the intent
the intent behind this is to make the system fully usable again.
Things you can try before doing an OS repair
Windows 7: did you make a System Repair Disc beforehand or use the built-in software most major vendors put in do make recovery discs? may save you some trouble.
read the rest of these subsections:
filesystem corrupted?
a lot of system problems can be caused by a corrupted filesystem. do chkdsk /f k: (or whatever drive letter it is) or if you don't know how to do that, refer to this page
If you have to, mount the offending drive in another computer using a USB-ide-sata adapter cable or hard drive dosk orexternal drive case with external power supply and connect the drive to it, and connect the usb interface to the computer and run chkdsk /f k: (or whatever drive letter it is). when you are done, disconnect the usb cable thing by right-clicking on the green arrow icon in the lower right hand corner called "safely remove hardware".
this is only one of many possible problems. always do this first.
method #1: reinstall windows on another partition
before you boot gparted, make sure you have:
- successfully repaired your filesystem, let it do all its rebooting.
- successfully shut down.
- booted into CMOS SETUP though delete key, F1, F2, F12, F10, or whatever key your computer happens to be (before windows comes up - gotta be fast), and set it to boot cdrom as the first priority device, with usb next and hard drive next. you can also do usb first and cdrom next, provided you don't have a bootable USB device inserted. save and exit.
- press a key to boot from cd while you can if it asks.
then once you have pressed enter a bunch of times to get into gparted gui app:
- right click on the big partition and pick resize
- drag the right side slider to the left so you still have some free white space for new files or new OS updates/patches (about 80-100GB at least), and click ok.
- right click on the unpartitioned space (well, figure out a way to create a partition) and create an extended partition the entiresizeof the unpartitioned space. click ok.
- right click in the extended partition space and create a logical NTFS partition. If you have a 32-bit windows,create several 7GB NTFS partitions and right click on those and format them as NTFS. label them with numbers. windows willassign these drive letters, do don't go wild. there are only 22 drive letters you can use, and 4-6 of them are probably taken by your card reader and external drive(s).
- right click on the remaining unpartitioned extended partition space and create a logical NTFS partition. click ok.
- format the partion as NTFS. click ok.
- IF your original windows partition is totally scrambled, you MIGHT choose to format it as NTFS. or you can do so if you reinstall windows fromscratch, or you can refresh the files when you repair windows and try to get back some semblance of order. I would not recommend this action though, if there's ANY CHANCE your data is still there in good shape: windows might not run well, but your data can be just fine. don't do this particular step to your recovery or diagnostics partition which is sometimes the second partition which also may be hidden and uis usually small (about 4-40GB).
- click apply in gparted - all the actions will be done now. go unclutter something - go out for lunch/dinner/ice cream. it's going to be probably about 2-4 hours.
- close gparted when it says it has completed everything (upper right x on window).
- double-click the red power button icon on the desktop eventually, the shutdown choice will appear.
- it will tell you to take out the cd when it's appropriate.
- at this point, you can actually put in the windows cd instead of the gparted cd, and hit [enter] to shut down.
- power up and press a key to boot from the cd and install windows on that newly partitioned logical space on the right side you picked.
- reinstall all programs, drivers, and required NON-MALWARE plugins, can take 3 days to a month depending on how many programs you have.
method #2: move the data
the method in this section allows you to revive a broken windows and get your data back possibly, if you have extra disk space enough for a copy of all your data. it may be bigger than you think: pictures, videos, and mp3's can get huge and can take up 40+GB-300GB or more depending on how active you are.
before you boot gparted, make sure you have:
- successfully repaired your filesystem, let it do all its rebooting.
- successfully shut down.
- booted into CMOS SETUP though delete key, F1, F2, F12, F10, or whatever key your computer happens to be (before windows comes up - gotta be fast), and set it to boot cdrom as the first priority device, with usb next and hard drive next. you can also do usb first and cdrom next, provided you don't have a bootable USB device inserted. save and exit.
- press a key to boot from cd while you can if it asks.
then once you have pressed enter a bunch of times to get into gparted gui app:
- right click on the big partition and pick resize
- drag the right side slider to the left so you still have some free white space for new files or new OS updates/patches (about 80-100GB at least), and click ok.
- right click on the unpartitioned space (well, figure out a way to create a partition) and create an extended partition the entiresizeof the unpartitioned space. click ok.
