Problem Extracting RAR files

manutd_2

yeh your right about the dvd thing, was just going to deleate post. i guess that the only way to be safe is to buy a 2nd hardrive and format it in to ntfs. will formattaing the second drive to ntfs be easy.

bbb_uk

Yes, assuming its already been partitioned correctly (second-hand it would be) but brand new you may need to use FDISK on it.

Assuming its already partitioned then just connect the drive as a slave to your main (master) harddrive and when windows loads just use My Computer and right-click whatever the drive letter is for the drive you've just bought and select (left-click) Format and in the filesystem drop down list just ensure NTFS is selected (I believe this is selected as default anyhow)

manutd_2

il probally buy a new second hardrive, what exactly is an FDISK. also if i was to buy an OEM hardrive, what cables would i need

-TangleFoot-

FDISK is (usually) an old partitioning program used in the days before DOS was consigned to oblivion; its use is limited to formatting and partitioning disks in FAT.

If you were to buy an OEM hard-disk drive, you'd probably not need anything else, but just to be safe it would be a good idea to get a spare data cable for it. If it's an IDE (ATA) HDD you're after, you'll be wanting one of these. On the other hand, if it's a S-ATA drive, something like this will be more appropriate. Power-supply cables for both are generally part of the PSU already in the PC, so it is likely that those will not be needed.

Once you've plugged it in and switched it on, you'll then be able to format and partition the new drive pretty easily.

Of course, you could just convert the one you've got already; it would definitely be less expensive!

manutd wrote:

i was warned against turning my drive into ntfs by my computer manufaturer

Just out of interest, who was the computer's manufacturer?

manutd_2

Time computers are the manufacture of my computer

-TangleFoot-

There you have it, then; large companies that supply ready-made computers regularly supply a restore disk or set up a hidden partition which, when accessed, will reset the computer to factory settings.

Since you were warned against converting, it's probably the latter that applies. Don't know how converting the primary partition would 'break' the restore feature though...

T4i

TTB! Time Talk Bol......

bbb_uk

-TangleFoot- wrote:

..Don't know how converting the partition would 'break' the restore feature though...

Possibly because their 'Restore' feature requires that the partition already be in FAT32 as thats the filesystem format the harddrive was backup in. I suppose it depends on how they decided to backup their ready-made systems. It may file-by-file, or a ghost type backup image!

Basically, just a poor written 'restore' function and an even further way to cut costs by not providing a restore disc on a CDROM which I thought was normal practice for these type of ready-made systems but obviously I was wrong?!?