Reinstall Windows
Part Two
Part one in this series showed how
to create Windows Startup disks, an essential part Of reinstalling Windows process.
Before embarking on part two, repeat the last, two Steps of the previous Workshop
and check that you can restart your PC and access Your CD-ROM with the Startup
Disk. If this works, you can move on formatting your Hard disk but before
doing so, make sure you have taken the necessary preparations Outlined in step
1 or you might lose some of your essential data and software or end Up with no
way of reinstalling Windows.
Step 1
Collect
all of your original software CD-ROMs, including Word processors, graphics Packages,
games and soon together with the codes. You will also need other Information such
as your ISP account details, passwords and so on to enable you to Access your
account. Also make sure you have your Windows 95/98 CD-ROM with the Serial number
to hand. Be sure you are confident in your Startup disk. Make sure you have all
of your drivers disks for your modem, sound card, graphics card, CD-RW, CD - ROM,
scanner and anything else you may have attached to or inside your PC. Back up
all of the data you can't afford to lose onto whatever storage device you have.
Consider this point carefully and try to be economical. There's little merit in
hoarding lots Of useless data. On the other hand be sure not to ditch anything
you might need later Once the disk is formatted, there's no going back. Setting
up applications can take a While sometimes (especially MS Outlook) save your settings
in Outlook, Word and so on.
Step 2
Now
you're prepared, Reboot your PC with the Startup disk in drive A: The disk
you made in the previous Workshop. Windows 98 users will he offered the option
of starting the computer with CD-ROM support - choose Yes. You should end
up with an A:\ prompt on a black screen. this will be many people's first encounter
with MS-DOS. MS-DOS stands for Microsoft Disk Operating System It's an operating
system that exists on all PCs with Windows in various forms. It looks foreboding
and complicated but it's not - besides, this Is one of the few occasions you will
have to encounter it.
If you have a Brand New Hard Drive you must
do this first
At the A:\ prompt
type C:\ fdisk
and push the Enter
key. It will say Do you wish to Enable large Disk Support Y/N answer Yes to that.
Then
choose the first option, Number 1 Create Dos
Partition on logical Drive.
When you have finished here. You can Format this
Hard Drive.
Back at the A:\ prompt.
Type this.
A:\ format C:\
WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE
DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST!
Proceed with format (y/n)? y
Step 3
If you are sure! Press Y and then
Enter. Your machine will now verify and format the hard disk, removing any Information
that was there before, This will take a while, depending on the size of your hard
disk. When the format is finished, you will be asked to give the volume (hard
disk) a name. Call it what you want, Or just press Enter. Now go to the last step.
Step 4
Congratulations,
your hard disk is Formatted and ready to go. For those of you that are feeling
intrepid or can't do without their PC until next issue you can go ahead with installing
Windows, Reboot the machine with the Startup disk (Win 98 users choose start computer
with CD-ROM support), put your Windows CD in the CD drive then type ?:\ (? Being
the letter assigned to your CD Rom) then type E:\dir then push return, look for
setup.exe highlight light it and press Enter. From Then on you're back in the
land of Windows and you will be asked straightforward questions about the installation.
For those of you who would like to know more, in the next issue we will be walking
through the finer points of the Windows installation.
Go to part three of reinstall Windows