- right click in the extended partition space and create a logical NTFS partition. If you have a 32-bit windows,create several 7GB NTFS partitions and right click on those and format them as NTFS. label them with numbers. windows willassign these drive letters, do don't go wild. there are only 22 drive letters you can use, and 4-6 of them are probably taken by your card reader and external drive(s).
- right click on the remaining unpartitioned extended partition space and create a logical NTFS partition. click ok.
- format the partion as NTFS. click ok.
- move your data onto it
- then you can reinstall windows (see format steps) and your programs on the old partition, or repair the os if need be (less chance of losing data, less chance of needing toreoinstal programs)
- apply windows updates via http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com using ONLY IE and some reboots in a hurry.
- exporting/copying your email client profile, firefox profiles, IE favorites directory, documents, music, pictures, videos, and any downloads you have, anything you have in c:\users\ or c:\documents and settings\ and any license key text files you have made (if you haven't thought of doing it, start now, and print them out, I suggest the OCR A Std font for Notepad). I would also export any special registry entries, like that of Adobe (which contains your settings).
- reinstall all programs, drivers, and required NON-MALWARE plugins, can take 3 days to a month depending on how many programs you have.
- 98/me: c:\
- NT: c:\WInnt\profiles\
- 2000: c:\documents and settings\ or c:\winnt\profiles\
- xp: c:\documents and settings\
- vista/7/8: c:\users\ or c:\users\public\
- see this article
- ...you\application data\thunderbird\
- ...you\application data\spicebird\
- ...you\application data\firefox\
- ...you\application data\cdrtfe\
- ...you\application data\local settings\thunderbird\
- ...you\application data\local settings\spicebird\
- ...you\application data\local settings\firefox\
- ...you\application data\local settings\cdrtfe\
- ...you\favorites\
- ...you\desktop\
- ...you\application data\ (any apps you want to keep your settings)
- ...you\application data\local settings\ (any apps you want to keep your settings)
- ...you\downloads\
- ...you\documents\
- ...you\public\documents\
- ...you\music\
- ...you\public\music\
- ...you\video\
- ...you\public\video\
- ...you\pictures\
- ...you\public\pictures\
- don't forget your other users. you may have to strongarm their files and take ownership in order to back them up. xp, vista/7.
- license keys (hopefully saved in Notepad)
- fonts?
- photoshop plugins
- firefox plugins and profiles
- thunderbird plugins and profiles
- c:\xampp directory
- any www root directories you have
- HKLM\Softwware\Adobe
- HKCU\Softwware\Adobe
- HKCU\Softwware\ any apps you want to keep their settings, except Microsoft unless it's Office
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office (warning, this may not work!)
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform (warning, this may not work!)
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office
- [windows-logo-flag-key]-R C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\restore\rstrui.exe Enter (you might want to try this from a cmd.exe shell by starting windows in safe mode command prompt and running cmd.exe and then typing in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\restore\rstrui.exe Enter)
- boot up, hitting F8 repeatedly and quickly before and during the windows logos have a chance to come up, keep doing it until you get a boot menu. choose safe mode. try running system restore (the command above) from there: start a cmd shell and then type in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\restore\rstrui.exe Enter
- your hard disk may have an EISA Config partition (my Dell does). you DON'T want to eliminate that! On my Dell it shows up as 4GB FAT (Eisa Config).
- your hard disk may have a System Restore partition on it. On my Dell it shows up as 32GB FAT32 (Unknown). HP and Dell computers, at least, use System Restore partitions, and more and more companies are doing this instead of giving you the System Restore media as a "cost saving" measure. :-( Take it from me, order the media in case you get a techie who doesn't know any better and does a wipe!
- some linux partitioners only work if windows is there.
- You are replacing windows with linux - some partitioners are buggy and only work if it's empty. some only works if there's windows there.
- you are installing a full version of windows over the top of another version of windows - this does not work! the disk must be empty!
- installing a weird OS
- windows or other OS installation isn't taking for some reason - could be a hardware problem, or could be some remnant on the hard disk.
- system recovery discs
- driver discs for peripherals and especially for system/motherboard/laptop (you may need to make one, in case LAN doesn't work without a driver)
- ps2 keyboard or usb keyboard with purple ps2-usb adapter, in case USB/chipset drivers are required to make USB work (which makes usb keyboard and mouse unresponsive).
- ps2 mouse or usb mouse with green usb-ps2 adapter, in case USB/chipset drivers are required to make USB work (which makes usb keyboard and mouse unresponsive).
