One F&*ked up Computer!

reds4ever · June 6, 2003, 15:20

Hi all,

I've got a mate who runs a small business (tattooist), whoever set up his computer has-

a) give himself admin rights and disappeared, with all that entails
b) made 8 (eight!) partitions on a 20 Gig HD (for no apparent reason, some are empty, some have random Apps installed on them)
c) made the primary partition NTFS and all the others are FAT32
d) installed a copy of the AOL software that can't find certain files it needs and refuses to work (windows problem, not AOL, I think)

I can't tell him to re-format and re-install as he doesn't have the CD of the Corel draw App (and others) which he needs for his work.

Now to my question

I've sorted a)

But will Partition Magic take care of b) and c)?

and a re-install (on top) help d)? bearing in mind i 'THINK' its a windows file thats been corrupted?

edit: he's running XP Pro which I have the disc for

cheers

Garth Vader · June 6, 2003, 15:30

Quote:

Originally posted by reds4ever

Now to my question

I've sorted a)

But will Partition Magic take care of b) and c)?

and a re-install (on top) help d)? bearing in mind i 'THINK' its a windows file thats been corrupted?

edit: he's running XP Pro which I have the disc for

cheers

Partition magic will mostly take care of b) although that depends on what kind of app has been installed. I'd advise moving the data to a few partitions (one if possible) before merging all of them.

There shouldn't be a problem with c).

Not sure about d.

Cruddy · June 6, 2003, 15:31

This is way outside of my area. All I can see PM doing is giving you the partitions back as the primary (boot) filesystem, and wiping over those applications.

If Corel Draw is on one of the other partitions, DON'T DO IT! NOT without a Corel Draw install CD.

One constructive suggestion - back up data via CD-R or better before you mess with it. Partitions are not lightweight material.

If you tatooist friend isn't convinced about the need for one, point out that he can store his designs away from the machine (it could get stolen) and it won't cost more than £100 (or far less).

Best of luck mate.

Paul Hanson · June 6, 2003, 15:33

Make sure you have the right copy of Partition Magic. Mine will only run on 95/98/Me, which is a bugger since I have XP Pro.

reds4ever · June 6, 2003, 15:44

I'm (hopefully) going to leave the the primary partion alone (c

and merge all d: to j: that don't have system files on, is this possible? He's mostly p!ssed of with all the partitions in that he can't find anything (it's his first computer so i think the guy who installed it had made it needlessly complicated)

Japher · June 6, 2003, 15:48

You should find whoever set that computer and hit them over the head with it...

SlowwHand · June 6, 2003, 15:49

Reformat time.

Cruddy · June 6, 2003, 15:58

Quote:

Originally posted by reds4ever
I'm (hopefully) going to leave the the primary partion alone (c

and merge all d: to j: that don't have system files on, is this possible?

From the theory I know, yes. But you will lose any data stored in those partitions and any shortcuts that point to them will get confused when they can't find them.

I''d still back the whole lot up. If PM don't do it's job properly you will have to refotmat - best to get the data safe first, eh?

You tattooist friend isn't going to thank you for scrapping all his designs, is he?

reds4ever · June 6, 2003, 15:59

Slow, seeing it spelt out in my post made me realize trying to fix it is going to be a lot harder than reformating, Corel and Photoshop are winging their way towards me as I type.;O)

Japher, I think the guy who set it up was just trying to be a smartarse, my mate has *ZERO* PC knowledge and he should have set the system up with that in mind

reds4ever · June 6, 2003, 16:03

Quote:

Originally posted by Cruddy

From the theory I know, yes. But you will lose any data stored in those partitions and any shortcuts that point to them will get confused when they can't find them.

I''d still back the whole lot up. If PM don't do it's job properly you will have to refotmat - best to get the data safe first, eh?

You tattooist friend isn't going to thank you for scrapping all his designs, is he?

Rather than being the villain of the piece i'll take my burner and plug it in. I just hope he didn't pay the guy for setting it up!!

Zopperoni · June 6, 2003, 16:08

Quote:

Originally posted by Paul Hanson
Make sure you have the right copy of Partition Magic. Mine will only run on 95/98/Me, which is a bugger since I have XP Pro.

I have a version that will run on XP. ICQ me if you want me to send it.

reds4ever · June 6, 2003, 16:18

cheers Zop, Iv'e got it coming...

BTW is that avatar the Italian ref?..I forget his name, Colina? something like that?

Zopperoni · June 6, 2003, 16:24

Yes, that is Collina with Bob Ross' hair.

reds4ever · June 6, 2003, 16:28

Quote:

Originally posted by Zopperoni
Yes, that is Collina with Bob Ross' hair.

I thought so, the 'eyes' have it as they say!

He's a top ref though!

