Format from scratch

HI Osprey,  Since there wer 2 FAT and I deleted the largest I guess I deleted restore which would be good.  How will I know?  .I had  left the computer and when I went back it said rebooting in 7 seconds then it said boot from CD? and I did not touch anything then the computer booted and said the job will be done in 39 minutes.  Can I just leave the system hanging for my input until tomorrow?  I want to go watch Survivor and wife has dinner ready. :emotion-1:?   Also by not formating the whole drive like leaving one FAT possibly with diagnostics am I at risk of leaving a worm behind?  Is it possible for the diag partition to contain anything other than diagnostics?  Will I need a new FAT partition to hold restore?

Since I did not follow Dells directions I need a little help getting back on track

 Thank you for your help. 

Hi, Rudi:

There are three partitions, system, diagnostics and restore. You can delete all three and use the entire drive to load Windows.

Let me suggest you follow Dell's reinstallation procedure for the OS and drivers.

Rudi:

Your system should be clean now that you've deleted these partitions. I would just continue with the installation. You've done the first part correctly, so now you just need to follow the instructions to load drivers in the correct order.

Thanks for your help.  Sorry to ask so many questions

From your post It appears that the computer should have 3 partitions for XP pro.  I was so paranoid about the hacker, I deleted 1 of the fat partitions and also the NFTS  partition.  I probably should have deleted all three partitions then create 3 new partitions (correct?)  If I am prepairing the drive (which I can do again, no problem) Should I just start again and create 3 partitions? (2 FAT and 1 NFTS)  If so what size should each of the partitions be?

   I would assume that I will require 3 places to hold the Restore and Diagnostics.  After I did the format of the drive pushing F12 did not give me a Diagnostics menue. Since the format that I did last night gave all the space on the disk to NFTS no additional partitions can be created unless I create them at time of install(or can they?)t

Since the computer was hacked, would it be best to delete all partitions then start again and just carate a NFTS install then let the Dell download create it's own partitions and install it's own Diagnostics?  Sorry about being so dumb.  It appears that the first driver disk that Dell wants one to install is R104418,EXE which is the guide.  Does that create the other 2 partitions

Also, I will need to put in the drivers and dell software etc, I see that I can order CD's from Dell which contain the drivers etc but I can  download them to my laptop, put them on my passport drive  and then take them to Desktop computer.  Since the freshly formated computer has NO security at this point it is unpluged from the Internet. 

I want to sequence the install in the correct manner. 

Is the following correct?

1.  Download Drivers

 2.  Install drivers Or do I need to create partitions first?

 3.  Install Anti-virus software for basic firewall protection from CD

4.  Command Anti Virus to update virus list.(connected to net)

5.  Visit MSFT Windows to Download Service packs and Updates

6.  Install  Burner software and printer software

7.  Install other software like Adobe Reader, Flash player (new version 10.0.0.508)  

8.  Selectively install Dell supplied software (I need to be careful here because I do not want old versions and all the garbage that came on computer like icons to         AOL,      Net zero music match and a host of other stuff, some of which has been hacked over the years and I do not want to have to uninstall through control panel.)

9.  Install from CD other old software that I might want.

10 Scan for vulnerabilities and fix any that need fixing

11.  Finish

I appreciate your help.  Since I have never done this procedure before I would ike to get it right.

Ok  I think I get it.  I should have deleted all partitions and then created just the NFTS and windows.  So the way that I did the format left a FAT partition untouched. which I should not have done.

Since the computer was Hijacked is it possible that the Hacker has DLL's residing there?  I want to be sure to be clean so I will format the whole drive and install Windows again.

Unless the Dell Utility program will unpack and create the partitions in their proper place for the bios to find them I will have to do the following to get the computer back to it's factory setting.  I see that Dell specifies that it's drivers be installed in correct order.  Does the Dell Driver install system create the partitions and automatically and place .the Diagnostics and Recovery Fat16 partitions and locate these programs on the drive?

If not I will have to create the partitions myself and so  I would need 4 questions answered before proceeding.  The first 3 questions refer to partitioning and the 4th question about non standard DVD drive.

  Once windows is up I will need to make some FAT partitions (2) . (no drive letter)

1.  What are the partition size? Using the following instruction (Dell does does not make this info easy to find)

2. What kind of partition do I make (Primary partition,  FAT16  ?) AND What is the Base address  that the Bios will look for each address when I push F11

3.  Which Dell program goes into each partition? 

The following is how I plan to make the partition?

How to use Disk Management

To start Disk Management:

1. Log on as administrator or as a member of the Administrators group.
2. Click Start, click Run, type compmgmt.msc, and then click OK.
3. In the console tree, click Disk Management. The Disk Management window appears. Your disks and volumes appear in a graphical view and list view. To customize how you view your disks and volumes in the upper and lower panes of the window, point to Top or Bottom on the View menu, and then click the view that you want to use.

