Sid Elbow wrote:
On 5/5/2012 10:18 AM, Buffalo wrote:

I don't believe that I will do a clean install of my OS since my
backup was made after the problem started and I have a lot of
programs I would have to reinstall if I did it,

That's a common viewpoint and obviously it's your call but it can be
very rewarding to bite the bullet and most people who do so are glad
they did. I don't think it's an option that should be dismissed
lightly.

It does need a bit of forethought and planning-ahead such as:

- gather all required drivers (latest versions)

- review your apps and determine which ones you want to keep (I'd be
surprised if you didn't find that half of them were unnecessary)

- prioritise the remaining apps into stuff that has to be installed
immediately; those that can be installed over a few days; those that
can be installed "as required".

- if you can, put all of the drivers and apps onto a single cd/dvd
(that really helps).

You'll probably lose the system for a day or so but when you finish
you'll have a "new" system - much cleaner and "perkier" than before.

Another possibility if you have the room is to create another
partition and do the fresh install in that while keeping the working
original in a multi-boot system.

Does my bias show? :-)

(Sorry - probably teaching my grandmother to suck eggs).

If I do go through the trouble of formatting and a clean install, I believe
I will just install XP Home
instead of Win2KProSP4. Then, if that is successful, I may well just get rid
of my 98SE and change partition sizes.
Thanks again,
Buffalo