Format C: with windows installed

[jb444]

Ive been getting stop errors for a while on my new PC, and after a week of changing jumpers, fiddling with software etc, I figured theres either somthing up with the windows installation or the power supply (when trying to reinstall windows screen would frequently flick to black, seemingly slight power reduction for a while). (Installation never finished as I lost the paper with the serial on)
Basically as you cant uninstall an os and can only repair windows I want to format the c: drive and start as if the computer was new, so I know if it is a software problem before I fork out £50 for a new psu (And I thought Antec were a quality brand, I'm not happy since it was hardly a budget psu) I was wondering if formating the c: from a win98 boot disk and installing windows afresh would cause any problems.

 

[Nodsu]

You can format from within the Windows installer, no need to use a separate boot disk. You are talking about installing Windows 2000 or newer, right?

 

[jb444]

yeah xp, but i couldnt find an option to format without creating a new partition (can i delete partitions? or unpartition the disk?)

 

[SNGX1275]

Yes you can delete the partitions, and recreate. But if you select the partition you already have as the one to install windows to it will ask if you want to format it.

Also the video going blank during Windows install is normal, so don't worry about that. Only worry if it doesn't come back.

 

[jb444]

Cool thanks for your advice...windows seems to run OK...no blue screens yet.
But as usual my cd wouldnt load about 10 files cyclad~y.inf, utopia~1.wav cant remember the other names.
A mate thought it was the ~ in the file name wasnt part of the character set in my burner so it changed the file to cyclad-y.inf and couldnt find it.
Since i really cant be bothered to reinstall windows again, does anyone know if these missing files are important for a stable xp installation?

 

[Nodsu]

"can't remember" Yes, all those are critical.
Well, these two you named are not. They are a hardware device driver decription file and a sound file.

As or your mate.. Don't ask him any computer-related questions again

Your CD may be sratched or your CD-ROM drive may be dodgy - these are not big issues. But these corrupt files can also mean bad RAM or a defective hard drive or a defactive motherboard/IDE controller/cable or an overheating system.. And any of these would explain your stop errors too.

You should test your RAM and the hard drive at least.

 

[jb444]

Ive run memtest86 a few times round with no errors...
what programs would you reccomend for testing hdd?
As soon as I get payed im gonna by a legit copy of windows to solve that problem at least.
Cyclad-z.inf
Cyclom-y.inf
utopia~1.wav
utopia~2.wav
utopia~3.wav
utopia~4.wav
sv-262e1.png
sv-262e3.png
sv-262e4.png (list of files that wouldnt copy)

btw blue screens have started (mostly when i shut the computer down)
0x000000F4 (0x00000003, 0x863A0900, 0x863A0A74, 0x805D1142)
After 30 mins of swearing at Microsofts "Help and support" website trying to find out what it meant, I decided to ask here as I was at risk of damaging my lovely new monitor.

 

[Nodsu]

None of those files are critical. You are getting the file copy errors because you burned your Windows CD wrong or the image you downloaded was created wrong.

 

[jb444]

Right here's what i'm gonna do:
-Send psu back and get it repaired
-Buy and overpriced CD of XP home
-Install new psu and new copy of windows
-Get all components tested at considerable expense
-Still get blue screens with error messages I cant find the meaning of on the Microsoft site
-Break down into tears because I've wasted £700
Sound like a reasonable plan of action?

 

[SNGX1275]

Doesn't sound reasonable at all, well except for the buying windows part.

You've got a disk that is having problems being read by your drive, hence the file issues. I told you early on that the screen flickering isn't your power supply and explained that its normal during the setup (flickering wouldn't be a power supply issue anyway).

Don't pay someone to test the components, thats a waste of money. If you still have file issues with a real copy of Windows, it is one of 2 things. 1 - your cd/dvd drive sucks. 2 - You have bad RAM - run the bootable iso of memtest86

 

[jb444]

RAM is fine ive run memtest86
power supply is cause i cant see what else is causing the stop errors
what i really need to know is where to find out what the parameters are reporting (Im assuming the missing files arent causing it as Nodsu said thye werent critical
btw since when was xp so cheap? Is it cause vista is coming out soon?

 

[SNGX1275]

Try different IDE cables. Put the hd you are trying to install to on Primary and the CD on Secondary. Set both drives to Master. That way they are both master and they are on seperate channels.