reformat + reinstall

My daughter gave me an older Dell Inspiron 5150 and I have two questions; 1- Dell lost class action re melting and there is an agreement to repair these. Do you know how I can initiate it if not to late? 2-Where can I find instructions for reformat and reinstallation? I thought xp instructions would all be the same but in comparing notes with my desktop 4600 they are a bit different. Specifically for now, do you know how to: configure the pc so I can display the available boot devices so I can place ide cd-rom at the top. I got as far as hilighting cd\dvd\cd-r -rw\dvd+r +rw. It says to then press enter but nothing happens -what is the way to display the available boot devices? Thank you

Hi
If you go here:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/syst…d_documentation

you will be able to download the user manual for your Dell as a .PDF file and this will provide full information on reinstalling your operating system using the Dell Operating system installation disc and the Dell Drivers disc.

Make sure your back up copy/archive of all your important stuff is 100% up to date, complete, accurate and reproducible and you have located all your applications discs and product license keys; you have SP2 available on disc ;(if necessary) together with your anti virus protection and bi directional software firewall. Don't even consider connecting to the Internet for one second without your firewall up and running and protecting you; not even to use the Windows/Microsoft Update facility. There are likely to be 80 to 100 Windows Updates for you to download install (post SP2)
The reinstallation of Windows and other Dell stuff may well only take 2 hours or so to complete and all the 80 to 100 updates, for the above and your antivirus and firewall perhaps half as long again.
Installation of your other applications and getting all your settings exactly as you want them may take another 2 hours or so. These times are only rough estimates and depend on exactly how you need your machine set up. However they are designed to indicate to you that it is a big step to take and a lot of folks will need to allocate a whole day of their time to achieve a system that is optimised for their use. However you should have a usable machine in less than half that time, with a bit of luck.

Re-installation is a major step that will involve your computer being "wiped" of everything that has been created, your photos, music, letters, emails, favourites, bookmarks, address books any downloaded applications, drivers and all your settings in fact, everything on your machine, this is why I want to emphasize the importance of your back up/copy/archive, being 100% up to date, accurate, complete, and reproducible.

In so far as the class action is concerned if you go here:

http://www.blaptops.com/news/dell-settles-…-inspiron-5150/

you will find an outline of the situation and hopefully you will find it easy to research the next steps.

If you press F12 immediately after the Dell logo ( you may need a couple of goes to get the timing right) then you can set the boot priority to CD-ROM by using the Arrow keys and when you get the

"hit any key to boot from CD" prompt"

……just hit any key…for.further details see pages 89 to 95 of the user manual

Regards
paws

1-April 2, 07 was the last date to join the class action suit. 2- I found the manuel -thank you 3-Isn't there a a pecial way to reformat it so you are wiping everything out. If you just reinstall it would seem you are writing over the existing xp? OR, is reinstalling the same as reformatting? You spent a lot of time but I am collecting it all so thanx again.

Hi The Dell disc will usually remove everything on your disc the good things along with the bad, perform a complete wipe and then reinstall your Windows and bring your machine back to its "factory" condition The Dell discs also often provide for a "non destructive repair" install that as you say reinstalls Windows over your existing copy…this has the advantage of not automatically wiping out your data (but there is always a risk of data corruption) and will often leave all the faults from your previous installation intact. It would be wise to establish early on exactly what you require and note the correct operational procedure with the discs, here again the user manual gives the details on Page 95. Conventional wisdom dictates that, apart perhaps from the case of a severe malware infection (example, a Remote Access Trojan etc that can often best be dealt with by a destructive reinstall, you should for most other conditions try first the more conservative Repair option that hopefully will leave your data untouched. Regards paws

Hello I was trying to format and reinstall a friend's laptop while following directions for my desktop xp sp2 and found out there are no universal steps. But, what concerns me is that I did an install of the sp2 disk sometime ago so when I go to reinstall the os I think it will say what the laptop said = can't do b/c there is more info on the pc than on the os reinstall disk. How do you work around this so you can reformat and reinstall? My guess is to remove sp2 but that would be too ez. Thanx for the help.

