As some of you will remember from previous posts, I am having trouble with my main desktop computer. To sum up what is a long, sad story, Vista sucks, and it especially sucks when it updates a previous XP installation which probably updated a previous Windows 98 installation. The amount of cruft and general stupidity that accrues when you update a Windows installation is beyond belief. I have suffered from the following:
- When I right-click on a disk drive in the Explorer window to, for example, format a thumb drive, Windows Explorer freezes and must eventually be rebooted. Why? I believe that at one time I installed an add-on to the right-click menu that was ill-considered. I can’t even remember what it was now. But, ever since, through the upgrade to Vista, this behaviour has persisted.
- The Ethernet connection has been flaky for about a month. I think that it was having some trouble with O2’s DNS server. However, I don’t think it was O2 because none of the other computers in the house had this problem.
- There have been lots of unexplained and (seemingly) unexplainable crashes, where Vista just stops. I don’t know whether it’s the computer, or Vista.
- Occasionally, but more and more frequently, when I reboot the computer it goes into CHKDSK and, after a very long pause, complains about a file named gameuxmig.dll. This file is associated with the Windows Migration Tool, which I have never to my knowledge used.
- After an attempt to fix some of these matters with a piece of software I bought (which shall remain anonymous to protect the guilty) I have now found that I cannot boot into my desktop. The computer stalls after logon, and the desktop never comes up.
- MSN has stopped working after an upgrade. I think I can log in, but all I get is an empty frame, and the actual user list and menu never get shown.
So here I am. After a lot of thought, I’ve decided what I have to do.
I have to make a backup, wipe the disk clean, get a fresh install (not an update) of Windows 7, and install that.
To that end, I booted into the computer using safe mode with networking, and I’m now backing my hard disk up to the NAS box. This will take quite a while, but is worth it. I don’t do it often enough. When I finally figure out how to use ViceVersa most efficiently, it will be faster. Now I’m just using it as a blunt-edged sword, to get all the files off.
Last night I discovered that if I copied my Thunderbird Profile directory to the other drive in the NAS box, I could access all my email from the netbook. I can’t tell you how neat this is. I suppose that I could have accessed Eudora from the NAS box too, or at least the email files, but this brings along my profile too, so Thunderbird on my netbook looks exactly the same as Thunderbird on my desktop. If I like I can install Thunderbird on my Ubuntu notebook and access my emails from that as well. What this means is that my online life can continue while I rebuild my desktop computer in a leisurely fashion. LJ, Facebook, Twitter, email, and MSN all continue on the netbook.
The next step is to take the list of installed programs and, one by one, take the setup files off the computer and put them on an external disk drive, along with any license keys needed for reinstallation. This wll take time. I will also have to make sure that the installation programs for all my peripherals such as the monitor, the webcam, the audio console, and the like are also available.
Then I have to buy a copy of Windows 7. Will be looking for the best bargain (if any) but not a pirated version. I might join Tech-Net again if I can get a license through it that won’t expire.
Dell set up the hard disks in a RAID 0 array (I think; I can’t check at the moment). What I need to do is get bigger disks (perhaps 1 TB) and install them in an array so that I have redundancy. This will take a while. As I have lots of time during the day. I shouldn’t have much of a problem doing all this (although the expense may be a problem).
Next step is installing Windows 7 and making sure that all the peripherals work with it. This may be easy, or not. I’m not sure at this point.
Finally, I need to reinstall all the programs I want, and make sure they work. I expect this to be a bit frustrating. Some of these programs have been on my computer for years, and I may not have the latest versions. I know that the programs I use most (such as Office) should be OK, it’s other ones that I’m worried about.
I don’t expect to be finished with this until spring. But, if I don’t do it now, I’ll never have a functioning computer again until I buy a new one and I can’t see that happening for a long time. In fact, I suspect that my next main computer will be a notebook of some sort (not a tablet yet). I’m exhausted just thinking about all this.
Occasionally, but more and more frequently, when I reboot the computer it goes into CHKDSK and, after a very long pause, complains about a file named gameuxmig.dll. This file is associated with the Windows Migration Tool, which I have never to my knowledge used.
If you upgrade from a 98 box to an XP and then to a Vista, you’ve used the tool then, you just didn’t do it yourself, but the installer did.
