Windows XP (32-bit) with SP1 OEM reformat and reinstallation

[KublaiKhan]

It's been so long since I last reformatted this rig that I can't remember when last I did so.

Years ago, I started having weird device issues. Starting with Forceware 275.33, I got black fields in various windows. Printers stopped working. Networked hard drives stopped working. Device Manager itself stopped working. I put up with a lot of crap.

So I'm reformatting the C: drive and reinstalling XP.

I'm on my second attempt today. After installing Forceware 197.45, I got a slew of error messages at reboot. Missing DLLs and other such things. I tried a restore, but that didn't seem to wipe out the device driver.

I seem to recall certain video drivers requiring Service Pack 2 for installation. Does that sound right?

What I do not want to happen is for XP to automatically update the device driver to the latest and greatest, and end up with black windows again. What a pain that was.

I seem to recall problems with certain drivers and SLI popup warnings. Western Digital has drives with hidden feature sets that XP doesn't know what to make of. There are probably hundreds of little problems I used to understand that are going to crop up all over again.

Anyway, I'm thinking I can start with Forceware 81.94 and go from there.

 

[unreal9400]

This is the lastest driver version for the 7 series.
http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/57493/en-us

 

[dextermat]

Hi,

I am pretty certain that you need xp sp 3 installed, not sp2 .

I would update xp then retry to install.
You might need microsoft framework 2 also

 

[Chicano]

Driver selected here with GeForce > GeForce 7 Series > for Windows XP . Language.
http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/57493/en-us

Old and Betta drivers selection page (results are drivers by date of release so you can try different release drivers for your GPU if necessary)
http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us

I'd suggest using the SlimDrivers tool to update all your XP drivers from other than Windows Update... according to description, it finds and retrieves drivers from the cloud so Windows Update is surely not the source. In any case your old installation was probably what you'd call a Bad installation in which a bad bootable* or copy CD or bad CD drive is the cause, so I'd be surprised if you encountered the same problem if the suspect causes are prevented.


*With a slipstreamed (integrated) Service Pack.

https://www.slimwareutilities.com/slimdrivers.php

Windows XP SP3 Download
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=25129

Slipsteaming software for Windows XP
http://www.nliteos.com/

 

[KublaiKhan]

The installation of long ago started out fine, and lasted a few years without issue. I think incompatible updates and drivers wrecked it, possibly with the help of an assorted power failure or two. It went bad over time. I specifically remember SetPoint and NVIDIA driver updates causing problems. No one tests device drivers with legacy hardware, probably because nothing would ever get released if they did.

I described my video driver error from the first re-installation, above. I tried again not long after that.

I installed Windows XP a second time and updated to Service Pack 3 before installing the GeForce 7800 GS OC video device drivers. I installed a printer and scanner, office and video software, and a number of Windows and Microsoft Updates. In my archival "downloads" folder, I saw subfolders containing Net Framework 3 and 4, but for the life of me could not remember why I had them. Surely, something required them at some time.

With Forceware 81.94 and 91.33, I got the old popup about one of the SLI cards being absent, though I've always had a single card. I still have a Registry key that stops the popup, but I chose to go to 197.45, instead. The popup stopped, and I'm hoping to get better mileage with the more mature driver.

I had problems with Logitech Setpoint not recognizing my MX518, it it detected the Logitech Illuminated keyboard. I uninstalled the Logitech Setpoint software and deleted the four or five associated executables from windows\system32. There remain Registry entries, but I doubt they'll hurt anything. Problems with Setpoint go back years, so I'll probably keep the mouse driverless (actually, as a generic HID device).

One thing I noticed was a warning when clicking on the Advanced button of the Display Properties\Settings screen. I wonder if that's from not installing the NET Framework?

The NVIDIA Display Panel Extension cannot be created.

Possible reasons include:
Version mismatch. Reinstalling display drivers may solve this problem.

Dismiss the warning, and then the Advanced Settings menu (called Plug and Play Monitor and NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GS ...) pops up. The warning does not reappear until after a reboot.

Simply installing NET Framework 3.0 did not vanquish the problem, but perhaps a Microsoft Update to 3.5 will....

I'm leaning toward another reformat and reinstall at this point. I really want to get this right, and never have to do it again—if I can burn an image to DVD.

Ugh....

NVIDIA Control Panel has disappeared from both the desktop pop-up menu and the System Tray.

I'm reformatting right now. It will take a while. Then I will reinstall off my original OEM disc. And start all over. Again. Can't wait to activate by phone! Again!

