Windows XP MCE 2005 Reinstall

Hi jmwills,

I think I am explaining it all wrong :). Dell usually ships PCs with everything in a single partition (A 160 GB HDD will have a single 160 GB partition). I would like to first 'split' my drive into 2/3 partitions, then format it and finally install MCE 2005 (in the primary partition) I just want to know if the Dell MCE 2005 DVD that ships with the PC contains all of MCE 2005 - usually MCE 2005 comes in two CDs and Dell ships it in a DVD instead (a DVD should be costlier than 2 CDs - no idea why they send it in a DVD !). I want to know if anyone has installed MCE 2005 using Dell's DVD and encountered any problems. If they have I will probably be a little hesitant in installing it myself.

Thanks for the reply though,
Astron

Message Edited by Astranomina on 06-27-2005 09:32 AM

I've used a Microsoft AP Subscription Disk and have installed MCE05 on a three partition machine so it must be something with the disk.  However, the disc would not know or care how many partitions you have for an install.  Something does not sound right.

Again, it doesn't matter if it's two CD's or one DVD, the install does not know or care about how many partitions you have.  It's still XP and you can wipe the drive and create the three partitions from the setup.  My guess it is cheaper to creat and ship one DVD versus two CD's or they would not be doing it.

Try cleaning the disc before using it.  There may be a spot that needs buffing to help in the reading of the data.

I just had to do a fresh reinstall of MCE as my virus software blew a hole in my Os when I didn't activate it like it wanted.

They had to send me the DVD and two resource cd's as my 8400 came by default with the backup OS as a virtual  copy on the hard drive. The problem is, if you cant boot to windows, you cant get to the virtual backup. Yeah, usually I would never have ordered a pc with virtual backup, but they neglected to inform me of this little problem.

Anyways, after troubleshooting my serial drives over the phone, they referred me to software support and they had me try to recover original Dell factory setup by coldbooting, then holding control key while tapping f11 key four times quickly and releasing both buttons at the same time. I for one have never heard of such a procedure, so I figured it worth telling here.

The reinstall was as simple as modern pc's let you get. Have to make sure you install the drives as striped serial ata's and not just one double sized hard drive, which xp is very capable of doing for you if you don't watch it.

Now, they want the DVD and two cd's back, and I am about to call the shipping company and have them pick it up at the door. Took 2 days to get here, not bad considering. I must say, I made sure my repair next time would be on the quicker side,, but can't say how. If you are reading this far, you probably know, eh?

btw: the drives are very configurable as they come from the factory, and yes there is a diagnostic partition for hardware utilities and on bootup you get the chance to adjust serial settings as well. You shouldn't have any problem making it the way you want, mate. If you order the software that is, lol.

Winter

Message Edited by JLS8400 on 07-09-2005 11:52 AM

Message Edited by JLS8400 on 07-09-200511:50 AM

Message Edited by JLS8400 on 07-09-2005 11:50 AM

Message Edited by JLS8400 on 07-09-2005 03:55 PM