Windows drivers

DarkStar · Apr 08, 2011, 19:16:23

I am going to completely reinstall Windows 7 Pro this weekend

Is it best to format first to get rid of any detritus or will an install of Windows that over writes the current installation be OK.
Also, what is the best free program to use to find and update Windows and hardware drivers.

pctech · Apr 08, 2011, 19:19:50

Clean install is always best IMO.

DarkStar · Apr 08, 2011, 20:01:10

Quote from: pctech on Apr 08, 2011, 19:19:50
Clean install is always best IMO.

I have a dual booting system at the moment - Windows & Linux, what would be the best way to wipe the Hard Drive to get rid of both of them?

JB · Apr 08, 2011, 20:23:49

Some Linux distributions come with the partition manager called Gparted. It is an excellent piece of software for deleting partitions and re-partitioning your drive.

You can download a stand alone copy here :-

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

You can then install and boot it from USB, CD or even another server.

Just make certain that if you have more than one physical hard disk in your machine (sda, sdb etc etc..) that you perform your actions on the correct disk

DarkStar · Apr 08, 2011, 20:44:18

Am downloading gparted now, will burn it to a CD for use over the weekend.
Have a lot of gardening to do and the weather is nice so am going to be busy, if it was raining I would have an excuse to be doing my computer instead

JB · Apr 08, 2011, 20:55:24

Quote from: DarkStar on Apr 08, 2011, 20:44:18
Am downloading gparted now, will burn it to a CD for use over the weekend.

OK DS.

Good luck when you do use it. It's very powerful but if you just have one HD in the machine it should be plain sailing. I've used it a few times to remove Linux and BSD partitions that Windows has problems dealing with correctly.

DarkStar · Apr 13, 2011, 12:28:20

That was a complete disaster

Tried a Windows repair using the Win 7 disc, couldn't complete the operation and advised me to try to completely re-install Win 7. Tried that and again got a message that it couldn't complete the operation. Difference this time was that I couldn't get passed the BIOS window this time, couldn't even get to Linux

Being rather pi**ed off and short of time I decided to try installing Linux Ubuntu again, 20 mins and it was installed and running beautifully

Problem is that my Canon photo software will not work in Linux - among other things.
So, I am going to have another go at installing Win 7 this afternoon but still need some advice on the best software to find and install the drivers that I don't have to hand. Saw one called Driver Detective the other day, any opinions or experience of it.
Am going to run GParted first to ensure the disc is clean and see what happens

D-Dan · Apr 13, 2011, 14:39:04

What exactly went wrong and at what point? If you deleted the Windows partition leaving unallocated space Windows should have no problem installing into that unallocated space, UNLESS (and this is just a nagging doubt in the back of my mind) the free space would not be the first partition. I've got a feeling that Windows likes to be on the first partition, esp if it can't find a Windows MBR (which I'm assuming has been replaced by grub).

Also note that after installing Windows it will overwrite grub, leaving linux inaccessible, so keep that liveCD handy to repair grub afterwards.

Steve

DarkStar · Apr 13, 2011, 17:32:56

It would get as far as rebooting at the stage where Windows should have started and a message would come up to the effect that "Windows is unable to start - please run startup repair or try reinstalling Windows from the installation disc". If not the exact wording, something very close to it.
I did wonder about the grub but Windows was the first OS installed and Linux installed later alongside it. The dual boot was set to boot into Windows by default. I tried to reinstall Win 7 with the option to wipe the disc so that it installed to a clean disc but that didn't work.

D-Dan · Apr 13, 2011, 20:22:36

It sounds like the Windows MBR was still installed even after deleting the Windows partition. That would explain the error, though why you would have an MBR after installing Ubuntu (instead of grub) I have no idea

DarkStar · Apr 13, 2011, 20:30:40

Whats the best way to completely wipe the HD (I assume thats where the MBR resides) to get rid of any left overs, something like Dariks Boot and Nuke?

D-Dan · Apr 14, 2011, 13:11:45

Ahh - hang on - I've just re-read your post. It may not be an MBR issue at all, but could be a grub issue. If you had grub set to boot Windows, and wiped the Windows partition, then grub would try to chainload something that is no longer there.

Try this first. Boot as normal, but choose Ubuntu at the grub screen. Once Ubuntu boots, open gparted and ensure that you delete the Windows partition (don't repartition it, just delete it to leave the space unallocated). Then open a terminal and type sudo update-grub. Enter your password and let it finish. This should eradicate Windows from the system and grub. You can test by booting and just letting the system boot automatically. Ubuntu should boot with no interaction from yourself.

If all is good, try booting the Windows installation disk again, telling Windows to install into unallocated space. It should proceed to install and, once finished, your system will boot into Windows. The problem you will face then is that Ubuntu will be inaccessible (because Windows will overwrite grub with its' MBR). You can fix this by booting the Ubuntu liveCD and reinstalling grub (details here http://ubuntuguide.net/how-to-restore-grub-2-after-reinstalling-windows-xpvistawin7 under 2).Using Ubuntu 9.10 livecd or higher).

Once done your system should be back to normal with a fresh Windows install.

DarkStar · Apr 14, 2011, 15:02:07

Thanks for all the info and help Steve, it really is appreciated

At the moment I only have Ubuntu installed. When I installed it again the other day I chose the option to wipe/format the drive removing any previous partitions so all the Windows detritus should be gone and I should now only have Ubuntu partitions on there. As soon as I have uninterrupted time I am going to use gparted to remove Ubuntu and try to install Win 7. I much prefer Linux to Windows but cannot run Skype successfully on it or install my camera/photo software on it. Am seriously looking at getting a laptop to run Ubuntu on and keeping this desktop computer for Windows. Will wait till I get back from holiday and see what the finances are like.

D-Dan · Apr 15, 2011, 12:44:38

Skype problems abound on Linux, but in most cases there is a fix (and it's usually simpler than you would think). What precise problems are you having with Skype?

Steve