starting again!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Paul Johnson
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Paul Johnson

Hi,
My sons computer running windows XP home keeps freezing after only a few
minutes use - I had the same on my PC and had to reinstall windows XP.
Looking at posts in the group to format and reinstall you only need to
reboot from the windows XP CD, However I have been told by the vendor
that I need to "S" format the hard drive, and this cannot be done from
the windows CD, to do this I need a boot disk. Is this true, and can
anyone direct me to a web site with any advise on how to do this?
Thanks for reading my post. Paul
 
John,
Thanks for the reply.
I might have misheard him, searching the internet I found "FDISK" (S
format?) He told me this was the best way to reinstall windows XP.
Paul
 
Paul, like i said earlier the 'S' switch would make the
hard drive bootable, but this is basically windows 95/98
stuff - not xp. For that matter neither is Fdisk. XP
doesn't use Fdisk either. I can only assume that
your 'vendor' was relying upon you using Dos disks or a
windows 98/Me startup disk. This is ok if you have the
disks and you are also running a Fat32 file system. If
your system is already formatted as ntfs then you can
forget it, because Dos does not recognise ntfs file
partitions.
As Fdisk has been mentioned i can only assume he wants
you to delete the primary partition and then create a new
one. Once again, if you read the instructions on the
setup screen as you are installing XP you will have ample
opportunity to delete the partition and recreate a
partition, so, as i see it, fdisk, the 's' switch are all
superfluous to your requirements. Everything you need is
available from the windows xp setup.
What i will suggest is, that if you get into difficulty
email me direct at the email address above and i'll try
and help you through the process.

John Barnett - MVP
Associate Expert
 
Reinstall in this instance is not called for. Reinstall does not correct
hardware problems nor does it correct application interaction problems.

Always trouble shoot this kind of thing with the system in place. A
reinstall simply complicates matters immensely.

First order of business is to see what's running on the machine. Malware and
spyware can cause the system to exhibit the symptoms you describe and
eliminating those is a relatively painless process. If you can keep the
machine up long enough and it has a floppy drive, launch msinfo32
(start->run->msinfo32), expand the software branch and click on the startup
entry. Hit ctrl-a then ctrl-c to copy the data. Now open notepad and hit
ctrl-v to paste the data. Save it to diskette then copy and paste the data
back here.

--
Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/default.asp
 
Hi,
The reason I was asking about the correct way to reformat is that twice
when I asked through the XPcd to reformat using ntfs the computer would
freeze at 100%. Choosing the quick NTFS option worked, but even now my
PC still freezes, and not while playing games, it can be just surfing
the net. My system is three months old and has 512mb ram powered by an
Athalon xp2200.

Below please find the results of my Msinfo32 startup

AVG_CC c:\progra~1\grisoft\avg6\avgcc32.exe /startup All Users
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
CTFMON.EXE c:\windows\system32\ctfmon.exe NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
HKU\S-1-5-18\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
CTFMON.EXE c:\windows\system32\ctfmon.exe NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE
HKU\S-1-5-19\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
CTFMON.EXE c:\windows\system32\ctfmon.exe NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE
HKU\S-1-5-20\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
CTFMON.EXE c:\windows\system32\ctfmon.exe .DEFAULT
HKU\.DEFAULT\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Cmaudio rundll32 cmicnfg.cpl,cmictrlwnd All Users
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Mobipocket Web Companion mobipocket web companion.lnk HAL9000\Paul
johnson Startup
Mozilla Quick Launch "c:\program files\netscape\netscape\netscp.exe"
-turbo HAL9000\Paul johnson
HKU\S-1-5-21-507921405-1682526488-854245398-1004\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
MsnMsgr "c:\program files\msn messenger\msnmsgr.exe" /background
HAL9000\Paul johnson
HKU\S-1-5-21-507921405-1682526488-854245398-1004\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
NVIEW rundll32.exe nview.dll,nviewloadhook HAL9000\Paul johnson
HKU\S-1-5-21-507921405-1682526488-854245398-1004\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
NvCplDaemon rundll32.exe c:\windows\system32\nvcpl.dll,nvstartup All
Users HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
PsiWin 2.3 Connection Server c:\progra~1\psion\psiwin\psconsv.exe All
Users Common Startup
QuickTime Task "c:\program files\quicktime\qttask.exe" -atboottime All
Users HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
RealTray c:\program files\real\realplayer\realplay.exe
systemboothideplayer All Users
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
SiSUSBRG c:\windows\sisusbrg.exe All Users
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
WinsysRsr c:\program files\wsr\winsysrsr.exe All Users
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
desktop desktop.ini NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
desktop desktop.ini HAL9000\Paul johnson Startup
desktop desktop.ini .DEFAULT Startup
desktop desktop.ini All Users Common Startup
nwiz nwiz.exe /install All Users
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run


below is a copy of my son's computer

MSConfig c:\windows\pchealth\helpctr\binaries\msconfig.exe /auto All
Users HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
MsnMsgr "c:\program files\msn messenger\msnmsgr.exe" /background
SAM-6GBSWERQ2T8\Sam
HKU\S-1-5-21-1844237615-1060284298-1343024091-1004\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
bwprnmon.exe c:\bitware\nt\bwprnmon.exe All Users
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
desktop desktop.ini NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM Startup
desktop desktop.ini SAM-6GBSWERQ2T8\Sam Startup
desktop desktop.ini .DEFAULT Startup
desktop desktop.ini All Users Common Startup
pccguide.exe "c:\program files\trend micro\pc-cillin
2002\pccguide.exe" All Users
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run


Once again thanks for taking the time to help me out. (I will be out at
work till about 9pm tonight.) Paul
 
No obvious nasties in startup which leaves hardware or drivers. However the
fact that a full format was hanging is a very strong indicator that the
hardware has issues. No amount of formatting and reinstalling will correct
the problem.

What's odd though is the fact that you have two machines hanging. That may
point to an electrical problem. If using surge protectors, temporarily
remove the machines from the surge strips and plug then up directly. Surge
strips, regardless of cost, tend to be good for an average of not more than
a year.

--
Walter Clayton - MS MVP(WinXP)
Associate Expert
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/default.asp
 
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