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partioned hard drive oopps
First of all, thank you for stopping to read my post.....thank you agian for those who respond
I have an inspirion 530.
The past few months I have been ignoring the aweful loud humming and whirling noises coming from the pc tower, as well as doing nothing when the "last backup failed" window popup every time I accessed the computer.
Two weeks ago, i finally had enough of the noise so instead of letting it "hybernate" I shut it doown. The next morning when I wen to turn it on, i got nothing but loud noisses and a black screen with a blinking cursor.
my hard ddrive was partitioned in 2 parts--- one was Local C drive & the other was Recovery,,,,,,,well when I tried to reboot windows i used the discs and i reformatted the recovery partion and reinstalled the whole OS (windows vista , utilities, drives ect.)
Now when i resart my computer, it goes to a screen where i have to choose which OS to use. (vista is on each partion)
If i log onto vista from the new installlation, i have denied access to all files --personal , programs ect.)
if i log onto vista from the older partion, only partial of the programs and personal files are accessible.
I have tried to create a back up disc(s) for my personal files with no success due to lack of memory space needed.--
unfortunally,there is no other restore/ backup point available
when i access on-line i have to clear cookies and temp files every 5-10 minutes otherwise computer slows down ,& or freezes up sometimes a window pops up "memory full" error (something to the sort)
My question(s): how do i access my files to back them up, can i reverse what i did when i rreformatted the drive & reinstalled vista , do i need to replace the hard drive?
UGH
plpease help me if u can..................................
BTW .....the noises stopped for a day or ttwo then got even louder and non stop until......3days ago when i removed the side cover from the pc tower--WOW I removed 3years of dust from the inside and from the fans.....it has been sooo quiet ever since!
osprey4
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December 28th, 2010 04:00
Hi Prncsshellie,
Here are instructions on how to access your old files.
Once you do that, I suggest you completely wipe the hard drive and reinstall.
prncsschellie
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December 30th, 2010 08:00
Thank you for your help. I apologize for my delay in responding to your post.
Out of curiousity~ ho does one go about completely wiping the drive & reinstall.
I think I know but not positive. I dont want to turn my computer into a paper weight.
Thank you again :)
osprey4
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December 30th, 2010 09:00
Here you go: Manually reinstall Vista
During the installation process, you will need to accept the license agreement and click "Next." Be sure to click "Custom Install." You'll see an option to delete any existing partitions. Delete both partitions on your hard drive. This will wipe your hard drive. Then you'll be able to create a new partition for the installation of Vista.
prncsschellie
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December 30th, 2010 10:00
Hello Osprey4,
I hope I am not becoming a burden to you with my naive questions because I have came up with a few more ??'s.
If you don't have the patience, energy or time to deal with me, I will understand and will not take it personally.
Here's my status:
I have my personal documents, photos, videos and music backed up on discs.
I have a used hard drive that has OS windows XP, (was thinking about installing it to ADD to, NOT to replace the original
hard drive. I also was thinking about replacing both of the XP and the Vista OS with Windows 7 Ultimate.
Do you think this would be more of a hassle and possibly cause me more troubles for me to the point of me ripping
my hair out and literally throwing the computer out the living room window and over the balcony?
~Chellie
(pronounced as shelly)
osprey4
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December 30th, 2010 11:00
There should be no problem upgrading your Inspiron 530 to Windows 7. The procedure for installing Win 7 is very much the same as Vista. The installation disc will allow you to wipe the drive and start from a clean partition. If you buy a Win 7 upgrade disc from Dell, you can still perform a clean installation but you may need your Vista disc as "qualifying media".
prncsschellie
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December 30th, 2010 13:00
oh i pray you are still online Osprey4,
i think i turned my puter into a paper weight!
I have a black DOS screen that has the following displayed:
your cd/dvd drive during this boot cycle is f:
a RAMDISK drive is available for this boot cycle as C:
it contains several Hard Drive setup tools. Please use these tools only under the direction of Dell Support Staff.
F:\>_
UGH??!! what does that mean oh boy
i tried to install the windows 7 on one of the partitions BEFORE i deleted the vista from it , now the computer doesn't like me
and i don't know what to do.
osprey4
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December 31st, 2010 06:00
May I suggest you find a local shop that can help you install Windows on your computer? Yes, it going to cost a few bucks, but in a day or so, you'll have an operating computer.
warrenhottie
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September 18th, 2012 09:00
osprey4
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September 19th, 2012 05:00
Hi Warrenhottie,
We can't help unless you provide the model of your Dell, operating system, and a description of the problem.