SlowwHand · June 6, 2003, 17:05

http://morrissey.naturalvoices.com/tts/cgi-bin/nph-talk

Urban Ranger · June 7, 2003, 01:06

You don't need to fix anything, except for (a), which you have done already. There's nothing really wrong with having 8 partitions, though you should convert them all to NTFS if possible. I don't think the process will wipe the data, but do them one by one and backup the stuff first, just to be sure.

As for CorelDraw and other critical applications, my recommendation is to acquire a copy of each on CD. You can't tell when the HDD is going to go poof.

Pekka · June 7, 2003, 02:09

computtters are somtimes very complex. What ever you do, don't read tjh manuals. Piss on the manualks and set them on fire. That's what Jimi Hendrix would do, and who are you to say something else? I didn't think so!

Cruddy · June 7, 2003, 04:12

Quote:

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
You don't need to fix anything, except for (a), which you have done already. There's nothing really wrong with having 8 partitions, though you should convert them all to NTFS if possible. I don't think the process will wipe the data, but do them one by one and backup the stuff first, just to be sure.

As for CorelDraw and other critical applications, my recommendation is to acquire a copy of each on CD. You can't tell when the HDD is going to go poof.

I've never seen an OS that could change a file system without losing data. How you access the data that has been written in the old format after the new one has gone on?

Perhaps the reason for all those partitions was multi-writing data. Keeping several copies of every safe. If a minor fault develops in one partition, you could still use the disk. So it's not a COMPLETELY stupid idea - although for someone who isn't PC wise it doesn't help.

Mind you Urban, you're bang on about HDD sometimes just dying on you. It always seems to happen to me at the most incovenient times. Over 10 years I guess I should have expected a couple of blowouts.

Pekka, with that attitude you are NEVER going to keep a job in tech support. Neither would Jimi (if he was still alive).

The Mad Monk · June 7, 2003, 04:15

I think that Pekka's beyond caring at the moment...

Urban Ranger · June 7, 2003, 04:39

Quote:

Originally posted by Cruddy
I've never seen an OS that could change a file system without losing data. How you access the data that has been written in the old format after the new one has gone on?

I know that you could convert from FAT32 to NTFS, I am not sure if the process is lossless. I haven't done it for a long time. Whenever I install the NT-line OS I always use NTFS - it is the best option.

Quote:

Originally posted by Cruddy
Perhaps the reason for all those partitions was multi-writing data. Keeping several copies of every safe. If a minor fault develops in one partition, you could still use the disk. So it's not a COMPLETELY stupid idea - although for someone who isn't PC wise it doesn't help.

It could be, though using a tape backup or similar means is a better idea for small businesses.

reds4ever · June 7, 2003, 05:42

UR, I think I will have to re-partition, the guy can't find anything, he's a TOTAL newb. He needs a C: drive with his Apps, his Letters in c: myDocuments, his pictures in C:myPictures etc

Cruddy, the partitions arn't a safety feature, they just have random (different) crap on them, I've tryed to fathom the guys reasoning out from every angle........'shrug'

Urban Ranger · June 7, 2003, 05:53

Quote:

Originally posted by reds4ever
UR, I think I will have to re-partition, the guy can't find anything, he's a TOTAL newb. He needs a C: drive with his Apps, his Letters in c: myDocuments, his pictures in C:myPictures etc

He's more mechanical than a robot

Skanky Burns · June 7, 2003, 05:58

When I upgraded from 98 to XP, I converted from FAT32 to NTFS without loss. But then formatted it anyway.

Urban Ranger · June 7, 2003, 06:16

reds4ever · June 7, 2003, 18:03

The plot thickens......

there are 2 primary drives, c: which s full and and 'an extended' drive (thats empty) which does'n't show up anywhere but Partition Magic.

How do I get my hands on the extended drive and merge it into c:?

WTF?

Flare · June 7, 2003, 18:56

If you have all the software & all other ifor is backed up, I would highly suggest reformating & setting it up as one partition. Also, as you said he is computer illeterate, so make the rest as simple as possible. Good luck!

reds4ever · June 7, 2003, 19:15

Quote:

Originally posted by Flare
If you have all the software & all other ifor is backed up, I would highly suggest reformating & setting it up as one partition. Also, as you said he is computer illeterate, so make the rest as simple as possible. Good luck!

I've got all the software, do you know how can i get to the 'hidden' extended partition?Can i get to it though DOS? or will it still be hidden?

reds4ever · June 7, 2003, 19:16

Ooopps!

Urban Ranger · June 7, 2003, 23:11

The extended partition is not hidden, it's just that it has nothing on it, so you can't see it. What you need to do is to create a logical drive on it via FDISK or some other means, then you can format that logical drive and use that space.

However, you are not supposed to have two primary partitions or c: drive. So you need to remove one of them.