XP should take care of everything ... you may need to reinstall your nVidea drivers & perhaps your modem drivers.

You will have to reinstall any peripherals: printers etc.

I have the Nvidia disk, but how do I find the modem drivers? I'm trying to keep my computer running long enough to print out the clean install directions. I think I'll go ahead and order that Maxtor 160 GB hd... it's a good deal any way. I'm assuming it will work on my puter?
Thanks

The Maxtor will work with an NTFS & XP SP 2.

As to the modem what is listed under the Device Manager:
Start/Run/ devmgmt.msc
Under Network Adapters?

Network adapters: SMC EZ card 10/100 PCI (SMC 1211 series)
Should I upgrade to the round cables too? What is your opinion on them?
Thanks!

Found a driver here:

http://members.driverguide.com/drive...driverid=23523

You can sign in with Login: drivers Password: all

At SMC they have a newer driver but they no longer carry that exact product.
Seems very similar tho:

http://www.smc.com/index.cfm?event=d...oadType=1&os=7

___________________________________

Round cables are cool!
They allow for better airflow in the case as well as aesthetics if you have a clear or windowed case.
They are a few dollars more than ribbons is all.

I downloaded the matching driver to a floppy that way I'll have it. I wasn't sure about the round cables as I've heard both positive & negative. I have the bigger hard drive on its way so now I just have to make sure I'm ready. Do you think the old hard drive can be reformatted and used on my other computer? I noticed a lot of bad sectors when it did the ckdsk, but it never tells me there's a prob. I hope a new hd and a clean install will straighten things out.
Thank you so much for taking the time to look things up and walk me through. I couldn't have done all this without you, Jephree!

Actualy you started my reading on rounded IDE cables & now I do see alot of pros & cons.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...cables+reviews

I suppose my current possition would be that they only add an aesthetic quality for visable case Mods.

Apparently some data transfer interference issues.

____________________________

Check disk will display the info as it works: It does not supply a report per se.

If the Seagate is working OK then sure you can format & use as you please.

I am still curious as to its' setup with the:

1. FAT 32 (2.9 GB)

2. NTFS (37 GB)

XP was on C: which was on the NTFS as it should be & passed the Seagate diagnostic.

I have no idea what the FAT 32 was used for unless it was the original ME.

Hi Jephree,
I'm back and still have BIG problems. My new hard drive is installed and the darn puter is still freezing. The first time I turned the computer on it recognized the new hd. I have windows xp cd in and when I power on it sometimes only shows a black screen or will start installing part way, but it has never got as far as starting windows. I have checked everything I can think of. I made sure all the cables are secure. I checked the fan and even ran it with a fan blowing on the computer, just to make sure it's not getting hot. I don't know what else to do, except change the cables and power supply. Then again I hate to keep buying more stuff if its not gonna fix it.
Got any suggestions??
Thanks!
TC

Sorry if this is tedious but it is important to know what exactly is happening.

For example:

1. you have installed the hard drive?

2. you have booted the computer with the XP CD in the CD Drive?

3. you get a screen asking what it is you want to do?
3a. repair xp
3b. install xp
3c. browse cd

4. you choose install XP?

so on & so forth...

we need to know how far this process is going & where it is failing.

For a more comprehensive view of the whole process there is this site:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cl...all.html#steps

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. Yes
It started the install & froze within a couple of minutes. I'll check out the site.
Thanks