Can I use the reinstall CD that came with Precision M6400 to install on other systems ? Non- M6400, and perhaps non-dell ?
Can I use the same CD to install on multiple systems ?
I recieved my Dell Studio XPS 16 about a month ago, i have to say i really love it, even 64-bit Vista, but it still lacked that "sense of home" that XP used to bring me, and some of my programs i used did not work in 64-bit Vista,
therefore i decided to try to duel boot 32-bit XP, little did i know what challenges i had to overcome...
The main problem with doing this, is the drivers!!! I had to track them down and mod one... but here, i am simply going to list them for you and give you a nice and easy to follow guide (along with a link or 2 to other guides that you may need)
REQUIREMENTS
- Dell Studio XPS 16, although other systems with some of the hardware may work if you find the drivers i do not list for your system
- XP Install CD
- Blank CD (unless you know how to boot off a usb drive or something similar)
- nLite http://www.nliteos.com/download.html
Okay so your first decision is simple, do you want to keep vista, or dump it completely? If you dump it completely this makes your life i bit more simple, but in my case i decided to keep it.
STEP 1
- Partitioning
Partitioning is simply splitting your hardrive in to 2 or more peices, basically creating "virtual hardrives". The simplest way to do this is to use vista's disk management, now since this would take awhile, i'm just going to give a link to a page that shows 3 different ways to partition, once you're done come back here because if you follow that whole tutorial, you'll find it wont work
http://apcmag.com/how_to_dual_boot_v...ide.htm?page=2
STEP 2
- Integrating Drivers
Your hardrive is a SATA drive which back in the XP days, weren't really around, therefore there were no built in drivers in your disk. Your wireless card was always not around back then, so we need to integrate that aswell so you can follow the rest of the tutorial once you have XP installed (or at least so you can download the other drivers) .....
Background:
A few days ago i bought an Acer 7730 laptop with Windows Vista pre-installed and no disks. After initial hesitation i have decided to keep vista and not downgrade to XP. After all there will be more service packs and tweaking should speed it up lots anyway.
However, i really want to get rid of the three partitions on the hard drive. There is only one physical hard drive but there are three partitions; a hidden 10GB one (EISA configuration) which from what i have gathered is now obsolete, a C: partition 111.44GB and a D: partition 111.44GB. There is no need to split a drive into several partitions now that we have the NTFS file system (unless you are using multiple operating systems of course - but i am not) so this is really annoying me.
I have made the 2 recovery DVD and the 1 applications/drivers DVD. I have an old WinXP disk that i can use to format the laptop if required.
Question:
Using the recovery disks (which i'm assuming contain a copy of my bought OEM Vista that was pre-installed on the laptop), can i delete the partitions, format the hard drive and install Vista onto a single c: partition?
I've done this exact process before with WinXP hundreds of times but i'm not sure whether i can do the same for Vista with just the 3 DVD mentioned...
Today I will get my XPS M1730 (warranty replacement for my Gen2). I'll get it with Vista Home Premium 32bit and I have a few questions.
1. Is the installation by dell "bloated" with unnecessary stuff?
2. If it is, I plan to reinstall Vista with a retail Ultimate DVD my friend has bought. Can I use the serial on the backside of my computer for this installation to get a clean Home Premium installation?
3. Will I need to activate afterwards, like call MS or something...........
I just got a 1730 and if i use the operating system disk that came with it it locks up on the part of the install that says "completing installation" and If I try using a copy of vista ultimate that I have it will install and the first time i reboot the computer I get a quick flash of a BSOD then it restarts and keeps doing it.
View 14 Replies View RelatedI have been told that Dell laptops have a hidden partition to do a factory re install of the OS.
View 3 Replies View RelatedMy wife has an HP DV6000 with Vista on it from the factory. We have talked about reinstalling Vista to get rid of all the other "junk" to put it nicely. I mentioned this to my brother-in-law and he said we don't want to reinstall Vista because HP puts so much on there to help users. If we reinstall Vista are we going to loose out on something HP gave us?
