NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Dell Notebook Forums › Dell Home (Inspiron, XPS, Studio) › quick question, may be stupid though
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

quick question, may be stupid though

post #1 of 24
7/19/06 at 9:18pm
Thread Starter 
im not new to computers but one thing is puzzling me, alot of you that buy new notebooks say that you reformat them right away, i dont understand what you mean when you do that is all im asking. i kinda picked up on the impression that it involves reinstalling everything or something like that? if im wrong someone correct me please
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 24
7/19/06 at 9:20pm
reformatting is reinstalling/partitioning the harddrive so that all of the extra crap processes from dell are erased
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 24
7/19/06 at 9:22pm
Thread Starter 
wuts it take to do that, is it easy to do cause thats one thing i hate from all the dells iv had is the extra crap they send on them!!
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 24
7/19/06 at 9:38pm
its pretty easy once you know how to do it, but as i do not do this (to afraid of scewing the computer up) wait until a more experienced person comes along and he/she will be happy to help
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 24
7/19/06 at 10:01pm
Here's a good thread that discusses this process-
http://www.notebookforums.com/showth...=fresh+install
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 24
7/19/06 at 10:02pm
Thread Starter 
anyone think they could be so nice as to make a process list of how to do it??? otherwise you can never get all that junk out of there
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 24
7/19/06 at 10:07pm
Thread Starter 
and also would a comp. repair store be able to help me do it or be able to do it for me.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 24
7/19/06 at 10:17pm
all you would have to do is bring them the windows xp disc (from dell) and then ask them to do it, they would most likely do it for you. Maybe, you should even watch so you know how to next time
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 24
7/19/06 at 10:44pm
Don't waste the money buddy, if you can post on a forum you can re-install your OS
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 24
7/19/06 at 11:02pm
Thread Starter 
i get that part, the only thing is that im not sure how to delete everything in the first place? plus i ordered microsoft office so im not sure if that comes with a reinstall disc or not.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 24
7/19/06 at 11:16pm
all you have to do if you dont get the office disc, is just to call dell and demand the XP reinstall CD and the office install discs
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 24
7/19/06 at 11:17pm
Thread Starter 
i have found this instruction process by doing a search on google
  1. Insert the XP CD into the cd-rom and reboot

    If you insert the XP disc while you are in XP, it will ask you if you want to reformat.

    Do not choose this option. Make sure to reboot!!! If you do not, it will try to reformat using the HDD for temporary files, and this will cause errors.
  2. Press F12 at the dell logo to enter the one time boot sequence. Choose CD-Rom & reboot
  3. Welcome Setup Screen ---- press enter to setup Windows XP
  4. License Agreement ---- read if you want (although nobody does). Scroll down to the bottom, and press f8 to accept.
  5. Previous XP detection ---- hit ESC to reformat and have a clean install of XP
  6. Create/Delete & Choose a partition --- Create or delete any partitions (see previous post for more information) If you are unsure about partitioning, select the largest partition. Once you've made your selection, press enter.
  7. Select NTFS or Fat32 ---- generally NTFS is mostly used, although either will work fine. If you would like a quick format, you will want to make choose one of the top 2 choices. Once you have made your decision, press enter
  8. Format --- warning: this will delete all information on selected partition. Verify that you have selected the right partition. If Tyou have the correct partition, press F. If not, press esc to go back to step 5.
  9. Setup and Reboot --- does not require any user action. Leave CD in the drive after reboot
  10. XP Setup --- some questions will be asked (some of these might not apply depending on if you are installing Home or Pro edition)
    1. Regional & Language Options --- select language (default: English)
    2. Name --- enter your name (company: optional)
    3. Enter CD Key --- located on the bottom of you laptop (right side towards the back)
    4. Computer Name & Admin Password --- enter the name that you would like your laptop to be known as. Enter an admin password (can be left blank but for security reasons this is not the best option). Make sure to write down or have some way of remembering your admin password.
    5. Date & Time Settings --- set the time & date to your local time
    6. Network Setup --- if you are on a home network, use this setup to configure your laptop to connect to your home network. Otherwise, skip and go to the next step
  11. During the setup process, it will say that it is installing applications takes about 30 minutes. These applications are standard XP applications -- not junkware.
  12. Once the installation and format is complete, it will reboot and take you to the Welcome XP Screen which will ask you if you want to register with Microsoft or create any additional screen names.
  13. Finishes loading XP and takes you to your Login Screen or desktop.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 24
7/19/06 at 11:19pm
Thread Starter 
is that basically what you do?
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 24
7/19/06 at 11:36pm
yea thats what u do, make sure u have ur application cds, hold on to those driver disks u'll prolly need em
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 24
7/19/06 at 11:50pm
no more than 5 minutes after taking this thing out of the box... I wiped it...

DEFINTELY a required task if you know computers
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 24
7/19/06 at 11:54pm
I remember when i first reformatted my comp. I was a little scared but now its a piece of cake, just make sure you print out a good copy of them instructions and keep them right next to you. Like the other guys said you can get the cd's from dell. Tell them that you want to reformat ur comp but you prefer using a cd's insted of using the system restore option. Then they will send you the whole deal xp cd, drivers cd, and software cd's.
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 24
7/20/06 at 12:01am
sry to add in to this thread but the topic relates. I sorta wanna get in on this and its been about 6 months since my purchase of the I9300.... soooo you think dell will still fork over the CD's i deserve? and also, is there anyway to re-download the ghost program from dell and put it back on the hd so i can just restore my computer thru that to my new reformatted comp?
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 24
7/20/06 at 12:46am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Twinke
I remember when i first reformatted my comp. I was a little scared but now its a piece of cake, just make sure you print out a good copy of them instructions and keep them right next to you. Like the other guys said you can get the cd's from dell. Tell them that you want to reformat ur comp but you prefer using a cd's insted of using the system restore option. Then they will send you the whole deal xp cd, drivers cd, and software cd's.

my e1705 is on its way as of like 930 ton, so what im asking now is i ordered with it the xp pro reinstall disk but im not sure about the drivers/software i also ordered the office thing with like word and powerpoint and stuff i gotta reinstall that but do they usually send disc for those? i know i ask alot of questions and u all answered them good its just the 1st time ive done this so i dont want to screw my 2800$$ investment
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 24
7/20/06 at 2:01pm
Yea i understand what your saying the cd's for the drivers and software should look like this thats not a closeup picture but when you see it you'll know. One of them should say driver/utilites and the other should say Applications. If they dont come in then just call dell back and tell them to send you some reformat cd's for ur drivers and software thats on ur computer. Then they should ship it to you.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 24
7/20/06 at 2:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by swamphopper25
my e1705 is on its way as of like 930 ton, so what im asking now is i ordered with it the xp pro reinstall disk but im not sure about the drivers/software i also ordered the office thing with like word and powerpoint and stuff i gotta reinstall that but do they usually send disc for those? i know i ask alot of questions and u all answered them good its just the 1st time ive done this so i dont want to screw my 2800$$ investment

You spent $2800 on an E1705?!?

Three letters ---- WTF!!!
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
NotebookForums.com › Forums › Notebook Manufacturers › Dell Notebook Forums › Dell Home (Inspiron, XPS, Studio) › quick question, may be stupid though