Help needed - please

Oldi

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I have bought a preconfigured tower and put W98 onto it, it has only seen 2GB of HDD and is FAT 16. I have been told to reformat- but how? Also I have been advized to just put on XP and it will sort it it out.
All advice wellcome, please note I know Very little about computers,
Ged:confused:
 
Hi Ged,

Can you give us some more details of the spec of this machine?

Once we have some more information we'll be able to point you in the right direction. XP is certainly worth considering, but your pc spec may not be sufficient to run XP.

Let us have the details of the machine, and an idea of what you want to use it for, and we can go from there....
 
Hi, it is an Omega from micro direct
AMD 2000
60 GB HDD
512 RAM
CD/CDRW
It will only be used for internet, photos and I will be putting in an LG4040 multiburner later.
Does this help?
Ged
 
Ged,

ased upon that spec, the machine is more than capable of running XP, so I'd be tempted to suggest that you get a copy and install that - it will certainly be easier than fiddling around for ages with fdisk to get the drive ready for win 98.

Bear in mind too, that microsoft have officially put the nail in win98's coffin as far as support is concerned - microsoft are no longer releasing patches/updates for 98. XP is definitely a better option in your case, both in terms of configuration, support, and ease of use/reliability.

The reason that you are only seeing 2gb on your hard disk is because it is formatted as FAT16, and not FAT32. You can change this, either using FDISK or a third party utility such as Partition Magic (you'll need to be able to create the partition magic boot disks so access to another pc is useful here).

Have a think about whether you prefer the XP or 98 route. If you go for 98 then we'll have a go at taking you through the steps needed to sort things out.
 
Thanks, 98 is already on it, how/should I take it off, I am just off to get XP to put on?
Yesterday I also put on a few programs will these go? i.e. printer driver, AVG, AOL. The only one which I had to phone over was the modem driver this was way beyond me doing it again, too many mazes to walk down!

Ged

Back in 30 mins
 
Forgot to say, I am using the original PC at the moment.
 
You should find that XP will be more than capable of reconfiguring your hard drive for you, so I'd leave the machine as it is and follow the instructions you get with XP.

I haven't actually installed XP myself properly, as when I rebuild my Toshiba laptop I use a recovery CD so I miss the fun bit!

Anyone else care to offer a few pointers for Ged's XP install?
 
well i think im a pro at this now! :D

It is dead easy to do if there is no info of importance on the machine as it exists..... XP assesses the set up and gives you options..... it leads you through easily, if i recall it is enter to install XP then gives you a list of partitions..... if there is nothing on the HD you want, then delete all the partitions to give you only one thing (an amount of unallocated space) then you can partition this space if you want (or not) and then simply click enter on the place you want to put your operating system, it will give you option of FAT32 and NTFS (quick and normal), best to let it do it with the normal, click enter and away you go until you have to put in software keys at which point its allbut done.

All the best

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Thanks guys,

Just about to start!!

Ged.
 
Back up any important data first !!!
 
And download all drivers for XP (especially modem) so you'll have them at the ready after installing XP.

You'll also need Service Pack 1.
 
I would tend to dl'd drivers and servioce packs following install.... in fact does XP not go looking for them by itself?

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New PC working well on XP, but like yesterday cannot get the driver for the modem, tried delving in the CD during the Add stage, I will call them on Wednesday.

Thanks for all the help, I got stuck and my neighbour did it all really, he said it has wiped off the old 98 and left it like new.

Many thanks,

Ged.
 
Glad to hear that everything went well with the install.

What make/model modem are you using?
 
The box says SpeedCom+, connect with Intel chipset modem, CTR-21.

In the destructions it says to do-

Path:\Manual\Conexant{Agere(Lucent)}Internal\*.avi

Where do I type this?

Ged
 

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