Halp, it broke it's self! (Or, boot.ini woes)
Lord Darcy:
Quote from: witch on 2008 June 06, 12:39:59
Quote from: J. M. Pescado on 2008 June 06, 09:50:19
I have no idae what a "MediaDirect" partition is, .....
Often that's where they put the reinstall files these days. I've seen them named a variety of things. Many people don't get a physical CD or DVD anymore.
Eh? What if the hard disk is completely broken, then? No physical Windows CD to install in newly replaced HD? People have to buy Windoze again? >:( That's atrocious, surely they paid for it when they bought their computer.
witch:
As long as the case has the serial number stuck on the outside, they can use any CD to install on a new HDD. It is just the inconvenience of not having one to hand for most. So they have to get the shop to do it. The shop would probably just put the pre-formated image back on. My ex is a techie and tells me these things.
jsalemi:
Quote from: Lord Darcy on 2008 June 06, 13:16:54
Eh? What if the hard disk is completely broken, then? No physical Windows CD to install in newly replaced HD? People have to buy Windoze again? >:( That's atrocious, surely they paid for it when they bought their computer.
When the HD went south under warranty on my Dell laptop, they sent a new (bigger :)) HD out with a Windows install CD. Though as Witch pointed out, most mass market computers have the Windows serial number on a sticker somewhere now, so really, you can use any Windows install CD.
Simsbaby:
Thanks for all the help on this. I think I'm just going to get my stuff off, then format and reinstall Windoze XP SP2. I don't know if I'll put Dell MediaDirect back on. Even though it is not the direct cause of this problem, I never really used it and don't want to put up with it.
Can anyone recommend things I should do this time around? Programs I should have/install things I shouldn't install. Other forms of copy protection I should watch out for (I try to already use a NoCD.) Here is kind of a short list of things that are "must have" for me.
AVG 8 Free, Avast, Windows Defender (?)
DVD playing program (what works well and isn't bloated? I liked WinDVD 5.)
CCleaner
Daemon Tools
Firefox 2 with plugins, Thunderbird
Google Desktop (could live without, but it's nice to have)
iTunes (want to replace with something less bloated at some point)
Various Games :P
Quote from: witch on 2008 June 06, 12:39:59
Quote from: J. M. Pescado on 2008 June 06, 09:50:19
I have no idae what a "MediaDirect" partition is, .....
Often that's where they put the reinstall files these days. I've seen them named a variety of things. Many people don't get a physical CD or DVD anymore.
That's not what Dell MediaDirect is, it's something extra that let's you start your computer up quickly. So without waiting for windows to load you can open files on your hard drive or watch a dvd. It is useful; I had this feature on my Toshiba and I know HP does it too. As far as the restore partition, I don't really know what came on that as I put a bigger hard drive in as soon as I got it.
witch:
Quote from: simsbaby on 2008 June 06, 16:07:19
That's not what Dell MediaDirect is, it's something extra that let's you start your computer up quickly. So without waiting for windows to load you can open files on your hard drive or watch a dvd. It is useful; I had this feature on my Toshiba and I know HP does it too. As far as the restore partition, I don't really know what came on that as I put a bigger hard drive in as soon as I got it.
Oh yes, apparently my laptop does that too. I could supposedly listen to music or watch a DVD without booting into Windoze. Never used it myself. The partition it wants on mine is only about 8MB so I let it be.
You're right, it was a restore partition I was talking about, I blew mine away when I upgraded from Vista to XP.
Oh and, I've always used WinAmp for music, not the latest version which is attempting to act like Media Player in its confusing new interface, but one of the older versions which looks like a stereo interface.
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