Need help, first time DELL user.

just got my DELL and...
i would like to reinstall my windows. whats steps do i take to do this?
-what do i back up? i see some folders on the C:\ (ex.Drivers,DELL,i368, etc) do i need to back those up?


- are all the drivers in the resource CD?

 

Assuming you received the OS and drivers discs, and you don't have any personal files yet, you don't need to back up anything. Just install whatever OS you like, and save the discs they gave you.

 

I don't know; back them up if you're really worried. The stuff in the Drivers folder should be on the drivers disc. Not sure about the others.

 

If i use the OS CD that they gave me, will it install all the boat(like google search, toolbars and crap)?

 

If it says Microsoft Install Disc OEM or something on it, it won't... actually, I don't think any of their discs reinstall that crap. But the last time I bought a Dell that came with Windows discs was in 2000, so I might be wrong...

 

No, it won't.

 

Here is a link to a walkthrough of how to do this.

Follow it step-by-step and you should be just fine.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=91494

I hope this helps!

Matt

 

how do i backup all the files i have??

I have 40 gb of music and mvies and lots of softwares..

I dont have an external harddrive..

the only option i have is to burn them on to a dvd??

 

Hmm. The best way to do it would be on an external harddrive. Either burn it all to DVDs and CDs, or borrow something from a friend.

As far as software and applications go, you will have to reinstall all of them back onto the computer.

 

yup, I was gonna link you to Amber's guide. Good stuff (+ rep!)

 

Wouldn't recommend anyother Dell reformat guide.

 

My 2 cents:

-Document and Settings should be the only directory you need to backup. However some softwares store their settings in other places, that's just plain bad. You just have to find where you can find them, and include them in the backup.

-for the rest, it should not be saved. All drivers should be on the CD, and on Dell's website. That won't be difficult to find. All your softwares are re-installable.

-do NOT backup only on CDs if it's important stuffs. Like digital photos. CDs are NOT meant for long term backup. You may have problems reading 4 or 5 years old CDs. So if you want to use CDs only, backup your backup CDs from time to time. Put a date on them, and when they are 3 years old, copy them. At least for things you really don't want to lose.

-if you can, use an external hard drive. Backup up every night, with incremental mode. It will just save what was changed. Softwares like UltraBackup are very easy to use. Just give it a try. harddrive are not really more reliable than CD, so don't put things on the external drive only. they should BOTH be on the laptop and on the harddrive. The external harddrive is interesting also because you can take all your data with you if needed, like when visiting friends, travelling...

Sorry to sound so alarmist, but people get more and more digital data, like videos, or photos, and most of them don't care about backup. An harddrive can crash any time, and even if usually you can recover most of your data, you may also lose a lot. Just try to answer the question "what if I lose THIS tomorrow?". Then you should know how serious you should be with backups

 

that link you gave me dont work.