Formatting a Dell 8400

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Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Just got my Dell 8400 that I ordered only last Friday at midnight.
Five days later it is here.

As always with a new system, I'm gong to be partitioning the hard
drive, formatting and reinstalling Windows. Since this is a brand new
chipset and drivers for the most part, has anyone run into any
difficulties formatting and reinstalling this system?

I plan on starting with the WinXP disc, partition and then install
Windows. Just wanted to ensure there weren't any hiccups with this
system before I did the format and install.

-Tracy
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

My 8400 was ordered on 7/6/04 and is being delivered today. There is an
issue reinstalling XP if you have no floppy drive. There is a driver that
must be installed early in the OS installation routine (F6) to support the
ICH6RW RAID and Advanced Host Controller interface on the mainboard.
Otherwise the SATA hard drive is not found and OS installation aborts. Not
sure what the resolution is. Still studying the issue.

RW (ICH6RW) RAID & Advanced

Host Controller Interface

"Tracy" <muppettracy@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c68a8439.0407280523.639e93bf@posting.google.com...
> Just got my Dell 8400 that I ordered only last Friday at midnight.
> Five days later it is here.
>
> As always with a new system, I'm gong to be partitioning the hard
> drive, formatting and reinstalling Windows. Since this is a brand new
> chipset and drivers for the most part, has anyone run into any
> difficulties formatting and reinstalling this system?
>
> I plan on starting with the WinXP disc, partition and then install
> Windows. Just wanted to ensure there weren't any hiccups with this
> system before I did the format and install.
>
> -Tracy
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 15:36:44 GMT, WSZsr wrote:

> My 8400 was ordered on 7/6/04 and is being delivered today. There is an
> issue reinstalling XP if you have no floppy drive. There is a driver that
> must be installed early in the OS installation routine (F6) to support the
> ICH6RW RAID and Advanced Host Controller interface on the mainboard.
> Otherwise the SATA hard drive is not found and OS installation aborts. Not
> sure what the resolution is. Still studying the issue.
>
> RW (ICH6RW) RAID & Advanced
>
> Host Controller Interface

I ordered mine on 7/16/04 and it's being delivered today as well. I did
get the floppy drive with it since I can't imagine not having that to fall
back on if something should happen to the OS to at least get the system
booted up to fix.

What if you don't use the RAID controller?

Dave
--
We are the US military. Your asses will be kicked. Resistance is futile.

US Army Signal Corps!
www.geocities.com/davidcasey98

Remove IH8SPAM to reply by email!
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"WSZsr" <nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<gKPNc.21338$PI3.16037@newssvr23.news.prodigy.com>...
> My 8400 was ordered on 7/6/04 and is being delivered today. There is an
> issue reinstalling XP if you have no floppy drive. There is a driver that
> must be installed early in the OS installation routine (F6) to support the
> ICH6RW RAID and Advanced Host Controller interface on the mainboard.
> Otherwise the SATA hard drive is not found and OS installation aborts. Not
> sure what the resolution is. Still studying the issue.

I do have a floppy drive on my 8400. So will I be able to format and
install as normal without any problems?

Hopefully we can all work together and figure this out.

-Tracy
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

muppettracy@hotmail.com (Tracy) wrote in message news:<c68a8439.0407281411.1a8aee17@posting.google.com>...
> "WSZsr" <nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<gKPNc.21338$PI3.16037@newssvr23.news.prodigy.com>...
> > My 8400 was ordered on 7/6/04 and is being delivered today. There is an
> > issue reinstalling XP if you have no floppy drive. There is a driver that
> > must be installed early in the OS installation routine (F6) to support the
> > ICH6RW RAID and Advanced Host Controller interface on the mainboard.
> > Otherwise the SATA hard drive is not found and OS installation aborts. Not
> > sure what the resolution is. Still studying the issue.

If anyone can provide step-by-step instructions on where to download
this driver so that I can extract it to a floppy for installation I
would most appreciate it. I just have on SATA hard drive (160 gig),
not a RAID.

Also, after I install WinXP with this floppy, is it mandatory that the
"Intel Application Accelerator" is installed? Anything else I want to
add to ensure my 8400 is running smoothly? I just don't want to add
all the extra Dell software on the clean install, just the basics to
have the system running optimally. Thanks!

