Format C:

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DrTeeth

Rock n' Roll Doggie Band-aid
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Sep 13, 2000
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YAY!!!!

It's time to format my harddrive for the first time in the three years I've had this computer. Now, I believe I've got the formatting, the partitioning and the re-installing of windows XP pretty much figured out, but there's one question left. Does my computer recognize everything like my sound- and graphic-cards or do I have to install them again? How does it work with the drivers etc? Can I make a back-up?

Luckily I will have the chance to practice on my my parents' notebook which I expect back from the repair guy with a new harddrive (it was only 1 year old, Compaq sucks :madspit: ).

Any help would be appreciated!!
 
most sound and graphics cards are plug and play I believe. This means that your operating system SHOULD recognize them. However, you will want to go to the websites of the makers of your cards and update your drivers. If you don't know who makes them you might be able to get the updates through microsoft by having it search for updated drivers on the windows update page. Good luck :)
 
i've sooo wanted to reformat my drive c for the longest time.
i've had such computer hassles for the last year and a half or longer.
i'm only running windows ME though.
it's probably not worth it though, and i should probably just wait till i get upgraded to windows XP.

:|
 
when i had to reformat, my comp recognized everything i'd had installed to the computer (hardware at least!). but then again, i've got an hp which is slightly better than a compaq. but it should recognize all your sound cards and such.
 
DrTeeth said:
Luckily I will have the chance to practice on my my parents' notebook which I expect back from the repair guy with a new harddrive (it was only 1 year old, Compaq sucks :madspit: ).


Oh shit!!!!!

I bought a new computer this year, and guess what? its a compaq presario 2500 laptop!!!!!!

shit, shit, shit- I seriously hope nothing too major goes wrong now:huh:
 
Yeah, if the plug-and-play doesn't work, you can download just about any driver from either a Compaq site or driver site like driverguide.com. If you're not sure, go into the Device Manager and if any are not installed correctly, they should have a red X or yellow warning symbol by it and if you right click and go to Properties, it may tell you the driver is not installed.
 
It shouldn't be too hard. The XP install is pretty automated. Just boot with the XP disc and you can format and partition from there. But you probably knew that. :wink:

The only thing XP has never recognized on install for me is my TV card, but you may want to upgrade your video and sound drivers later on if you play games or something. :)
 
I just rebooted mine and a friend installed XP for me, since I only had Millenium. This is an event people look forward too?--whenever I reboot mine, I feel like I'm firebombing Dresden or something!

Anyway, we did have to go on-line and download drivers so we had sound because XP wasn't picking them up at all.
 
AvsGirl41 said:

Anyway, we did have to go on-line and download drivers so we had sound because XP wasn't picking them up at all.

This can also be the case if you have a sound or video card that was installed seperately. If you only use the sound and video capabilities built into the computer's motherboard, you shouldn't have to manually install drivers. But if you bought a sound or video card and installed it yourself, you may have to install it's drivers.
 
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