, that is actually an accurate description of both PATA and SATA, if you want to get technical about it. If your motherboard treats SATA as a "PATA-alike," as more and more of them are doing, then that may be the reason. Post what motherboard you have, if you want to know if yours ought to be one of them.

Big picture: what caused the serious crash? Power sag? Scummy low-quality PSU?

 

[rise]

its an asus p4p800-vm (the micro atx) and it did just say IDE as the type of drive and everything passed, i ran the full scan test.
i think the crash was a relatively large static discharge, thats all i can really think of, i have a TT 480 xaser psu i think is pretty good, although with all the talk around here i might sell it for a enermax etc. but i think itspretty solid.
someone else thought it might be malware but i ran spybot, lavaware, spy buster, avast and didn't find anything.
my OS drive is fragging pretty quickly though and i haven't OC'd anything for the last couple days.

 

[mechBgon]

On that mobo, I think the default SATA behavior is to emulate PATA so that you can set up the OS without the fuss of drivers on a floppy.

So if I understand correctly, your OS is not booting but the drives check out ok. Try this:

1) boot from your Windows CD

2) ignore the F6 driver floppy hoopla

3) the first time Windows Setup asks if you want to Repair, or to do a fresh install, choose the install option, not Repair this first time

4) Windows Setup will go for a minute or two and then you press the F8 key to agree to the EULA. After that, it should notice the C:\WINDOWS directory and ask if you want that repaired, and now you choose Repair.

5) Unplug your network cable. Your repaired Windows installation won't have any security patches other than what's on the WinXP CD (built-in SP1A or whatever). Don't plug the network cable in until you've got firewall protection up and running (Windows Firewall aka Internet Connection Firewall, ZoneAlarm, or a router)

6) Let the installation proceed. It ought to come out with all your apps and data as they were. Patch your PC ASAP to secure it against exploits.

 

[rise]

mech, it is booting properly, but methinks there is something wrong, i just had another mini-freeze where everything seems to work, the mouse moves and can bring up the hidden task bar and such, but no clicks work and open windows fade into the backround. i used ctrl/alt/del and cancelled to restore operations.
that was happening alot yesterday after some sort of crash, i think the static discharge, but truthfully, could be anytime because my comp is up 24/7 mostly.
it also seems like it boots kinda slow, i know thats relative, but the raptor didn't really improve that, not that thats why i got it. when i installed windows last month i had a single 80 sata and added the raptor last week and installed windows and games on that, put my music/pics and most of my apps onto the 80.
is the repair install still the way to go? it had crossed my mind but i've never done one and didn't want to lose any saved apps/games.

btw, i've read a guide from you, i think building, and alot of your replies, glad you're on AT

 

[mechBgon]

It could be malware... have you got a current-generation antivirus software and a firewall? What version of Windows, and what Service Pack of it?

 

[rise]

service pk2 xp home
current spybot/adaware/spyblaster/avast anti virus windows firewall. should i try antiVir and another firewall?
freeze just happened again a minute ago with outlook express and ie running.
maybe i do/should have to just change to firefox too
i've used firefox a couple times, just gotta get used to it i guess.
any other malware/spyware/av's you recommend?

 

[rise]

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