reinstall windows

[FPSmike666]

i reinstalled windows and on my harddrive i have my new user name and the old one i had. why is the old one still there? my documents and settings are still there to. if i delete those will it be good as new or will i have to reformat again. also i cant set up an inernet conection. i restarted the router and modem and it still wont work. im 2 on the router and only 1 is lit. how can i fix this?

[bartvandenberg]

when you reinstalled windows, did you do a full format or just quick format? i always suggest a full format. ive reinstalled windows (not only on my comp mind you) probably about 100 times in the last 6 months, and i never seem to get any success with a quick format. either the install doesnt go properly, or windows runs really slow.

deleting your old documents and settings will not make it good as new. if you want it good as new, i myself would personally do it over again with a full format.

as to why your internet wont work, did you properly install the drivers for your network card (onboard or seperate). go to the device manager to check if everything is "running" properly. any red x's means not installed properly, or at all.

hope this helps. and im sorry if im telling you a bunch of stuff your already know. hope any of this helps you at all.

[FPSmike666]

im not sure what i did accualy, ill just do it again on with full format

[bartvandenberg]

That would be the best idea. and make sure when you have windows installed, to install drivers from your motherboard cd or the latest drivers from the internet somewhere before you play around with other stuff. update video card drivers also. and when it asks you to restart your computer, never say later but do it right away. in my experience, restarting after every individual installation, makes things work a lot better in the long run. hope this helps.

[FPSmike666]

i tryed to reinstall windows but it didnt work. it was unable to find one of the files to copy from the windows CD. im begining to think im screwd

[SgtM]

Try formatting with this first. http://dban.sourceforge.net/ You have a few options from quick, fill with zeros, even up to a DOD approved format. Then, when you install the OS, you can choose to a quick or full NTFS format. That should clear up the problem. Also, make sure the CD isn't scratched or something.

[Commando]

Dude,

Relax, I've been there. As long as you have a valid key. You've got plenty of options, trust me.

First, like sgtm said the problem is most likely just a bad read from the CD. No need to panic I promise. Ok, deep breath, now take a little ride on the trust train, cause this sounds a little goofy but works 90% of the time. Just like a good paint job, the cd has a data layer covered by a clear plastic layer, just like a paint job covered by a clearcoat. So even if a cd gets scratched ,on the surface, the data is still fine. Hence your cd is probably just smudged, not even scratched. Try just cleaning it off with some glass cleaner or just water. If that doesn't work it's time to try something much more fun.

Have any CD polish handy? Check in your bathroom. Toothpaste works great for this. Use the toothpaste like a polish, which it is. I'm gonna spell this out a little cause I don't want to be responsible for you ruining your system with gobs of toothpaste.

Take the CD and wet it. A couple of drops of water is fine. It's plastic your not gonna hurt anything. Take a little bit of toothpaste, like 1/4 of what you normally put on your toothbrush. Put it on the CD, obviously the data side, the side with no writing. Then take an old cotton T-Shirt put two fingers in it and wet where your two fingers are.

Now use a a small circular motion (like the size of a quarter) with very light pressure and polish the surface of the CD. Make sure and keep wetting your fingers and the CD. It should feel like your fingers are gliding over the surface. The toothpaste is slowly polishing the surface. Go around the whole data side of the CD. After about 5 min of that. Wash the CD completely off with the faucet and make sure to get all the toothpaste off. Now dry it off with a dry portion of the same cotton T-shirt.

The cotton T-shirt is actually kinda important. 100% cotton is really soft and doesn't scratch stuff. So if you tried this with your polyester members only jacket you would definitely scratch your CD until it was ruined.

Bingo. This works for all your old CDs, old DVDs, PS2 games, you name it. This also works with shoe polish on that old grimy pair of boots. Hence the name spit shine because you can obviously substitute for the water.

The main reason I know this is gonna work is because your CD worked the first time, so it's obviously not too scratched up.

If this doesn't work, no big deal. You can just email the company whether it be Microsoft or whoever, and they will send you a new CD. It's the license Key that you really own. The CD is not that big of a deal.

Finally, yes, a total fresh install is the way to go. Delete all the partitions. Create a new one then install on the new partition. Then start using windows update to get all the updates. This will take a while. I know because I just did this on my machine.

Let us know if anything wonky comes up. This is an easy problem, don't stress.

[SgtM]

This also works with shoe polish on that old grimy pair of boots. Hence the name spit shine because you can obviously substitute for the water.


I thought you guys didn't have to worry about that anymore what with the new boots and all. Or are you "old school" like me? I used to get mine so shiny you could use them as mirrors.

[slytherock]

Dude,

Relax, I've been there. As long as you have a valid key. You've got plenty of options, trust me.

First, like sgtm said the problem is most likely just a bad read from the CD. No need to panic I promise. Ok, deep breath, now take a little ride on the trust train, cause this sounds a little goofy but works 90% of the time. Just like a good paint job, the cd has a data layer covered by a clear plastic layer, just like a paint job covered by a clearcoat. So even if a cd gets scratched ,on the surface, the data is still fine. Hence your cd is probably just smudged, not even scratched. Try just cleaning it off with some glass cleaner or just water. If that doesn't work it's time to try something much more fun.

Have any CD polish handy? Check in your bathroom. Toothpaste works great for this. Use the toothpaste like a polish, which it is. I'm gonna spell this out a little cause I don't want to be responsible for you ruining your system with gobs of toothpaste.

Take the CD and wet it. A couple of drops of water is fine. It's plastic your not gonna hurt anything. Take a little bit of toothpaste, like 1/4 of what you normally put on your toothbrush. Put it on the CD, obviously the data side, the side with no writing. Then take an old cotton T-Shirt put two fingers in it and wet where your two fingers are.

Now use a a small circular motion (like the size of a quarter) with very light pressure and polish the surface of the CD. Make sure and keep wetting your fingers and the CD. It should feel like your fingers are gliding over the surface. The toothpaste is slowly polishing the surface. Go around the whole data side of the CD. After about 5 min of that. Wash the CD completely off with the faucet and make sure to get all the toothpaste off. Now dry it off with a dry portion of the same cotton T-shirt.

The cotton T-shirt is actually kinda important. 100% cotton is really soft and doesn't scratch stuff. So if you tried this with your polyester members only jacket you would definitely scratch your CD until it was ruined.

Bingo. This works for all your old CDs, old DVDs, PS2 games, you name it. This also works with shoe polish on that old grimy pair of boots. Hence the name spit shine because you can obviously substitute for the water.

The main reason I know this is gonna work is because your CD worked the first time, so it's obviously not too scratched up.

If this doesn't work, no big deal. You can just email the company whether it be Microsoft or whoever, and they will send you a new CD. It's the license Key that you really own. The CD is not that big of a deal.

Finally, yes, a total fresh install is the way to go. Delete all the partitions. Create a new one then install on the new partition. Then start using windows update to get all the updates. This will take a while. I know because I just did this on my machine.

Let us know if anything wonky comes up. This is an easy problem, don't stress.


Nice tutorial commando :up: +1rep

On a side note: Might not be a bad idea to have a tuturial section; this one could easily make it

[SgtM]

any new updates for us?

[Commando]

I wouldn't say old skool. But I did have the old boots for a while.

The toothpaste trick is something I picked up a long time ago. I don't even remember where. But I don't take credit for it. I think there are probably some other good ways to accomplish this. I'm sure you could prob google it. The concept is just to either polish the scratches out or cover them up. I think you can cover them up also with car wax. Car wax fills in the scratches. Toothpaste polishes them out.