Getting ready (GASP) for SPII Install

Hello, all...

I'm finally getting ready to bite the bullet and reinstall SPII on my machine. I had a bad experience last time, for those of you who don't know....my machine crashed hard, and I'm still using SPI.

I have backups of docs/pics and software purchased online, so I can reinstall them. Since my OS has been extremely unstable, I'm going to format my HD and reinstall XP from scratch, before installing SPII. (Actually, I need to Flash Update my BIOS first; apparently even though I bought a Prescott-friendly Mobo, something with SPII causes a conflict, and the 'puter tries to boot in safe mode and hangs on the AGP440.sys file, and won't budge no matter what threats are hurled at it. A BIOS revision allegedly fixes this problem) Even though it's functional now, it's not right, and I might as well have a clean install from the beginning.

I have been advised to split my HD (120 GB w/8MB cache) into 3 smaller HD's, maybe 40-40-32. Thoughts?

I'd like to save my (and my wife's) e-mail address books, and favs from IE and Firefox. Any suggestions on easy ways to do this??

I have to get some paying work done today, but I'm going to try and do this thing in the next few nights, before the update is mandatory.

Any other helpful ideas/suggestions? I've "wiped" my HD clean more than once, so it's not totally unfamiliar territory. It's just hard to give up a flawed OS for perhaps a slew of new prob's, even though I know it's for the best in the long run.

Thanks again for the ideas.

jtone

 

Check out my posts on

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=63971 and
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=64582

Read them both from start to finish. This may provide some alternative ideas. They work for me. Your percentage splits will vary, of course, with your much bigger hard drive. Bazza

 

Bazaa...

Thanks for the advice. Please also see my post at:

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=66927

it also ties in with my prob. I've been posting here only for the last three or four weeks trying to solve some issues, but I realize that I need to start from scratch (with my OS_which is XP PRO). My OS hasn't been right since it crashed, and I'm afraid to install SPII until my OS is good and my drive is partitioned.

So, maybe I should try to get that stuff done first......

I appreciate any thoughts you or anyone else has about this.

 

As others, more experienced in XP than I, have recommended.

If you can,

(1) start all over again.
(2) install XP as a clean install
(2a) Partition your hard drive at this stage to what sizes you think apply to your needs.
(3) obtain SP2 from M$ on CD and install.

Also, make sure you have all the latest drivers and program updates ready to load once SP2 is running. Bazza

===

 

Hi jtone:

My attempt at installing SP2 over my original XP HE O/S eventually resulted in a failed system.
Before I tried it I had created a Windows XP SP2 slip-stream disc in case there were problems.
When the SP2 upgrade became hopeless, I loaded the SP2 slip-stream disc, formatted C: when prompted for what to do with the present O/S and installed WinXP SP2 clean.
My new system is very stable.

In case you want to/can try, here is the guide I followed.

WinXP SP2 Slipstreaming http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp

Happy trailz,