- speakers, to hear POST beep - some systems may route the old pc "beep" speaker/piezo speaker audio into the speaker system
- burned discs of service packs which apply to your system (keep extra copies around in case any get scratched). they are applied sequentially. for instance, if the latest service pack is SP4, and your system has SP2, you apply SP3, then SP4. SP is an acronym/short for for service pack.
- the key to (repeatedly) press during a split displayed for an instant during boot before windows comesx up (maybe on a splash screen) so you have to really be proactive to get to it, OR it is available . technical support from your manufacturer will have the details on exactly how to get to system recovery mode or OS Repair mode or whatever they call it.
- by hitting F8 repeatedly during the boot process like there's no tomorrow before windows comes up. it will be a menu item.
- by doing a keypress repeatedly during boot by discovery - trying function keys during the boot process. one of them will get you into CMOS SETUP where you configure things, that's NOT it, hit Esc. Try F1-F12, Shift-F1 through Shift-F12.
- by looking up in an online service manual at your manufacturer's web site to find out what the key/process is. If they have one, it is usually free.
- by contacting technical support to find out what the key is (hopefully your product is under warranty if that's the way your manufacturer works, or you pay something like $49/incident).
- if you are on a desktop, you will need a PS2 keyboard and mouse, because sometimes the USB is not available without the drivers loaded. I learned this early on when software disconnected my usb keyboard or mouse. I learned fast not to trust those except on laptops.
- first off, you have to get into CMOS Setup from the moot menu (F1? F2? F10? Delete? manufacturer dependent) and change the boot order so that the cdrom is before the hard drive.
- save your work first and close your apps.
- if you can, fix the filesystem. [windows-logo-flag-key]-R chkdsk /f Enter. when it asks you a question, answer Y Enter. then [windows-logo-flag-key]-R shutdown -s -f Enter. it should shut down. if it doesn't after 20 minutes, power the computer off (unless it is doing updates).
- turn on the computer. on boot past the windows logo screen, you should see the chkdsk session running in blue. this will take an hour.
- backup old data: burn to DVD/cd or copy to usb flash drive or usb external drive.
- click on the safely disconnect hardware green icon in the system tray (lower right hand corner) and disconnect your usb external drive which you just backed up your data to, then disconnecct the cable after it is safe.
- if the laptop uses system restore disc(s), insert the system restore disc and boot. If you have a system restore partition instead, you will have a special boot menu at startup prompting you to press a certain function key, so do so. system restore MAY be an earlier boot option than F8 which is what comes up when windows boots, or you may have to hit F8 repeatedly during boot to see if anything interesting comes up. I am talking about what comes up when the BIOS/Dell screen comes up. you may have to experiment with keys. could be F12, F10, don't know, but you have to watch and catch it fast.
- install, choosing to install, when it comes time to choose to Format or Repair, choose R for Repair/refresh, and choose to install windows over the old NTFS partition you had. don't remove the media until windows has booted to the welcome screen or booted "normally" to the desktop.
- set automatic updates to "download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them." will will prevent automatic shutdowns in the middle of your work after an update has finished installing.
- install drivers for the motherboard/laptop/desktop first. drivers are available from the mfr's web site under "drivers and downloads" or under "support" under your [motherboard/laptop/system] model's page, or your system may have come with a drivers disc. you should make one if you haven't already, for the reason that the LAN may not work until the driver is installed.
- install IE6 if you have 95?/98/me/2k (sorry, cd is no longer available). install latest IE for your platform
- install service packs, in order from whatever came with your OS to the latest. you will probably have to burn some cd's/dvds. note that if it is XP, you must install IE8 before SP3, or IE *could* be broken! SP4 is latest for win2k.
- install microsoft works, if that is what you have, then microsoft office upgrade. or microsoft office full or OEM, whichever you have. If you don't have an office package, you can get one for free from OpenOffice.org , or IBM Lotus Symphony, which is more compatible with MS Office than OpenOffice.org, or LibreOffice.
- install latest applications:
- cd burning software such as cdrtfe (can burn multiple discs at once, requires configuring, I choose ISO level 3, eject disc after burning, rock ridge filesystem, joliet filesystem, optional cd only multisesession and import previous sessions and track-at-once) or cd burner xp pro (requires .net 3.5 sp1)
- choice of browser: firefox, chrome, safari, opera, etc.
