How do I "scrub" an old computer with Widows XP?

[IamSam]

I find myself in the position of middleman between one friend who is selling a computer and another friend who is buying it. Neither one of my friends knows much about computers. I know a little more about PC's than either one of them - which means not much - so it has fallen to me to get the computer set to go for a new owner. Normally, I would just reformat it and reload a copy of Windows XP back on the hard drive. Problem is my friend who is the buyer is broke - which is why she is buying an old PC along with a newer printer for just $100.00. She can't afford to buy an over-priced Windows XP CD from Microsoft. I have no use for Windows XP, so I don't want to buy it either.

Is there some other way of cleaning up the hard drive without having the complete version of XP on hand? Or is there somewhere I might be able to snag an inexpensive XP version?

I've done a quick and dirty search on the Internet, and that damned XP is being sold for around $160.00 (if you can find a recent website for it). That's insane for a program that became history 4 years ago. GRRRRR!

*sigh* The things I get myself into.

[Undertoad]

Or is there somewhere I might be able to snag an inexpensive XP version?

eBay!

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Software-/18...p+professional

[Beest]

does it have a backup partition?

Last few computers I have bought, dell and HP, even a laptop old enough to have XP, have had a partition on the drive with the reinstallation stuff on it, you just have to go somewhere in control panel, possibly 'recovery' and it will wipe and set up like new.

If you look in 'My Computer' there would be a D drive which may be labelled recovery, about 10 - 20 GB.

[IamSam]

@UT - Thanks for the tip! I forget about e-bay since I seldom visit it. I'll check it out.

Originally Posted by Beest

does it have a backup partition?

Last few computers I have bought, dell and HP, even a laptop old enough to have XP, have had a partition on the drive with the reinstallation stuff on it, you just have to go somewhere in control panel, possibly 'recovery' and it will wipe and set up like new.

If you look in 'My Computer' there would be a D drive which may be labelled recovery, about 10 - 20 GB.

So, if it does have a backup, will the program walk me through doing it? Or do I copy the reinstallation program from the D drive onto a disc and then go ahead and reformat the C drive?

[Beest]

Originally Posted by IamSam

@UT - Thanks for the tip! I forget about e-bay since I seldom visit it. I'll check it out.





So, if it does have a backup, will the program walk me through doing it? Or do I copy the reinstallation program from the D drive onto a disc and then go ahead and reformat the C drive?

you just say go and it does it, no copying to disc or anything. Since it's a seprate partition, it can reformat the other partition and reinstall windows from scratch.

[tw]

Originally Posted by IamSam

So, if it does have a backup, will the program walk me through doing it? Or do I copy the reinstallation program from the D drive onto a disc and then go ahead and reformat the C drive?

You will learn how complex the restoration can be. And that many programs provided on that computer (ie Word, DVD burner, malware software, etc) are no longer available without provided CD-Roms.

I do a much simpler cleaning. First establish (from Control Panel>Users) a new administrator account with your name. Then, using any administrator's account, open Windows Explorer. Find these directories: My Computer> C:\Documents and Settings\ your friend's name. Listed will be many directories where all her data will be in 'her name's Documents. This assuming she was using the computer as intended.

All those directories in your friend's name Documents get stored to a CD (if she wants to save the data) or gets deleted.

Repeat that for any other account she might have been using.

Next, go to Control Panel>Users. Delete her user directory.

Go to Start>Accessories>System Tools. Execute the Disk Cleaner. And then the Disk Defragmenter.

That should destroy all of her data. Not destroy programs. And not create other problems nobody has yet discussed such as utility partitions.

[Gravdigr]

Well, that's odd...there was no rain forecast for yesterday.

[IamSam]

Thank you for the info, guys!

But the plot now thickens:

I also did a little research of my own on the Internet and posted my question on two other very large boards that have forums especially dedicated to answering members' questions about computer problems. (They gave me pretty much the same info as both of you did).

With all this helpful knowledge in mind, I got friend one's computer out of the back seat of my truck and started to set it up. And son of a bitch, I couldn't plug in the monitor because that little metal housing (don't know the terminology) that surrounds the prongs where you attach the monitor on the back, plus the screws that go on either side were gone. Not only that, but the prongs themselves were all bent up and out of alignment - no way ANYONE was going to be able to plug in a monitor to THAT.

I decided to quit while I was already behind and called up friend one to ask him who in the world took apart that monitor from the tower? I've worked on that old computer before (friend one is so clueless, he calls me up for every little thing in regard to his computer), and the monitor hook-up on the tower was just fine.

Friend one tried to implicate me as the culprit, but no way did I buy into that, and I let him know that he was off base in no uncertain terms. While I'm hardly an infallible computer specialist, I bought my first computer back in the days of DOS, and I've had any number of computers since, and even tinkered around with them a little "under the hood." And I DO know the proper way to attach and unattach components from a tower.

It was obvious to me that someone who was very impatient and didn't even want to bother to loosen the screws (or didn't even know that they needed to be loosened), worked the monitor attachment back and forth in an attempt to remove it, causing the male prongs to become bent and out of alignment. Then to add insult to injury, they yanked as hard as they could on the cord, finally freeing the female end along with the screws and everything else.

Now who do I know who can be very impatient and knows nothing about computers? Could it be friend one? Hmmmm...

