HELP!!! People who know their PC shiet please help me

MasterLin1

MasterLin1

CAGiversary!
HELP ME! I just got a new HD (The $80 160 gig HD courtesy of CAG). And I installed it onto my comp. I transfered everything, i mean EVERYTHING, from the old HD (C: ) to this new (F: ) one. So last night I decide to finally reformat the old C:. I was running out of space on it and no longer needed it to have any other purpose besides storage. So everything should be running off the new HD without a problem. Much to my dismay, when I tried to boot from the new HD, the windows XP login screen would come up without any names to click aka it wasn't working correctly. So to fix this, I decided to reinstall XP back onto the old HD. So yes, the new F: drive began to work, and show everything that it should. But when I try to open up certain programs, they seem to be non-existent. This is a huge problem because its happening to core programs, like MS Word, Works, and my anti-virus program. I can't even install iTunes, it gives me some weird error that says this: Error -1612 The installation source for this product is not available. Verify that the source exists and you can access it.

Someone help me please!
 
odds are u didnt do a clean transfer, meaning - u didnt transfer all the extensioned files and shit got screwed up. Id say just download killdisk use that and reinstall everything.
 
I used the Maxtor utility that came with the HD.

P.S. If i did something wrong please don't flame me, just point it out to me so I won't make the same mistake in the future.
 
So you copied files from your C: to your F: then tried to boot while F: is still designated as F: ?
 
[quote name='WildWop']So you copied files from your C: to your F: then tried to boot while F: is still designated as F: ?[/quote]

Essentially yes. Can I still maybe fix the problem if I switch the new HD to the Primary Master instead of the slave? If I fucked it up and you all know it and I don't, please tell me.

EDIT: I had booted from the new HD several times previously with no problems and all the programs working correctly. So this is why it boggles my mind.
 
[quote name='MasterLin1'][quote name='WildWop']So you copied files from your C: to your F: then tried to boot while F: is still designated as F: ?[/quote]

Essentially yes. Can I still maybe fix the problem if I switch the new HD to the Primary Master instead of the slave? If I shaq-fued it up and you all know it and I don't, please tell me.[/quote]

1) Make F: the master, and ensure that your BIOS hits that before C: in your boot sequence

2) reinstall your OS on F: -- your registry is probably screwed up big time from copying your system files to a drive with a different letter designation

OR

3) Copy only the files you need (not installed programs, things like save games, documents, images, etc) to C:, reformat F: and install windows to it. A clean install will likely be more stable. Move F: to the primary position on the IDE cable, and make sure its jumper is set to Master.
 
Thanks Wildbop, I think I'm going to do your 3rd suggestion.

Also can anyone tell me exactly how to switch the jumpers? I have a vague idea on how to do it, but I'm not entirely sure. And should I change the F: drive name to C: drive? And what should I rename my old drive? And also, if I get everything worked out, should i leave XP on the old drive?
 
Oh, and in the future when you're backing up try to avoid copying installed programs and files over. Only copy portable stuff, and reinstall your programs on the new / reformatted drive. Otherwise you can run into some... interesting and inexplicable problems down the road.


EDIT"

The jumper is on the back of the unit, usually next to where the IDE cable hooks into. You'll see a little black rectangle shunting a connection between two copper posts. There are three columns of two posts, one of which has CS (cable select) SLA (slave), and i think the third is MA (Master). Pull the black thing up, and move it from SLA to MA.
 
Thank you so much for your help Wildbop, but one last question. When I switch the jumper on the new HD to MA, should I switch the jumper on the old HD to SLA?

And if anyone could answer the rest of my questions in my previous post, that would be great.

Thanks for everyone's help, if you don't see me around here for awhile, you know something went fatally wrong :shock:
 
You know it has been years since I have tried what you did (i'm much more educated now and I know better) but the last time I checked, you simply cannot copy system files from one drive to the other and expect the new drive to boot. It doesn't work that way.

