ReInstall Windows?

[catthepatch]

Have a dell 4600 demension and want to re install xp home from the factory partition. How does one go about doing this? At the moment, the thing is nothing but a headache, slow and not giving me my iks fix. Any suggestions? Help!!!

I did this once before a few years ago when I first got it and can't remember how...

[Nostradamus]

you should have a recovery CD for the thing. Might have came with the unit knew or might have had software on there so you could create one.

Either way, simply insert the CD into the drive and reboot the computer and it shoud walk you through the procedure then

[catthepatch]

No cd, just a factory partition with the os install.

[Nostradamus]

OK then there must be some type of key sequence you hold down when booting to make it tart the recovery process

[Nostradamus]

1 Connect the external hard drive to the computer and wait for its folder to appear on the desktop. Copy and paste any valuable data, documents, photos or other files you want to save to the external hard drive's folder. Right-click the folder and choose "Eject" once the backup is complete.


2 Remove any hardware devices, such as printers, MP3 players, scanners and PDAs, from the computer as they can be damaged during the restoration.


3 Restart the computer and press the "F8" key when the Dell logo appears on the screen during the startup (http://www.ehow.com/how_6911332_restore-4600-its-factory-settings.html#) process. The "Advanced Boot Options Menu" will appear. Use the arrow keys to select the "Repair Your Computer" option and press "Enter."


4 Select the language settings for your computer and click "Next." Log in with an administrator account and click "OK." Click on the "Dell Factory Image Restore" icon.


5 Click "Next" in the window that appears and click the box for "Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software (http://www.ehow.com/how_6911332_restore-4600-its-factory-settings.html#) to factory condition." Click "Next" to begin the restore process. The utility will return the computer to the factory settings and reformat the hard drive. Click "Finish" to restart the computer with the new operating condition in place.

[notocer]

Try f11 on the boot. Think-pad uses that and a few others.

[catthepatch]

Still not getting to the format hard drive. Guess I could go to the Dell site and ask there?

[Bigpineguy Retired]

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&docid=DSN_3E48AE3870775D64E040A68F5B2877D4&isLegacy=true

I do this all the time for ppl..

BPG~

[catthepatch]

Finally got it! Took some time to figure out that a simple restart wouldn't work. Had to do a hard boot and got it. Now if only my fire fox would return to normal!

Thanks for the help!!!