New TM 8204WLMi hard disk erase

ok, i am getting my 8204 on monday and i am strongly considering erasing everything thats on the hard drive and doing a clean install of XP SP2, all the drivers, and formatting everything in NTFS (beforehand .
Is this something that i should consider doing or should i just let the ****py FAT32 format go? I am a bit worried that if i was to do this re-installation of everything, i will not be able to go though with it completely and end up with a screwed up laptop LOL. are there any issues in particular that i should know of before i do this?
By the way, i was thinking of burning all of the drivers and utilities that i need on a CD-R before i whipe the hard drive and then use the CD after the re-installation in order to get all the drivers and utilities back.
Advise plz...

 

I really don't understand the obsession that a lot of people on these forums seem to have with wiping the HD, removing the hidden partition and installing Windows over again. Yes NTFS is better than FAT32 for security reasons. I don't remember if there is any performance difference between the two formats but hey, this is a 2G Dual core, they are just not an issue anymore.

The hidden partition and its data can make recovering the system and doing reinstalls simpler. I myself really got tired of having to spend 7 days rebuilding my old system every time i reinstalled my OS.

Here is what i did to address the NTFS issue. I resized the D:\ partition and created a new E:\ partition and converted it to NTFS. I now keep ALL of my data on this new E:\ partition; documents, photos, music, sound files... I apply all the security features re: access and sharing that NTFS affords, to my data. Who cares about the OS or the apps on the FAT32 volume. Also if system crashes, my data will still be there after another installation, that is of course if the drive isn't bad. I regularly backup to DVD or USB HD anyway.

I didn't convert the other volumes and left them FAT32 which eRecovery needs for the case of a DOS based restoration. The hidden partition is only 4GB, big deal, there is a huge amount of space on this drive and not having that 4GB available isn't remotely an issue.

My advice: Just do your initial backups as prompted by eRecovery. Start installing all your apps and start using it, which is of course the reason we all bought this wonderful machine, and not to spend our days tinkering with it ad nauseum. After you have all the apps on it that you plan on having, get a handful of DVD+-R's and use eRecovery to do a complete image of the system for later restoration in case of problems. With all this done, if the OS goes bad i should be able to be up and running again in a hour or so (at least in theory).

Install, configure, secure, use, enjoy!!

 

How do i split an existing partition without affecting all the data on it?????
With what you said in mind, i am now considering cutting chunks off of the C and D drives and forming an E drive. Give the C and D 10 Gb each and give the new drive 100Gb. is that possible?

 

Yup it is. Its quite easy to do. I use Acronis DiskDirector. More reliable than partition magic.

Just make sure that the D: partition has enough free space, more than is used on the C: partition, so that the recovery tools have enough space to create an image of C: on D: when it needs to.

 

Seven days to rebuild your laptop? I thought a few hours to get XP Pro (all patched up, of course), device drivers and Office 2003 was alot of time.

 

The one irritation I have with eRecovery is that it can't make an image to a drive other than the CD/DVD drive.

I want to create an image to an external hard drive... much more useful to me.

But that's why I have Ghost I guess...

 

NO!! Not 7 days to rebuild laptop but my old desktop WIN2k system. I have a lot of apps and lots of customization. I have not yet had to rebuild the laptop, hope i don't have to.

eRecovery does create an image on the D: drive when it does its backups, and it can leave it there. You should look around maybe you can specify the image drive. Wait... You probably have done that already otherwise you wouldn't have said what you did.... Never mind.

 

ummm... ok. if i was to whipe everything clean, do i need to get drivers for the BIOS and the motherboard chipset and all that **** as well???i dunno where to get the 3312 version on teh net. and i dont know the european vault password and username. that seems ot be the only place they have the latest drivers... help me out with that???

 

hey....i brought an "acer" 12343213 and its so amazin....it has a gig of free space and i think everyone should buy....i bought it at a local garage sale on street 142 Brampton Ontario....plz show up as we have to pay the water bill and we need ur cash...thankx...oh nice post vlad

 

wtf are you on akash

 

Akash is my roommate... he doesnt like the fact that i spend so much time on this forum and kill half of my day tweaking my laptop and playing games on it... that was his way of making fun of me. forgive him... i will change his attitude ASAP... he he

 

u guys are all geeks...geta life...get laid...do sumthin with ur lives...

 

akash and you make a nick just to come on here and flame..
way to be retarded

 

i didnt come here to flame. i came here because i got a laptop and needed advice as well as possibly offer advice to others. im not in any way responsible for what he does in his spare time. You are wrong to hold his immature behavior against me. Please reconsider blaming me for other people's faults...