I would like to reformat my hard drive and have never done it before. I know on thislaptop there is a separate drive called recovery with a Windows folder and Dell folder. does that mean i dont need the Windows disc, because i happened to have lost it.
Also, is there a way save all my drivers and things like that so i wont need to update those things again?
Any other advice/suggestions?
Thanks in advance for the help
-krynn
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
There should be a prompt when you start the computer that says "Press <whatever> key for system recovery" or something like that. Most of the big manufacturers now are loading Windows disks on that recovery partition along with drivers and the initially installed software. Pressing the key that the system tells you to will bring you into a system recovery program that will install Windows to the factory condition.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
krynn, in all seriousness, I would recommend that you bring your machine somewhere for this service. If you don't know what you're doing -- and from what you've said, you don't -- it's far too easy to lose important data.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Since you're a student (according to your profile anyways), it might be worthwhile looking into whether your university has access to MSDN-AA or some equivalent with a clean copy of Windows.
IIRC, I think I tried using one of those recovery copies on an HP and it had a whole bunch of pre-installed junk from the manufacturer.
Posted by TL (Member # 8124) on :
I recently reformatted my own computer. I'm not sure about the recovery partition. I chose to wipe mine out rather than use it; there were some junk / useless programs that came factory installed on my machine that I wanted perma-gone. Personal preference thing. You can probably figure out how to use your recovery partition with Google, or with a phone call to Dell.
If you can't reformat using the recovery partition of your hard-drive...
I am told-- (though you will want to Google for confirmation on this. Double-check everything I say. I don't claim to be _any_ kind of expert) --that as long as you have your Windows key, you can install from any Vista installation disc. Friend, roommate, borrow one. Shouldn't matter. What matters is that you have your key.
When I formatted my computer, I didn't have my key, so I downloaded this program and it found my key for me.
I then had some trouble figuring out exactly how to format the drive; the instructions I found on various website with my Googling skills all seemed to be missing a step. But eventually I found this video which finally made everything make sense.
I shot myself in the foot, though, because once Vista was reinstalled, I did not have the drivers ready and so I had a devil of a time accessing the internet to locate various drivers.
On that front, I would recommend downloading all the current driver files for the various things that make your computer go, and keep them on a flash drive so you don't have to hunt for them.
Make sure you have at least your basic drivers downloaded before you format. You will need to be able to access the internet.
This is where I failed completely. In the end I used a program that worked great, and which I would recommend, if I could remember which one it was. The name doesn't come to mind and Googling brings up many such programs, but none of them look like the one I used. I seem to recall the one I used had an orange(?) layout and displayed the results of driver-searches on web-pages that contained ads. It was free, so I didn't mind the ads. They were uninvasive. Hopefully you'll be more foresighted than I was and won't need such a program anyway. Posted by TL (Member # 8124) on :
Also make sure you save any files you want to keep on an external hard drive; everything will be completely wiped out when you format. All your files will be gone.
Posted by krynn (Member # 524) on :
good advice ppls. after reading that i should take it somewhere i mentioned it to the IT guru at work and he told me he would do it for me if i brought it in tomorrow morning and that it should be doneby lunch. woot!
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