I would *DEFINITELY* recommend a reinstall if you came from a 98 system to Vista.
But to be truthful, this is what I’d recommend. Spend your money on a NEW hard drive (as the CHKDSK thing is still a bad sign, but it could be completely innocent(1).) and install BOTH drives, install Vista to the NEW drive. It’ll ask for the old OS, which is still installed on the old drive, and it’ll install a fresh copy.
(1)… If you started on a 98 system, you probably have a FAT file system. When you upgraded from 98 to XP, it probably just left it. And since XP had it, Vista just went with it. *THAT* can cause a lot of the CHKDSK issues simply because FAT will get messed up anytime the system crashes or if it doesn’t shut down properly.
A reinstall is *VERY* recommended. But you can reinstall from your Vista disc and save a little bit of money. I never recommend Upgrades “in place”, but also going to a new hard drive and migrating your data over manually from the old system.
If you’ve been migrating from 98, then yeah, you are going to have some very funky stuff in there. (And how old IS this system??? May just be cheaper to buy a new computer, honestly.)
Where do I start? Yes, I upgraded from 98 to XP to Vista. However, this has been done on two systems. On my old computer, I upgraded from 98 to XP. Then I bought a new computer and transferred my system from the old computer to this one using a program the name of which I forget, which is only about 3 years old, and is a dual-core Dell server. Then I bought Vista and upgraded this system to Vista. So it’s pretty flaky, yes.
I did upgrade the file system to NTFS, so that’s OK. However, I agree that the disks (there are two disks in a RAID 0 array inside this computer) are old and starting to get flaky on their own. So I need to buy two new disks and install them in the stead of the old ones.
I did upgrade “in place” and, of course, all the cruft stayed with the system. This computer is still good; it’s fast enough for me and it can run Windows 7 (although some of the programs I have will need to be upgraded or jettisoned).
So I’m doing now what I should have done several years ago. I will need to shell out for two new disks and Windows 7. However, that will be less expensive than buying a new computer.
As I say in my post, I think the next system I get will be a notebook (not a netbook, but you never know) and I want to put that off for a few years.
If it is a dual core system (not a dual processor), then you are probably fine.
Do you know if the system requires RAIDed drives? As it was a server, it might, in which case, replacement can be tough.
I forgot about the RAID 0 setup. That can make it trickier.
It all depends on what that system is capable of. The biggest problem with using a server is that if it requires SCSI drives, you are paying more for new drives than a new computer. So that can be tricky. If it takes standard SATA drives, that can make life easier, but if it requires SAS drives, it can get really tricky. (As some SAS are SATA and vice versa, but not necessarily.)
I would not recommend buying Windows 7 at this point because you already have the Vista media and it’ll get you 90% of the same thing. All the Windows 7 would do is give you the ability to wipe and restart, which you can do with this setup too.
If you are willing to wipe the drives and start over, you can. That doesn’t fix the RAID 0 problem though. For that you will need another drive (or if the machine requires, two more drives).
But it gets very complicated, very fast without actually seeing the BIOS and what options are available.
Translation: “If you are hesitant, you need someone there in person to help.”
I believe that it only requires regular SATA drives, although I will check. I don’t know about requiring RAID or not…I will check that too. It does have two drives in it, that I know. And when the backup finishes, I’ll look at Belarc to see exactly what’s in it. However, I do believe that the last time I looked at the BIOS, it allowed for non-RAID drives as well as RAID, so perhaps things will be better and I will only have to buy one drive rather than two.
The good thing here is that, since I’m doing a backup, I’m fairly relaxed about misstarts and problems. In addition, as I have the ability to do 99% of what I want to do on my netbook, as long as I have the backup I’m happy to make a few mistakes.
As for Vista, I think it’s a busted flush. I’ve had almost nothing but irritation with it since I installed it. So rather than reinstall Vista and THEN later on have to install Windows 7, I think it’s right to swallow hard and take the plunge now.
I’m also pretty comfortable with false starts, misstarts, and reinstalls. I’ve been working with PCs since the early 1980’s and used to build my own PCs before I decided that I’d prefer someone else to do that for me (Dell) and take the flak when things go wrong. So far I’ve had no problems that I could ascribe solely to hardware and when I have had questions Dell has been prompt to help me out.
