This is a rough draft of how to reload windows Dec 1, 2005 ----------------------------- Where to start I have been doing this for years for corporations and individuals you should not attempt this unless your computer has already stopped functioning, or you are experimenting with another drive, spare pc, or you are an advanced user. backup anything you can, copy to another hard drive if possible, and or to a recordable cdrom drive, with all of that said, here goes, save this for you or your technician for later... tonykerr@yahoo.com email if you have a problem "use someone elses pc to email if you get into a bind..." I expect to update these instructions from time to time at www.geocities.com/tonykerr/reloadwindows.txt check for updates each time you install ----------------------------- Section Contents A. What operating system, how much ram, Hard Drive space, and MHZ do I have. B. Tips for Windows 98SE C. Tips for Windows XP D. How to reload 98SE F. How to reload XP G. H. I. Bulletproof windows, Running from a backup. J. What software should I load and not load. K. Not sorted yet ------------------------------------------------------------ A. What are the capabilities of my computer "Right click" on the "my computer" and select properties, operating system, ram listed there, next, double click the "my computer" and "right click" the c drive, note the size. On the fron of the computer, not the monitor, look for a number like 733Mhz this is the acutal speed of the pc, if it isnt there, you can sometimes press the esc key before the windows screen comes up, and press the "pause" key to see the Mhz speed. B. Tips for Windows 98SE Start, Run, Msconfig, Startup Tab, Note any checkmarks, and remove/restart, note speed increase. C. Tips for Windows XP Start, Run, Msconfig, Startup Tab, Note any checkmarks, and remove/restart, note speed increase. Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Restore, Create a restore point. D. How to reload 98SE how to load or reload windows98SE you might already have the cab files (c:\win98) folder on your hard drive, if it is in the c:\windows\options\cabs folder, move it to c:\win98 or aquire a "windows98SE upgrade" version,you only need the \win98 folder from the cd write down the Key number for that cd in a text file called key.txt and place it in that same folder )win98) aquire a windows 95 cd, copy the win95 folder into the win98 folder the will be requires when asked for the qualifying products for an upgrade question on a fresh install right drag and drop the c:\program files into the windows directory restart the computer press F8 (or CTRL) to access the menu options select "safe mode command promt only" type attrib -h -r -s (press enter) type ren progra~1 prold (press enter) type ren windows winold (press enter) next 3 steps advanced only to remove some viruses some large files will take time to copy in dos mode type md root (press enter) copy *.* c:\root (press enter) del *.* press yes (press enter) cd win98 (press enter) setup /is /it (press enter) follow prompts, enter key select new windows directory windows, not winold select when complete, "do not update daylight savings time" this interfers with restoring the image when the date changes.. remove the checkmark "show this screen each time windows starts" from the welcome to windows and press close open Control panel (start settings control panel), power managament standby never, monitor never hard drive 10 minutes close control panel open explorer (right click the start button on the desktop, and select explorer) maximize left side scroll to the top and click on "c " crive click "view"from the pull down menu at the top and select "details" right side, on an empty space "right mouse click" and select "view "as web page" top pull down menu select "view", folder options,view tab, show all files remove checkmark hide file extensions for known file types press the box at the top "like current folder" press ok ------------------- open scandisk (start programs accessories, system tools scandisk select "automatically fix errors" select "Advanced" check "append to log" delete cross linked files free lost files press ok and press start then press cancel and close run scandisk weekly and after abnormal shutdowns or problems ------------------------------ open explorer "right click the start button on the desktop" scroll up the left side to the top press "c drive" on the left side on the right side, right click msdos.sys and select properties remove read only and hidden checkmarks and press ok double click msdos.sys "open with" "notepad" checkmark always use this program to open this file type change AutoScan=1 to AutoScan=0 BootMulti=1 to BootMulti=0 press file exit yet to save changes ---------------------------------- right click recycle bin and select properties remove checkmark on display delete confirmation dialog box press ok --------------------- delete junk icons from the desktop and start menus ------------- close all windows right click the "my computer " icon and select properties then select the "device manager" tab the yellow questionmarks are the device drivers that will need to be "reinstalled" double click each device, one at a time, and select "reinstall driver" and select next, next, and "specify a location" type in c:\winold\inf\other (where winold is what you renamed your old windows folder to) before reloading windows 98SE if it did not find it press back and try c:\winold\inf and next when it asks "please inset disk" type in the "copy files from" window type in each of these until finished, most will be in the system folder if you have one you can not find, do a "find" on the c drive, if that