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Help with reformatted PC
Hi there,
I'm new to these forums. I've had a Dell Desktop Vista PC for many years without problem and never needed to ask for any help. However, now that I am preparing my old PC for passing on, I could do with some help and advice.
First a little background. The PC in question is about 8 years old, but up until about 12mths ago we still regularly used it for emails and word processing. Over the years though it had very much become a second or even third PC as laptops and iPads became more prevalent in our household.
In fact, it hasn't been used at all for over 12mths, and the time has now come to dispose of it.
I had already had a clear out of old CDs, cables etc and therein lies part of my problem which I will come to later.
My original intention was to scrap the PC and my thoughts were mainly about overwriting all my personal data, so a week or so ago I reformatted the hard disk. If I ever had any Windows Vista CDs it seems likely they were thrown out during my previous clear out, but the reformat worked by booting up into the D: drive and choosing the repair option.
So far, so good. However I then heard that someone was looking for an old PC to learn on and I thought this might be a better way to dispose of what has been a very good PC for us.
This is where I have hot a few problems. When I start up the PC it all runs perfectly normally, but the first set-up page it comes to asks me to setup the Dell bluetooth mouse and keyboard. These both stopped working years ago and were replaced by plug in mouse and keyboard. In fact we tried several plug-in mice over the course of the last 12-18mths the PC was in use and kept having problems with them. This was one of the reasons why the PC fell into disuse. It is also the reason why, during my major clearout all these defunct mice were thrown out., and in fact I n longer have a PC mouse in the house, although the plug-in keyboard is still perfectly operable.
So to get back to my problems:
Is there a way of getting past this screen (that asks me to set up the bluetooth mouse and keyboard) using only a plug-in keyboard? I have tried Escape, Enter and using the Tab keys but the screen looks almost more like a page from a quick start guide and may be waiting for a bluetooth response.
Assuming that is possible, is the set up going to require CDs at any point? I can't remember whether the PC came with CDs or whether the D: recovery drive has all it needs.
Am I likely to hit any other problems - registration keys for Windows etc - that will prevent a full set up of the operating system? It doesn't need any additional software installed - that will be up to the new owner.
The final point is that, having initially reformatted the disk to wipe the data with the intention of scrapping the PC, I didn't make a note of the specification, so I can't remember what RAM, processor etc it has, just that it was a Vista Home Edition PC.
I've kind of promised this PC to someone now and don't want to let them down, but if I can't complete the setup I think I will have to.
Thank you in advance for your help.
DELL-Jesse L
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January 20th, 2017 07:00
Bramsley,
You do not mention which computer you have so that I could check to see if there is a restore partition. You will need to either restore the system, reinstall windows or boot to a windows disk and format the "C" drive. You can click the link below and select your computer and download the computers users manual.
Support.dell
http://dell.to/2iJHKgN
Bramsley
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January 20th, 2017 08:00
Thank you. On the back of the PC it says Model: WL-138G V2. I think the D: drive is the restore partition - at least as I remember it had the word Recovery on one of the file names within it. Is 'Restore' different to 'Recovery' though?
Basically, what I did was to boot up the machine pressing F8 I think. That gave me a choice of start up options including Repair your Computer. The options I was then given included one which would overwrite my data. It wasn't a restore from a backup that I do know. I chose that option, got a warning that I would lose my personal dat, which is what I wanted, and pressed continue. My understanding while I was doing this was that I was basically re-installing Vista, or at least returning the PC to factory settings. Everything worked perfectly and I got a message to say it had been a success. Sorry to be so vague about this now, but as I said my main intention when I did it was to destroy the data and send the PC for scrap.
When I boot the PC now it starts up as any 'normal' PC would, with the initial Microsoft screen, but before it gets to any desktop screen, it comes up with this screen to activate the bluetooth mouse and keyboard. I haven't been asked to insert any disks so far, but if these are going to be required, the plan to pass this computer on to someone else is a non-starter.
I hope this information helps. If necessary I can go through the same process again and take proper notes of the options I choose, if that would help?
Thank you
Bramsley
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January 20th, 2017 08:00
Sorry I should have said that I used the link you provided and entered the model number WL-138G V2, but it didn't recognise it.
Thank you
DELL-Jesse L
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January 23rd, 2017 06:00
Bramsley,
That isn't a System service tag number. It is a 5-7 alpah-numeric number with no dashes or spaces. It is also listed in the bios.
Philip_Yip
9 Legend
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January 25th, 2017 01:00
The problem is Windows Vista reaches End of Life in April... This means no more Security patches and it means that you cannot procure installation media from Dell (and even if you could it wouldn't be worth the cost).
Bramsley
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January 26th, 2017 09:00
Thank you all for your help, but it's increasingly looking like a re-installation isn't feasible after all. I've done what I initially wanted to do, which is to delete the data. So I'll stick with my original plan which was to scrap the PC. Thanks again though.
Regards.
speedstep
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January 27th, 2017 04:00
No reason to scrap it if you get a copy of windows 7 its good for another 3 years. Machines as old as 2006 aka Optiplex GX620 will work all the way from MSDOS to Windows 10 with the right CPU and Max Ram. You could also install Ubuntu 16.04 Long Term Support Thats Free.
https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop
https://www.amazon.com/Windows-Professional-System-Builder-Packaging/dp/B00H09BOXQ/
rdunnill
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January 27th, 2017 20:00
If it was shipped with Vista installed, it should run Windows 7, 8 or 10.
Bramsley
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January 28th, 2017 01:00
Thank you again for these additional responses, however the PC has now been handed over to someone who will do a reinstallation and make use of the PC himself.
Thank you again.