Help Boggz Wipe His Computer

posted on June 17th, 2011, 8:08 pm

  Alright guys ... 

  While I have no job at the moment, the odds of Boggz getting a new computer are slim.  However, the specs on my comp are such that I SHOULD have no problem running Flops excellently.  The problem is that it's old and filled with shit .

  Time to fix that.

  I now turn to you, my friendly Fleetops compatriots, to help me wipe my computer without ruining my life in the process.



  Here is my operating system:

XP Service Pack 3
Hewlitt Packard
AMD Turion(tm) 64 Mobile
Technology ML-32
1.79 Ghz, 1.5 GB of RAM

No dedicated Video Card .
About 80 GB capacity hard drive, 70 used up.
A backup drive from Western Digital Media with 500 GB space in it.  Pictures and Music are already on it.

  Things stuck on this computer that I really wouldn't want to lose include:

20+ GB of music.
10+ GB of pictures.
Some miscellaneous files and such like DOS-Box emulated games that I don't know if I could find again .




  SO ----  How does one go about wiping their computer??    Once you do, how do you ensure that your fancy clean new computer has it's basic programs installed?  Will the wipe clean out Windows XP as well?  Will I need new Windows Discs to install it?

  Again, this is shit I don't know much about.  So I pose the question to you folks!

[Arash8472]

posted on June 17th, 2011, 8:17 pm

Last edited by Arash8472 on June 17th, 2011, 8:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

go buy (or "obtain") window xp or 7  cd (or burn onto a cd) and then put into cd-drive and let it run and you are done.

p.s. i forgot to mention that if the recovery option doesn't start up automatically you have to
1. go into your start menu and find the "system" recovery option
2.if you can't find it turn off computer and turn it on and read what it says on the black screen start up
3.your recovery button should be f12 or f10 (or maybe f11?)
4.once you find out which button is the recovery button you restart comp so you go to black screen with window logo and hit the appropriate button with the window xp or 7 recovery disk in your cd drive...
5. you are now installing whatever OP you have on the cd

posted on June 17th, 2011, 8:22 pm

  Alright guys ... 

  While I have no job at the moment, the odds of Boggz getting a new computer are slim.  However, the specs on my comp are such that I SHOULD have no problem running Flops excellently.  The problem is that it's old and filled with shit .

   Time to fix that.

  I now turn to you, my friendly Fleetops compatriots, to help me wipe my computer without ruining my life in the process.



  Here is my operating system:

XP Service Pack 3
Hewlitt Packard
AMD Turion(tm) 64 Mobile
Technology ML-32
1.79 Ghz, 1.5 GB of RAM

No dedicated Video Card .
About 80 GB capacity hard drive, 70 used up.
A backup drive from Western Digital Media with 500 GB space in it.  Pictures and Music are already on it.

  Things stuck on this computer that I really wouldn't want to lose include:

20+ GB of music.
10+ GB of pictures.
Some miscellaneous files and such like DOS-Box emulated games that I don't know if I could find again .




  SO ----  How does one go about wiping their computer??    Once you do, how do you ensure that your fancy clean new computer has it's basic programs installed?  Will the wipe clean out Windows XP as well?  Will I need new Windows Discs to install it?

   Again, this is shit I don't know much about.  So I pose the question to you folks!

Well backup any remaining crap you still want and then reformat.

posted on June 17th, 2011, 8:23 pm

The almighty Google told me this:  Hidden partition


 That says that HP systems tend to have a hidden partition that will effectively let me revert Windows back to it's factory default while wiping the hard drive.  That sounds pretty promising to me!

 If I were to back up my archived information that I'd like to keep - I could then revert Windows and my hard drive and replace the info I need to have in two places.

posted on June 17th, 2011, 8:42 pm

Boggz,

when you are cleaning house you better do it right.

Obtain Windows from somewhere and start over completely, i.e. wipe your disk and reinstall Windows. Sticking to Windows XP would probably be the best solution on your system, since Windows 7 is a bit more demanding regarding disk space and overall PC specs. It will take you an hour or two but it's the best way to do it and not at all complex.

Here is an abbreviated to-do list:
-Copy all the data you want to keep to the back-up hard drive (make sure you don't forget anything).
-Get a good disk wiping tool. If you know the brand of your hard drive look on the manufacturer's homepage or use a tool from the Ultimate Boot CD. Use the tool to overwrite your disk with zeros. This will take a while but your hard drive will be like new!
-Create two seperate partitions. One for Windows and one for everything else. This is for the sake of easier back ups in the future.
-Reinstall Windows, Updates, Drivers, Antivirus etc.
-Get a good disk fragmenter (I like O&O Defrag or Ultimate Defrag)

posted on June 17th, 2011, 8:59 pm

If you plan on reformatting the HDD, make sure that you burn everything you want to keep to disk or dump it to a second HDD because formatting will permanently remove everything on that drive. Your computer isn't really powerful enough that I would recommend 7, but support for XP will be completely dropped in a couple years. A possible alternative would be to install a free OS such as Linux (I recommend Ubuntu, specifically) and install Wine. The only downside to running Linux is that Windows programs tend to take a performance hit under Wine compared to running it under Windows on the same hardware, though Fleet Ops and A1/2 seem to run just fine with some settings changes.

posted on June 17th, 2011, 9:13 pm

Thanks for the suggestions!