With that being said, there may be hope for you yet. If what WW suggested doesn't work, you can try this neat trick. Windows XP has the ability to repair itself. The procedure is essentially a reinstall of the OS but it preserves the integrity of your programs and personal settings (i.e. individual profiles).

Take your Windows XP disk and boot from it. When the first prompt to install Windows shows up press whatever key will advance the installation procedure (the exact key eludes me right now.) Next the Terms of Use screen will appear. Hit F8 to "accept." Windows will now search for existing Windows installations. It will most likely recognize the "copy" you made on the new drive as an installation. Once this happens it will say "Hey I found a version of myself already installed, would you like me to repair it?" This is your queue. Say yes and let Windows do the rest. You will need your Serial Key at some point but otherwise it's a smooth procedure.

There will be no need to "Play" with the jumpers if you disconnect your old C: Drive while you do this. Let us know how it goes. :D

-DaPh

P.S. I do this for a living so don't hesitate to ask more questions. I'll try to stick around to answer them as long as I can.
 
[quote name='MasterLin1']Thank you so much for your help Wildbop, but one last question. When I switch the jumper on the new HD to MA, should I switch the jumper on the old HD to SLA? [/quote]

Yes.

[quote name='MasterLin1']And if anyone could answer the rest of my questions in my previous post, that would be great.

Thanks for everyone's help, if you don't see me around here for awhile, you know something went fatally wrong :shock:[/quote]

Gonna have to go back and look at what you asked. I'll get back to you.
 
[quote name='MasterLin1']Thank you so much for your help Wildbop, but one last question. When I switch the jumper on the new HD to MA, should I switch the jumper on the old HD to SLA?

And if anyone could answer the rest of my questions in my previous post, that would be great.

Thanks for everyone's help, if you don't see me around here for awhile, you know something went fatally wrong :shock:[/quote]

What I suggest is that you format one drive at a time (or both if you can back up your files onto CD). Remove the old HD, switch the F: to Master and putting it in the primary position on the IDE cable and C: to SLA and in the secondary position on the cable. If you didn't format the old C: and are using it to store your old files, install windows on what was F: (but should now be C:) and copy your files over from the old C: to the new C: . Format the old C: and you should be good to go.
 
One thing I'll point out here: Since we're dealing with XP, you can't do a real re-install without a reformat. Maybe there's some command line switch that allows you to do it, but every time I've installed XP it wants to do at least a quick format. If we were talking Win9X/ME, then a re-install would be a cinch.

Also, the XP repair utility is this side of worthless. I'm sure it's helped someone out at sometime, but I've never seen it work. Ever.

The format/clean install route is the way to go. Basically it boils down to a headache now, or lots of headaches later. Take the headache now.
 
[quote name='PsyClerk']One thing I'll point out here: Since we're dealing with XP, you can't do a real re-install without a reformat. Maybe there's some command line switch that allows you to do it, but every time I've installed XP it wants to do at least a quick format. If we were talking Win9X/ME, then a re-install would be a cinch.

Also, the XP repair utility is this side of worthless. I'm sure it's helped someone out at sometime, but I've never seen it work. Ever.

The format/clean install route is the way to go. Basically it boils down to a headache now, or lots of headaches later. Take the headache now.[/quote]

Sorry to hear your experience with the repair utility (not recovery console) has been so bad. I've seen it do amazing things. I use it on a weekly basis at work and it has saved more than its fair share of my usere' asses.
 
Well I'm back from the dead guys. Thanks for everyone's help. I tried DaPhatty's suggestion of repairing XP, but it failed to work. It kept asking me to find certain files on the CD-ROM, and when I clicked browse, the file would be there in plain sight, but for some reason the computer would not recognize it. So I went for the clean install, and I backed up my files onto the old hard drive. And I made the new HD the primary master, and just leave the old hard drive unhooked. Everything seems to be working correctly, it even kept some of my programs intact, much to my surprise.

Thanks again for all your guys' help.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top