Reformating W5F

Hiya...

Need some advice on my W5F. (YES I JUST GOT IT YESTERDAY!!!)

I am intending to reformat my machine but need some heads up on those who done this before... I use the W5F mainly for work, emails etc.. I have the intend to use it heavily on Microsoft ACCESS for some database on prices etc. I have the following qns to ask.

1) Does my W5F comes with a backup partition to restore it to factory setting if required.. if yes, how do I locate it and back it up.. is it necessary. (like the Dell that Southern Girl mentioned in her post on STEP BY STEP TO CLEAN XP INSTALL)

2) Do I need to do fdisk to do up the required partition of C-Drive 30GB and D-Drive 70GB. (do you think this is well allocated.. pls also suggest?). Else alternatively other than fdisk, what else should I use? I intend to use NTFS for both drives.

3) Does CDs that comes with the W5F package have the necessary drivers I need to reinstall the system etc..

4) Do I need to do all the necessary updates as suggested by the Asus website : http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

You kind advice and comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much.

Warmest Regards
jazz_samz

 

Not even 1 response

 

Ok i may be stepping out on a limb but doesnt the w5f come with a restore cd which has a pack of 2 disks. One is the os and the other drivers and custom settings? You can delete all previus partitions asus set up in the factory. Set the boot order in bios, boot of the cd, delete all partitions and start from scratch. It definitely comes with everything you need..........

 

You don't need to do fdisk to create a partition under Windows XP even using a recovery cd. fdisk only is used in Windows 95, 98 and Me under a dos mode during create a partition.
Recovery cd already comes with a windows and drivers. After recovering, it will back to factory default setting, but you can press the [ctrl]+[shift]+[F3] to cancel the factory default setting before booting go to a Windows.

 

Didnt say anything about fdisk. The asus provided recovery disk deletes and creates the partitions without fdisk just like a retail or oem copy of windows

 

Geared2play, the W5F does comes with a 2disk restore CD for the XP Pro.

I did the entire routine and still ended up with a 60GB C-drive and 40GB D-Drive, it doesnt allow me to delete off my initial partition setting. In addition, after the 3 hours process, its still in FAT32!

How do I delete off ALL previous partions without fdisk? When I boot from CD, I don't have any option to delete all partions and start from scratch. 4 options given:
1) Reboot to Win XP
2) Recover Win XP to first partion only
3) Recover Win XP to entire HD
4) Recover Win XP to entire HD with 2 partition

Selecting option 3 would will delete all partions from hdd and create a new system partion as Drive C. If I select this option, it will be in 1 volume of 100GB (how do I split it to 30-70?) and still in FAT32!

Charliedigital or any W5F users, if you are reading this, hope you can kindly shed some light. Cheers..

 

Seems that after various attempts with the recovery CD, I am still unable to configure it as per my requirements..

 

Sorry I can't help you, but I was wondering If you guys could clearify something for me so I don't have to start a whole new thread.

If I just booted up a W5a for the very first time and went through all the setup steps etc...Can I now use the NTFS shortcut that Asus installed to convert the drive without doing any harm to all the preferences I just finished setting...In other words, If I use the provided shortcut converter to go from FAT32 to NTFS, once It's done, will everything remain exactly as is, or will I have to re-install any drivers, or XP Pro, or reconfigure all the little things I've done so far. Is it just going to reformat and reboot me back to where I was when I clicked the converter or what??? I want to get this done now before I install anything else, but I also want to know EXACLTY what to expect. Thanks

 

Actually Jazz, why don't you look into buying some software...you'll be able to use it on any computer or laptop you want, and many of them come with tons of cool extra useful features for pretty cheap. Save yourself the time and headaches and look into some software. I'm thinking of ordering one of these two myself...

Acronis Migrate Easy 7.0 or VCOM Copy Commander 9.

I know It costs money, but It will definitely solve your problem.

 

Hi CalibratedComa,

I read somewhere in this forum that someone mentioned that using a NTFS converter, it will not be as efficient and well secured as when you do an installation with NTFS at the onset.

