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#1
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re-installing windows without reformatting
i have windows 98 first edition installed on a computer. i am wondering, if i
use the setup disk to reinstall the system, in dos, after it has installed itself again, will i lose any customizations to my old system? specifically, i am wondering if i will lose a desktop background image, system drivers for installed hardware, etc. i dont want to have to reinstall drivers for my hardware, or reinstall other software. i just want setup to replace some corrupted files, and be able to find my personal files still in their same place. can i do that, by running windows setup in dos, without losing the items ive mentioned here? i just want to replace windows files, not my own created files and installed drivers. thank you |
#2
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re-installing windows without reformatting
The answer to your questions is, "Yes, you can do all those things. But you
shouldn't." Why do you want to run setup again. What makes you think there are corrupt files that need replacing? Or are you just grasping at straws? Thing is, with few exceptions, the only good reason to run Setup over itself is to repair the system sufficiently and just enough to recover your own data, back it up to tape or CD, then wipe the system (reformat) and start over. That's because over time you have updated system files, many, many newer versions of DLLs, etc., and when you run setup again, it will often replace the newer files with older files from the installation CD. But it's not 100% about this, so you end up with mismatched files, broken Updates and so forth. See what I'm getting at? So, yes, Setup *shouldn't* affect your personal files or programs, but it will almost certainly make your Windows system worse than it is now. Is that what you want? -- Gary S. Terhune MS-MVP Shell/User www.grystmill.com "John" wrote in message ... i have windows 98 first edition installed on a computer. i am wondering, if i use the setup disk to reinstall the system, in dos, after it has installed itself again, will i lose any customizations to my old system? specifically, i am wondering if i will lose a desktop background image, system drivers for installed hardware, etc. i dont want to have to reinstall drivers for my hardware, or reinstall other software. i just want setup to replace some corrupted files, and be able to find my personal files still in their same place. can i do that, by running windows setup in dos, without losing the items ive mentioned here? i just want to replace windows files, not my own created files and installed drivers. thank you |
#3
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re-installing windows without reformatting
It depends on the setup disk, but generally running setup from DOS will
replace the existing files and settings while running setup from within Windows will preserve the files and settings. Depending on where you have stored your personal files, they should not get overwritten when you do a setup from DOS, but be careful of some OEM setup CDs which will format the disk regardless. A setup from DOS will remove installed drivers. Trying to replace files using setup is not a good idea. If your system has been updated over the years you will end up with a mixture of versions for different components of the operating system, and that will create instabilities and errors. If you know the specific files you need to replace you can extract them from the cab files on the setup disk, but that still leaves the problem of mismatched versions. The only really reliable way to refresh the system is to backup everything you need to keep, install a fresh copy of Windows, update it, and then re-install your applications and settings. -- Jeff Richards MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User) "John" wrote in message ... i have windows 98 first edition installed on a computer. i am wondering, if i use the setup disk to reinstall the system, in dos, after it has installed itself again, will i lose any customizations to my old system? specifically, i am wondering if i will lose a desktop background image, system drivers for installed hardware, etc. i dont want to have to reinstall drivers for my hardware, or reinstall other software. i just want setup to replace some corrupted files, and be able to find my personal files still in their same place. can i do that, by running windows setup in dos, without losing the items ive mentioned here? i just want to replace windows files, not my own created files and installed drivers. thank you |
#4
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re-installing windows without reformatting
okay,
well, heres the thing, i do feel like i am grasping at straws, as gary said in this thread. but, i dont want to spend all day, or days, on the web, searching for the solution to my problem. i also do not wish to just reformat my drive and run setup afresh. i did a little searching though, getting links to microsoft knowledge base articles, though one, that seemed to really apply to my situation, didnt resolve anything. i kept getting the same problem. the problem i am trying to resolve is, when i have restarted my computer from a previous, STABLE working condition; as the desktop is loading up, i get an error message come up on the screen, saying: "Explorer" This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If this problem persists, contact the program vendor. details: "EXPLORER caused an invalid page fault in module EXPLORER.EXE at 0167:00401f31 with registers, bytes and stack dumps. .............i can list those extra details, but hopefully, youll be able to pinpoint how i can fix this problem. i came across the knowledgebase article number, 296211 at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=296211, thinking it applied to my issue, and followed its instructions. i went as far as step 7 in the resolution section and restarted my computer. the same error occurred. there is a note mentioned after step 7 that i did not apply yet, cos it doesnt look like something that applies to my problem. please advise thank you |
#5
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re-installing windows without reformatting
There's no magic bullet. You need to either carefully diagnose the problem
step by step, or start afresh. To diagnose I would start with a thorough RAM and disk drive diagnostic. Once you are sure the hardware is OK, do a thorough check for spyware, viruses and trojans, then try clean boot troubleshooting to see if it's some combination of what's being loaded at startup. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/192926 Searching on 00401f31will give some ideas for additional investigation, but it sure does sound like an issue with incompatibilities in IE. -- Jeff Richards MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User) "John" wrote in message ... okay, well, heres the thing, i do feel like i am grasping at straws, as gary said in this thread. but, i dont want to spend all day, or days, on the web, searching for the solution to my problem. i also do not wish to just reformat my drive and run setup afresh. i did a little searching though, getting links to microsoft knowledge base articles, though one, that seemed to really apply to my situation, didnt resolve anything. i kept getting the same problem. the problem i am trying to resolve is, when i have restarted my computer from a previous, STABLE working condition; as the desktop is loading up, i get an error message come up on the screen, saying: "Explorer" This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If this problem persists, contact the program vendor. details: "EXPLORER caused an invalid page fault in module EXPLORER.EXE at 0167:00401f31 with registers, bytes and stack dumps. ............i can list those extra details, but hopefully, youll be able to pinpoint how i can fix this problem. i came across the knowledgebase article number, 296211 at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=296211, thinking it applied to my issue, and followed its instructions. i went as far as step 7 in the resolution section and restarted my computer. the same error occurred. there is a note mentioned after step 7 that i did not apply yet, cos it doesnt look like something that applies to my problem. please advise thank you |
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