Help with a reinstall

[spikey1]

Hi all,

I hope somebody can help as I think my operating system is totally scr*wed as I'm having major problems (norton auto protect won't turn on, PC restarts instead of closing, blue screen error every time)

Norton, Panda, S & D, Ad-Aware, CWshredder, Defender and for a short time AVG all find nothing.

I think the problem may be in the registry from system restores and taking protective programs on and off too much. Another problem I had was windows firewall not turning on and losing system restore, this was with AVG.

Anyway to cut to the question, my XP is SP1, if I reinstall will I get the option to upgrade to SP2 or should I get it another way before hand?

Also what will norton do and how do I get my internet connection and e mail back? (with blueyonder now virgin cable)

I also think there is a way to try and repair first, is this by just starting the PC with the XP disc in?

Sorry for so many questions never had to do this before, any help greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[Valo^]

Hi all,

I hope somebody can help as I think my operating system is totally scr*wed as I'm having major problems (norton auto protect won't turn on, PC restarts instead of closing, blue screen error every time)

Norton, Panda, S & D, Ad-Aware, CWshredder, Defender and for a short time AVG all find nothing.

I think the problem may be in the registry from system restores and taking protective programs on and off too much. Another problem I had was windows firewall not turning on and losing system restore, this was with AVG.

Anyway to cut to the question, my XP is SP1, if I reinstall will I get the option to upgrade to SP2 or should I get it another way before hand?

Also what will norton do and how do I get my internet connection and e mail back? (with blueyonder now virgin cable)

I also think there is a way to try and repair first, is this by just starting the PC with the XP disc in?

Sorry for so many questions never had to do this before, any help greatly appreciated, thanks.

Couple of questions before I go any further:

• How does your virgin broadband conect to your PC? USB Cable or Network Cable?
  
• Are you using XP Home or XP Professional?

Slipstream SP2 into your XP install CD before doing your reinstall, should cut down on any problems. Use nLite great program Just make sure you backup all your data before you format & reinstall as you'll lose everything.

 

[spikey1]

Hi again,

Virgin broadband connects by network cable.

I have XP home.

"slipstream SP2 into your XP install CD..........." I have no idea how to do this, does that mean writing to the install CD? Where do I find SP2?

Thanks again.

 

[Valo^]

You shouldn't need any software for your cable modem if it is connected by a network cable.

you'll need to download this installer service pack 2 from MS this is the full installer for XP SP2. Using the nLite program will allow you to take your standard XP Home CD and merge/slipstream all the SP2 files into it and burn a new XP Home Install CD with SP2 integrated.

There is a guide on the nLite website on how to make a SP2 slipstream install CD

 

[spikey1]

Excellent, thank you.

Just a couple of questions before I proceed on this basis.

Is there a repair option if I boot from the XP disk that may be worth trying first?

If I get stuck with the slipstream process for SP2, presumably as I'll have it saved on another disk I can just install it after the SP1 install (I am totally new to this so wouldn't guarantee I won't b*lls up!).

Will the reinstall take out the registry entries for Norton, meaning it wil treat it as a total new install until I enter the product code and how does this impact on the number of days I have left?

Thanks alot again, I'm pretty tied up until after the weekend so will probably leave trying until then, everything is working as it should except no auto protect with norton and the PC won't switch off without pressing the off button and then "recover from serious error..."message on restart.

I know classic trojan/virus symptoms but nothing I can find.

 

[Valo^]

Excellent, thank you.

Just a couple of questions before I proceed on this basis.

Is there a repair option if I boot from the XP disk that may be worth trying first?

If I get stuck with the slipstream process for SP2, presumably as I'll have it saved on another disk I can just install it after the SP1 install (I am totally new to this so wouldn't guarantee I won't b*lls up!).

Will the reinstall take out the registry entries for Norton, meaning it wil treat it as a total new install until I enter the product code and how does this impact on the number of days I have left?

Thanks alot again, I'm pretty tied up until after the weekend so will probably leave trying until then, everything is working as it should except no auto protect with norton and the PC won't switch off without pressing the off button and then "recover from serious error..."message on restart.

I know classic trojan/virus symptoms but nothing I can find.

Yes there is a repair option on the xp cd, however going by what your saying your current install sounds pretty knackered! So just reload it.
By formating and reloading windows on your hard disk you will have a clean install, so yes you'll loose ALL your data (Pictures/Movies/Other Files)unless you back it up to CD/DVD first.
With Windows XP you have 30 days to activate it after an install, which you'll be prompted to do.