So now friend one wants me to go in there and remove the damaged part and replace it with a new one. The thought of doing this gives me no joy. Sure, I can remove the outer backing, but it's been a long time since I've found it necessary to tinker with the innards of a computer, and I have no idea what I'll find; plus, I don't have the right tools; plus, this small town has nowhere to find electronics parts. I'll have to find the gizmo on the Internet somewhere and have it shipped. Or I could make the 100 mile round trip to Durango and buy the part there.

And after all that, I STILL get to figure out how to do a factory restore of XP onto the damned thing. I'm glad to help out a friend, but this is becoming ridiculous, so I told friend one, "no can do."

Or do components just snap into the innards of a computer like legos these days and cost under $10 to buy?

[Lamplighter]

There are no rewards for good intentions... and other tar-baby tales

[footfootfoot]

Or do components just snap into the innards of a computer like legos these days and cost under $10 to buy?

To hell with park rangering, you should do stand up.

You got out of that job not a minute too soon.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Tell them to buy a USB monitor and then you'll continue. Till then, fuck it.

[tw]

Originally Posted by IamSam

I've worked on that old computer before (friend one is so clueless, he calls me up for every little thing in regard to his computer), and the monitor hook-up on the tower was just fine.

The video connector is usually soldered to the motherboard. Its not an easy job.

However with needle nose pliers, male pins can be straightened. Without a guard, the video plug can be carefully mated to those pins. That will get temporarily access to the computer.

From the sound of damage, best is a new video card purchased - that is compatible with the motherboard video PCI slot. More could be said if the computer vendor and model was defined.

[IamSam]

Originally Posted by tw

The video connector is usually soldered to the motherboard. Its not an easy job.

Lovely. That's what I figured.

However with needle nose pliers, male pins can be straightened. Without a guard, the video plug can be carefully mated to those pins. That will get temporarily access to the computer.

Tried that with a pair of tweezers. I'm sure I would have had better luck with pliers, but I'm fed up with that sort of painstaking tinkering - especially just for a temporary fix.

From the sound of damage, best is a new video card purchased - that is compatible with the motherboard video PCI slot. More could be said if the computer vendor and model was defined.

I sent that @#%$ computer back home with friend one. All I know is that it's a Dell, and it appears to be a machine that came out about 7 to 8 years ago. Friend one is a skinflint and he won't cough up the money for a new video card unless the cost is 10 bucks or less.

xoxoxoBruce Tell them to buy a USB monitor and then you'll continue. Till then, fuck it.

See above. The monitor he has is a piece of shit to begin with. It's some ridiculous thing which is an amazing 12 inches across (diagonal). Every time I got called over to his place to resolve his latest difficulty, I used to tell him he could get a new monitor that would actually allow him to see what's he doing for cheap at Wally World. But no, he has to spend every last penny he has on pot.

The only reason he has a new system (plus a new laptop, if you please) is that he talked voc rehab into buying them for him.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I have an old e-machine that also has a Windows XP operating platform. I also have an old monitor which is big enough to see stuff on without a magnifying glass. If I can get that e-machine running again, I'm just going to present it to friend two as a gift.

My old e-machine has a virus, so I'm going to have to reformat the hard drive and reload windows on it, as well. But at least I won't have to replace the video card or the joker card or anything else of that nature.

[tw]

Originally Posted by IamSam

Tried that with a pair of tweezers. I'm sure I would have had better luck with pliers, but I'm fed up with that sort of painstaking tinkering - especially just for a temporary fix.

Only needle nose pliers can do that job. Available in any Sears, Lowes, Home Depot, or Tru-Value hardware store. And one tool anyone should have if using tools.

A video card can probably be obtained for $10. Used and perfectly good parts are widespread from Craig's List to eBay. Of course, that is for a Windows XP machine. Not so sure about a Widows XP machine.

It is a Dell meaning it has extremely useful utility partitions that are best not destroyed. That are far more complex to restore than many realize. Best is to not reformat that machine.

From experience, a damaged Dell is worth far more than any e-Machine. Even the Dell website will still define useful updates. e-Machines is best called zero support. Plenty of technical reasons and resulting complications behind that conclusion.

To say even more means finding and posting the Service Tag number pasted somewhere on the Dell. Not to be confused with Microsoft's license number. Necessary facts for a Dell are that easily available.

If a Dell is working, he can massively increase its viewing area with any flat screen or even a flat screen television. Even an e-Machine monitor will work. A Dell even that old is that flexible. But first discover if the Dell has other problems. Needle nose pliers are necessary and should be standard in any toolbox. In fact, I will usually use needle nose pliers for anything that others use tweezers for. A good small needle nose pliers is that useful.

[IamSam]

Hey, I hear you about pliers and just tools, in general. Once upon a time I had a tool box containing needle nosed pliers and a host of other useful tools. Unfortunately, I had an aquaintance help me do a few small repairs around my apartment some time back. At the end of the day, he tossed almost all my tools into his own tool box without me knowing it, and then he drove off. I haven't seen him or my tools since.

Friend one has some needle nosed pliers for sure. I'll pass along your advise re straightening the pins, and if he's willing to do that, I'm willing to plug in a monitor and see what's what on his Dell. I strongly suspect he'll whine and cry about doing ANYTHING with his computer all by his little self, even something as simple as that. If he doesn't care enough about it to even straighten the pins, I certainly don't care to do all the work of putting in a video card, getting a manufacture's copy of XP, etc.

So, in your opinion (or that of anyone else who may be reading this) is it worth my time to try to get my old e-machine running again?