NOTE: Microsoft recommends that you create a full back up of your disk contents before you make any changes to your disks or volumes

How to create a new partition or a new logical drive

To create a new partition or logical drive on a basic disk:

1. In the Disk Management window, complete one of the following procedures, and then continue to step 2:
   • To create a new partition, right-click unallocated space on the basic disk where you want to create the partition, and then click New Partition.
   • To create a new logical drive in an extended partition, right-click free space on an extended partition where you want to create the logical drive, and then click New Logical Drive.
2. In the New Partition Wizard, click Next.
3. Click the type of partition that you want to create (either Primary partition, Extended partition, or Logical drive), and then click Next.
4. Specify the size of the partition in the Partition size in MB box, and then click Next.
5. Decide whether to manually assign a drive letter, let the system automatically enumerate the drive, or do not assign a drive letter to the new partition or logical drive, and then click Next.
6. Specify the formatting options you want to use by using one of the following procedures:
   • If you do not want to format the partition, click Do not format this partition, and then click Next.
   • If you want to format the partition, click Format this partition with the following settings, and then complete the following procedure in the Format dialog box:
     1. Type a name for the volume in the Volume label box. This is an optional step.
     2. Click the file system that you want to use in the File system box.
        
        You can change the disk allocation unit size, and then specify whether to perform a quick format, or enable file and folder compression on NTFS volumes.
     Click Next.
7. Confirm that the options that selected are correct, and then click Finish.

The new partition or logical drive is created and appears in the............

4.  Also I have read the install guide and the install sequance and have found and downloaded the drivers to my passport drive so I guess I am good to go except for one small issue (I no longer have the Dell installed DVD drive).  I had bought a replacement from BB and the replacement DVD used Nero CD to install it's self.  Do I just save that task for last? 

 Thanks for your help

Hi, Rudi:

Ok, you do not need any partitions other than the system, i.e., NTFS, partition. The restore and diagnostic partitions are not needed, nor would you be able to make them work without considerable effort. So your drive should be all set.

To answer your last question, CD/DVD drives do not require any software. Nero is used for burning discs, not for installing an optical drive. XP provides the only drivers needed. Your Passport drive should also not require any device drivers. Just plug it in. That's why they call this sort of hardware "plug and play".

Thanks,

I was going to make the FAT16 partitions to enable F11 like the drive was when it came back from the factory.  Since I deleted only one of the FAT16 partitions, I was paranoid that it could contain hacker info so I was going to delete it also then use Disk manager to create 2 new FAT16 partitions to house the Diagnostics and restore.

Now that windows is up and running should I use disk manager to remove that partition?

So from what I gather you are telling me is to put the Restore and Diagnostics on my Passport?  If so in the directory where I put them would I need a startup icon to do the run?

Rudi:

You do not need to put the diagnostic and restore partitions anywhere.  Even if you wanted to, the process is complicated and not worth the effort. Since you now know how to reinstall the operating system, PC Restore is completely unnecessary. The diagnostics can be run from your Dell resource CD, so it doesn't need to be installed on a hard drive.

thank you.  You have saved me a lot of grief.  Now I have to remember to change the boot order.

When I downloaded the drivers for my computer the install guide said to install second Chipset R91893 however on the download page the only chipset downloadable other than legacy is R91894  urgent.  Is it ok to use this chipset?  I have not downloaded the bios because downloads says this is optional.  I appreciate forum help

Thanks

Rudi:

Install the one on the downloads page. That is the most current chipset driver.

thank you for your reply,

I installed the utility and the chipset but I am having a problem on installing the 3rd driver R91822.exe on the list.  The third is the vidio adapter.  During the unzip process I got the message that this is part of a 10 disk set, please insert disk 10.  The driver is Nvidia 6400.  What do I do now I do not have any disks?  I might add the invoice on my equipment says Card, Graphics, 256, 6800 UHMGA11-B and I downloaded the last driver in the list R91822.exe .  The first driver R85460.exeon the drivers site was optional and was the first driver time wise and the second R89896.exe recommended also and was released 2 months later but the driver I tried to install was released almost a year later.  According to a google of Graphics, 256, 6800 UHMGA11-B I see that this is a NVidia Gforce Nvidia card.  The vid eo forum was not help and refered me to the NVidia site which was not much help either.

Can you help?

Rudi:

Try this one. I have an NVidia card and always use the NVidia drivers. If you have any trouble with that one, go to the Driver Archive (on that same page), and try an older one.

Hi, Rudi:

Here are instructions on removing the unneeded XP installation.

You should not connect your computer to the modem directly!! Always use the router, most of which have a built-in firewall. Yes, it is safe to get your MS updates directly.