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Need Help with Windows XP Installation
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Posted on 10/29/2001 9:50:25 AM PST by Black Cat

My copy of Win XP arrived today but when I tried to upgrade from ME, I got a fatal error message -- 3E6h, if anyone knows what that means. When I called MS tech support, I was told there would be a very long wait for assistance so I thought I'd see if anyone here could help...

Here's the situation -- since I can't upgrade, I thought I'd just do a clean install, so I clicked on that option but when I got to the partition screen, I clicked to install XP on C: drive (which is where ME is installed) and got a warning screen about having multiple OSs on one partition. I assumed that XP would just replace ME, but it seems that may not be the case.

I sure don't want to end up with a computer that doesn't work at all, so what should I do? Just go ahead and install XP over the top of the current installation on the current partition or something else.

Thanks in advance and nice to have someplace to go for help other than MS... :)


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To: The Chid
It looks like you left a zero off of that price difference...

You can buy a brand new iMac desktop, today, for $799 or an iBook notebook for $1,299. Those prices are in line with Wintel products. The iBook is sweet!

21 posted on 10/29/2001 10:18:38 AM PST by toupsie
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To: July 4th
Reformat your drive? Reinstall with the same code.
Replace your Motherboard, video card, sound card, add memory, change processor, add a second Hard Drive?
NO REACTIVATION REQUIRED
The main cause of reactivation is replacing (ghosting) your OS drive AND changing your network card, i.e. moving the installation to a new machine.
22 posted on 10/29/2001 10:21:03 AM PST by The Chid
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To: Black Cat
Get a Mac and you never will have too! :P

I am not ranting about you in particular just the daily PC tech support/Virus alerts on Free Republic -- this is a political website not a tech support hotline.

You would think Windows users would figure out the problem is not with you, its the computer and operating system you have chosen.

23 posted on 10/29/2001 10:21:50 AM PST by toupsie
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To: Black Cat
click here for a microsoft mvp answer to your exact problem
24 posted on 10/29/2001 10:24:52 AM PST by fatrat
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To: TemplarAkolyte
As for OS X, Apple hasn't made a real innovation in it OS since it began copying Xerox. Now they copy Unix and pretty up XWindows. You wonder why their stock is such a roller coaster ride. Give me a scroll mouse or give me death.

That's true. But all those nifty sound and video toys that are built inot XP are just another ripoff of the MAC. Does Gates even have a R&D department?

P.S. I love the scroll mouse. Resistence is futile. You will be assimilated.

25 posted on 10/29/2001 10:25:34 AM PST by Strider
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To: Black Cat
I don't know what that means specifically, but here's some advice - useful advice as compared to smart ass advice ;-)

1) Go to www.microsoft.com, click on Support at the top and choose Knowledge Base and search for the error message you are receiving.

2) If you don't find anything helpful there, go to groups.google.com and search the newsgroup archive for the error message.

3) Use fdisk to delete the partition, create it again, then format C: if you don't need anything on the drive. You will need a bootable floppy to do this (format a: /s), then copy format.com, sys.com, and fdisk.exe to the diskette. You will also need your CDROM driver file, MSCDEX.EXE, and know the lines to put in config.sys and autoexec.bat *if* your system does not allow you to boot from a CD.

4) Alternatively, you could get Partition Magic, which is a great program if you want to play with partition sizes, etc.

26 posted on 10/29/2001 10:28:02 AM PST by Mannaggia l'America
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To: July 4th
jPt then you have Mac problems...and some would argue those are just as bad...I reformat my hard drive every 6 months.

Gee, I have been running Mac since the 80s and I have NEVER had to reformat my hard drive. Not even once. The worst problem you might have with a Mac is that an Application won't launch which just means you to delete a preference file or need to reinstall from the original CD -- five minutes tops. Mac problems are minor in comparison. Just ask anyone who manages large Windows and Mac Networks (like me). Network Admins are constantly chasing down Windows problems from instability, virii/worms, BSoD, etc. The most common Mac problem I get are users wanting to change their desktop picture and how to get SPAM out of their e-mail box.

But the best part about the Mac is once you give one to your parents, they never call you for tech support!

27 posted on 10/29/2001 10:28:27 AM PST by toupsie
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To: July 4th
If you buy an OEM copy of XP you don't have to worry about activation hassles for the brand PC you buy. Similar to if you just download a pre-cracked version or use the corpfiles crack. No registration, no activation, no hassle (unless you have a business) -- then Microsoft will send attack lawyers to consume you.
28 posted on 10/29/2001 10:28:45 AM PST by spycatcher
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Comment #29 Removed by Moderator

To: Mannaggia l'America
You will need a bootable floppy to do this (format a: /s),


Umm, all that will give him/her is a BLANK floppy boot disk

Did you mean to type: (format c: /s)

30 posted on 10/29/2001 10:34:32 AM PST by gratefulwharffratt
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To: toupsie
Oh, toupsie, get a life.

Everyone knows that before OSX, the Mac OS was just as unstable (and hand a tendency of becoming more unstable, depending on the number of extensions) and at times more difficult to use than Windows 9x/Me.

With OS X and Windows NT/2000/XP, its come down to a matter of interface, really, more than anything... Although it took Apple five years after Microsoft to come out with a commercial OS that could compete. We can't say that either OS is original... OS X is really free BSD, and the NT kernel was really originally OS/2 (although completely rewritten as of Windows 2000).