-Tracy
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On 28 Jul 2004 20:31:26 -0700, Tracy wrote:

> If anyone can provide step-by-step instructions on where to download
> this driver so that I can extract it to a floppy for installation I
> would most appreciate it. I just have on SATA hard drive (160 gig),
> not a RAID.

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dh
s&releaseid=R78496&SystemID=DIM_PNT_P4_8400&category=41&os=WW1&osl=en&devic
eid=7548&devlib=41&fileid=103557

or

http://makeashorterlink.com/?D28133CE8

Download that file. Get a blank floppy and put it in the A: drive. Run
the file and it will create the floppy disk you will need.

When you boot from the Windows XP CD, hit F6 as soon as it says to at the
bottom of the screen. At some point, it will ask you about RAID drivers.
Pick "S" to select a device. It will then request you put the floppy in
the A: drive and present you with 2 choices after it reads the disk. I
picked the bottom choice or the one which said "SATA AHCI Controller".

Then just continue on with your installation. I did that earlier tonight
and it's working just fine.

> Also, after I install WinXP with this floppy, is it mandatory that the
> "Intel Application Accelerator" is installed? Anything else I want to
> add to ensure my 8400 is running smoothly? I just don't want to add
> all the extra Dell software on the clean install, just the basics to
> have the system running optimally. Thanks!

I added the Intel Application Accelerator just to be on the safe side.
Then I installed Norton's Internet Security since that is what I usually
use anyway. Also, don't forget the first thing you should install after
Windows is done are the chipset drivers. Then I did the video drivers, NIC
card drivers, audio drivers, Norton's, etc.

Some people think the order makes a big difference, but I think after the
chipset drivers, it doesn't really matter. However, the above order worked
fine for me. 🙂

Dave
--
We are the US military. Your asses will be kicked. Resistance is futile.

US Army Signal Corps!
www.geocities.com/davidcasey98

Remove IH8SPAM to reply by email!
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

yes, but download the latest driver from Dell (diskette) and press F6 early
in the OS install to install the Raid/AHCI driver

"Tracy" <muppettracy@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c68a8439.0407281411.1a8aee17@posting.google.com...
> "WSZsr" <nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:<gKPNc.21338$PI3.16037@newssvr23.news.prodigy.com>...
> > My 8400 was ordered on 7/6/04 and is being delivered today. There is an
> > issue reinstalling XP if you have no floppy drive. There is a driver
that
> > must be installed early in the OS installation routine (F6) to support
the
> > ICH6RW RAID and Advanced Host Controller interface on the mainboard.
> > Otherwise the SATA hard drive is not found and OS installation aborts.
Not
> > sure what the resolution is. Still studying the issue.
>
> I do have a floppy drive on my 8400. So will I be able to format and
> install as normal without any problems?
>
> Hopefully we can all work together and figure this out.
>
> -Tracy
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 23:54:02 GMT, WSZsr wrote:

> yes, but download the latest driver from Dell (diskette) and press F6 early
> in the OS install to install the Raid/AHCI driver

Got my 8400 and so far it's nice. Just got done making the floppy and now
heading off to do the clean install of Windows XP.

Dave
--
We are the US military. Your asses will be kicked. Resistance is futile.

US Army Signal Corps!
www.geocities.com/davidcasey98

Remove IH8SPAM to reply by email!
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Good luck. Still waiting on the UPS truck for mine. They are running late
today.

"David Casey" <sgtcasey@IH8SPAMcableone.net> wrote in message
news:3tzwd0qyho6h.dlg@sgtcaseycableone.net...
> On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 23:54:02 GMT, WSZsr wrote:
>
> > yes, but download the latest driver from Dell (diskette) and press F6
early
> > in the OS install to install the Raid/AHCI driver
>
> Got my 8400 and so far it's nice. Just got done making the floppy and now
> heading off to do the clean install of Windows XP.
>
> Dave
> --
> We are the US military. Your asses will be kicked. Resistance is futile.
>
> US Army Signal Corps!
> www.geocities.com/davidcasey98
>
> Remove IH8SPAM to reply by email!
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 00:43:17 GMT, WSZsr wrote:

> Good luck. Still waiting on the UPS truck for mine. They are running late
> today.

