Need help...Haven't reformat in 3+ years

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ORCA

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 6, 2004
Messages
99
I hope I posted on the correct place. I know some of you guys do this all the time but I never have. My p3 500 running win98se has never been reformated...ever! Now my little system it's really showing it's age :mad: giving me all kinds of errors and it's got a bug or two that the usual removers are no match for. I'd really like to keep a buch of the stuff I have on my punny 12gig....don't laugh ;) ....What's the best way of doing that? I'm willing to buy a 2nd HD if it would help the cause.....What do you guys think? Thanks........
 
Buy a new hard drive and install your OS on that one. Use your existing hard drive as a slave and it will have all the data on it.
 
ya a second harddrive it best, i mod xbox;s so i have lots of 10gb harddrives laying around and i had some crazy fun... man 98 takes a while to instrall on a 200mhz.... :D :D
 
Yes....I see. can I install a different O.S(winxp)? How would I go about doing this? Thanks guys, I really appreciate a push in the right direction :)
 
I'm sure the system could handle XP.

Install:

1. Install new hard drive (master)
2. Boot up system with OS cd.
3. Install
 
Agreed. CPU is fine, since XP takes 233MHz (or thereabouts) minimum. Configure your old drive as a slave, and install XP on the new one (master). Make sure you have at least 256MB of RAM (absolute minimum), though I strongly recommend 512 or more. It sounds like you'd be fine with half a gig, though more is always better!

Once you're done installing, you can delete most of the old drive: C:\Windows, C:\Program Files, basically everything except C:\My Documents. Be warned, you will have to reinstall all of your software also- make sure you have all of the relevant install files!
 
Scheizekopf said:
I'm sure the system could handle XP.

Install:

1. Install new hard drive (master)
2. Boot up system with OS cd.
3. Install
Click to expand...

Good list, but I would install without the old hard drive hooked up. With that in mind, I would slightly change Scheizekopf's list.

0. Remove old hard drive.
1. Install new hard drive (master)
2. Boot up system with OS cd.
3. Install
4. Verify old hard drive jumper is set to Slave and install old hard drive.
 
I liked what you suggested, that's the way for me, thanks! Now I just need to search and learn a little about the steps above :)

btw, how do you handle more than one HD on your system? and, can I have two OS on the drives?

PS: Thanks to whoever moved the thread to the proper place!
 
Yes, you can have multiple OS's on the same drive. Just to simplify answers, which operating systems do you have in mind? You can run multiple versions of Windows, Linux, and just about any other operating system side-by-side (but only BOOT one at a time).

BTW, may I make a suggestion in light of the fact that you will have two disks?
I try to keep "compatible" systems on a physically separate volume than "outsiders." IOW, my XP Home & Pro installs are on two partitions of the same HD, since they understand one another's files and file systems. My Linux installations are on a physically separate disk, and I let the Linux install make its own partitions on the second drive. This way, any unplanned "file system anomalies" leave the incompatible OSes intact, making for a clean reinstall/recovery.
 
Thank you much for the reply, since i'm so green at this I had to read it like 40 times but finally got it.... :D I'm planning on using xp pro on the new drive and keep win98 on the other until I can safely copy whatever I need from it to the new drive, then would like to rid of win98 once and for all. I'm not sure what I'll do with the old drive at the end. How would I go about booting one or the other OS?
Thanks a lot for the replies, I know with your help I can get it done :)
 
The machine will ask which OS you want to boot. I would set up the new drive with XP, and copy stuff over. Then, I would reformat the old drive. It would be a good place to store data that doesn't tend to move around, like music, photos, etc. By the way, most new drives come with utilities to set them up properly, so the actual formatting, etc. shouldn't be a problem.

One thing that wasn't covered is whether your motherboard will see the big drives that are out there now. 120 gig is considered standard by many people, and the price is right, but most older motherboards won't see a drive that large without an update to the bios. That's one more thing for you to research. That should work out ok, if the board is a name brand...Asus, Abit, MSI, etc. If you can't get a handle on this issue, settle for a smaller drive, regardless of any bargain pricing you may find on one of the big guys.

Also, I would slipstream SP2 into XP before the install.

This is the kind of upgrade that could lead you down an unsettling, desperate path toward a brand new, scratch-built, state-of-the-art rig. You do know that, right?


...Right? ;)



Good luck, and don't forget to load Firefox on the new install. :)
 
I tell you something, I couldn't have been luckier than to find this place, you guys are awesome!! Thank you all so much for the help. I just pulled out the MB manual and will be looking for the important things to make sure I get the proper parts. Do I need to install an OS to the second drive if I'm to use it for storage?
This is the kind of upgrade that could lead you down an unsettling, desperate path toward a brand new, scratch-built, state-of-the-art rig. You do know that, right?
Click to expand...

Oh yes I do!! I'm already planning on learning a thing or two with this one, make it stable, then move it to the office room and get started on something nice for myself.......By the time I learn everything that's needed I'm sure I will have earned it :D

So....You guys have me here for a while!! ;) Thanks for all the help!!!
ORCA.
 
No, you do not need an OS on the second drive. It should be formatted after you move the stuff you want to keep, however.
 
Cool, thanks. Now, I can't find anywhere in the MB manual (s1854 Trinity 400) how big of a HDD I can get. Where it's this info located? Thanks again...
 
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