View 5 Replies View RelatedWindows XP/Vista Reinstall Guide for Dell 17" Laptops
Specifically made for the XPS M1710
Also works for the Inspiron 9400/E1705, 1720, XPS M1730, Precision M90 and M6300, see *NOTE* below
Guide Version 1.20 (Last Updated: 5-20-2008)
I've gotten probably about 15-20 requests on a guide with the drivers I personally use for my XPS M1710 for reinstalling Windows, since I have both an XP-dedicated M1710 and a Vista-dedicated M1710. So... I finally got around to posting it for everyone to see, and it includes some things that some people don't know about... It was originally going to be just what drivers to use, but instead, I morphed it into a full reinstall guide, as there are some things in here alot of people don't know about.
I'm splitting this guide into two parts. The first being for Windows XP, and the second being for Windows Vista. Both are similar in ways, but its better to do it in 2 different sections, to avoid any confusion. I'm not posting a guide for Windows x64, as I unfortunately do not have a copy of it in either XP or Vista form, and most people on the forums don't use it, so this guide is sticking to the 32-Bit versions of the respective OSes.
*NOTE*Inspiron 9400/E1705 - Exchange the Gigabit Ethernet drivers outlined below for the Broadcom 10/100 drivers on the Dell Downloads site for the Inspiron 9400/E1705.
Inspiron 1720 - Exchange the Gigabit Ethernet drivers outlined below for the Broadcom 10/100 drivers on the Dell Downloads site for the Inspiron 1720. Also, exchange the Modem drivers for the one specifically for your laptop. If you have a Webcam, add that software in as the last "driver" installed before moving to the next step.
XPS M1730 - Exchange the Modem drivers for those specifically for the XPS M1730. If you have a Webcam, add that software, along with the "Logitech GamePanel" software, in as the last "driver" installed before moving to the next step.
Precision M90 - Procedure should be the same as that for the XPS M1710, including all drivers.
Precision M6300 - Exchange the Modem drivers for those specifically for the Precision M6300, and also add in the fingerprint reader software (if wanted/needed) as the last "driver" installed before moving to the next step
For the newer (Inspiron 1720, XPS M1730, Precision M6300) model laptops, you MUST DISABLE AHCI (change the setting from AHCI --> ATA) in the BIOS in order to proceed with installation of the Operating System without issues, otherwise the installation WILL FAIL......................
You know how with Win98 there was a floppy to startup the computer to reinstall the win98 disc.... My new laptop did not come with a start up disc... how is this done? I have no original disc... can this be ordered thru Acer or do I have to purchase a disc from Microsoft?
View 8 Replies View RelatedCould someone help, when i press f8 at boot, it doesnt have the option to reinstall OS.
View 3 Replies View RelatedI am trying to fix my dads notebook, its been running very slow lately and I want to format and reinstall Vista for him, however has most of you may know, it's really hard to find notebook drivers (well in my case it is), so does anyone know where I can find drivers for me dads 5634WLMi?
I have tryed Acer's website but they are either for 5630 or 5680/90, or can I use the 5630 drivers on this?
how to i reinstall vista to new hard drive?
View 7 Replies View RelatedI managed to create a Recovery Disc last night using the hard drive from the 6820s in an external caddy and accessed the Recovery CD creator that way.
But now I'm having a problem trying to reinstall Windows Vista as when I accessed the section concerning the complete format and reinstallation of Windows Vista; I got the following message:
Error 0x400 100130000 1002
If this issue continues, please contact HP Support.
how I can fix the problem that this message is referring to?
My XPS 1530 became very slow and everytime I would click on a window I got the round symbal and the screen would go white. After many reboots I saved everything of importance to an external drive and pulled out the Vista original start up disc. So I did that but for some reason only the blue tooth light comes on and the light to the left of it does not.
I click on internet and it says nothing is found. I get confused with add a network - I don't want a network I want to get back on my wireless.
