-=PCTechTalk=- Dell Reinstall CD WAS: Wobbly Fonts - Outlook Express Problem

David,
    I absolutely LOVE your sick, twisted sense of humor, my friend (no 
matter how much of it is based on perceived fact).            :O)

    Your initial installer was wise in providing those fear mongering words 
to you because he instinctively knew that he (or someone else in a similar 
job) would be the one to clean up any mess you would have made.  I, on the 
other hand, truly believe that Knowledge = Power and that the only true path 
to knowledge is rolling up your sleeves and getting your hands dirty (well, 
once you've read and at least somewhat understand the instruction manual). 
To this end, I prefer to provide the instruction manual and then sit back to 
watch the "keen young explorer" grow by leaps and bounds.  Of course, we are 
right here to help guide you through any additional questions or situations 
that may arise and I also try my best to warn when there is the slightest 
chance of seriously messing something up.  So, if I tell you to stay away 
from something, it's only because I selfishly have decided that this is 
probably not the best time to be creating a mess (if your thoughts differ, 
now would be the time to speak up).  I also know from my study of human 
nature over the years that if you are so inclined, you will merrily decide 
for yourself when it's the best time for a mess.  Even then, we will STILL 
be right here to help guide you through any additional questions or 
situations that may arise.

    Having said all that, my instructions are quite wordy (I prefer 
"detailed") but the actual time necessary to perform the steps is somewhere 
around 2 minutes from turning on the machine to rebooting out of the BIOS 
screen.  Since that small estimate is based on prior knowledge and 
understanding of the BIOS as well as my complete and total confidence (lack 
of fear), I understand perfectly if you're still not convinced.  So, allow 
me to suggest that you take each part of the directions one step at a time. 
None of this will help you until you learn for yourself the timing of those 
key presses in order to gain entry into this candy store of settings, so 
just try that part until you get in.  Once in, try out the instructions for 
moving around with the arrow and ESC keys.  None of those keys can make any 
of the settings change, so its safe to practice a bit before even looking 
for the proper setting.  Once you're feeling more at home, try pressing the 
Enter key with different listings selected.  Some won't do anything because 
there is nothing to choose from, but others will open up a small window with 
a list of options for that control.  Examine the options and try to figure 
out how each one would change the behavior of the system (remember that 
these instructions are specifically for the mainboard and that only some of 
them will be conveyed to Windows).  When you're finished checking out the 
menu for an item, just press ESC to go back to the prior menu without 
recording any changes.  Even if you selected something other than what was 
already selected, ESC will prevent that change from being recorded.

    Once you're brimming with full confidence (just kidding, but I promise 
you that it WILL come with time and experience), work on following the rest 
of the instructions and see how easy it is for yourself.  If you do happen 
to get into ANY trouble or you think that you might have messed something 
up, just repeatedly press ESC until it no longer does anything.  Then arrow 
over to the last tab and arrow down to "Discard Any Changes & Reboot", "Exit 
Without Saving Changes" or something similar.  That option is built into 
every BIOS in order to exit the BIOS without changing any options.  Then, 
try it again whenever you're ready.

    I also want to assure you that the absolute worst that can happen is 
that Windows will no longer boot after you change something and then save 
the changes.  While that probably sounds like a terrifying result, it really 
isn't anything to worry about.  The BIOS settings have no effect on anything 
that's on your hard drive.  That means Windows and everything else you have 
installed or stored on the drive is still safe and sound.  It's just that 
the BIOS doesn't know how to talk to the drive anymore.  However, you don't 
need a hard drive to get back into the BIOS to fix things.  In fact, you'll 
see that there is a listing on that last tab that says something like "Use 
Default Settings" and it may also include a "Use Optimum Settings" listing, 
too.  These are there to make recovery ultra simple.  Just select the 
'Default' one and ALL of the BIOS settings will revert back to their 
original factory options, allowing you to boot right up like nothing bad had 
happened.  If you're feeling a little brave, select the 'Optimum' one 
instead and see if your system can deal with the slightly more advanced 
settings it uses.  Even if it doesn't work, you can still jump right back 
into the BIOS and select the 'Default' one instead.