- choice of email client: thunderbird, eudora (being merged into thunderbird) or microsoft outlook
- choice(s) of media player: Windows Media player or VLC or XBMC (should probably be used with a remote) or MediaPortal (should probably be used with a remote)
- Java
- .Net Framework redistributable or from microsoft.com/net
- Adobe Air (optional, not used much)
- Adobe Flash Player for IE,
- Adobe Flash Player for other browsers (if you have other browsers installed),
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- ttcalc programmer's calculator, instant results for equations/expressions, bignum calculator, hexadecimal, decimal, octal, etc
- auditor's calculator
- install the drivers cd/dvd(s). install Printer Drivers, scanner drivers, and any other peripherals you may have - don't forget those. I hope you have those discs available and unscratched.
- use Internet Explorer to visit windowsupdate.microsoft.com and install updates and reboot. repeat this step until there are no more updates. actually, it is better to do Tools, Windows Update from IE since the address changes between OS's.
- set automatic updates to "download updates for me,but let me choose when to install them." will will prevent automatic shutdowns in the middle of your work after an update has finished installing.
- format the computer. here is how. backup your data first,
- take the hard drive to a data recovery shop if you data is that important to you and you have lost data. can cost up to $1000
here's what folders varies with each OS:
critical folders to copy
critical files to copy
critical registry entries to export
file associations messed up?
If you have a file assoctations problem,
like pictures do not work,
desktop a mess and things like that,
you may have been infected with a worm or a trojan.
you should full scan your system using your antivirus package, then full scan with malwarebytes antimalware.
A warning though, malwarebytes falsely detects .cmd files as trojans.
after that, then try repairing your file associations with these:
(using System Restore point): I accidentally set another application to have a file association with .exe - now what do I do?
A lot of people make this mistake. alternatives to doing a repair:
run a full scan with malwarebytes anti-malware
get it here. there is a free version.
malwarebytes anti-malware has a problem with false positives with .cmd files - it thinks they are trojans when they are not necessarily and it hasn't done a good job checking the file out. malwarebytes seems to simply do only filename checking rather than checking out the file contents like a virus scanner would.
mounting the drive as a secondary hard drive in another/same computer
apricorn makes a universal USB laptop hard drive box.
or you can get one of the USB IDE/SATA interfaces that can do 2.5" drives.
or you can mount the drive internally in another desktop.
in this manner, it will be a data drive only. the system restore partition will not be available, so you will need system restore media and another hard disk.
taking it to a repair shop
you would need to purchase recovery media for your laptop, since the system recovery partition with the OS on it is on the hard drive most likely (common vendor practice), not the new SSD. so you need to buy the media to reinstall the OS+recovery partition. you will need information off of your laptop/computer (model number, make, serial number, build id, any numbers, OS type on the Microsoft COA sticker) in order to order the media. see this page for manufacturer information on getting the part from the parts department or from tech support known as "recovery media".
they will need the system restore discs, drivers, software discs, whatever discs that came with your pc. unless, of course, you want to install that yourself and save money.
If you take the computer to an authorized dealer repair/computer shop, make SURE you tell the person doing your computer to get your data off of your hard drive before doing any sort of format. tell them to keep your data, and that includes your IE favorites and FF browser bookmarks and thunderbird mail store in APPDATA if you are using thunderbird.
what if I want to keep my costs low?
one of the things you can do to fix the filesystem is do an OS Repair.
an OS repair, depending you your system restore partition's configuration, will repair the operating system. you will likely need to reinstall drivers and software again.
because each company's System Restore partition is different, there is the likely danger of a disk format, especially with xp versions of HP System Restore stuff.
so I suggest buying a separate drive to put your valuables onto before doing the operation.
That is, IF you want to do this yourself. drives cost between $70-100, and you will need to partition it.
I suggest you partition the *new* drive using gparted, unless it is vista/7. it will appear as blank space if it appears at all - I don't know about linux's ability to do USB drives, that may work. choose the blank drive, partition the blank space as NTFS and format and then APPLY.
please note that USB drives are SLOW, so when doing a format on a new drive, choose quick format if you have the choice.
what about my software?
most computers I see on craigslist don't come with the system restore cd's or the drivers cd's or the software. Legally, the OEM software belongs with the machine, not to you. If it's not a boxed copy of the software, it's probably OEM (and usually says so on the paperwork). people don't realize that the license for OEM software is only legal if it STAYS WITH THE MACHINE IT WAS FIRST INSTALLED ON.
this means it is not legal to sell your OEM software apart from the machine. it goes with the machine.
so please do the next person a favor, keep it legal, and move the OEM software right along with the machine you sell.
software that is retail, this is yours. you can keep retail/boxed software and software that you have purchased over the internet.
you may want to check the EULA to see what it says regarding transfer to a different CPU. Some software EULAs (licensing agreements) don't allow that.
regarding wiping the disk and why I don't recommend it
I do not recommend this except in extreme circumstances.
