[bigjim]

Iv'e just bought a second hand lab top with windows XP on it Can anyone tell me If its possible to format the hard then install windows ME [which I prefer] without any complications.

[Styxx]

Yes you can (said without unequivocal guarantee of absolutely no possiblilty of complcations though). If you have not got the ability with that laptop to have both floppy a CD drives inserted simultaneously it's a little different, but you still can format and install as long as both drives work. You must have the drivers for the Audio, Video and Modem at hand, just in case, because Windows rarely, but not never, has the drivers for those capabilities. For questions or concerns reply back before taking any action.

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Backup all your Sensitive Data (Internet Explorer Favorites; Netscape Bookmarks, Address Book and Netscape Mail Folders; Outlook Express Address Books and Folders (compress any Netscape Mail or Outlook Express folders first) letters, pictures, databases, spreadsheets, music, etc.) to removable media for restoring later.


***

Please see the below to print out as necessary and the following printable attachment for more complete information on Starting From Scratch.

***

Note: These instructions will work only with a Windows 98 or Windows Me startup disk. Also, this process will only work if the laptop computer has only one hard disk or partition. If your laptop has multiple partitions, you will need to remove them before proceeding with the instructions below. Use the Enter key to execute commands as instructed.

To do a clean install, follow these directions:

Start your computer with the floppy disk drive in place, and with the startup disk in the drive. When asked if you want to start with CD-ROM support, select Start the computer without CD-ROM support.


You will eventually see the following prompt:
A:\>
(Above that, you should see a line reading "The diagnostic tools were successfully loaded to drive X:". Throughout these instructions, replace X: with the drive letter specified by this line.)

At the A:\> prompt, enter:
format c: /s
This command will take a moment to complete, and at the end it will ask you to specify a disk label. Enter an 11-character name or simply press Enter.


Once you are back at the A:\ prompt, enter:
copy oakcd*.sys c:
When the A:\ prompt appears again, enter:
X:
You should now see an X:\ prompt. Enter:
copy mscdex.exe c:
Enter edit . This will open the text editor in DOS. Enter the following line:
c:\mscdex /d:mscd001
Press Alt-f and select Save As... . Name this file c:\autoexec.bat .


Press Alt-f again, and select New.


Type the following line:
DEVICE = C:\oakcdrom.sys /d:mscd001
Press Alt-f and select Save As... . Name this file c:\config.sys .


Turn off the laptop, insert the CD-ROM drive, and restart. The computer will come back up with the A:\ prompt as before. Now, type D: and press enter.


Put the Windows CD in the CD-ROM drive, at the D:\> prompt, type setup then press enter. This should start Windows Setup.

[Cowboy622]

Styxx typed you a great step by step procedure to follow but for more in formatting and reinstalling see:

For another link to reformatting instructions see:
Murph's link
http://members.cox.net/joemurphy/Startover.htm

Murf has a good tutorial on his site
PC911 has one

murf: http://personal.picusnet.com/jtmurphy/format.htm
PC911: http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/clean1.html


also
http://members.shaw.ca/pyritechips/JimsGuide.htm


And see:
Boot Disk Creation Revealed
with Proper Fdisk and Format Methods
Based on tips by, and in collaboration with Jaak T. Doom at
http://www.lurkhere.com/boot600.html

Boot disk site2
http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files010.shtml

[bigjim]

thanks for the help, can i get the drivers off my laptop before starting the install?

How do i know what drivers i need?

And yes, it takes cdrom and floppy
thanks

[bigjim]

I have found all the drivers here http://support.toshiba-tro.de/intern...0/port7000.htm

But none for ME, any help please

[~Candy~]

If I may, why don't you work with XP a while and get familiar with it. My guess is you'll end up preferring it over ME.

[bigjim]

I need a programme to work in Dos, and it doesnt work with XP for some reason. works for a second then the serial port cuts off!

The serial port is ok as i can run it in a windows based programme which isnt as good!

[Styxx]

AcaCandy is correct in that it would be easier for you to work with WinxP. However you may have irreconcilable issues that make XP undesirable even for short-term use

In that case most often the Win98 drivers will work for WinME. But I would contact your hardware vendor to ensure that these drivers you posted above will work for your Laptop, running WinME.

[~Candy~]

http://forums.techguy.org/showthread...hreadid=188385

Is this the same program? Also, I see you have more than one thread where you've left us hanging. Perhaps you can give some feedback to them?

[bigjim]

yes this is the programme,

this is my dads account, and computer im using.

I got the programme working on my pc by putting ME onto it, But now im having a similar problem with xp, But XP does read the data from my external source for a few seconds, and then it cuts off!

[bigjim]

What i havnt said is my floppy and CD rom are on a docking station, so how will that effect the booting up if i format C?

[~Candy~]

Could create install problems. I'm not that familiar with the use of a docking station.

May I ask what program you are trying to run?

[bigjim]

Its a programe that links up to a Motor Dyno, showing me graphs etc on a motors performance, the dyno does the sums, then the cpu reads the data!

[~Candy~]

Is there an updated version of the program?

A quick google search shows 'fantom dyno' is that something similar?

[bigjim]

robitronics dyno!

the new software is windows based, expensive, and not as good/easy to use!