Nevertheless, since I haven't really started on any detailed configuration on my system (except the wireless LAN) or installed any programs, I did a click on the NTFS converter. What is would do is to create a scheduler to do the necessary conversion of the drive you want to. (If I recalled correctly, when you click on the icon, a command window appears and it would ask if you want to convert which partions or both) When you shutdown and during the next boot up of your machine, it would do the conversion before u see the login screen. No need to reinstall ANY drivers.

Since I didn't do much on my machine, I can't assure you that your other settings would not be changed / reset.
However, the only think I did b4 the conversion was to locate my wireless home network and keyed in the security key and I noticed that after the conversion, my machine still managed to auto detect it.

 

CalibratedComa,

I called the ASUS support and looks like I don't have any options / methods to get what I expect using their CDs.

The tedious alternative is to get a XP Pro CD that I have for my desktop, pop it in before booting, use my W5F's XP Pro key... do the necessary partition, let it install everything for the XP Pro. Reboot, use the Driver CD and do the installation 1 by one and re-boot where necessary.

 

CalibratedComa,

Sorry for the consecutive posts... I just did a search on the forum and found the following threads that may be useful.
Thread A

Thread B

Thread C

 

Bro CalibratedComa,

Apparently using a Dell's XP installer program, I am unable to key in the ID code unless I get a FULL retail version.

Meanwhile, what are your views on using the NTFS converter with its short-comings?

Dear NBR forumers, please kindly comment on whether there are issues in using a NTFS converter to convert from FAT32 to NTFS on the primary C-Drive. Thanks a million.

 

jazz_samz, unfortunately, i am unversed in reformatting....however, i think you might get more response in the hardware forum.

 

It looks like the only shortcomings are a small potential decrease in speed/performance, I don't know If I agree with that or not, but some have said they noticed things slow down a bit after they did the conversion.

Also, you can't go back to FAT32 once you've gone to NTFS, which means you might have issues If you ever need to share data with an older windows system, like Windows 95 and possibly 98. That's all I've heard so far.

I haven't done it yet, But I think I'm going to tomorrow. All my desktop systems are running NTFS, and I think It's a better system to use in this day and age. If I notice a huge performance decrease, then I might consider just doing a total clean install and have it run NTFS right from the get go.

If you have lots of programs, files and preferences already loaded and saved, then you might want to back all that up beforehand just incase...but from what everyone has said, nothing should be lost or harmed. Since I haven't installed anything on this W5 yet, the worst case scenario for me would be to lose some of the preferences and settings I've already customized in windows, so I'm not too worried. I'll let you know how it goes and what I think...but you shouldn't have any problems from what I've heard if you don't want to wait. NTFS is really the way to go unless you specifically know you'll need FAT32 for one reason or another. Good luck

 

Okay.. I've done my system in a tedious manner.. not so sure if there is a shorter way since no one could offer me the advice (except by CC to use partion magix or 3rd party software)..

What I did was to first used my Dell desktop restore CD for the XP-Pro to create the partions in NTFS... i.e. C-Drive 30%, D-Drive 70% and I did not delete Asus's recovery partion of 1.8GB.
I ran thru the entire sequence and once completed, I formated D-drive into NTFS format.

Next, I pop in the Asus recovery CD and only made a reinstallation to the System drive.
Ran thru the entire motion of Disk 1/2 and 2/2 then drivers. Once done, the C-Drive : System drive would be in FAT32 while the D-drive was still NTFS. I then used the FAT32 -> NTFS converter. A command window pop-up and showed that it recognised that D-drive was already NTFS and prompted me if I wanted to convert C-Drive to NTFS.. Clickg Y twice and the command window disappeared (before it did, the batch file mentioned that it would take effect the next time I reboot the machine) Next, I reboot the machine.

Upon rebooting, the system converted the C-Drive to NTFS... and self reboot again. I did a precautionary step (which might not be necessary), I went to storage manager and formated the D-Drive again in NTFS.

Done.. (took a total of 4hours)

Next I would install ALL the updates available on the ASUS website for the W5F.

After that, would install the Nero program for the CD/DVD writer software. (any other better options?)

However, I am unsure if I would want to install the other 3 programs of ASUSDVD, PowerDirector PRO, Medi@show.

ANother thing.. should I use the "FREE" norton that was provided with the System or should I go with Avast!??

The final installation for me would be the MS OFFICE 2003 PRO when I receive it late this week or next week.. after which, I should be good to start on the W5F.

