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Guide to reformatting the m170?

post #1 of 8
4/15/06 at 6:31am
Thread Starter 
hey guys, im kinda horrible with computers, but could someone kinda walk me through how to reformat the xps and still make sure it has all the drivers that i need to run everything on it, thanks alot guys.

ps. i heard bad things about the dell decrapifier thats why i wanna do it this way. thanks.
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post #2 of 8
4/15/06 at 9:19am
I can throw up a guide later tonight with screen shots as soon as I get off work,
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post #3 of 8
4/15/06 at 9:41am
If you search "Dell reformat" you'll find lots of threads related to this topic, though perhaps not specifically for the M170. The best Dell reformat guide that I've seen, though, is here.
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post #4 of 8
4/15/06 at 11:04am
Thread Starter 
it seems for me, it would be easier to use the decrapifier, than manually go through and delete everything else on there before i start out.
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post #5 of 8
4/15/06 at 2:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by xJackx410
hey guys, im kinda horrible with computers, but could someone kinda walk me through how to reformat the xps and still make sure it has all the drivers that i need to run everything on it, thanks alot guys.

ps. i heard bad things about the dell decrapifier thats why i wanna do it this way. thanks.
I also wouldnt mind a nice walkthrough. I will probably go through the Add/remove Programs and delete everything that looks useless. Is this a good way to go?
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post #6 of 8
4/15/06 at 5:25pm
From the reinstall and reformat thread:
Quote:
Originally Posted by From the reformat and reinstall thread
Why should I do this when I can just use add/remove programs and uninstall the software?

* While add/remove will uninstall programs, traces of that program are still left on hard-drive. It leaves folders & registery keys behind.
* Add/Remove is alot better than having junkware on your system, but clean install and reformat is the best method
* If you choose to go with add/remove, I recommend using a good registery cleaner software like RegScrub (freeware) to clean out your system. CleanMyPC and System Mechanic 6 are also very good software that will help clean the registery system.
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post #7 of 8
4/16/06 at 8:39pm
Although I am not new to computers or reformatting, I am in no way experienced either. I am just a little nervous about reformatting the computer (m170, scheduled to be delivered tommorow, 4-17) that I just got and possibly messing something up. I read through the guide from notebookreview, but still feel iffy on doing it. I wouldn't need to do a back up of anything will I? (Since I won't have stored anything of mine on there yet) Am I supposed to download all of the updated drivers before I do a reinstall of windows, or wait until after I reinstall to dl the updated drivers? And then the whole partition thing, delete the backup partition, but save the one for Dell MediaDirect. How do I delete one but not the other? UGH, confusing. I have reformatted and reinstalled XP on a few computers, but when it is MY BRAND NEW laptop, I am just a little bit nervous. I guess I should print out and read and reread the guide at work tonite, but if you could help me with the other questions, it would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!!!
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post #8 of 8
4/17/06 at 5:55pm
hey don't worry mate, did it to mine when i came on friday its not that bad! All you do it format the big partition i.e. the one with the bigger no. then everything is pretty much automatic. Driver wise pop in the cd load it up and start to install the drivers with the ticks next to them. if you get your networking ones up and your bios etc first you can get on the net incase you are missing any. I had my old comp there and anything i thought i needed i just downloaded bunged onto my ipod and swapped it over. I would suggest a set of video drivers from Gforce tony (i.e. looked at pinned thread in this section up top) i swapped from the dell ones and saw a big jump in my games performance. Live for speed jumped from like 60 fps to 100fps afterwards! my drivers disc didn't actually have any video drivers for the 7800gtx but i just got them off the dell website! Don't worry its not that hard!
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