JMJSelect

i don't think dell includes the reinstall cd's any more, unless you ask for them, and unless your talking about the windows cds.

i'm in the process now of backing up all my files so that I can restore and then ghost the hd after it's fresh so i'll have a copy of the restore thing.

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In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.

Pebu

Take it for a walk into the desert with a shovel. I recommend wearing gloves cause you can get cuts on your knuckles... Oh, whoops, wrong thread..

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Motivation. If a pretty poster and a cute saying are all it takes to motivate you, you probably have a very easy job. The kind robots wil be doing soon.

mreep

and yes if its dell get all the drivers and software on a cd.-and install everything right after you format.(internet usualy wont work without a driver)

to start off fresh you must first have 2 things. 1. your windows xp disk 2. your windows xp disk cd-key. now to format it put the disk in the cd drive. turn off the computer. turn on the computer. once it is on keep pressing F8 untill you see a boot device select screen. select the cd/dvd/rw drive. or press F2 when starting up to enter the bios options and change the cd-drive to the first thing to boot.
now it should say press any key to start from disk.....do it. you should see a blue screen soon. it will be loading stuff for a while so chill. then it should say to set up windows press enter. press enter. press F8 to agree. now continue to set up windows. delete any partitions you see. then create a partition in the unpartitioned space. now format using NTFS(ntfs-quick is not recomended!) now it will format then load more stuff and restart. then you will need to enter some info. then network settings. its easy to figure it out from here. if youv lost your cd-key get some oem-keys off the net. or call microsoft. thats all. now once you start up your fresh machine imediatly!!!! UPDATE!! using microsoft update.-find a link by clicking start->programs->look for an internet link at the top of the window.

hope that helped...enjoy...

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"i tried...it may have been half assed, but i tried!"-me

Pocketbrain

Originally Posted by boicraig

I would really try gParted Live. Its a bootable linux distro, with one purpose - to format / create / check partitions. It boots into a GUI. Its awesome. I love it. TRY IT! :) It's just sweet software. http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

Ooo nifty, it's a Biz-card distro. Fits in under 50MB. You can fit that on a 64MB thumb drive, as well. I have DSL, but I wish I could get something similar that has more stuff that could fit on a MiniCD, not a BizCD.

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The plural of Wii is Wiii.

boot up. log on. drop out.

THE REVOLUTION WILL BE SYNTHESIZED

1234com

hay man I have re instaled xp on my computer 50 times lol all you need to do is get the CDs that came with the computer and run the system instale and then if there are more CDs for programs and drives and you can all ways download the driver ounce more from Dell