I actually laid down for a second and woke up to see the UPS guy walking
off. Called out the open window that I was here and he brought the box
back. 🙂

Anyway, the clean install went well. Just now getting all the little
things installed. I like how Dell includes just a plain old Windows XP CD
and not some restore CD's or some such which installs Windows and all that
little junk that some computer companies like to include on their machines
which I end up just removing.

Dave
--
We are the US military. Your asses will be kicked. Resistance is futile.

US Army Signal Corps!
www.geocities.com/davidcasey98

Remove IH8SPAM to reply by email!
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Just formatted and reinstalled as you suggested. Everything apparently
went fine EXCEPT whenever I boot XP Home, I see a DOS screen that asks
me to select which version of Windows I want to load. I see TWO
different versions of "Windows XP Home" listed. One of them works, the
other won't load as it has a system32 error.

I did partition my drive into six partitions, but WinXP should've
erased everything that was there. WinXP did need an additional 8 meg
partition supposedly in order to store partition information. This was
the first time I had seen this happen.

Anyway I didn't know if anyone could give me any advice on the matter.
Either to get rid of the message or steps to take if I re-format to be
sure that this doesn't happen again.

-Tracy
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On 29 Jul 2004 07:18:50 -0700, Tracy wrote:

> Just formatted and reinstalled as you suggested. Everything apparently
> went fine EXCEPT whenever I boot XP Home, I see a DOS screen that asks
> me to select which version of Windows I want to load. I see TWO
> different versions of "Windows XP Home" listed. One of them works, the
> other won't load as it has a system32 error.
>
> I did partition my drive into six partitions, but WinXP should've
> erased everything that was there. WinXP did need an additional 8 meg
> partition supposedly in order to store partition information. This was
> the first time I had seen this happen.
>
> Anyway I didn't know if anyone could give me any advice on the matter.
> Either to get rid of the message or steps to take if I re-format to be
> sure that this doesn't happen again.

Hmmm... that is strange. To me it seems there are now 2 different
installations of Windows on your system. My first step would be to
reformat completely and start over. Make sure you remove all current
partitions on your hard drive first including the one with Windows XP
installed on it (both of them).

When I got to the partitioning phase of the Windows install, I noticed
there was a small 55MB FAT32 partition on the drive in my 8400. I thought
about removing it, but then figured on an 80GB hard drive where I might use
30GB at a time it wouldn't make that much of a difference. Did you also
see this 55MB FAT32 partition?

The 8MB partition for storing information is something I've seen many times
before during Windows XP installations. I've used programs like
PartitionMagic to remove that and use the entire drive without anything bad
happening, but again on an 80GB drive how badly are you going to miss just
8MB?

Dave
Who remembers 20MB hard drives being *huge* and who now has some mp3's
bigger than 20MB. ;-)
--
We are the US military. Your asses will be kicked. Resistance is futile.

US Army Signal Corps!
www.geocities.com/davidcasey98

Remove IH8SPAM to reply by email!
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

David Casey <sgtcasey@IH8SPAMcableone.net> wrote:

>When I got to the partitioning phase of the Windows install, I noticed
>there was a small 55MB FAT32 partition on the drive in my 8400. I thought
>about removing it, but then figured on an 80GB hard drive where I might use
>30GB at a time it wouldn't make that much of a difference. Did you also
>see this 55MB FAT32 partition?
..
That's a Dell diagnostic partition. The progs are only a couple
of megs total, but the size of that hidden partition is governed
by the total size of your HD. They are put in the smallest FAT32
partition that can be created.

The programs are included in your set of CDs provided by Dell, so
you could delete the partition; but as you say, what is 30-50 MB
in terms of today's HD sizes.
--
OJ III
[Email to Yahoo address may be burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

The 30-odd MB hidden (FAT) partition contains Dell diagnostics. You don't
really need the partition, since the same diagnostics are on the Dell Tools
CD. But why get rid of it? 30 MB won't get in the way of anything.

The 8 MB is used by Windows Setup when you install Windows from the CD. It's
not present in the factory download.

