New Acer

I just bought an Acer 5570 from Best Buy. I have it but theres a lot of junk already on it. How can I format it to delete the stuff? Would it be best to burn a set of recovery DVDs and use them? Or should I use my XP Pro disk to just wipe it all and do a clean install?

 

If you make the recovery CD/DVD 'sthe same thing will happen, it will preload all your drivers / apps that came with the system - use your XP cd as long as it is OEM and is a SP2 CD, otherwise previous OEM XP cd's will not recognized your product key - also keep in mind that the recovery includes the drivers, so if you use the XP cd you will have to download drivers prior to your reload, or backup your currenty drivers - The benifit, you can blow away that unecessary partition (which is probably in fat32 as well), and start with a fresh CLEAN load of windows (on one partition) which will increase your PC's speed and make it worth your effort and time.

 

I don't have an OEM XP disk. I guess this means I'm out of luck?

I will try and restore my PC using the disks (BestBuy had installed some of THEIR crap) and then delete what ever I don't like. Would partition magic work to merge the two 50gb partitions into one 100gb one? Then can I convert it into NTFS?

In the case that I do find a OEM XP CD, where do I get the drivers? Iv been looking around on Acers PanAm but cant find any 5570 drivers.

 

With no OEM cd your product key will not work (should be on the bottom of the laptop)

You will need to convert your disk to NTFT prior to merging the two partitions AFTER doing your recovery (if you choose to)(it still may include some of best buys software, but most likely not) Partition Magic will def. do the job. and merge your paritions into the size of your HD as described on the box.

Most times you can get drivers from the Manf. like Acer, but you may have to dig a little bit, otherwise if you know the chipset that it is already, you can get drivers from the manf. direct (eg. Nforce(nvidia) ATI sb600(ati))

 

I have a OEM key, but no OEM disk. The XP Pro disk I have is a retail version. Will it still work?

How does Media Center compare to XP Pro? I would really like to keep the actual media center if possible.

Is Acer's eManagment something I would want to keep?

 

No it will not work - OEM Prod key works with OEM cd, retail prod key works with retail CD - Media center is XP pro with Media Center Built in -
I would get rid of emanagement.

 

Just as a note, remember that HD size listed on the box is by Hard Drive manufacturer and not by Windows (Windows 1024mb = 1gb, HD Manufacturer, 1000mb = 1gb)

 

Ya, thats fine. I ended up formating with 95xxGB of free space.

I have just decided to go ahead with my XP Pro CD and key.

 

It's not going to make any perceivable difference. You would be better off just uninstalling what you don't want (and maybe running CCleaner to tidy up the registry). And I would keep the two partitions rather than making just one. You probably won't even need to use the D partition for anything, unless you want to. That's a lot of disk space to fill. You can easily convert both partitions to NTFS, and you don't have to do a fresh install of windows for that. If you keep the two partitions, it makes it easier to defrag, and if you ever need to do another fresh install of windows via Acer recovery, it's a lot easier to do if you still have that D partition. The recovery process won't touch the D partition at all, and so you can backup all your data and settings there and then easily restore everything.


Media Centre edition is Win XP Pro under the hood. You can even install the IIS server if you want, but on the ACER, because you don't have an installation CD, you can only do it if when you install Windows the first time on it, you make sure to make up a domain name when it asks you if you want to connect to one. Then, once windows is installed, you can install IIS.

 

Too late!


I managed to find an OEM Windows XP Pro- MCE 2005 in my companies software library. Someone had bought it from a store in 05. I have entered my key from the bottom of my laptop and it took it no problem!

 

For some reason the laptop refuses the CD 1/2 way into the install. I guess I am stuck using the back up DVDs I have, then using Partition Magic to make everything the way I like it.

 

If you have another cd, suggestion would be to try it but most likely by time frame of response you've probably already loaded the DVD which has recreated your partitions - so good luck -

 

Good news! I found my personal CD of Windows Media Center- retail with key and used that. Once I installed it and the drivers, I am left with a totally fresh install. Its been working great since! My friend has also been able to make a set of recovery DVDs for me and has mailed them. I should get them in a week and have them in case something goes wrong.