    The news of your Dell CD's contents is extremely encouraging.  The 
presence of an i386 folder that weighs in at over 500MB is exactly what I 
was hoping to hear.  Go back into Windows Explorer and take another look at 
the CD.  This time, I'd like for you to view the contents from that i386's 
parent folder (the folder to which the i386 subfolder belongs).

-  (this one)
    +  i386

    I'm interested in what other subfolders may be present at the same level 
as the 'i386' (xxxxx, yyyyy, etc. below).

-  (this one)
    +  i386
    +  xxxxx
    +  yyyyy
    +  etc.

    I am hoping that there are other folders that will help to confirm the 
full install CD contents.  Once I have that info, I'll amend my original 
tutorial on making your own Windows XP SP2 install CD.  Before I go any 
further, I feel a need to point out a possible misconception you mentioned 
in your reply.  You said that left clicking on the CD drive caused the 
Welcome to Windows screen to appear.  However, a left click will not cause a 
CD to launch.  Instead, I firmly believe that your CD's Autoplay finished 
launching the CD at precisely the same time you happened to click on that 
drive, giving you a false impression.  The way to prevent the CD from 
launching is to hold down the SHIFT key until the newly inserted spinning CD 
comes to a complete stop which could take up to 20 seconds or so.


    Your final set of questions really made me smile.  I'm extremely 
grateful to you for widening my own thinking as I would not have thought to 
include this info otherwise.

    This proposed WinXP SP2 Install CD could actually become your most 
preferred method of reinstalling Windows, should the need ever present 
itself (I personally backup, wipe & reinstall at least once a year just to 
clean out the crud).  It will already have the giant SP2 built right in 
which will save you from having to download it through Windows Update.  It 
will also lack any of the junk that Dell has added to your Windows 
experience.  No more trial offers for AOL, for instance.

    Having the optical drive set as the first possible boot device (with the 
hard drive set as second fiddle) will not add any noticable time to your 
normal booting sequence.  The presence or lack of an optical disk sets a 
switch that is then read by the BIOS.  if this switch tells it that no boot 
disk is present, it immediately moves onto the next boot device in the chain 
(your hard drive, in this case).  Since reading a switch that only contains 
either a 1 or 0, the time spent is negligable.  If it finds a bootable disk, 
WinXP will usually ask you to press a key in order to boot from it.  If you 
fail to press a key in a certain amount of time, it will automatically move 
over to the second boot device in the chain.  That delay should be the only 
thing that can hold up your normal boot time and will onyl occur if there is 
a bootable CD in the optical drive.  Earlier versions of Windows didn't ask 
and would just launch the CD.  That always annoyed me since most bootable 
disks were only in there because I had forgotten to remove them after my 
previous session.  Now, I get a warning and a way out of allowing it to 
launch.       :O)

Peace,
GMan

"The only dumb questions are the ones we fail to ask!"

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Morris" <dsmorris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2007 6:33 PM
Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: Wobbly Fonts - Outlook Express Problem