I am typing from my 4 year old HP with XP and I never have these problems and it was dead easy to get onto the internet - just type in the password and I'm on.
I have had 98SE for 8 years and XP for 4 and in 4 months with Vista I can safely say that it does nothing any better than 98SE or XP did and it crashes freezes and bugs the hell out of me far more than the others combined.
Is there anyway I can load my XP start up discs for my HP onto the Dell - honestly I really want to be able to do this. Otherwise I'm going to sell the XPS 1530 - and buy a bloody Apple.
My laptop (studio 1537) in running very slowly - so i need to either reinstall vista or do a factory image restore - I don't have any disks. if i do a factoryy restore will dell utilities be reinstalled automatically? if not where do i get them from?
How do I reinstall vista, and does this wipe personal files?
I have replaced the hard drives with new blank ones, but I cannot now reinstall Vista from the Reinstallation DVD because no drives are seen.
I have updated the BIOS to the latest available version, but still no joy.
I have taken out the drives and, using an external HDD port, can access them from another PC, so I'm certain there's no issues with the drives themselves.
I've tried Paragon 2010 Suite, but even that cannot "see" the drives, so I'm deducing that it's an issue peculiar to this Dell model.
I got my laptop but did not do a clean install. I just removed all the bloatware I could think of. Is there a guide to do just that though, get rid of all the stuff that shouldn't be there so that you essentially have a clean install without all the bloat or footprints of it?
View 9 Replies View RelatedI will try to make this short and understandable......
I bought a XPS M1330 iwth Vista Home Premium Bios A07 in January 2008.
April 2008 I tried to install updates and it messed up my Microsoft Office 2007 so I got it back working and did not mess with anymore updates.
Around June 2008 I started having the notorious battery issues. The battery ran down while I was on it and the battery has never worked since. At first it said connected,
but not charging but then it eventually died while I was trying to fix the problem and now it says battery not detected and it says the ac adapter is not recognized (I have the original AC adapter sent with the computer) .....
I have acer aspire 6930g lapotop came with preinstalled windows vista ..my problem is this preinstalled windows vista now has to much troubles and I want to reinstall to get red of all these troubles and I heard that I can reinstall it using ((factory default)) DVDs which I made by acer eRecovery program when I bought this laptop but I must tell you that when I bought this laptop ,its hard disk came with only 3 partitions so I used its windows vista tools to create 2 new partitions and now I has 5 partitions so If I used ((factory default )) DVDs to reinstall windows vista ,AM I going to loose new 2 partitons I created and all data in them?
View 6 Replies View RelatedMy laptop is a hp dv6000 with 32 bit vista home premium preinstalled from the store. I never upgraded a laptop before so I don't know what to expect. Are all vista preinstalled systems already activated and do they use the OEM key or the product key on the bottom of the laptop? Recently my original hard drive failed and had no other choice expect to upgrade to a new one. My laptop came with the windows anytime upgrade disc so I used that to clean install vista home premium. Would the user recovery discs work instead on a new empty hard drive? When it asks for the product key the first time, I entered it in using the key on the bottom of the laptop. After everything was complete it said "3 days until automatic activation" and had the OEM key listed, not the one on the bottom of the laptop. I reactivate again using the sticker on the bottom on the laptop and it said "windows is activated", but it still had the OEM key listed. Did I enter the right key both times? Would there be any difference using the OEM key instead? Now about the recovery discs, if the "swsetup" folder was deleted before creating the discs will it still be on the disc even though it's suppose to be a factory image? Will I get the recovery partition and quick play if I reinstall again?
View 3 Replies View RelatedI currently installed Ubuntu and it was good but It drained my battery so I decided to take it off. After that my computer started to act weird. The Media Direct partition appeared in next to my OS and Recovery partitions. When i would press the MD button, I would get a blue screen and eventually every time I press the button It just turns on my computer. When I try to turn it back on after putting it on hibernate, it states that windows did not turn off right and it restarts windows. I have decided to a clean reinstall of Vista and MD but I have a few questions. I found this tutorial on how to do it on the internet but i found that i have to completely delete all the partitions including the recovery partition. I was wondering if there is a way to do this without having to delete that partition?
