help

[antec74]

i have had a pc build by scan and have had a few issues, it looks like the software win 7 64bit, i wont go into everything but now i need to re install the software but now it has went onto cdrive but not the drive i want to use, to get it on the correct drive scan told me to disconect the other drives and then install the software? is this correct? will the software only go on the drive that is connected?
it was supposed to be done by the engineer that came out but he had to leave.
regards
mark

[kalniel]

If the other drives are disconnected then it can't go onto them. However if you've already installed it on another drive then you'll need to remove it from that drive as well.

[antec74]

hi so do i reformat the drive it is on? and can this be done before i reinstall the win7 again?
thanks
mark

[antec74]

can anyone advise me on this please?

[Attila the Bun]

it was supposed to be done by the engineer that came out but he had to leave.
regards
mark

Mark,

I would have thought that if you have paid SCAN to build and install your computer then you are fully entitled to ask for the "engineer" to come back and finish the job.

[quintal]

can anyone advise me on this please?

Hi there. I'll try to help out if I can...

You can install win7 wherever you want, but you need to go into advanced settings when you are partitioning the HDD. I think they were taking a shortcut telling you disconnect other HDDs when you install, and technically, it is valid bit of advice.

Win7 uses file-based imaging so it can "move" the already existing installation into "windows.old" and install itself into the new "windows" folder. [The reason I am putting quotes around the "move" is because it is doing something called "hard-linking", but that is not really important to you now.] You can also have mere than one OS instance on the same system (or even different partitions on the same HDD).

[Arguably,] the cleanest way is to reformat if you have nothing you want to keep on that drive /partition and start from scratch. You can do this from windows setup wizard (when you boot from the DVD) I can't remember exactly which step in the setup wizard, but it is the one that asks you where you want to put windows on. If you go into advanced menu you can create/delete/format partitions.

Please be careful here, you can easily lose your data. As Kalniel says, disconnect all drives apart from the one you are re-imaging, (by the same logic, you can't accidentally destroy data on drives that are not connected) And make triple-sure you have backed up before trying any of this...

Hope that helps. Let me know if I can [try to] clarify anything further...

[quintal]

Oh, and I agree with AtB that Scan engineer should have done this for you.

[antec74]

thanks quintal, ok so when i re install from scratch windows will ask me which drive i put the o/s on?
the engineer said he had to leave as he lives quite away from me, but i also agree that they should finish the job!!! i can do a few things but i dont want to damage my system after paying someone to build it in the first place!
thanks
mark

[quintal]

thanks quintal, ok so when i re install from scratch windows will ask me which drive i put the o/s on?
the engineer said he had to leave as he lives quite away from me, but i also agree that they should finish the job!!! i can do a few things but i dont want to damage my system after paying someone to build it in the first place!
thanks
mark

Hey there. No worries.

Yes, Windows setup will ask you where you wish to install Windows. The default is @ disk 0 partition 0. (which is how you got intot th predicament you are in now)

I did a quick search for you and found this . This is someone installing Win7 on VMware, but the setup looks the same anyways and should help you see what screenshots look like.
On that screen you'd click on "drive options (advanced)" link and that would take you to drive options.

Oh, and I cannot repeat this often enough: BACKUP!!!

[quintal]

... and another random link of t'Internet.. this one show what the drives dialog looks like and the operations you can do to the drive.

[disclaimer] BTW, I am providing this link solely for the image that illustrates the Windows Advanced drive options dialog. I haven't even read the article, so don't blame me if is is nonsense...
I am sure that there are many like it, this one just happened to be the first on Google image search... and I am lazy.

good luck!