  I definitely have a bit more research to do here ...  I am going through my folder that has all sensitive discs and things in it looking for the initial discs, but it seems I do not have an actual disc for Windows XP.  The papers do say though that it is capable of performing a limited system restore to it's default settings - probably what I will want to do as I don't have any kind of disc for Windows and can't afford to buy it  .


  So here's my plan as it's shaping up:

Take all user info like music, pictures, Boggz-created detritus that I wouldn't want to lose (Firefox bookmarks etc...) and back it up.  Then do a limited system restore so that windows remains, but in it's basic form with no added material.  Then I go about updating and patching things as necessary like Service Pack 3, Firefox, Anti-virus, etc ...

    Then I can reinstall Fleetops at hopefully a much better performance level.

  Am I on the right track or am I missing some serious components? 

posted on June 17th, 2011, 9:26 pm

Looks like everything you need already got said, but maybe I can organize it better.

As a computer science guy, I don't recommend using the HP hidden partition.  Its process is only slightly easier than using an XP CD and when you're done you still have a crappy HP partition!  It's not worth losing 10GB or more of your hard drive just to save 30 seconds on a reinstall.

Now, first you want to copy things over, obviously.  For your DOS stuff I recommend copy/pasting the folders to a different location or even a different computer and running them from there.  If they work, then you can just copy/paste them off your computer and back without worries.  If they don't work, google the installer.  :thumbsup:

***Back when I was in your situation (80~GB hard drive, 500~GB external) I just copied the entire contents into a folder on the external drive so I could pick through it later.***

Now, you need 2 things for a clean install: an XP disk and an XP serial number.  If you have an HP recovery disk instead, I recommend torrenting an actual XP iso and burning an install CD from there.  Your serial should be under the system menu (Control Panel or right click->properties on My Computer) or on the back of your laptop, if you can't find it it's not hard to find a key online.  I feel no moral qualms whatsoever about cracking an operating system that you have paid for in the past.

Now, you will put in the XP CD (or DVD, I think it's small enough for a CD but I forget) and reboot your computer, you might have to hit a key or go to your BIOS to change the boot order to CD drive first.  Once your computer has booted from the CD and asked you what you're doing, go for a fresh install.  I do not recommend the repair option if there is one.  After this menu it will ask you which partition you want to install to.  Even if you like the options it shows you, go ahead and remove all partitions and recreate them using the wizard.  It won't write all 0's to your drive, but it'll still reformat the drive and give you a "clean" slate.

After that just install.  As long as your ethernet card has a basic driver, XP will update itself 80 times and you'll be set.

posted on June 17th, 2011, 9:30 pm

OR you could just ask a friend for help :-P

Follow his every movement and memorize it/write it down. Next time you'll do it on your own
Its less risky that way 

posted on June 17th, 2011, 9:37 pm

There's also the hp forums and youtube.

posted on June 17th, 2011, 9:42 pm

Ah, sorry for the double post.  The "limited system restore" may not delete all the things you don't want, but go ahead and try it before you try something deeper.

As for not having the install CD, it's not difficult to get one.  Simply google "XP iso" or something like that and look around.  Shoot, I have an XP iso somewhere I could host for you on ge.tt if you'd like.  The iso burns to a CD very easily and then you have a CD  ^-^

posted on June 17th, 2011, 9:43 pm

Please note that you need the correct drivers in order for a clean install.
Download all the relevant drivers and put them on a cd or usb memory stick.
This way you ensure that you can start installing everything you need from the start.

With the specs you have, I'd really recommend sticking to windows xp. As windows 7 will run very slow on your machine.

Anything you want to backup, you can store on your 500 GB hard drive, if you still have room on it off course.
When you do a clean install of windows xp, make shure you ONLY format and install on your 80 GB hard drive! Everything on your 500 GB hard drive may remain.

posted on June 17th, 2011, 9:45 pm

If you don't have a serial Boggz, I have a genuine XP key that I don't use anymore and would be happy to give to someone in need.

posted on June 17th, 2011, 9:56 pm

I have my Serial Number written down .


  I'll find me an ISO and get to work .  Thanks for your help everyone!  Since Mal chimed in I can reference him and say that I am far more comfortable working through things like this while I have a group of smart peoplez of whom I can ask questions .



  BARON!  We miss youooououuou!!! 

posted on June 17th, 2011, 10:04 pm

I still recommend you get Ultimate Boot CD. The tools that come with Windows XP are very limited.

And for old DOS games, try sites like Abandonia. They have some little gems there.