> Well, GMan, I was wondering what to do with my spare time between now and
> Christmas (Easter?), but you have certainly solved that one for me. Thank
> you
>
> When my first computer was being installed, I noticed the letters"BIOS" 
> and
> asked what they meant. The installer, accurately judging my potential lack
> of ability, gave me a funny look and warned me "I'd stay away from there, 
> if
> I were you". Since then, I have heard stories of keen young explorers
> entering the BIOS and emerging, if at all, grey and wizened. So I have 
> kept
> away. But now, heartened by your matter-of-fact approach, I will give your
> splendid instructions a try
>
> As to my Dell Reinstallation CD, its title comes up in the My Computer
> drives list as "sp2_pro_rtm(E:)"; there is a folder "i386"; its size is 
> 512
> MB (519 MB on disk) and it contains 6,802 files. This is way above my 
> head,
> but I suspect that the Dell CD does work as a Windows install CD. When I
> simply left click on "sp2_pro_rtm(E:)",  a blue "Welcome to Windows" 
> screen
> comes up, asking what I want to do and, among the options, is "Install
> Windows XP". But perhaps it is just my youthful optimism again!
>
> Yet another question, if I may. If I survive the BIOS and eventually 
> enable
> start-up from a CD, am I correct in thinking that this will be just an
> alternative start-up method, available in case of need; that it will not
> "take over" from whatever method I now use and that it will not delay
> "ordinary" start-up?
>
> Regards
> David
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "GMan" <gman.pctt@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 3:26 AM
> Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: Wobbly Fonts - Outlook Express Problem
>
>
> David,
>    I'm not sure how, but I missed these questions the first time through.
>
>    To set the computer to boot from the CD/DVD, you'll need to delve into
> your BIOS (also called Setup by many).  The method for access to the BIOS
> varies depending on the mainboard manufacturer, but can be discovered on
> many systems by watching the screen during the first minute or so of the
> boot sequence.  If your own system only shows a giant icon of the PC
> manufacturer, that information won't help (the screen text to which I 
> refer
> is being hidden by that big icon).
>
>    Regardless, most systems provide BIOS access by pressing a single key 
> at
> the right time during bootup.  The right time is almost immediately after
> you first see anything on the screen (press the proper key repeatedly to
> make sure you catch it in time) and the key to press is what varies 
> between
> systems.  In many cases, the right key is Delete, but on some it's F1, F2 
> or
> Tab.  On rare occasions, it can even be something else such as F10 or even
> BACKSPACE.  If your screen refuses to tell you, try out that list in order
> (try DEL first).  If it doesn't work, let Windows load completely and then
> do a Start > Shut Down > Restart to test the next one.  Rinse & Repeat as
> necessary until you gain entry.  Most BIOS screens today are white text on 
> a
> blue background.  Your mileage may, of course, vary.
>
>    Once you get in, you'll need to be able to move around.  Use the up &
> down arrow keys to move through the items on a page.  Enter will usually
> allow you to change a setting by opening up a small menu containing all of
> the possible settings for an item.  Use the arrow keys to pick a setting 
> you
> want and then press Enter to set it in stone.  Unless you're in a submenu,
> the left & right arrow keys will move you between different areas of the
> BIOS.  Each area deals with a specific subset of related or similar
> functions.  Finally, when you've finished making your changes, the very 
> last
> submenu will include an option similar to "Save Changes and Reboot".  This
> will take you out of the BIOS and restart the computer.
>
>    In your case, you're looking for a line or lines that show what device
> is set to boot first, second (and possibly 3rd & 4th).  This should be
> located somewhere inside the first or second submenu (starting at the far
> left and moving to the right)  Once found, you may have to experiment a 
> bit
> to figure out how to put them in the right order.  In some cases, changing
> the first to what is already showing on another will automatically make 
> them
> swap places.  In others, you'll have to change each one individually so 
> that
> no device is showing in more than one ordered slot (you'll see what I mean
> if this is how your BIOS is set up).
>
>    Remember to choose that "Save Changes and Reboot" option before you 
> exit
> the BIOS os it will not have recorded any of your changes.  Good luck and
> happy hunting.
>
>
>    Unfortunately, I seriously doubt that your Recovery CD/DVD is the same
> thing as a regular Windows install CD.  If I'm right, you will not be able
> to use your CD for this.  However, I sent in an entire tutorial on how to
> create your own Windows install CD not too long ago.  If you recall that
> thread, but are unable to locate it (or if you have no idea what I'm 
> talking
> about), let me know and I'll see if I can find it.  It may even have been
> uploaded to our Files section at PCTT-YahooGroups, too.
>
>    To be sure whether your CD can be used for this, put in your
> Reinstallation CD (hold down the left SHIFT key til the drive stops 
> spinning
> to prevent it from auto-launching) and use Windows Explorer to look 
> through
> the contents.  See if there is a folder or subfolder in there called i386.
> If there is, right click directly on that folder and select Properties and
> tell me the size of the contents and number of files contained in it.
>
> Peace,
> GMan
>
>
>
>
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