Having problems...

[M4LFUNCT10N]

Okay, so Thursday I took my laptop to work. Copied all my music and documents to the server, restored my laptop, and then copied everything back. I deleted a ton of the Toshiba crap I didn't want, then I did all the updates. Well, now I'm having problems with IE. If I click a link that opens up a new browser, it takes about 8 seconds, and it locks the original browser during that time. I can't move to another page, can't click on anything. And popups screw up the computer big time. Because they keep me from being able to move around, and they are really slow to popup. Any ideas on what I can do here? Am I screwed? Do I need to do another restore?

**by restore, I mean full system restore with the original CD's, not XP restore**

[M4LFUNCT10N]

Oh yeah, does anybody have a full version CD of XP Home Edition? That's all I have the license for :rolleyes: And my laptop came with restore discs. Other than that, I've got a copy of Win98SE and I've got XP Home Edition Upgrade(from my previous laptop). What should I do here?

[Airstotle]

I actually have an extra copy of Win XP. Never used, or activated. I would be willing to part with it for a nominal fee.

[M4LFUNCT10N]

Unless it's XP Pro and it's a REALLY good deal... then thank you but no thank you. I'd rather borrow just the CD from someone with Home Edition. Don't need two licenses for one computer ;)

[Excessive]

Originally posted by M4LFUNCT10N
Oh yeah, does anybody have a full version CD of XP Home Edition? That's all I have the license for :rolleyes: And my laptop came with restore discs. Other than that, I've got a copy of Win98SE and I've got XP Home Edition Upgrade(from my previous laptop). What should I do here?

There is no diference between the upgrade and the full version. the upgrade just makes sure you have a previous version of windows. But it is the same OS as the full version.

[M4LFUNCT10N]

Hmm I better create a CD with all my drivers then. I remember having lots of fun installing Win98 then XP on my last laptop. It definately wasn't friendly. Well, as I think about it that was mainly because I couldn't swap drives in DOS. This one has both drives internal. Well, I guess it's time to burn all my music to CD's so I can reformat again... :rolleyes: Oh yay.

[Excessive]

you don't have to install 98 first. If you can go to the bios and set the cdrom as the first boot device, you can boot and install from the XP disk.

Edit:
and if you dont like working in dos, use madboot to get going.
MadBoot (http://www.madboot.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewdownload&cid=1)

[M4LFUNCT10N]

you're saying I don't have to install Win98 before I install XP upgrade? How does that work?

I feel completely at home in Dos ;) I remember the days before Dosshell. Norton Commander back then was awesome! Who needs a gui?

[Excessive]

When installing from the upgrade disk it will ask you to install the 98 disk. It verifies that you do indeed have a previous version of windows. then continues to install XP. The two OSes are completly diferent. it does not "upgrade" previous versions of windows. it installs a completly new version. So do a clean install with the XP disk for best results. And if you boot from the XP disk you willl never see a dos prompt. It will allow you to change and delete partitions also.

[M4LFUNCT10N]

Just as you posted that.. I found this.

http://www.windowsreinstall.com/install/tips/winxp/XPug.htm

So I better got to burning all my CD's.... hmm.. maybe I'll just open up the office for a couple of hours... I'll have to call the boss for approval..

[Excessive]

Have fun. I love a fresh OS install. no bloat, everything runs faster. Then I install all my programs and end up with a drive that is 50% fragmented and all slow again. ;)

[M4LFUNCT10N]

I was surprised. I did a defrag last night and it only took about 45 minutes! I guess I just deleted a few too many integrated programs when I used the restore disks. A CLEAN version of XP should solve all my problems.

[DiscoDave]

I'm pretty sure if you try to install your upgrade, it'll ask you for original Windows media, at which point you can put your Win98 cd in the drive, and that'll work fine...no installation necessary.

Could be wrong, but that's the way it's always worked for me.

[M4LFUNCT10N]

So I've got some new fun. Last time I did this, the computer had a FAT32 HD partition. Now I've got NTFS. So when I use a boot disk I have no way of using Fdisk or format to reformat my laptop. So... I'm blanking right now. I haven't eaten since breakfast(I'm working on this right now, luckily we have some frozen burritos here at work). But can someone help me find the answer rather than me take the long route of finding an answer?

Basically, I want my XP computer completely formatted, so I can reinstall XP upgrade from scratch.

[DiscoDave]

If your system will boot from cd drive, you can format the drive from the WindowsXP installation.

[M4LFUNCT10N]

For some reason it won't boot from the CD. It just goes straight into windows. :shrugs:

[M4LFUNCT10N]

ahh crap...

So.. I found a site with some info.. http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

But this doesn't work either. I can get into the setup disk and I started setup... but it can't find a drive to install to! (I think this is another NTFS issue). The startup disk was a win98 boot disk.... it created a ramdrive using the letter association "C:". Could this be part of the problem? Do I need to boot from another disk?

[M4LFUNCT10N]

Ok.. I might have it. My stupid laptop doesn't display or tell you that you have to hold "C" during the boot to force a CD-Rom boot. I think all is good now.

[Excessive]

Yep. What disco said. Although you may love your old dos boot disk, you don't need it anymore.

[Excessive]

Or you could go into the bios and force your cd rom drive to be the first boot device

[M4LFUNCT10N]

I fixed it. The problem was that it wouldn't boot from the CD without me holding that key down. And there is no where that it tells you that you need to hold the key down. I remembered that my last laptop displayed a message during startup that told you to hold down the "C" key. 80% formatted. I really want to go home. I'm bored to death here at work.

[M4LFUNCT10N]

All up and running. No more problems!!! w00t!

[DiscoDave]

:woot:

[DaemonLee]

:p Enjoy it for now, 3 monthes later....you'll be doing the same thing again.

[M4LFUNCT10N]

nah, it's usually a yearly thing. Unfortunately this time around I didn't buy the 3 year extended warranty. So I can't get a new laptop at 2 years like last time!