Comments on: Meltdown http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/2007/05/28/meltdown/ (It's not defined!) Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:38:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Blair http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/2007/05/28/meltdown/#comment-2424 Blair Thu, 31 May 2007 07:43:50 +0000 http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/2007/05/28/meltdown/#comment-2424 First things first: WooHoo! A new reader! (I know Tom well enough that I won't call him a <em>regular</em> reader. He's more of a 42 tall.) <strong>Tom:</strong> Booting the computer from CD is familiar enough. The challenge is that the last time I tried it, I don't believe the restore CD was bootable. Happily, one of the diagnostic disks that came with the system is, and that's enough for running the install program manually. The big pain though isn't uninstalling the bundleware. Each of those is on a separate CD. On the other hand, I do have to reinstall all the utility programs such as the drivers for wireless card and the software that allows the CD and volume buttons on the keyboard to work. The install files are - of course - given very intuitive file names. Names such as R65447.exe and R65448.exe. Some of them are for options that I don't have installed. This is going to be "fun." <strong>John:</strong> I've seen plenty of 3 1/2 inch disks flop. I just buy less expensive (less sturdy) disks than you do. These days I've mostly replaced floppies of any size with a USB drive. :-) First things first: WooHoo! A new reader! (I know Tom well enough that I won’t call him a regular reader. He’s more of a 42 tall.)

Tom: Booting the computer from CD is familiar enough. The challenge is that the last time I tried it, I don’t believe the restore CD was bootable. Happily, one of the diagnostic disks that came with the system is, and that’s enough for running the install program manually.

The big pain though isn’t uninstalling the bundleware. Each of those is on a separate CD. On the other hand, I do have to reinstall all the utility programs such as the drivers for wireless card and the software that allows the CD and volume buttons on the keyboard to work. The install files are - of course - given very intuitive file names. Names such as R65447.exe and R65448.exe. Some of them are for options that I don’t have installed.

This is going to be “fun.”

John: I’ve seen plenty of 3 1/2 inch disks flop. I just buy less expensive (less sturdy) disks than you do. These days I’ve mostly replaced floppies of any size with a USB drive. :-)

]]> By: John http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/2007/05/28/meltdown/#comment-2423 John Tue, 29 May 2007 11:56:37 +0000 http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/2007/05/28/meltdown/#comment-2423 Damn, your computers were old. I haven't had a 5.25 inch floppy drive for ages. (3.5 inch disks didn't flop, no matter how hard you tried.) Damn, your computers were old. I haven’t had a 5.25 inch floppy drive for ages. (3.5 inch disks didn’t flop, no matter how hard you tried.)

]]> By: T P Donnelly http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/2007/05/28/meltdown/#comment-2422 T P Donnelly Tue, 29 May 2007 10:54:45 +0000 http://dactylmanor.org/blair/zero/2007/05/28/meltdown/#comment-2422 Sorry to hear about your HD failure, but you need have no worries about reinstalling Windows. All modern systems boot directly from the CD so you really don't need a floppy drive. Unfortunately, the system restore disk that came with your notebook will simply format and reinstall everything so it looks like it just came from the factory. That means you have to uninstall the craplets and factory-authorized spyware again. Ugh. Tom Sorry to hear about your HD failure, but you need have no worries about reinstalling Windows. All modern systems boot directly from the CD so you really don’t need a floppy drive.

Unfortunately, the system restore disk that came with your notebook will simply format and reinstall everything so it looks like it just came from the factory. That means you have to uninstall the craplets and factory-authorized spyware again. Ugh.

Tom

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