PC Help Please!

jrowland96 · 12-27-2006, 11:30 PM

OK, apparently, I need to do this more often because I'm a moron.

(I'm writing this from my wife's PC lol)

I was trying to reformat my C: drive and reinstall Windows (300 Gig drive, even though Windows previously only recognized 135 gig or so).

Anyway, I can't figure out how to format the drive. I went ahead and reinstalled windows (not repair) to overwrite my old install. I try the format command within Win Explorer, and it says not able to do it. I tried it from a DOS window prompt, and got further, entering the Volume Label, it asks if I want to proceed, and then when I put Y, it says that the volume is currently in use.

How the heck can I format the drive? I figured I'd try from booting in DOS mode, but I can't even get into the boot menu (usually pressing F8 or F10, right?). I don't get any system beeps when the system boots... and pressing any of those never gets me to the menu where I can select DOS or Safe Mode, etc.

Also, Something is screwy with this new install because I have no internet, and it can't find a network device (ethernet card), and it can't find a driver for it (it has the yellow ? in device manager). I've never had to install a driver for it in the past and it was always found by Windows... I just booted up new installs previously, and I had internet access (using a Linksys Wireless G router, but my desktop is hardwired connection)

When I installed the new copy of windows over the old install, it finally recongized the rest of my HD, and now I have a 135 Gig C: drive, and a secondary partition of 151 gig or so (I was able to format that drive).

Anyway, 3 issues... How do I get this damn C: drive formatted so I can start with a fresh install, and then I'm wondering why it can't find my ethernet card, or find a generic ethernet driver for it. I look in my network connections, and it's completely blank. When I try and install one, it says you already have a connection that should be working, etc. but nothing.

Any help would be appreciated!!

Thanks guys!
John

**TimCollier** · 12-27-2006, 11:54 PM

John,

#1. First, with the limitation on the size of the hard drive being recognized, I'd start with the formatting to clear it up (see #2 below), but also check the motherboard's website for an update for the BIOS to recognize more than the 127GB limit that older BIOS chipsets have.

#2. Are you installing Windows from a CD John? Whenever I re-install Windows, I change the bootup sequence in the BIOS to start with the CD drive, then restart the machine and let it boot up using the installation CD. Once it comes up, I tell it that I want to do a re-install and not a repair of an existing installation, then go thru the process of telling the machine which drive, deleting partitions, etc...then formatting the C drive (NTFS). After that, the machine reboots on it's own and starts the installation process.

#3. As far as networking/Internet goes, make sure that you have everything turned on, but more than anything else don't worry about it until you go through a fresh full installation. I always found that as long as the light on my router was lit that was indicating the machine was connected, then Windows would find the networking stuff during installation.

Hope this helps John....get that stuff squared away!!!

jrowland96 · 12-28-2006, 12:15 AM

Thanks Tim!!

I had pretty much done all of that, but it hadn't prompted me to format the C: drive partition the other two times I did an install over the old one (I had done it just from the CD once I was in XP, and not booting to the CD)... by booting to the CD, the install looked exactly the same, except I got the extra step to format the drive (which I'm doing now). Hopefully this will work, and it won't have any of the previous install data floating around screwing things up like before.

Thanks again, and hopefully it will work this time.

J

**Ron_Schuermann** · 12-28-2006, 08:34 AM

On the format issue, you could always use a Windows 98 boot disk. Boot up from floppy. Format the drive to get it cleared. Run the Windows CD, and it should ask if you want to format, because there is no NTFS partition, then format it in NTFS)

jrowland96 · 12-28-2006, 12:44 PM

Thanks Ron, I haven't had a floppy drive for at least 3 years though.

Anyway, thank you Tim! I got all of the issues sorted, rFactor reactivated/reinstalled and working (man it loads fast when you don't have 500 tracks and mods. LOL).

After the format, XP installed fine (older version with SP1, so a couple more hours of Windows updates are now done).

I figured out the network issue lying in bed at 4:30 AM lol I got up and found my old ASUS AR8-MVP motherboard CD, and it had the Marvell ethernet driver on it and the net started working right away. I though MS would at least see an onboard ethernet, and use a generic driver?

Anyway, I'm all sorted away now, and just have a bunch of stuff to reinstall, so thanks for all your help!

PS, is there a GTL race tonight?

J