Question:
Hard Drive Formatting
I've noticed a lot of people recommending that dell laptops be reformatted out of the box because they come pre shipped with a bunch of junk software. Can someone please put up a step by step guide on how to do this safely? Thank you.
Answer:
No Problem:
1)Make sure you either have a copy of the Dell Drivers CD, or go to their website, download the latest drivers, and burn them on a CD
2)Backup any important files
3)Make sure you set your CD Drive as a boot drive. This can be done during the BIOS screen
4)Put the Windows XP/recovery cd that came with your computer in the drive
5)The CD should boot you to a blue screen
6)You will want to choose the option that allows to do a new install of Windows, not a repair
7)It should tell you a list of partitions that are currently on your drive. Find the one with your current operating system installed
8)Delete this partition.
9)Then I believe you can install a new copy of Windowx XP. I can't remember if there is an option to format your drive at this point, but if there is, you should choose.
I'm writing this off the top of my head so if any one else remembers how to do this please fill in.
Answer:
I got to the point that shows me the partitions. How do I know which partition my OS is on?
Answer:
Hi flatulent.fox, don't tell me how you got that name;)
If your not computer savvy, and need to ask how to reinstall the OS. It is probably best to just keep your notebook as it is and read up and learn computers more. I'm not trying to put you down or anything, we all started at ground zero. I just thought I would warn you after I read that the part where you asked which partition your OS was on. If your not sure about the basic stuff like that, then you just asking for trouble by trying to reinstall your OS. Your notebook is working, take some time to learn about this stuff a little more before you jump into the deep end not knowing how to swim.
Good luck
Jack
Answer:
Jack makes a good point.
However, to answer your question...it really doesn't matter which partition your current OS is on, go ahead and delete all of them. Again, I am assuming you backed up any documents, pictures, music, etc....you won't be able to get those back.
After that you should be able to install the OS. I think at this point it will ask you to format, etc. Sorry if my instructions sound vauge I'm just trying to picture it in my mind.
Let me know how it goes.
Answer:
i believe you should format after u get ur notebook, i got mine and formatted it. Dell puts all this junk that you will never use takes up about a gig of your hard drive and it might even slow you down.
Formating with windows xp is so easy:
Put win xp cd in computer
restart
when the boot screen shows up press f12
Then selected CD/CDRW
Then it will say press any key to boot from cd rom, press a key
then it will load it up
Press Enter to install windows
then Press Enter again to install fresh copy of windows
Then it will show you the partions
It will look like
:FAT 32MB
C:NTFS About the size of your hard drive
then 8 mb
dont delete the 8mb or the 32
delete the NFTS by pressing D, then L
then go to unpartitioned space and press C to create a new one. after you create select Format NTFS and once u do that its pretty much simple after that.
Answer:
Yeah I think I'm finding that out now. I went to dell's support site and tried to dl the drivers from there, but its a little confusing as to what to dl
Answer:
Ok, so now I've got a clean hard drive with xp installed. Only problem is: I may have lost the Dell Utilities CD that has all the drivers on it. Crap, what do I do now?
Answer:
You can download them from the dell website. Just goto the support link and click downloads. It will ask for your service number. That is so they can make sure to give you the correct downloads.
Answer:
I agree. It is going to be difficult to get the drivers properly installed if you don't know what your doing. I have a lot of experiance with computers and the drivers were tough for me to get working properly, specifically the WLAN.