Reinstalling XP

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dimzytwinky
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D

Dimzytwinky

Hello!!
I need to reinstall XP on my computer due to driver issues since installing
a Lexmark printer. I've tried everything to no avail and this seems to be
the only option! My only concern is that I have an extra driver called D
drive for extra storage. Do I need to back up this drive or can I simple
shift everything from my C to the D and re-install on the C?
Any advice greatly appreciated!!

Thanks
 
Dimzytwinky said:
Hello!!
I need to reinstall XP on my computer due to driver issues since installing
a Lexmark printer. I've tried everything to no avail and this seems to be
the only option! My only concern is that I have an extra driver called D
drive for extra storage. Do I need to back up this drive or can I simple
shift everything from my C to the D and re-install on the C?
Any advice greatly appreciated!!

Thanks
Click to expand...
If the D: Drive is strictly data then you are good to backup the C:
files onto the D: and then format and reinstall windows on C:.

If you loaded something like Word but installed it on D:, this will fail
since installed programs make changes to the registry and store some
files in the C: windows folder. And those will be lost when you reload.

But have you asked here about the driver issue, seems like a reload is a
bit brutal. It may work but it just seems drastic.
 
Dimzytwinky said:
Hello!!
I need to reinstall XP on my computer due to driver issues since
installing
a Lexmark printer. I've tried everything to no avail and this seems to be
the only option! My only concern is that I have an extra driver called D
drive for extra storage. Do I need to back up this drive or can I simple
shift everything from my C to the D and re-install on the C?
Any advice greatly appreciated!!

Thanks
Click to expand...

I would get your data onto a CD, DVD or USB before doing anything.
Depending how re-install goes, it could wipe out everything.
 
Is the driver issue specifically printer or spooler related? If so did
you try to clean the printer subsystem? You may have to do this with
special tools (cleanspl.exe) and you may have to manually remove entries
in the registry.

John
 
Dimzytwinky said:
Hello!!
I need to reinstall XP on my computer due to driver issues since installing
a Lexmark printer. I've tried everything to no avail and this seems to be
the only option! My only concern is that I have an extra driver called D
drive for extra storage. Do I need to back up this drive or can I simple
shift everything from my C to the D and re-install on the C?
Any advice greatly appreciated!!

Thanks
Click to expand...


If your machine was fine prior to installing the printer...
no need to reinstall Windows.
Just use system restore and take the machine back to a time
just prior to installing the drivers.
That should do the trick
 
Assuming the other suggestion posted about curing the printer do not fix the
problem and you a determined to re-install Windows:
And your D: drive is a second hard drive and not just a partition:

1) Backup any important data file on C:
2) Make certain you have all the CD(s) and key codes for each product
(Example: MS Office) as they will needed when you re-install your software
applications.
3) Make sure you have the drivers you need for your motherboard, video card,
sound card, Etc.
Try Belarc Advisor: http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html
It does a good job of providing a wealth of information including
software Key codes and the Devices (video card, sound card, Etc) you will
need Drivers for.
4) If you can't locate you driver CDs then download the latest version from
each manufacture's web site and burn them to a CD.
5) Temporarily disconnect the second drive (D:)
"so you will not accidentally install Windows on the D: drive".
6) Do the clean install of Windows
(This assumes you have a Windows CD and not a restore partition)
From Michael Steven's: http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
more info: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm
and: http://www.theeldergeek.com/clean_installation_of_windows_xp.htm
also: http://www.bootdisk.com/

JS
 
Thanks for the above replies. Unforunately the problem has been going on for
too long for me to be able to do a system restore - I got too busy with work
to sit down and sort it out. By the time I finalyl got some downtime I
couldn't do it. I contacted Lexmark who tried all manner of fixes with me to
no avail. They told me to contact Microsoft - I did and they tried
everything they could as well to no avail. I did a bit of research on the
net and it seemed that other people have had similar issues and have ended up
reinstalling XP to fix everything thats been corrupted!! Both Lexmark and
Microsoft tried to sort the drivers, checked the spooler etc but couldn't fix
it. The computers getting on a bit so it may do it some good to have a big
clean out and reinstall. Thanks for the tips - I think I am best off backing
everything up just to be sure.
 
Dimzytwinky said:
Thanks for the above replies. Unforunately the problem has been going on for
too long for me to be able to do a system restore - I got too busy with work
to sit down and sort it out. By the time I finalyl got some downtime I
couldn't do it. I contacted Lexmark who tried all manner of fixes with me to
no avail. They told me to contact Microsoft - I did and they tried
everything they could as well to no avail. I did a bit of research on the
net and it seemed that other people have had similar issues and have ended up
reinstalling XP to fix everything thats been corrupted!! Both Lexmark and
Microsoft tried to sort the drivers, checked the spooler etc but couldn't fix
it. The computers getting on a bit so it may do it some good to have a big
clean out and reinstall. Thanks for the tips - I think I am best off backing
everything up just to be sure.
Click to expand...


Then try a repair install
 
Good catch. When installing Windows none of these devices should be
attached to the computer, all external devices other than the mouse,
keyboard and monitor should be disconnected.

John
 
John John (MVP) said:
Good catch. When installing Windows none of these devices should be
attached to the computer, all external devices other than the mouse,
keyboard and monitor should be disconnected.

John


Its a Lexmark x5470 with media card readers inbuilt.
Click to expand...
 
yeh, it is unlikely that
a stinking little printer
would be the source
of corruption - respectfully.

you should do a
disk format to utterly wipe
the disk clean before
reinstalling windows.
 
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