 

[KublaiKhan]

I'm starting over again, because I forgot to unplug my HP Laserjet 1000 before installing Windows XP. If you do that, the printer will NEVER work. Its drivers must be installed before the printer is ever attached.

In fact, that one little mistake has cost me a few activation attempts over the years.

 

[Chicano]

I was under the impression the installation was bad from the start but if it initially ran normally, then you should not worry about a clean installation getting the same issues... those that creeped in after years of use were most likely caused by wrong Nvidia drivers. So at the first sign of driver incompatibility you should remove them. Incompatible drivers do cause issues, even severe ones.

Other unrelated issues are normally caused by registry corruption, system files corruption, infections, old temp and log files accumulation, bad disk sectors, fragmented disk, etc. etc.
You should install a good antivirus and a antimalware and use them regularly, install a system cleaner such as CCleaner and use it periodically and or delete temp files, defrag the disk, run check disk to repair and recover bad disk sectors or at least to determine the HDD condition.. and use a Driver tool to insure as best as possible the installation of compatible drivers. All this will keep the OS running normally for a longer period, and possibly recover it from issues that can't be avoided.

The warning you received when clicking the Display properties was not related to NET Framework.. it was probably caused by the wrong display driver. The Nvidia Control Panel needs the right display driver to work correctly so, it dissapearing was due to the wrong display driver.

And to prevent the need to activate Windows if you should have to repeat the installation, I'd suggest creating a OS image after you have activated the new installation and it's running normally with the right display driver and all suggested software are installed... then when you ever encounter bad issues simply backup personal files, format the OS partition and next reinstall the saved OS image. Use DriveImage XML V2.50 to create it.
https://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm

 

[KublaiKhan]

As it's been some five years since I last installed XP, I've forgotten some things, and some things have changed. This has made my little project a much larger affair.

► I had problems with IE6 settings causing a slew of problems with the Windows Update page. Automatically Detect LAN Settings and TLS 1.0 were both wrong.

► I forgot to turn Automatic Updates on more than once.

► I thought I needed a Registry hack just to get any updates.

► I kept trying to install very old video device drivers. (Because they used to work just fine!)

I think I may have gotten through the worst of it. The Service Packs, .NET Framework, and related updates are done. Now I just have to restore some essential software and tweak a few settings.

It would be fantastic to be able to create a full backup to DVDs I can use in emergency to rebuild the system without going through this whole mess again—but I did make detailed notes, in case I do.

I am going to take a look at DriveImage XML. Hope it doesn't require a floppy drive.

 

[Chicano]

No, floppy drives are out and modern software should not need one. You can save the OS image on a USB thumb drive, another HDD, or HDD partition and start the installation from the Windows DVD or a recovery disk like the Hiren's Boot CD.

Full image installation instructions here:
Restoring system image to a different harddrive?
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/947e2c06-211a-4518-bbd7-7b9e3aee099c/restoring-system-image-to-a-different-harddrive

 

[KublaiKhan]

Thanks, Chicano!!!

I think I've learned enough to say that I would want the following:

► Create a bootable CD or DVD. I understand that's needed to transfer the image to a new drive.
► Save the image to a series of DVDs
► Save the image to any hard drive, provided it's large enough
► Restore the backup to any drive large enough to hold it

It gets confusing when one package turns out to be a partial solution requiring other software. I'm hardly dull-witted, but I'd prefer not having to use three or four programs, floppy drives, and the command prompt.

I understand you can't take an image from one computer and apply it to another computer with different hardware (processor, motherboard, etc.).

I'm interested in recovering from hard drive failure, and speeding up a re-installation—making it less than an all-day affair.

 

[Chicano]

For file transfer only, you don't have to make an image bootale, or even to make an image... You can recover backed up files from an image or regular folders.

And when making an image of your present working OS, it's more practical to make it to contain OS files only which can be compressed, and not contain user files or empty disk space... one that contains empty disk space can only be installed on a larger disk partition than the one it was on presviously... and one image made of files only can be installed on any partition it can fit on.

To backup your OS making a System Image you only need a cloning program like DriveImage XML. Installing an image on another computer can only run if the chipset is of the same version as that on the original computer. If you need to instal your XP OS on a newer computer you will have to do a clean installation from a CD or USB installer and activate it with your present product key which you can recover with Keyfinder... and you would need to format the original Windows installation afterwards for legal reasons.

EDIT: Sorry, in case you had read this answer; I removed some comments referring to Windows 7. For a while forgot which OS it's all about.