Ted Zieglar
formerly "Rocket J. Squirrel"

"David Casey" <sgtcasey@IH8SPAMcableone.net> wrote in message
news:4pig88v3tq4t$.dlg@sgtcaseycableone.net...
> On 29 Jul 2004 07:18:50 -0700, Tracy wrote:
>
> > Just formatted and reinstalled as you suggested. Everything apparently
> > went fine EXCEPT whenever I boot XP Home, I see a DOS screen that asks
> > me to select which version of Windows I want to load. I see TWO
> > different versions of "Windows XP Home" listed. One of them works, the
> > other won't load as it has a system32 error.
> >
> > I did partition my drive into six partitions, but WinXP should've
> > erased everything that was there. WinXP did need an additional 8 meg
> > partition supposedly in order to store partition information. This was
> > the first time I had seen this happen.
> >
> > Anyway I didn't know if anyone could give me any advice on the matter.
> > Either to get rid of the message or steps to take if I re-format to be
> > sure that this doesn't happen again.
>
> Hmmm... that is strange. To me it seems there are now 2 different
> installations of Windows on your system. My first step would be to
> reformat completely and start over. Make sure you remove all current
> partitions on your hard drive first including the one with Windows XP
> installed on it (both of them).
>
> When I got to the partitioning phase of the Windows install, I noticed
> there was a small 55MB FAT32 partition on the drive in my 8400. I thought
> about removing it, but then figured on an 80GB hard drive where I might
use
> 30GB at a time it wouldn't make that much of a difference. Did you also
> see this 55MB FAT32 partition?
>
> The 8MB partition for storing information is something I've seen many
times
> before during Windows XP installations. I've used programs like
> PartitionMagic to remove that and use the entire drive without anything
bad
> happening, but again on an 80GB drive how badly are you going to miss just
> 8MB?
>
> Dave
> Who remembers 20MB hard drives being *huge* and who now has some mp3's
> bigger than 20MB. ;-)
> --
> We are the US military. Your asses will be kicked. Resistance is futile.
>
> US Army Signal Corps!
> www.geocities.com/davidcasey98
>
> Remove IH8SPAM to reply by email!
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I have come across this before on my laptop, cannot remember exactly what I
did, but seem to remember starting up in Safe Mode and having to delete a
small text file......suggest you get access to a Windows XP manual, this is
a known problem, and is a result of you not reinstalling windows correctly,
basically you have renamed the windows install area name, hence the two
iterations. My memory is bad so I'm sorry I cannot remember how I fixed it,
but I'm sure someone will come up with the correct solution.

73 de John
--
eMail1 : john@jcmcc1srp.freeserve.co.uk
eMail2 : john_c_mcculloch@hotmail.com
Comp1: Dell 8400 WindowsXP / RISC OS Adjust
Comp2: Microdigital Alpha WinXP/ RISC OS 4
Comp3: Acorn RiscPC SA RISC OS Select

--
eMail1 : john@jcmcc1srp.freeserve.co.uk
eMail2 : john_c_mcculloch@hotmail.com
Comp1: Dell 8400 WindowsXP / RISC OS Adjust
Comp2: Microdigital Alpha WinXP/ RISC OS 4
Comp3: Acorn RiscPC SA RISC OS Select
"Tracy" <muppettracy@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:c68a8439.0407290618.5e2ee148@posting.google.com...
> Just formatted and reinstalled as you suggested. Everything apparently
> went fine EXCEPT whenever I boot XP Home, I see a DOS screen that asks
> me to select which version of Windows I want to load. I see TWO
> different versions of "Windows XP Home" listed. One of them works, the
> other won't load as it has a system32 error.
>
> I did partition my drive into six partitions, but WinXP should've
> erased everything that was there. WinXP did need an additional 8 meg
> partition supposedly in order to store partition information. This was
> the first time I had seen this happen.
>
> Anyway I didn't know if anyone could give me any advice on the matter.
> Either to get rid of the message or steps to take if I re-format to be
> sure that this doesn't happen again.
>
> -Tracy
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On 29 Jul 2004 07:18:50 -0700, muppettracy@hotmail.com (Tracy) wrote:

>Just formatted and reinstalled as you suggested. Everything apparently
>went fine EXCEPT whenever I boot XP Home, I see a DOS screen that asks
>me to select which version of Windows I want to load. I see TWO
>different versions of "Windows XP Home" listed. One of them works, the
>other won't load as it has a system32 error.
>
>I did partition my drive into six partitions, but WinXP should've
>erased everything that was there. WinXP did need an additional 8 meg
>partition supposedly in order to store partition information. This was
>the first time I had seen this happen.
>
>Anyway I didn't know if anyone could give me any advice on the matter.
>Either to get rid of the message or steps to take if I re-format to be
>sure that this doesn't happen again.
>
>-Tracy

That's a problem with the "boot.ini" file. I had the same problem. On
my system there were two operating systems listed in the "boot.ini"
file -- one pointed to the operating system in the existing partion,
the other pointed to an operating system in a second partion, which
did not exist.