 

CalbratedComa,

just realised that my Wireless don't seem to function after I did the above.. not sure what happened... tried enabling the WZ service but still unable to start the wireless (Although the switch is set to ON). Will see if I can resolve it.

 

Let me know what happens with the wireless, that's quite the process you went through!!! How is everything else functioning, did you notice any change in performance?

Also, where did you buy MS Office 2003 Pro from? How much did you pay? Thanks and good luck with your wireless

 

CC, I managed to get it working by activating the Wireless Zero configuration (apparently it was disabled), ensuring that the mechanical switch is turned on, then I used FN+F2 to ensure that the toggle for the 802.11 was enabled...

but me being a critical person, I decided to go thru the reinstallation of the system drive and this time it worked without me doing anything.. weird......
In any case, I configured my wireless network for my home and then did the NTFS converter.. the configuration didn't change after the file format conversion.
All else looks normal.. Can't comment on change in performance since I didn't do any benchmark test... but looks the same to me. ;P

I buy my MS Office Pro OEM from a distributor in SIN (since I am based here). Its about U$320. The Retail pack is approx. U$538 (there abt cos I checked it some time back).

Whats your take on the Nero programs and other s/w that Asus provided in the CDs?

 

Nero is fine if you don't have anything else. I haven't installed it yet though...I'm just going from past experience, so I'm not too sure If It's a full suite on there or a limited verison...but in general Nero is pretty popular...and I use it all the time on my desktop without a problem to burn movies and files I've backed up with DVDShrink and others...

The other software included I haven't used, except for AsusDVD, I loaded that and It's alright, but couldn't play certain encrypted Movies and games...There's a player called VLC that's free, you can find it many places if you google it, and I would recommend that player over most others, It seems to play almost ANY file format, and It gets around Sony's encryption, and various CDs that are protected as well. The rest of the software is quite specific, so If you think you can use it, then give it a try. Worst case scenario is removing it if you don't find it useful. Hope that helps, if you do install the other programs, let me know what you think.

 

CC,

How did your reinstallation go? Started to work on my machine and its really really pleasing. Really happy that I decided on this machine vs the X60 / X60s...

Thanks to ejl for his advice too when I was really skeptical about an Asus (since I am more pro IBM and Toshiba) but now I realise why there is such a strong following with ASUS.

Any ideas for our machine, do keep me posted mate! AM still hanging on for the 1GB RAM since the speed is still pretty decent, so maybe wait a little while more for the $$ to drop before going in for the kill ;P

 

I picked up my W5F at the Asus Fremont office on May 15. I will post a mini-review pretty soon, because my adventures are pretty unusual. I first joined the partitions with Partition Manager, but it wouldn't do that, so I ended up resizing the d: drive down to 7GB.

Then I installed all my software and used Win Home as is. Well, I began experiencing random freezes. So, I bit the bullet, reformatted the c: drive and reinstalled a brand-new Windows Pro. Re-installed all my applications once again (that's three times now in less than a month!).

And...guess what? Freezes again! In Las Vegas, before I have a major presentation to give! Whenever I crash, I run Registry Mechanic to see what's going on and inevitably Intel's Proset/Wireless software is at the top of the list of corrupted items that need to be deleted. And quite often the little wireless connection taskbar pop-up causes the computer to freeze.

Now, I love this W5F, so I hate to have to deal with this! After reading the other wireless problems thread, I heard about reinstalling the Intel drivers, which I did last night.

We'll see how it goes. Usually, the corruption begins after a few days. Must be a *very slow* memory leak!

 

Hi ya Ubercool,

SOrry to hear you have an issue with your machine. Been using my machine for close to 3 weeks plus now.. so far so good.. (touch wood!!!) and hope that it continues as well. Do let us know how it turn out.

 

I've ordered the 1GB sticks of RAM...I'll let you know what I think when they arrive and I have time to install and play around. I still haven't ordered a hard drive upgrade, but I'm thinking of going to a local retailer this weekend (MilestonePC) and buying one. They just got in a bunch of Seagate options. I'm pretty excited about the overall combined performance increase both the hard drive and RAM will bring to this W5a.
I'm also hoping they'll be able to help me migrate everything over to the new hard drive while I'm there, so I don't have to deal with any more headaches.