In my opinion you'll have less problems if you DON'T load Norton back on XP SP2 inbuilt firewall is pretty decent, couple that with AVG and Spybot SD/Windows Defender for Spyware and you should be fine.

One last thing here is a good guide to reloading Windows you may want to have to hand since you're new to this - Windows XP Install Guide
And remember to make sure you've got drivers for your hardware - Graphics, Sound, Motherboard etc. before you start.

What type of PC is it?

 

[Stiggy]

Can you afford a new hard disk? That would make the process of restoring your old data a lot easier.

Install new disk. Install XP. Get internet connection working. Install AVG and Defender only. Download SP2 and patches. Mount old disk as a slave. Copy old data across.

After that, try not to install loads of crappy 'security' software. They cause more problems than they solve!

Also, the advice to 'slipstream' SP2 is good, but way too complicated for most people.

 

[spikey1]

It's a Fujitsu/Siemans laptop.

I've got the "managed" disks that came with the laptop and these include the drivers.

I haven't looked at the link to the site yet but will do so, thanks.

I may try a repair first just to see but otherwise go for the "full hog".

I'm assuming the hard drive will reformat automatically by reinstalling but I'm sure the link will tell me that.

I Norton is resource intensive but until 2007 version and recently I hadn't had problems with it, any particular reason you think I shouldn't reinstall as I already have bought it?

Cheers again.

 

[Valo^]

It's a Fujitsu/Siemans laptop.

I've got the "managed" disks that came with the laptop and these include the drivers.

I haven't looked at the link to the site yet but will do so, thanks.

I may try a repair first just to see but otherwise go for the "full hog".

I'm assuming the hard drive will reformat automatically by reinstalling but I'm sure the link will tell me that.

I Norton is resource intensive but until 2007 version and recently I hadn't had problems with it, any particular reason you think I shouldn't reinstall as I already have bought it?

Cheers again.

Seriously, the repair may work however it does sound like it could do with a format/reload if you have shutdown and performance issues the repair may work but it may generate more issues with performence etc.
Forget the idea of slipstreaming SP2 use the install guide I posted above as this walks you through formatting your hard disk and reloading windows from scratch. Once you've reloaded it use windows update to install SP2 and all the other updates

I always found Norton to be buggy, resource hungry and generally cause more problems than it prevents - but that's my own view.

 

[spikey1]

Thanks again, I'll give the repair a go first but do a new install if it doesn't work.

Strange thing is today I turn on and after the ...recover from serious error message... evrything oi working as it should, norton auto protect on etc. Probably still won't turn off though!

I'm busy this weekend probably won't do it until next, I'll let you know how I get on.

Can I ask a couple of last questions?

On reinstall I'll get the option of quick or normal format, the guide suggests using quick but I would have thought it would be safer to go for a normal in view of the problems I have. Any idea how long this will take on a 60 gig HD?

My laptop spec is P4 3.06 Ghz H/T 512 DDR RAM by the way.

Is it better to do the reinstall online to ensure my internet connection configures correctly?

Lastly once XP is back on and I go to the update site it will list about 300 updates, is it best to select SP2 first as this will negate all the SP1 updates?

Cheers,

Spike.

 

[Valo^]

Thanks again, I'll give the repair a go first but do a new install if it doesn't work.

Strange thing is today I turn on and after the ...recover from serious error message... evrything oi working as it should, norton auto protect on etc. Probably still won't turn off though!

I'm busy this weekend probably won't do it until next, I'll let you know how I get on.

Can I ask a couple of last questions?

On reinstall I'll get the option of quick or normal format, the guide suggests using quick but I would have thought it would be safer to go for a normal in view of the problems I have. Any idea how long this will take on a 60 gig HD?

My laptop spec is P4 3.06 Ghz H/T 512 DDR RAM by the way.

Is it better to do the reinstall online to ensure my internet connection configures correctly?

Lastly once XP is back on and I go to the update site it will list about 300 updates, is it best to select SP2 first as this will negate all the SP1 updates?

Cheers,

Spike.

I always go for the quick format option and it's always fine. I would only use full format if the disk has possible bad sector issues, which by the sounds of things you don't, just software problems.

SP2 includes all the updates from the launch of Windows XP to SP1 and to the release date of SP2. The only updates you'll need to install will be post SP2, so in other words everything from the release date of SP2 to now.
Windows update will tell you what it wants you install and in what order, all you need to do is point and click