I have disk wiping software that wipes the whole disk. it's better than DBAN (because it boots on more systems), but not fast. but I don't recommend it because:
Reasons to wipe:
the XP era System Restore Partitions typically format the section of disk that should be formatted.
getting my data off before a possible format
if you ended up with a virus, you can take your laptop in to have it cleaned up by a computer shop, and tell them to save your data and that it is infected and to format it fresh. provide them with your laptop cd/dvd media that came with it.
or, find a friend with a desktop or laptop, buy a 2.5" USB hard drive dock or the USB hard drive interface that handles 2.5" IDE+SATA, take your laptop drive out (you will need very small screwdrivers for this) mount the drive on the USB interface. make sure it is polarized right, and don't force!
steps to repair system
what you will need:
keep the discs in cd sleeves to protect them when they are not being used, and avoid setting them data-side down on the table - this scratches them.
IF the manufacturer forgot to put that system restore partition on the hard drive, you could possibly send it back to have them put it back on (since they messed up and you paid for the OS). and I highly suggest you purchase a set of OS Recovery Media for occasions such as this. This does not usually happen (there would probably be no OS!)
with an OS installation system manufacturers will put in a system restore partition alongside the windows partition.
on windows somewhere there is usually some software for making recovery discs (which I hope you did).
you find your System Restore keypress one of 3 ways:
If you don't have System Restore discs, now is a good time to purchase them, they can come in handy in case of an emergency.
Your old software configuration and registry entries will be kept. the only exception is Microsoft OS software and IE, which are tied into the OS. I don't know about Office.
if you can't repair/refresh/rebuild
If your computer is configured to use the recovery console and you have absolutely no way to do a (R)epair, then this is your only choice left.
System Recovery Keys
no recovery disc creation software
this technique works for creating recovery media for systems which have no software for making recovery media,or you have lost the recovery media and there is or is not a recovery partition. it is only useful if the system is in good shape.
Alternative is to buy a new version of windows (not oem or system builder edition - that's not legal) - this has a 80% chance of working.
HP/Compaq
repeatedly press F10 during boot.
Gatweway
see gatweway article. involves the R key during boot.
making recovery discs (before hard drive dies in 5 years)<
emachines
F11, F12, or alt-F10 repeatedly during boot. or see this article.
Dell
F8 repeatedly during boot. on some older machines like the dimension 4600 I think it is F10 (but the tech wasn't sure until I paid money).
creating recovery discs via Dell Data Safe on consumer dells (before hard drive dies in 5 years)<
Acer
alt-F10 or alt-F11 repeatedly during boot.
create recovery discs, recovering system
Toshiba
ability to create recovery discs on machines 2006 and later - older models you must order recovery discs
Sony Vaio
all VAIO computers are shipped with recovery partition, present in a hidden partition of the hard drive. You may also use the recovery partition to create the recovery discs. You may use the recovery partition to reinstall the preinstalled operating system, applications and the original drivers. Please press the F10 key for 5 to 10 seconds when the VAIO logo appears to access the recovery partition. Please press the Enter key when you view the edit boot options window to access the recovery menu. Please use the VAIO care rescue feature to backup important data to any removable media (like USB, DVDs) before performing the system recovery. Please use the 'Restore C drive' option to perform the system recovery. This option is used to recover the entire C: drive partition to its original factory software configuration. All the data on the C: drive will be erased while the data on other partitions is not affected.
making system recovery discs (before hard drive dies in 5 years)
Apple
making recovery discs (before hard drive dies in 5 years)
Lenovo
see techiecorner.com for S10. ideapad
making recovery discs (before hard drive dies in 5 years)
ASUS
see Eee
order recovery discs/software for eee pc
order recovery discs/software for eeebox pc
order recovery discs/software for all-in-one pc and eeetop pc
order recovery discs/software for essentio desktop
order recovery discs/software for notebook
order recovery discs/software motherboard
order recovery discs/software multimedia and graphics
order recovery discs/software for server motherboard
order recovery discs/software for server barebones
making recovery discs for Eee, desktop and laptop (before hard drive dies in 5 years)
MSI
F3 [Enter] see youtube video (MSI official video)
to order recovery discs, if you are in the US, call MSI Tech Support team at 626.913.0828 Option 3 during regular business hours
making recovery discs (before hard drive dies in 5 years)