What slightly annoys me is that the complexity of computers has increased greatly since the days when I used to manually plug memory chips into XTs in order to get 640K of memory. This means that getting a workable computer solely through your own efforts is very difficult and takes a level of expertise that I don’t (yet) have.
I would indeed prefer not to have RAID in this machine as it’s overkill to a great extent. However, if that’s what the hardware prescribes, then I shall work with it.
I’ve also made a list with Belarc Advisor of all the programs on the machine. Before I wipe and install, I’m going to ensure that I can reinstall each of these programs by taking note of either where they can be procured on the ‘net, or taking a copy of the installation setup file off on a DVD, along with taking note of license keys, if applicable.
This is a project that I’ve put off and put off for years. Every time I’ve gotten frustrated with the state of the computer, I’ve resolved to do this and then found a workaround of some sort that allowed me to limp along for a while. I am really tired of all that and need a fresh start.
As for having someone present to help me do it, while I would love the idea, it seems to me that this is a long-term project. I estimate that going from wiping the disks to reinstallation and total reuse of this computer will take more than a month, maybe even two. So hiring someone to help it along would be enormously expensive, and I don’t have any acquaintances here that I could tap for the necessary expertise.
In any case, being unemployed means having scads of time to devote to this kind of thing and it’s a project out of which I will probably learn a lot. I’m doing my best to protect myself from catastrophe, and having the netbook means that I will be able to continue my online life while devoting time to the desktop.
And, never fear, I’ll ensure that if something DOES come up that needs additional expertise, I’ll be blogging about it as well as trying to find the answer online. Watch this space.
Well, it does sound like you have at least some comfortability with it, so assistance isn’t necessarily, especially since you are prepared for it to not necessarily work the first time.
Going straight to 7 is smart, albeit expensive. Vista normally fails for two reasons. A)People have upgraded from XP (and in your case, previously from 98). B)The machine does not have enough phsyical memory or a decent video card.
For Vista, or 7, you WILL want 2Gigs of memory. Minimum.
Now your processor you said was dual-core, but you didn’t say if it was a 32 or 64 bit chip. If you do go with Win 7, and have 64 bit, install the 64 bit version of the OS. Yes, there are some driver incompatibilities with really old hardware, but you can use more than the 3Gigs of memory then and it has been ROCK stable for me.
Since you have a server machine, you can probably go well past 3Gigs fairly cheaply as there’s usually an insane number of memory slots in most servers.
The problem with servers is that many times they need special memory or drives or can’t take a video card. Servers are great heavy-duty machines, built usually to do things different than a normal desktop. (A sports car versus an 18-wheeler.) If, for example, you can’t upgrade the video, then both Vista and 7 will look identical because it is losing all of the Aero functionality in 7.
So just… be careful. I know you say you have the time to spend on this, but don’t drive yourself crazy trying to build a Ferrari out of a Mack truck. 😉
Hm, I believe that in my case Vista failed because of (a). I already have 4 GB of memory in this machine so I am not short of memory, although I realise I can’t use all the memory I have.
I’m not concerned about Aero…I prefer the Windows Classic look anyway and always have done. I like the familiar.
I have Vista Ultimate, and have the 64-bit version DVD. However, again, as it’s an upgrade I suppose I’ll have to search out my XP installation copy and reinstall that first, then the 64-bit upgrade. If I install 64 bit over 32 bit, does it come with all the annoyances that I’ve had with 32 bit (I think they live in the Registry somewhere)?
All in all, even though it’s expensive, I would suggest that getting the full-version Windows 7 is probably the best move in the circumstances.
Will also have a think about the physical setup of the machine. There’s a lot of cruft on the disk I need to take off permanently on CD and either discard or file away. Then I have to ensure that data that’s updated regularly is backed up regularly from an accessible and distinguishable place, while data that’s updated less frequently and programs are backed up less often from another distinguishable and accessable place. 32 hour backups don’t help matters…and in looking at what it’s backing up I can see immediately that a lot of it doesn’t have to be backed up all that often.
Thanks for your responses and help; they’ve made me think a bit more deeply about how to go about this.