View 10 Replies View RelatedI am reading the various threads about how to go about performing a Windows 7 clean install.
I see and understand the requirements to load the Sony 'platform' drivers to get the various custom hardware working.
but what about reinstalling the original applications? Particularly some of the custom VAIO apps .....
My Dell Vostro 3450 (windows 7) had been running slowly for a while and after a virus scan didn't work, I decided to reinstall my operating system. I used the OS reinstall disk that came with the computer and that seemed to work pretty well. However, when it came time to install the drivers, I hit a roadblock. I put in the drivers disk and tried to go through the list of what drivers to install first (DSS, then chipset, etc...) but each time I installed something, it didn't seem to do anything-- I would go through the whole process for each one, but the little check mark wouldn't appear next to it in the "My System" list.... See below:
My computer can't connect to the internet either by ethernet or wifi, and can only input info through the cd drive.
i want to uninstall everything that is i want to ununistall the OS VISTA thus replacing it with WINDOWS XP.
But unfornately i have failed to install OS (XP) on my laptop which came with pre-installed Windows Vista. I not been able , but when i boot my lapto using Windows XP CD it copies the required files but when i press ENTER to install Windows XP the message appears that " Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer. Make sure any hard disk drives are powered on and properly connected to your computer and that any disk related hardware configuration is correct. This may involve running a manufacture supplied diagnostic or setup program. Setup cannot continue. To quit setup, press F3." Please note I have C: drive installed windows vista on it, i have drive D: files are available for recovery disk pre-installed by the windows vista or manufacturer. My lapto is ACER MODEL 4320. Please advise how to install how to install the operating system on this computer.
When i bought my laptop it have windows 8 but i disliked it and have many bugs on my games so i installed windows 7
and complete delete everything in my harddisk. I couldn't find product keys anyway packet , laptop etc.
My laptop is pavilion g6 2255eo
I received my new Inspiron 1720 on Wednesday, and was having really sluggish performance so I decided to reformat.
I put in my Vista Home Premium reinstallation DVD and rebooted, and formatted the hard drive in the setup menu but the install always gets stuck on either Completing Installation, or it goes past that to a black screen with the mouse cursor still showing. If I try to restart the machine at the black screen, Windows will not boot and it just shows the loading bar infinitely.
I tried re-seating both RAM sticks and re-seating the Hard Drive, also there are no external devices or anything plugged into the machine except the power cable. If anyone could help me I'd greatly appreciate it, this is driving me up the wall and like I said I only got this machine on Wednesday so this is quite upsetting. When Windows was on originally, I had really long load times, a lot of "stutter" in games, no errors or anything like that so I am thinking it's a faulty hard drive possibly.
Also just on the desktop, everything was slow to load up but I thought this was due to the amount of bloatware and such, this is why I decided to reformat in the first place.
A problem cropping up more and more of late is a BSOD when the machine is coming out of sleep mode, or when the hood is lifted after sleep mode.
The cause of this has been determined to be a Microsoft update patch.
See this thread on the Dell Forums about people having the problem and it's resolution:
[url]
I just received my 64 bit cd from dell today and am pretty anxious to get it up and running.
Just checking in to see if there are any important things to note before I start.
Due to technical problems, I'm having my motherboard replaced by a technician tomorrow.
There used to be a topic on this forum about some sort of "special" installation of Vista on the M1530 (one driver was loaded during setup). Does this still apply to the new driver versions?
I did my registration with the original installation and then re-installed it on the 64 bit install. Do you need to re-install the software on the new 64 bit install or is it all done through the bios. I also called Lojack and asked about the bios setting since by default it is set to inactive or whatever and not active and I was told not to touch it. Does anyone know what is up with that.
View 10 Replies View Related