Hi, Recently I transfered a few internet shortcuts (all in a folder) from partition C to partition E, by going into My Computer and cutting the folder from one partition to the other. The thing is, lots of the transfered files have been renamed to code words. For example AMB2FA~1, AM4A83~1, AM8F35~1 and AM64E6~1. Some of the files still remain with their original names, but they are few, and I'm worried that they'll all go this way. Also, this didn't happen immmediately after the move, but rather 1-2 days later (I'm not 100% sure). My second partition question is would it be ok to delete the C partition and just use the E one for now? A copy of XP Home is installed on both, and I get dual boot options at the moment. Later I might want to recreate, reformat and reinstall XP on partition C again, but for now I don't, and I'm worried that partition E wont boot if I delete or reformat C (I'm igrant on such things so forgive me if it doesn't make sense). ---------------------------------------- Please be understanding of the following. It all relates to my OEM copy of XP Home. I have an OEM copy of XP Home and the thing wont work on other PCs due to it being bound to the old PCs BIOS. I've heard stories about companies patching the BIOS of new PCs so old OEM copies will work on them. Does anyone know anything about this (a vague answer would be ok)? Secondly, does every single copy of XP Home (retail and OEM) have a hidden 180 day timebomb? I've used methods that fix the 30 day timer on this new PC (because my cd-key doesn't activate Windows on a system with alien BIOS), but when I least expect it I'm greeted by a 7 day activation notice at WinLogin which exceeds the original 30 day countdown. I'm not sure if this is the 180 day timebomb, but I think it might be. Another question: Is the process of converting Home to Professional identical to fixing the timebomb, because instructions for both seem to refer to the same file? A yes or no would be ok. Lastly, I've slipsteamed SP2 into my XP cd, with the first step being to drag a selection box over the XP CD contents and copy them to the hard drive. The problem I have with this is that surely hidden files would be left behind? Another concern is there are two files in the boot sector of the original XP cd, yet guides tell you to copy only the main one. That's just one example of leaving files behind. Thanks in advance.
