NotebookForums.com › Forums › General Notebook Discussions › Notebook Guides › Great Dell format guide!
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Great Dell format guide! - Page 2

post #21 of 71
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baraka_XP
Okay it seems as though the quick format only rewrites the allocation tables to make it seem like the harddrive was formated, but its not, in fact, since only the allocation tables have been overwriten, its possible to undo the quickformat and get all the files back, because quick format does NOT overwrite all sectors. Full format blanks everything and scanns to see if all the sectors are clear of information.

That was from some forum.
What forum? Anyway that's total BS.

The only difference between a quick and a full format is that a full format scans the HDD for bad sectors. (As a quick click on the MS link you provided will verify.)

And guess what? It's possible to get your files back after a full format as well. That's why we have Dban.
post #22 of 71
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpha
Question about the format and setup. I did the full format and installed XP Home that came with my laptop. But after that I restarted and now I have to select from two Window XP Homes to start... it automatically selects it after like 17 seconds, but why is it doing that? I tried to manually select it. The first selection works, the second one doesn't, tells me about some boot CD.
From the FAQ:

"This is actually quite common, and first thing is first I want to assure you that the original install that you formatted is actually gone, that partition is erased and there is no reason to start over with another format yet again. This happens as a result of a 'leftover' sometimes present in the boot.ini file of windows after a fresh install. You will find that if you try and select both, one will actually load your new windows and the other will present an error (becuase it is a leftover that leads to nothing). Therefore it is safe to remove this leftover reference so that it no longer appears at boot and you load straight into Windows.

To eliminate this load screen there are two options, the easy and 'forget about it' option is to simply disable the load screen. To do this:

(i) Right click on My Computer on the desktop and select Properties;
(ii) Go to the Advanced tab and click Settings under the 'Startup and Recovery' box;
(iii) Untick the box that says 'Time to display list of Operating Systems'. Hey presto, the problem is gone .

Alternatively, we can go a little further and edit the boot.ini file, which removes the invalid Windows entry. First thing is first, boot up the laptop and find out which reference works and which doesn't, usually the bottom one is false. With this information we now get into it. Once on the Windows desktop:

(i) Right click on My Computer on the desktop and select Properties;
(ii) Go to the Advanced tab and click Settings under the 'Startup and Recovery' box;
(iii) Click the Edit button seen in the 'System startup' box, you will be presented with a notepad entry such as the following


Quote:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition" /fastdetect

Note that it may vary from this slightly, depending upon what two OS you had installed, etc.
(iv) Delete the entire line of the appropriate OS you want to remove from the boot list. For example above I have bolded the second whole entry as false above, when the bottom selection was false. Delete the top line if the opposite is true;
(v) You are done, Save the changes and exit all of this. Upon next boot you will go straight into your new Windows install, enjoy!"

http://www.notebookforums.com/showpo...00&postcount=5
post #23 of 71
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpha
Quick question. Which "monitor" driver do I install for my 700m? I put my service tag in the Dell support site and it gives me like 15 different display drivers... I'm not talking about the graphics card driver btw.
Dell laptop monitors use the standard MS Windows drivers AFAIK. The "15 different display drivers" you see are for external monitors, I believe.
post #24 of 71
i didnt get a drivers cd...

mabye cause i got from the outlet?

took me almost an hour to find them.. on my moms computer. aha
post #25 of 71
Thats a good straight forward guide!
post #26 of 71

New to Forum

My 2 year old M60 that I use every day for CAD (Solidworks) needs I think wiping and reformating as the cursor has started to fly off screen at random moments and an icon "desktop.ini" has appeared. Is this guide what I need, I am obviously a novice when it comes to anything under the hood so any help appreciated.
post #27 of 71
Quote:
Originally Posted by somms
Once you have reformatted the HDD and installed all the apps you plan on using, I would recommend using the simplified step by step procedure linked in my sig below for creating a bootable automatic backup DVD image of your notebook...
Will this work if you deleted the Dell backup partition though?
post #28 of 71
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpha
Quick question. Which "monitor" driver do I install for my 700m? I put my service tag in the Dell support site and it gives me like 15 different display drivers... I'm not talking about the graphics card driver btw.
Quote:
Dell laptop monitors use the standard MS Windows drivers AFAIK. The "15 different display drivers" you see are for external monitors, I believe.
Correct "Monitor Driver" would depend on the External monitor used.

You should ALSO install your Video Driver for your onboard display to look its best.
post #29 of 71

Reformat

Followed this today on my two year old D600 and it worked like a charm.

I was a little worried about doing it by myself the first time, but it was easy.

Thanks to those involved for the easy guide.

Z
700M
D600
post #30 of 71
I didnt get a drivers cd either, can I get it from dell support somehow?
post #31 of 71
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zanotti
Followed this today on my two year old D600 and it worked like a charm.
Did you notice any improvement in speed afterwards?
post #32 of 71
See my thread here to see why the media direct partition should be simply removed as soon as you install XP.
post #33 of 71
could you let me know which drivers to reinstall and which i should leave off..

i would want to leave some off in case i dont need them or if there were better downloadable ones
post #34 of 71
Thanks!!

Good guide.
post #35 of 71
I did everything you said I went through all the steps...then I got to where windows opens and asks you a "few" simple questions...i answered them then it went to windows and immediatly without option popped up a big red/orange flashing box that said INSTALLING APPLICATIONS DO NOT PRESS ANY KEYS MAY TAKE UP TO 30 MINUTES....well i waited 30 mins nothing happened....so i shut down and restarting then got an error on windows start up...got into windows some how and nothing was setup i was missing programs...and files so now i'm reformatting AGAIN! should i take out the XP cd as soon as it restarts? or what
post #36 of 71
is the XP cd that red cd that comes and says Dell on it?
post #37 of 71
Quote:
Originally Posted by TJM623
is the XP cd that red cd that comes and says Dell on it?
yeah it is.. and you have to wait for that 30mnts or less if lucky, or more if unlucky
but u musnt restart it before it finishes, coz it will restart itself when it finished.
i also wonder what the system is doing at that 30mnts, i don't know what it is installing, but i just wait, and it restart automatically.
anyone has any idea what the system is doing at that 30mnts?
post #38 of 71
once you waited and windows was all reinstalled...was all the dell crap that we all decided to get rid of by reformatting back on there?
post #39 of 71
Quote:
Originally Posted by TJM623
once you waited and windows was all reinstalled...was all the dell crap that we all decided to get rid of by reformatting back on there?
it's not there coz u format it from cd.
if u want all softwares that was pre-installed like the 1st time u got, u just need to do the recovery by pressing Ctrl+F11 on Dell screen while booting up, not formatting from the cd..
i like it better formatting from the cd.. much much cleaner and the system becomes lighter..
post #40 of 71
i wish i woulda just sat through that then...I just got sick of that flashing thing showing up...so i just installed my xp pro, which is totally set up now, drivers and all...but now i'm trying to figure on media direct. ugh a whole new problem...and my 5in1 media card reader won't work!! even with the drivers downloaded
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Notebook Guides
NotebookForums.com › Forums › General Notebook Discussions › Notebook Guides › Great Dell format guide!