Need help setting up old laptop

[jdude]

I recently installed a downloaded version of windows XP sp2 after I formatted my computer, only to find I couldn't find the windows xp install cd anywhere! However I'm using a legit CD key, and I don't think I should have to spend 40-50 dollars on a cd for something I rightfully already own.

 

Anyways; my computer isn't recognizing my D: It's a 25 gb drive inside the laptop, it shouldn't be disconnected or anything. It also isn't recognizing my soundcard, or my videocard which is made by intel. I don't remember which soundcard or videocard this has in it. How do I fix these three problems?

 

edit: I got everything to work except the D: harddrive

I also can't get the darn thing to activate over the internet and the phone line is keeping me on hold for ever!

 

edit2: Got it activated over the phone finally, only took about an hour :S Now I just need to know how to fix that hard drive

[Tels]

I recently installed a downloaded version of windows XP sp2 after I formatted my computer, only to find I couldn't find the windows xp install cd anywhere! However I'm using a legit CD key, and I don't think I should have to spend 40-50 dollars on a cd for something I rightfully already own.

 

Anyways; my computer isn't recognizing my D: It's a 25 gb drive inside the laptop, it shouldn't be disconnected or anything. It also isn't recognizing my soundcard, or my videocard which is made by intel. I don't remember which soundcard or videocard this has in it. How do I fix these three problems?

 

edit: I got everything to work except the D: harddrive

I also can't get the darn thing to activate over the internet and the phone line is keeping me on hold for ever!

 

edit2: Got it activated over the phone finally, only took about an hour :S Now I just need to know how to fix that hard drive

 

I seriously wonder what people put up with just to use software they legally own and even paid for

 

Anyway, have you tried the following:

 

* boot from a linux rescue CD and see what it says to the partition

* used a window program (like partition magic?) to check the partition?

 

Use this:

 

* http://www.sysresccd.org/Download (I have not tried it, so might not be user friendly)

* http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/downloadmirrors (You can also have a CD sent to your house, free of charge)

 

Having a rescue CD-ROM around the house is good manners

[HappyCheeze]

Having a rescue CD-ROM around the house is good manners

 

I agree!

 

that has saved me many times from a dead windows, I can grab all my files I want and put em on my flash drive temporarily.

[jdude]

Well I've downloaded Magic Partition. Apparently my C: is 50 gb large. So I'm not sure if the one partition is using both hard drives or what is going on...

 

It also detects about 2.6 gigs of free space under a partition 'linux' but I thought I formated my C: So I don't know how ubuntu would still be on it.

 

Now I'm wondering if my computer has the specs I thought it did, maybe I'm just remembering wrong. I know it had a C: and a D: I can't remember their sizes though, maybe both were 50, or 25, or one was 50 and one was 25. How can I check to see if there are 2 HDs in my computer, or weather or not Acer just partitioned 1 HD into 2 partitions when I got it.

[Crispy]

C: is just a partition, like the "linux" partition. I know everyone calls it the "C drive", but that's rather misleading. It's secretly a partition. (Shh. Don't tell anyone.) Formatting a partition doesn't remove other partitions. That's why you could still have a Linux partition hanging around.

 

If the partitioning tool you're using is any good at all, it should be able to show you a list of the hard drives in your computer. Within each hard drive there will be one or more partitions. The Windows partitions probably won't be labelled as "C:", "D:", etc. if Magic Partition is Linux-based, since Linux doesn't use drive letters. But you should be able to see something there, in the appropriate sizes, even if they're not labelled how you expect.

 

The other way to tell how many physical hard drives you have is to unscrew the side of the case and look. In a tower-style case they're usually positioned directly under your CD/DVD drives. Hard drives just look like little metal cases with a molex power connector and a data cable plugged into them. It might be worth pushing on the cables to make sure they're seated properly. Just touch some metal first so you're grounded. (Don't be afraid of the insides of your computer; just ground yourself and try not to touch any circuit boards and you won't kill anything.)

[HappyCheeze]

unscrew the side of the case and look. In a tower-style case

 

This is a laptop, its most likely that he has only one harddrive, especially if its an older one.

 

If you take your windows xp cd and run the installer again, you should be able to see some partitions on there and either erase them all into one big partition, or you can split it up anyway you want.

 

The install should tell you the max amount of space on your drive.

[Crispy]

Mmm, point, forgot about that.

 

Do laptops ever come with more than one physical hard drive? Seems to me that they wouldn't, since they're supposed to be relatively small and lightweight.

[jdude]

This is a laptop, its most likely that he has only one harddrive, especially if its an older one.

 

If you take your windows xp cd and run the installer again, you should be able to see some partitions on there and either erase them all into one big partition, or you can split it up anyway you want.

 

The install should tell you the max amount of space on your drive.

 

I think that's what I did when I was installing windows. Apparently my laptop only have a 50 gb harddrive This entire time I was under the impression the two partitions meant it had 2 hard drives!

 

Thanks for the help everyone! I have my laptop ready for school again!

[HappyCheeze]

Do laptops ever come with more than one physical hard drive?

 

Not usually, I haven't seen one.

 

The idea behind a laptop is portability, so everything is scaled down. Laptop harddrives are usually 2.5 inches, as opposed to the 5 and a quarter slot for a desktop HDD.

 

Plus that would be extra battery drainage for two harddrives.