Mixed in...        Rick Glazier

From: "Phillip Williams" <[log in to unmask]>
> Thanks for the replies! I didn't load drivers in proper order so I guess
> that's my problem. What would be the proper method of wiping the drive and
> starting over?

It is always "better', (or at least safer) to remove any exotic hardware, (stuff you
KNOW the OS is unlikely to have built in drivers for), and all ZIP drives since
they might steal drive letters (even "C") and screw things up...
Examples I have seen are Win-Modems, UltraATA 133 controller cards, Video
capture cards, IDE Zip Drives, etc...

> Should I use the XP cd or perhaps the seagate HD cd?

Use the Seagate CD "to let it test your BIOS"...
When the XP install starts, it will "offer" to do the fdisk/format all over again...
(And even offer a choice of the long verified version, or the quick and dirty method
used by Seagate, WD, Maxtor, and others...)

> And after re-installing XP will I have to re-activate XP before downloading chipset
> drivers from microsoft or after all drivers are loaded?

I take the full thirty (or fifteen-YMMV) days before activation... Doing it "at the last
minute" allows you to start over as much as you want until you get things "just right"...
I must have tried my first install of XP-Pro around 5-6 times till I liked it...

ALSO -- Activation records certain hardware on a "first instance" basis and awards
points for keeping that first instance (of that specific hardware)...  These points,
(or more specifically the lack of them) is what triggers activation...
WHEN you start changing things, (fast changes are fast enough), you loose points and
eventually you get below a certain number and need to activate...
It took me 2 1/2 years (and several quick last minute changes) to reach that level...
The computer re-activated itself (with my permission) over the Internet... (No problem...)

> I also wonder, since I've already activated XP will there be a problem activating it the
> second time.

Depends. If it is a LARGE OEM version, (Dell, etc.), there is not much of a problem...
On a small OEM "white box" version, you are limited to the same basic (bottom line) hardware.
(That OEM type is limited to only one machine and can NOT be moved to a significantly
different machine -- EVER...)

In pretty much ALL cases, if the hardware has changed little (or not at all), there should be
NO problem activating at least a couple times... (Only MS knows the limits for sure...)

                                                                Rick Glazier

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