I understand and appreciate the message. I have a problem -it seems to me when I inserted the os. disk it said can't do b/c there is more on the pc then on the disk as I added sp2 to sp1a sometime ago. I noticed the same message on the laptop. Am I wrong and after inserting the reinstallation disk it should be straight forward following prompts.

I think what you are saying is your XP Install CD is at SP1 while your computer(s) are at SP2. The best way to fix this is to create a new XP CD slipstreamed with SP2.

The simplest way to create a Bootable Windows XP Pro or Home Installation CD Slipstreamed with SP2 is to use Autostreamer. You point to your XP Pro/Home CD, the SP2 Service Pack .exe file, give it a path to write the .iso file to and off it goes. In 5 or 10 minutes you have a .iso file that you can burn to CD with almost any CD burner program you want to use. I used Roxio 7. There is a good freeware burner called DeepBurner which will do this also.

Here is the link to Autostreamer:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-…ostreamer.shtml

You can download the SP2 .exe here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details…;displaylang=en

If you do a Destructive reinstall using the Dell Recovery CD, what is currently on the hard drive will not matter. You will only see this message if you try to do a non-destructive install.

The reinstallation disc asked if I wanted upgrade (recommened ) or advanced. I chose the first. I am trying to wipe it clean and install like factory -did I choose the right option? It seems like it is in the process of just installing another os w/o any signs of formatting unless the installation does do this formatting. If not do I recify this by starting over? Also, I tried to get the ide-rom on top but was only able to put cd-r\ cd-rw\ etc etc on top of the boot sequence. Any tips to date would be appreciated. Obviously this is expiremental so I'll make many blunders learning.

Upgrade means it will install over the existing OS, leaving everything else there. Sounds like your need to take the other, Advanced, path to format the drive and do a clean install.

I feel badly you went to all that trouble b/c i knew about slipstreaming but it is over my head. Sorry. I'll put in my folder and try when I have this job done. What I did do to work around it was to remove sp2 and the pc accepteed the disc BUT I just installed xp w/o formatting!! Is that b/c I chose the first option which was "upgrade"-recommended instead of the second choice "advanced"? Or is there another explanation why Ity did not foramt and erase everything? If you want to stay with me I have a related question; boot sequence 1-tap f2 and enter the system upon restart 2-hilite 'boot sequence' Problem here as I press enter and nothing happens I press the space bar and see the lengthy cd\dvd\cd-r etc etc that is supposed to be at the top I hilite it but CANNOT FIND WHAT TO PRESS to display the "available boot devices" so I can move ide-cd rom to the top. Hope to hear from you. Dell 5150 xp sp 1 with os newly installed. Need to format first. Thank you

I am sorry but I think I have two threads about the same topic going. Could you please find my other and reply to it. Thank you

AAHHH! That is what I was looking for. How do I set up the boot sequence so Ide-rom is at top I tried tap f2 and enter system then, locate boot sequence and hilite it, then move the lenththy c\dvd\\cd-r etc etc to the top BUT how do I then move ide cd-rom to the top? Thank you

Hi Grampy Pete, I have merged the 3 topics that you had open on formatting and reinstalling into this one topic, Please do not open another topic concerning this, just reply into this topic and Ztruker and I will be able to find it a mite easier.! Thanks. If you have a look again at post 2, it gives you the boot priority procedures and also can be found on page 95 of your owners manual. Post back here in this thread (not a new one please!) if you need any extra information. Regards paws

Hello paws I know the rules and I don't know how I got myself in the post/thread mess but I did and apologize. It takes you extra work to coordinate all -whew! I really want to be in one thread b/c it is easier fo everyone, me included. I think sometimes I get in a jam and forget where the heck I am writing -I will be careful . Well, the good news is I did a clean install -at first the pc would not accept the disk so I uninstalled sp2 and it worked. I goofed by selecting 'upgrade' instead of 'advanced' so I did not format as I wanterd to. I am going to look at those manuels you recommended to figure how to get the ide-rom or cd-rom to the top then perform a format and reinstall. Thank you for your patience, Blushingly