The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Wipe and reinstall 8204

    Discussion in 'Acer' started by greengrass, Apr 4, 2006.

  1. greengrass

    greengrass Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    -1
    Messages:
    29
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hi,
    Just got myself anew 8204 and am looking to wipe the hard drive clean, reformat and reinstall. (i will be keeping the recovery partition.)

    Although i have a couple of questions

    1. If i use the recovery disk (created with e-recovery) will i be getting a clean install of windows xp or will i be getting the machine back to the point when i recieved it with all of the Acer junk on it.

    2. I have an original copy of an XP disk that i got with another machine. Can i use that to install on my laptop but use the serial key i recieved with my new laptop, so that i get a vanilla install of XP.

    3. If i do as asked in note 2 where are the source files for the acer software, drivers for camera etc. I would still like to keep gridvista, gravisense and powerdvd etc. Also, do i need all of the acer branded software to utilise the specific hardware in this laptop.

    4. where can i find decent driver files for the ATI x1600, i have tried their website but their info tool says that the catalyst drivers will not be compatible with my hardware. (i assume its cos it is a mobility part as opposed to desktop) I am having a couple of problems with a couple of games and i think updating the drivers could be the problem.

    Any advice would be appreciated.
     
    greengrass, Apr 4, 2006
    #1
  2. miner

    miner Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    1,326
    Messages:
    7,137
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    1. The recovery will just retore it to factory state. So, it will include all the bundled Acer software.

    2. Installing XP with the OEM key should work. I havent tried it but from what I have seen in these forums, it should accept that key. Only thing you'll have to keep in mind that a XP Home key will work only with Home and not Pro and so on...

    3. Most of the Acer software can downloaded off of Acer's support site. they might be under different model laptops, but most of them should work. You can also get the drivers from the respective manufacturers site.

    4. Mobile GPU support lies with the laptop manufacturer. Ati or even Nvidia do not release official drivers. You can still try using the modded drivers from laptopvideo2go or omega.

    If possible do keep a ghost image of the drive, just in case the re-installation has issues and you need to go back to the original state.
     
    miner, Apr 4, 2006
    #2