reinstallin windows - i dont have a clue

[chronicmutt]

alright i want to reinstall windows but i dont know how. I have the windows xp professional cd (legit) but i dont have the driver cd's. What i want to know is where do i find a list of my drivers so i can download them and how do i change my raid control to native im useing a serial ati ( i think ), instead of Raid.
and anything else that u think of that goes past that, that i didnt mention.

a step by step would be great but thats probably hard considering u arent here to see what your lookin at so any helpful info would be great

i would take it in to do this but i wanna learn how to but google didnt help me as much as a i thought it would have

thx to whoever posts

[Krovvy]

Here is a guide to reformating Windows XP.
Here is a website to help you find the right drivers.

This came straight off my google searches. If you need more help just reply to this thread with questions.

Oh, and remember to back up all of your data before you reformat .

[chronicmutt]

o wow thx thats the most helpful tutorial u can get all the ones i found confused me all to hell i couldnt tell left from right but which of the drivers do i need to backup i ran the driverguid toolkit that came with the second link but it says that theres 49 capababilities and i dont know which ones to back-up ( complete newbie to this im a user not a fixer )

( but i wanna learn )

[Krovvy]

Back up your internet drivers/sound/video/ect. At the very least make sure you have your ethernet or wireless device drivers. So if you reformat and missed a driver you can just go on the internet and find it .

[chronicmutt]

so like this ..................................... TYPE
ALL-IN WOUNDER 9800 SERIES ....... display adapter
Realtek AC'97 Audio for VIA ............ sound,video,game controllers
Realtek Family Gigabyte Ethernet NIC .. network adapter

all the other ones i see are mostly usp ones but windows automatically recognizes those when i plug them in

anymore u think i might need like my processor or anything

[Krovvy]

Just backup those drivers. When you reinstall go to the device manager and look for any ? marks. Then if you do have some just search for those specific drivers.

You don't need drivers for your processor. You may need to find USB drivers, but usually it will still work on windows without the driver.

[chronicmutt]

ok so i started it up and it did is pre-system scan but i get an error saying my hard disk drives are not installed cannot precide

????????

[Venice_native]

All the drivers on my MOBO except my sound card were installed with Windows XP automatically.

[Krovvy]

Originally Posted by chronicmutt

ok so i started it up and it did is pre-system scan but i get an error saying my hard disk drives are not installed cannot precide

????????

Wait what? What did you start up?

[chronicmutt]

i rebooted my computer and ran disk from boot and it does its first system check like its prepareing before the installation but it doesnt go to the installation

[Krovvy]

Originally Posted by chronicmutt

i rebooted my computer and ran disk from boot and it does its first system check like its prepareing before the installation but it doesnt go to the installation

Well that's odd. Search google for the answer, I've never had that problem.

[chronicmutt]

ok so here is how its displayed

Windows Setup

Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer
make sure any hard drives are powered on and porperly connected
to your computer, and that any disk-related hardware coniguration is currect.
This may require running a manafactuer diagnostic.....( forget the rest )

Setup cannot continue. To quit setup, press F3

[x42bn6]

Is your hard drive set to Master instead of Slave? Or is properly connected at all?*

[chronicmutt]

Originally Posted by x42bn6

Is your hard drive set to Master instead of Slave? Or is properly connected at all?*

wouldnt know how to check if either wasnt........

[Krovvy]

These links may help you:
http://www.ehow.com/how_6031_change-...signation.html
http://www.pcmech.com/show/harddrive/43/

[l33t 0n3]

Very common problem. I actually have a computer in my garage with the same problem. Sounds like you started an install, cancelled it, and tried again. Basically, your master boot record is blank.

Hook up a second hard drive and install windows 95 on it, or use a Live CD linux distro, and manually rewrite the master boot record. Too lazy to give details. Google it.