This site is called "FreeRepublic" for a reason. So stop spouting out your Mac-cult religious beliefs. Leave that to Steve Jobs.

31 posted on 10/29/2001 10:36:31 AM PST by whyteshadow
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To: TemplarAkolyte
Gotta agree with the scroll mouse and left/right click re: Apple OS. Man are they missing the boat on that one.

I used apple products from 1985-1998, until I had to get a win 98 machine for work. Never went back. I just put XP on a brand new machine I built. This is the best yet. Stable, fast, reliable. AMD 1700+XP processor, 80 GB Hard Disk, 512MB of DDR ram, 64MB video card, Dolby surround sound... can't complain.

32 posted on 10/29/2001 10:36:37 AM PST by monkeyshine
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To: Black Cat
Don't know if this will help, BC . . . But check out this discussion that took place a couple of weeks ago on alt.os.windows-xp. It was started by someone who got the same error message (3E6h) you got.

Also -- I didn't do this (I just searched the newgroup for the error number) -- but you might try searching alt.os.windows-xp via Google Groups for any kind of installation problem (it's definitely worth a try).

Google Groups (formerly Deja Vu) is great. It has always helped me solve my computer problems. Good luck! :-)

33 posted on 10/29/2001 10:37:00 AM PST by LibWhacker
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To: whyteshadow
True. The more programs you put on Mac OS 8 or OS 9, the more trouble you had. I had a devil of a time after a while. Had to constantly turn extensions on and off trying to figure out how to make the scanner, printer and modem all work at the same time.
34 posted on 10/29/2001 10:37:59 AM PST by monkeyshine
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To: toupsie
You are right, Toupsie... We have an original Mac Plus still running in our office with a 20 meg MacBottom hard drive... We can't kill it, it just keeps on running and running... Of course, it is only used for correspondence on original software...

We have had many Macs since, and now love our (Lombard )PowerBook G3, and have just bought the hot new iBook and run OS X on it... no trouble at alll, and toook only minutes to set up... can transfer over all our software from the PB, with no tweaking or difficulty.

We never get viruses, and have never had one bit of trouble with any of the Macs we have owned... I feel so sorry for all the PC users who simply do not know what they are missing!

Mac OS X is what Microsoft is trying to keep up with, and it seems they have blown it again, as the PC in our office is still messed up. Thank the Lord I am not repsonsible for that one, as it is always getting heartburn over something. The guy who runs it loses so much productivity, having to patch this and fix that... I do not know why he hasn't seen the light yet!

35 posted on 10/29/2001 10:38:59 AM PST by jacquej
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To: Black Cat
I strongly recommend a clean install. The software should give you the option of totally overwriting your old installation. That's exactly what you should do. Just back up your old files, and then let her rip. After installation, just reinstall all your old apps.

My XP has been working fine since I installed it--it's the most stable multitasking operating system I've used, except for Linux.

36 posted on 10/29/2001 10:41:20 AM PST by ArcLight
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To: Black Cat
I just upgraded to XP this weekend, and did a clean install. Got to the screen about another windows installation, just go ahead and go over it. Also, I would format your hard drive as NTFS (don't choose the quick one, or convert, just do a full). I got a lot of better response out of it. One thing that really improved the performance is putting more memory in - absolutely critical that you do this, and now is the time - RAM is soooooo cheap (I got 256M for $30). Go to www.crucial.com for the best prices, and free two day shipping.
37 posted on 10/29/2001 10:42:33 AM PST by egarvue
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To: toupsie
I am not ranting about you in particular just the daily PC tech support/Virus alerts on Free Republic -- this is a political website not a tech support hotline.

As a longtime Freeper, I'll say that part of the charm of Free Republic IS the tech support stuff, and other things NOT associated strictly with politics. Such things tend introduce oxygen into an otherwise rarified atmosphere, and makes us well-rounded political hounds.

Have you ever read stuff at SlashDot - most of the tech geeks there are woefully misinformed politically.

38 posted on 10/29/2001 10:47:23 AM PST by an amused spectator
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To: Black Cat
Two men were flying into the Seattle area in a small plane. After reducing altitude they found themselves flying through a thick bank of fog.

When they emerged from the fog, they realized they were flying above a street with skycrapers whizzing by on both sides, and no air strip in sight.

The pilot spotted a young fellow looking out one of the building windows and yelled, "Can you tell us where we are?"

The young fellow yelled back, "You're in an airplane."

The pilot yelled back, "Thank you very much," then proceded to make a few quick zig-zags, and landed safely at a nearby air strip.

The passenger asked, "How the heck did you do that?"

The pilot said, "When that fellow in the window told us exactly what we already knew, I knew he was from Microsoft Tech Support, and that the air strip was just a few short turns from there.

39 posted on 10/29/2001 10:47:51 AM PST by meadsjn
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To: gratefulwharffratt
Umm, all that will give him/her is a BLANK floppy boot disk

Did you mean to type: (format c: /s)

Nope. "format a: /s" will create a bootable floppy. In my next sentence, I said to copy format.com, sys.com, and fdisk.exe to the floppy (which will then no longer be blank). Then when you boot from the floppy, you can do the fdisk and format of the C: drive.

If you fdisk while booted from the C: drive, it will have you reboot after you delete the partition and then you will have no operating system from which to format the C: drive. Again, as I stated, you would only need to do this if you cannot boot from the CD.

40 posted on 10/29/2001 10:50:51 AM PST by Mannaggia l'America
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