Solved: Uninstall of Windows XP problem

[Penni]

I uninstalled Windows XP on my Dell Dimension L566CX and it was supposed to go back to the original ME Operating system. Did not. When starting computer I get Dell.com page and then it goes to a grayed screen with a blinking cursor in upper left corner of screen. Reinstallation CD for OS is not loading either.
Hit F8 to go to safe mode and was given many options, including returning
computer back to when it was working well. All options that I tried just brought me to the same blank page and cursor.
I also downloaded Windows ME bootdisk from bootdisk.com and put it on
floppy and tried loading it into the Dell but the computer just told me to remove the non-system disk. I guess I feel bugged eyed
Thanks for any help.

 

[CouchMaster]

You need to DL a Win98 boot/install disk and make sure you reset the BIOs to boot with the floppy first.

 

[flavallee]

Penni:

Go here and click the "Windows 98 boot floppy image" link. That will start the win98_img.exe file downloading. Once it's been downloaded and saved somewhere, insert a blank floppy disk in its drive. Once that's done, double-click the file and allow it to extract its contents into the floppy disk. Once the extraction is complete, there'll be about 1.3 MB of files inside the floppy disk. You'll now have a fully-bootable startup floppy disk.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Is it your intent to install Windows ME or Windows XP in that computer?

What Windows CD's do you have, and are they "full" or "upgrade" versions?

Did that computer come with a recovery/restore CD?

----------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Penni]

Good morning Flavallee,
Thanks for your quick response. Can you explain why I need to put
Windows 98 on the computer when I was trying to get Me back.

1. It is my intention to get rid of XP and reinstall ME.

2. I have the CD that came with the computer. It's titled
" For the Reinstallation of Windows Me" only use this CS to reinstall Windows Me on a Dell computer system. It is not intended for reinstallation of application programs or drivers.

3. The computer came with a Resource CD. This cd is part of the backup media for this Dell Dimension. Contains- device drivers, diagnostics and utilities.

Thanks,
Penni

 

[Penni]

Hello Couchmaster,
Thanks for your quick reply too. Do I need windows 98 if I'm trying to get Me back? I've only read about updating bios but have no experience in changing anything.
Thanks,
Penni

 

[Penni]

Falvallee,
I downloaded 98 onto floppy, 1st attempt went fine until 97% then I rec'd
Disk error on track 78 head1 error in reading and then error again on track 79...
retries were unsuccessful. I then went and started over again and rec'd only the Disk error on track79 head1 in reading. I started again rec'd same track79 error on 99% done and clicked retry and it seemed to finish. There were no more error messages, formatting closed without a window prompt telling me if it was finished or successful. Is that ok?
Is there anything else I should know b4 putting the floppy into the Dell computer?
Thanks,
Penni

 

[CouchMaster]

A good Win98 boot/install floppy should boot regardless of any computer problems allowing you to fdisk and format. Once you do that your other (ME) disks should work fine.

 

[flavallee]

If the formatting process started at 0% and finished at 100%, you successfully formatted the hard drive.

My next thought is if the C: partition is in FAT32 or NTFS format. When you made the upgrade from ME to XP, did you continue to use the FAT32 format or did you allow XP to change to NTFS format, or do you remember?

If the C: partition is in FAT32 format, you can install ME from scratch.

 

[DoubleHelix]

What exactly did you do with the Windows 98 boot disk? What commands did you run? If you ran "FORMAT C:", then the partition is already FAT32, and you can now install ME. Also, if that's what you ran and you received track errors, chances are you have bad sectors on the hard drive, and it should be replaced.

What you downloaded was a Windows 98 boot disk. You did not download the Windows 98 operating system. You also do not need to install Windows 98. You're just using the boot disk to prepare the system for the installation of Windows ME.

If you have a Dell recovery CD with Windows ME, you should be able to just insert it and boot from it. You may have to go into the BIOS to change the boot order so the computer boots from the CD first and not the hard drive.

 

[Penni]

Flavallee,
I haven't put the floppy into the Dell yet. I was explaining the process of getting it onto the floppy. I now need to put it into the Dell. I'm unsure about Fat32...I know that is what I had prior to upgrading with XP.
Thanks,
Penni

 

[DoubleHelix]

If you received sector errors while trying to create the floppy disk, then that floppy disk is bad. I recommend throwing it away and using a different one since any errors you receive while using it could be caused by the bad sectors.

Since you haven't done anything with it yet, just try booting from your restore CD. It's possible that's all you'll need to do.

 

[Wolfeymole]

How exactly did you "Uninstall" XP Penni?

What file format was XP set at initially one wonders!

I reckon there are some hdd problems here and also all, if xp was set as NTFS, non-dos partition/s may not have been removed.

Wolfey

 

[Penni]

Thanks Doublehelix,
The Me reinstallation & resource cd for drivers do nothing. I put in the 98 floppy
boot disk and gave me information I'm not sure what to do with, such as
Disk Caching Status
Which gave info on drives A,B,C & D...reading & writing cache & buffering

Write data will be committed before command prompt returns.

For help, type "Smartdrv /?".
A:\>

I typed Smartdrv /? and got a lot of information but unsure what to do. They seem to be definitions for dos commands ??? The list is quite long but here's a few below:

/x Disables write-behind caching for all drives
drive Sets caching options on specific drives. The specified drive(s) will have write-chaching disables umless you add +
Hmmm....unsure what to do
Thanks,
Penni

 

[Wolfeymole]

Penni
Do this ok;
When you have loaded the 98 floppy and ME disk wait till it gets to the "A" prompt like so;
A:/
At this prompt type D like so;
A:/D
After this when the prompt changes to D type this;
D:/setup

Wolfey

 

[Penni]

Wolfeymole:
I'm stuck on getting the 98 floppy to complete. Unsure what to tell it to do. Can't
reinsert reinstall Me cd until 98 loaded. Right?
Thanks,
Penni