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Can't restore my Inspiron mini(Windows XP)
Hello all, wondering if anyone can help.... I have a Dell inspiron mini 1010. Recently I got a virus that began by interrupting the internet connect but after a few days took over the laptop and installed itself as 'Virus protection 2011' with a little windows icon. I'm trying to completely restore the computer so i bought an external CD drive. I've altered the boot sequence to put CD drive as the first port of call. When I push F12 at the stat up screen i get my boot options... I select CD/DVD etc... but it continues to boot normally.
Now i'm lost.... Its almost as tho it doesn't recognise the cd drive... But when i try the cd drive in another computer it recognises it fine....
Any help would be much appreciated...
Tel
bacillus
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January 30th, 2011 09:00
Have you tried a factory restore?
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1010/en/sg/sg_en.pdf and look on page 4
bacillus
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January 30th, 2011 10:00
No, it involves pressing F8 at startup and choosing recover.
You need a pdf reader to read the link so suggest you install one like foxit or adobe reader.
The recovery option needs no other hardware to work and it puts your system to the way dell sent it to you. You must back up any important files before using it as it completely wipes your drive.
Teluk
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January 30th, 2011 10:00
Thanks for the reply buddy. Would you believe my computer wont allow me to view that link you sent! :( At the minute its really looking like it cant recognise that theres an external CD drive connected. So I cant boot from the CD. How does a factory restore work? If it involves a boot disc i think i cant do it because of this USB issue....
Teluk
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January 30th, 2011 11:00
I tried the F8 at start up and it brings me to windows advance options menu. Many choices but no recover ... :(
safe mode
safe mode with networking
safe mode with command prompt
enable boot logging
enable vga mode
last known good configuration
directory services restore mode(tried this, just brings me to windows)
debugging mode
disable automatic restart
start windows normally
reboot
return to os choices menu
Theyre the options i have. Its all very frustrating... I have all the kit for restoring the computer software etc... external cd drive... but i just can't get started.... grrrrr :(
bacillus
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January 30th, 2011 12:00
Thinking about it, if you have XP then you should try pressing immediately at startup.
CAUTION: If you do not want to proceed with PC Restore, click Reboot.
Press Restore and click Confirm.
The restore process takes approximately 6 to 10 minutes to complete.
If you do not press in time, let the computer finish starting, and then restart the computer again.Teluk
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January 30th, 2011 13:00
I've tried the F11 key too. Also ctrl + F11.... It only really gets me back to the F8 menu. Thanks for the advice... I'm at my limit.. I may throw it out the window!!
bacillus
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January 30th, 2011 14:00
Can you boot from your OS disc on another system using its optical drive and can you do so with the disc in your external optical drive on that pc?
I need to ask if your external drive can read dvds and are you using XP (comes on a cdrom) or windows 7(comes on a dvd).
Teluk
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January 30th, 2011 14:00
Yeah tapping F8 does the same! I think i'll call Dell tomor. But i just cant see what they'll say either... The options just dont seem to be there to get into DOS etc... As for the External CD ROM, Yeah its a little slim one, with two USB's 1 x data, 1 x power.
Strangly enough when i had windows open, it would recognise that there was a cd rom in there, windows disc, and i could explore it, but from startup when i select boot from DVD or boot from removable devices it just won't boot the CD. I'm completely lost now!
bacillus
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January 30th, 2011 14:00
hmm, Does tapping F8 at startup i.e. before windows starts to load give the same result?
As for your optical drive, is it a slimline one? The usb ports on the netbook may not be up to the full usb spec so may not be able to provide enough power for the drive. My usb dvd drive connects using two usb connectors to overcome this limitation.
bacillus
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January 30th, 2011 15:00
Stupid me for not reading that you are using xp... :emotion-10:
ieee488
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January 30th, 2011 17:00
Since the external CD drive is connected via USB, you need to select boot from USB.
Captcavey
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March 2nd, 2011 13:00
I was trying to do a fresh install of Windows 7 onto an Inspiron 1010 and I could not get it to boot from the DVD. The DVD was fine, it booted up fine in my Latitude E6400 so I started to look at the settings in the BIOS. I should say firstly I reset the settings in the BIOS as some bright spark had told it to disable the CD/DVD drive - I had obviously reset this prior to trying to run the DVD incidentally - but all the settings were as they should be, still no joy.
I was using an "Optic" external CD bay which has 2x USB connectors; 1 for data, 1 for power. However it turns out it was this bay that was the issue. I tried using a lenovo 43N3264 CD Bay which was powered by a USB and had a data USB also. The 2 USB's fed into one connector on the CD Bay (hope that makes sense!)
I powered the CD bay by plugging the power USB into my E6400 (so as not to take any power from the Inspiron 1010) and plugged the data USB into the Inspiron 1010. I started up, pressed F12 on the Inspiron 1010, selected CD and it now reads/boots from the CD.
Hope this helps