You can rebuild the "boot.ini" file using the Windows XP Recovery
Console. Here's one Dell Knowledge Base article that tells you how to
do it:

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1065876&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19

(If the above line wraps, you will have to paste it into notepad, fix
it, and then paste it into Internet Explorer.)

I had trouble rebuilding the "boot.ini" using this procedure. It
would always create a second entry. I finally edited a copy of the
file manually and then replaced the bad "boot.ini" with the edited
copy in wWindows safe mode.

There are a lot of articles in Dell's and Microsoft's Knowledge Bases.
search for (1) Recovery Console, (2) boot.ini or (3) the text of the
error message you get when you try to boot on the line that does not
work.
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Much easier to go My Computer>Properties>Advanced>Startup and Recovery.
Click on edit and delete the last line only. Then reboot.

"spam-hater" <spam-hater@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:j97jg01g1orj9s1vaphdgnbgkns6cp89d2@4ax.com...
> On 29 Jul 2004 07:18:50 -0700, muppettracy@hotmail.com (Tracy) wrote:
>
>>Just formatted and reinstalled as you suggested. Everything apparently
>>went fine EXCEPT whenever I boot XP Home, I see a DOS screen that asks
>>me to select which version of Windows I want to load. I see TWO
>>different versions of "Windows XP Home" listed. One of them works, the
>>other won't load as it has a system32 error.
>>
>>I did partition my drive into six partitions, but WinXP should've
>>erased everything that was there. WinXP did need an additional 8 meg
>>partition supposedly in order to store partition information. This was
>>the first time I had seen this happen.
>>
>>Anyway I didn't know if anyone could give me any advice on the matter.
>>Either to get rid of the message or steps to take if I re-format to be
>>sure that this doesn't happen again.
>>
>>-Tracy
>
> That's a problem with the "boot.ini" file. I had the same problem. On
> my system there were two operating systems listed in the "boot.ini"
> file -- one pointed to the operating system in the existing partion,
> the other pointed to an operating system in a second partion, which
> did not exist.
>
> You can rebuild the "boot.ini" file using the Windows XP Recovery
> Console. Here's one Dell Knowledge Base article that tells you how to
> do it:
>
> http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1065876&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19
>
> (If the above line wraps, you will have to paste it into notepad, fix
> it, and then paste it into Internet Explorer.)
>
> I had trouble rebuilding the "boot.ini" using this procedure. It
> would always create a second entry. I finally edited a copy of the
> file manually and then replaced the bad "boot.ini" with the edited
> copy in wWindows safe mode.
>
> There are a lot of articles in Dell's and Microsoft's Knowledge Bases.
> search for (1) Recovery Console, (2) boot.ini or (3) the text of the
> error message you get when you try to boot on the line that does not
> work.
>
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

OK, I have a question.

What if you dont have a floppy drive?
I guess i should have spent the extra $30 to get a floppy. Can i load
the drivers via a cd?

Erik

==============
Posted through www.HowToFixComputers.com/bb - free access to hardware troubleshooting newsgroups.
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Ted Zieglar aka \"Rocky\"" <teddyz@notmail.com> wrote:

>In the first place, I don't think you're a dinosaur.
>
>More to the point, I will hang on to my floppy drive as long as they're
>made. I've never experienced a total computer meltdown, but if I ever did,
>my floppy drive and recovery diskettes are the ultimate recovery solution.
>Floppy drives are low tech and, therefore, reliable.

Heh. Indeed. Floppies have saved my a** too many times over the
last 20+ years, even without a total computer meltdown. Ain't
gonna put a loyal soldier like that out to pasture, nosiree bob.
--
OJ III
[Email to Yahoo address may be burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Without a floppy, you have to change the BIOS from RAID Autodetect/AHCI to
RAID Autodetect/ATA. For maximum performance yoy really need a floppy on
this system. I purchased a USB floppy.