dosent work, download the driver from the device manufacturs website or equivalent google driver search and burn to a cd (from another computer) to complete the driver updates c:\winold\system or c:\winold\system32\drivers c:\winold c:\winold\inf c:\winold\inf\other (skip files that end with *.cat cat files are not used) also do this for the display adapter if it shows "standard display adapter" restart after each device reinstall ------------------ download and install direct x 9c -currently internet explorer 6x even though we will only use firefox, this adds other needed items mozilla firefox browser mozilla thunderbird email program tinyfirewall free zip program do not install any apps after these basic elements to avoid corruption first back this completed windows install and work with gradual updates and further backedup configurations called "images" because these entire folders (windows, program files, and the 3-5 files in the root) are all that are needed to run and restore windows regularly I have to reload about 3 times a day my experimental station due to downloading effects that damage windows. plus I switch between optimal images for burning cd's and "skin and bones" images to isolate problems I wrote a script to automate this process, its location is at www.geocities.com/tonykerr/winback.zip for windows98SE only after you run the program there will be an icon at the bottom on the "quickstart bar" next to the start button, right click it and select backup to copy your entire windows configuration into a folder called winback or winback2 (zip up this folder into a file and rezip it into a self extracting executable and place it into a folder called c:\computer called winback.exe load winback this extracts the image switch windows this loads your image back, everything you have loaded or damaged will be removed delete old windows this removes your switched out windows called c:\winold F. How to reload Windows XP Aquire a cd called windows XP, a valid Key Will be required xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx aquire sp2 -Service pack 2- 266mb Download drivers for the video sound network cards and accessories or copy windows folder to a cd or another drive to reload unusual drivers if needed, this wont be needed if you do not delete the old c:\windows folder. Boot the computer or load XP and move the c:\Program files to the old c:\windows directory, if you can not move the program files, copy to another location then delete all of the files that you can. Sometimes you can move the drive to another xp computer by unplugging the cd rom and placing your c drive in place of the temporary computers cd rom, using the cables to access the old xp c drive to rename or move the c:\windows, and c:\program files to another location, c:\winold note, the new temporary location will be d:\windows, and d:\program files while the drive is piggybacked in the temp pc. also move the c:\documents and settings to the wilold folder. If possible, aquire another hard drive and format it using windows 98 SE ---fat32--- and load windows 98SE first so you can backup and restore xp later. follow installing windows se instructions.. This is the first step in reloading xp, you can skip this step if needed and go to the next step. -------------------- place the xp cd in the drive, and press any key when prompted "press any key to boot from cd" select install now when prompted. when asked "to install xp in the c:\windows directory, press esc to select a new directory, select c:\winxp or c:\winnt, anything that was not used last time so as not to inherit old viruses and faulty settings when complete. You will be prompted for a valid Key, usually this is on a sticker on the pc, usually blue or green, and 5 sets of 5 spaces, if you dont have this, you need to load the old windows, and start\run\regedit and find computer name, and next to that will be the old key code, windows will not install without a key code, if you use someone elses, it will only work for days, then stop and say "you must activate windows to continue" or reload again for another days. Reloading old drivers to the freshly reloaded windows: open device manager right click the my computer icon "press the start button" and select properties, then select the hardware tab, then select the device manager tab. double click the display icon, and double click the video adapter, if it dosent say standard adapter, it if functioning ok, and dosent need to be updated, otherwise, select driver, update, and when it says location of disk update, select c:\winold\inf or c:\windows\inf depending on where the old windows is stored. if asked for another file choose of of these until complete. c:\windows\inf c:\windows\inf\other c:\windows\system c:\windows\ c:\windows\system\drivers c:\windows is the old directory in this case if these dont work, do a search on the drive for the file listed the updater is looking for, and then point it there. repeat this process for the yellow items listed in device manager indicating the driver isnt loaded yet, some times xp will se all of the device cards sound, video , network, modem, etc and nothing will be needed, but not very often. then install service pack 2 if you can, this closes some security holes also install an older version of tiny personal firewall if you want. also avg antivirus "google it" free version, not trial update-- lookup and use 90 trial of avast antivirus catches some that avg missed. --------------------------------------------- G. H. I. Bulletproof windows, Running from a backup. J. What software should I load and not load. K. Not sorted yet, in progress. recomended software installs to be added later