clean install of XP Pro

I want to re-install XP Pro on my new Dell laptop to get rid of the various promotional crap that came pre-installed. But I've been hearing different things about the drivers.... Do they come included on the CD I created with the utility or what? I asked that question in the Dell forum, and this is what I was told:

A clean install with a Recovery Disc will just load the operating system with the drivers that were current at that time and nothing else. No junk, such as AOL. Now if you use the restore partition you will recreate the parttion at the time of shipment which will be a clean OS plus all the programs.

Was she right, or should I try to find the Drivers before just in case?

Thanks for your help!

Michael

 

yeah id burn a copy of the drivers also, the ones on the cd are probly older versions and you can get the most up to date ones from the dell website.

ive heard something about not being able to get one of the burning programs (sonic?) from the the website, though.

 

You have two options:
1.) You can download them from this link.
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx

2.) copy the Dell folder located on your C: drive and burn it to a disk. If you do this, most likely your drivers will be outdated, so you'll still need to go to the above site and download the current ones.

She was wrong, and somewhat right. The recovery disk does not have the drivers on it. If you called Dell and asked for them to send you an XP CD, then there would be a separate disk with the drivers on it. The restore partition will not be a clean OS. It restores your system back to the first day you got it with all of the junk software on it. You will lose any documents,pictures,etc..in each case, so make sure to backup anything that you want to keep

Sonic is not on the website, but they do have an update for it. Any software that you need like Sonic, Cyberlink, etc, you can call Dell and they will send the CDs to you. It should be free of charge, and you'll receive them usually within 2 days of requesting them. They've been changing their policy recently on the CDs, so its kind of a mess right now.

Hope this helps,
SG

 

Pretty easy process, but what most people seem to have problems with are removing the partition and installing it clean rather than adding another operating system. Read your prompts carefully and make sure that's what you're doing or you'll have to start all over again. Mine worked fine even before installing all the additional drivers, but I went back afterward to make sure they were all up to date. You can always get them form Dell if you need to.

 

Arg, they're not gonna make it easy, huh? I think it's pretty crappy that they pack so much junk on their computers.. but I guess that's how they keep prices down. I really appreciate all your help, but I think I'm just gonna leave it alone for now, rather than screw everything up to a point that I have to buy my own XP CD's or pay a pro to fix it for me. My 5-year-old desktop has less hard drive space used up than this brand new laptop . I guess I'll just have to deal with it for now.. or until they release Longhorn.

Thanks again!

Michael

 

its actually fairly easy, and i have step by step instructions if you want to do it. Besides if something did get screwed up, Dell would send you the XP CD for free. If you decide you want to do it, let me know and i'll get you the instructions.

 

I would like to see the instructions, too.

 

How to Reinstall XP

1. You'll need to get a copy of XP. You have a couple of options. There is a dell program on the 9300 called Dell Recovery Disk (something similar to that). Its under the start menu in one of the dell folders. It will burn a copy of XP to a CD. If you don't have that program, you can call dell and request the OS CDs (3 in total). (see Dell Tidbits for additional information)

2. (skip this step if you called Dell) go to Dell's Site and download your wireless or network card driver and burn them to a CD. This will allow you to get on the net once it is installed, so you can get the other drivers.

3. Back up any personal documents (email, music, pictures, etc) to a CD.

4. Once you get your XP cd from step 1, insert it into the cd-rom and reboot. Once it restarts, you should see "hit any key to boot from cd". Hit any key to start reinstall of XP. If it does not ask you this and boots into Windows, then restart the system again. Once the dell screen appears, hit "f12" to enter boot screen and select CD-ROM. Reboot.

5. From there, this website will provide you step by step instructions (scroll down to about mid section and it gives directions with pictures)

6. When you get to the part about partitions (step 5 on the website), you'll want to choose the largest partition. If you want, you can delete each partition and it will combine them into one partition. Then you can install windows on that partition. (See Delete partitions section below)

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After Installation

Insert the drivers cd (if you called Dell) or the CD from step 2 and install the wireless or NIC driver. Once you get access to the internet, then go to the site listed in step 2 and download/install the other drivers. You'll want to do this even if you called dell because the drivers on the website are more current.

From here, you can install any additional software.

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Deleting Partitions Warning: This will delete all information located on that partition

Deleting:
1. select/highlight partition that you would like to delete
2. press D
3. if asked to confirm, say yes
4. repeat for any partition you would like to delete
****if you delete all partitions, all of the HDD space will be lumped into one big partition.***



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Dell Tidbits

1.) Recently Dell stopped sending the CDs with their systems. If you would like to use CyberLink PowerDVD (dvd decoder), Sonic or any other software, contact Dell and request the software CDs. If you state that you reformatted your harddrive, they should send these to you free of charge, and you will receive them next business day.

2.) The recovery disk and the XP disk from Dell will only have the basic operating system. This will only have the standard programs that come with XP.

3.) The restore partition will restore your system back to factory condition and will include all junk software (press ctrl + F11 when you see the Dell logo)

4.) If you have a latitude system, you should receive a retail version of XP from Dell for free. The Inspiron systems will receive a OEM version which Dell *might* charge you for them.

5.) most important part about reinstallation is patience and to read each direction carefully. It takes around an hour to complete.
--------------------

I'm still working on it. The website from step 5 is a very good source for specific steps in the reinstallation process. It has detailed pictures of every step, and if you aren't familiar with reformatting, it will walk you through each part.
Hope this helps...

 

Thanks for the post!

 

no problem...one hint, If you are not familiar with reformatting and if you have a second computer, i would have that website on it while you are doing this just in case you have any problems.

If you have reformatted any XP system before, its basically the same thing.

 

hmm. so does this mean when i order my laptop tommorow i shouldnt pay the $10 to get the cd of XP? can i just call them up and get it free?

i was going to get it since i'd be deleting that partition and freeing up some space, but if i dont have to pay; i'd rather not.

:budget:

 

lol, well i meant if you actually reformatted and it didn't work. I would just pay the 10 bucks and buy the stupid CD. I hate this policy, but it would be safer to buy it now, then find out later that Dell won't send it to you because you had a chance to buy the CD.

They've been changing their policy almost every month now on the CD thing. It started in Feb when they stopped sending the CDs but you were able to request them. Problem is that they didn't offer to buy the backup cd on their site back then. So all of those users from Feb until July didn't have a chance to get the CD, which should force Dell to give them a free CD if they need it.

Since you have the chance to buy a backup, I really don't think you would be able to get a free one...besides it is only 10 bucks (used to be 25)

 

ok, ill just spend the 10 bucks and be safe than. hope i can still get the application cds though. they didnt have an option to get those.

 

last i heard, you can call Dell and request those without any problems. Just tell them that you are reformatting and want to have the software cds.

I wouldn't be surprised if that isn't put online in the next month. Its ridiculous that you have to pay for these when you already have paid for them.

 

SG - Did they stop allowing you to burn a one-time copy of the XP disk when you first get your computer? I've heard different things, I stumbled across it by accident when i got mine and burned one right away. I'd still rather have an original, but this should work fine if they are still leaving that as an option.

Confused - You may as well leave it as is for now and see how you like it; it's nice to know that if you screw anything up you can do a complete reinstall from the partition within minutes, but personally I would rather have a clean install and all the extra disk space possible.