"erikua" <eriktrevino@earthlink-dot-net.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:412c035e$1_5@news.athenanews.com...
> OK, I have a question.
>
> What if you dont have a floppy drive?
> I guess i should have spent the extra $30 to get a floppy. Can i load
> the drivers via a cd?
>
> Erik
>
> ==============
> Posted through www.HowToFixComputers.com/bb - free access to hardware
> troubleshooting newsgroups.
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Why would you want to format a new HD anyway?
"WSZsr" <nospam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:I43Xc.6092$Rc6.4113@newssvr24.news.prodigy.com...
> Without a floppy, you have to change the BIOS from RAID Autodetect/AHCI to
> RAID Autodetect/ATA. For maximum performance yoy really need a floppy on
> this system. I purchased a USB floppy.
>
> "erikua" <eriktrevino@earthlink-dot-net.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
> news:412c035e$1_5@news.athenanews.com...
>> OK, I have a question.
>>
>> What if you dont have a floppy drive?
>> I guess i should have spent the extra $30 to get a floppy. Can i load
>> the drivers via a cd?
>>
>> Erik
>>
>> ==============
>> Posted through www.HowToFixComputers.com/bb - free access to hardware
>> troubleshooting newsgroups.
>
>
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 17:13:29 -0400, Molly wrote:

> Why would you want to format a new HD anyway?

Because Dell didn't include the option to not install any of the stuff I
didn't want. 🙂

Dave
--
You can talk about us, but you can't talk without us!
US Army Signal Corps!!

http://www.geocities.com/davidcasey98

Remove IH8SPAM to reply by email.
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Molly" <ctalia4000@comcast.net> wrote:

>Why would you want to format a new HD anyway?

Many here choose to reformat and even repartition their new Dell
[or whosever] computers to set them up the way *they* want their
computer set up, and without some of the bundled stuff, freebie
or otherwise, that all Dell/Gateway/HP/etc., computers come
stuffed to the gills with. e.g., ditch the EZ-CD Creator, I
prefer Nero, ditch the NAV/Macafee, I prefer X, etc, ain't gonna
*ever* do AOL/MSN, etc.

A clean install is *your* install.
--
OJ III
[Email to Yahoo address may be burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Ted Zieglar aka "Rocky"" <teddyz@notmail.com> wrote in message
news:wa3Xc.47079$rP2.19885@hydra.nntpserver.com...
> In the first place, I don't think you're a dinosaur.
>
> More to the point, I will hang on to my floppy drive as long as they're
> made. I've never experienced a total computer meltdown, but if I ever did,
> my floppy drive and recovery diskettes are the ultimate recovery solution.
> Floppy drives are low tech and, therefore, reliable.

low tech????

I'm from an age where I used to load games onto my Sinclair ZX81 (1kb memory
but you could expand it to 16kb via a Ram-pack for about £150) via a
separate cassette recorder.

When the Sinclair Spectrums came along with their non-standard 3" Amstrad
floppies, boy was I the dogs bollocks 🙂
 
Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

In my opinion, the Sinclair has not been given due recognition for its place
in the history of the PC. The Sinclair was an amazing device for its time.
--
Ted Zieglar



"The Social Outcast" <postmaster@127.0.0.1> wrote in message
news😱05Xc.704$bf2.7571571@news-text.cableinet.net...
>
> "Ted Zieglar aka "Rocky"" <teddyz@notmail.com> wrote in message
> news:wa3Xc.47079$rP2.19885@hydra.nntpserver.com...
> > In the first place, I don't think you're a dinosaur.
> >
> > More to the point, I will hang on to my floppy drive as long as they're
> > made. I've never experienced a total computer meltdown, but if I ever
did,
> > my floppy drive and recovery diskettes are the ultimate recovery
solution.
> > Floppy drives are low tech and, therefore, reliable.
>
> low tech????
>
> I'm from an age where I used to load games onto my Sinclair ZX81 (1kb
memory
> but you could expand it to 16kb via a Ram-pack for about £150) via a
> separate cassette recorder.
>
> When the Sinclair Spectrums came along with their non-standard 3" Amstrad
> floppies, boy was I the dogs bollocks 🙂
>
>
 
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