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reformatting

post #1 of 17
10/31/06 at 10:09pm
Thread Starter 
It comes time to reformat, my usually fps in CS:S is 120, now it has touble breakin 30fps, so I havent reformatted in 1 1/2 has I had my machine.

So, I have never reformatted, if I dont need to back-up anything, all im gunna back-up to a cd is a wow patch(400mb)

Do i just insert the respawn cd or what?
please give me step by step
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post #2 of 17
10/31/06 at 11:14pm
Well looking at my respawn bootcd+dvd there are actually instructions printed on the back of the case that explains what you need to do.

Do you have this case?
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post #3 of 17
10/31/06 at 11:58pm
Thread Starter 
What do u mean?
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post #4 of 17
11/1/06 at 12:48am
Thread Starter 
guys I was trying to reformat, when it asked for my cd key, I entered the one at the bottom of the laptop, and it say it was invalid I enter this a great many times, and till it doesnt work
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post #5 of 17
11/1/06 at 12:51am
Thor, first try defragging your hard drives.

The 7700 needs the RAID drivers installed even if you don't use RAID. I think I've read that AW incorporates the RAID drivers into the respawn and recovery cd's, but if they don't you'll need to get the drivers on a floppy or bootable cd to install.

With the respawn cd, you just put it in the drive and reboot. I think it'll ask you if you want to boot from cd and you should. It will then take you to a menu and guide you through the process.

I usually delete the partition windows is on, then create a new partition. This will nuke everything on that partition and prepare it for a clean install. Make sure you have everything you want to save backed up somewhere before doing that.

Then you just tell windows what partition to install on and the rest is pretty automatic.

With the respawn, it'll load all the factory drivers for you. If you use the windows cd you'll need to install all the drivers for the mobo/chipset/audio/video etc...

Here is AW's knowledge base article on reloading windows on an m7700.
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post #6 of 17
11/1/06 at 12:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by XxThorxX
guys I was trying to reformat, when it asked for my cd key, I entered the one at the bottom of the laptop, and it say it was invalid I enter this a great many times, and till it doesnt work

Does it give you a phone number to call to talk to a microsoft agent? If so call.

I've had that happen with a machine I'd upgraded. It appeared to windows that I was trying to load XP on a different machine. I explained it to microsoft, and they gave me a code that worked.

Make sure you aren't seeing a zero as an O, or a G as a 6 or something also.

If that doesn't work, call AW. They'll give you a new key if everything checks out.
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post #7 of 17
11/1/06 at 1:03am
Thread Starter 
well, i called alienware up and they asked for my account number or something, first time I every called TS,

hmm
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post #8 of 17
11/1/06 at 1:04am
Thread Starter 
do I have to boot from cd or can I just put the disc in run it, thats one I did, and worked except for gettin me that not valid bullshit
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post #9 of 17
11/1/06 at 1:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by XxThorxX
do I have to boot from cd or can I just put the disc in run it, thats one I did, and worked except for gettin me that not valid bullshit

It should run on it's own, but after you start the machine will reboot after a while, and it'll ask if you want to boot from the cd. That starts the process over again, so if you've already installed and it's running, let it boot from the hd.
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post #10 of 17
11/1/06 at 1:35am
Thread Starter 
no u dont understand, remember when I do it says invalid cd-key
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post #11 of 17
11/1/06 at 4:30pm
Are you using the _respawn_ cd or the _windows_xp_ cd?

Respawn cd never asks for a cdkey at all, just loads Ghost and waits for you to put the image cdr/dvd in and select the image file and go with it.

I think you are trying to reformat using the windows xp cd.
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post #12 of 17
11/2/06 at 2:14am
Thread Starter 
on the cd this is one it says

ALIENWARE(little head) Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition OEM CD-ROM Service Pack 2

in a little paragraph on the side it says the following

The software included on this recovery CD-ROM was preinstalled on your hard drive at the factory and may only be used for backup and recovery of your Alienware computer system.

We I was trying to do it, I just doubled clicked on my computer and ran it, ( is that wrong)

And Also in a little pull down menu on like the 4 or thing step it ask if you want to reinstall or upgrade, I click reinstall is this right?
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post #13 of 17
11/3/06 at 12:06am
Thread Starter 
guys I need some help.... Ok well I did what you said it was working then I got to the part where it hasnt about paritions and It said unknown drives for 4 of them, and then each of the options I hit, my computer "blue screen of death"
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post #14 of 17
11/3/06 at 1:46pm
if you dont load the drivers you will only see the 4 unknow devices this is hte media card reader.

have you try following the instruccions in this article

http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/a...i=&p_topview=1
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post #15 of 17
11/3/06 at 8:21pm
Thread Starter 
I dont remember my password soo I can download it from the alienware site, so where can I download it?
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post #16 of 17
11/3/06 at 8:32pm
Thread Starter 
can i use the promised raid M770 download page from the here (notebookforums) its only 130kb is that right?
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post #17 of 17
11/6/06 at 11:26am
try the forgot password button to get you pass back, if not try going directly to the FTP
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