Thanks guys

 

If I can find the O/S recovery CD is it as simple as plugging in the CD and running it.  Then run the recovery CD to reinstall the drivers or will I have to install each driver seperately?  One more dumb question....If i do find the recovery CD how to I go about wiping out the entire hard drive?

Thanks Alot,

jwstine

jwstine,

You can't use the operating system that came with your 8300. Its use is restricted to the computer it came installed on. I suspect your Resource CD contains only drivers for the system.

If you don't hvae a recovery CD for reinstallation of the current operating system on the old computer the best you can do is uninstall applications through Add/Remove Programs and delete your data files.

Hi,

The resource cd will only have the drivers and maybe some programs that came with the system...

To wipe the system completely, you will need  the operating system cd. ie win98, win2k etc, then format the drive and reinstall the o/s and drivers...

The only other option, is to uninstall all the programs from add/remove progs, just make sure that you don't uninstall any device drivers, usually sound card and graphics drivers will be in add/remove progs...

 

Thanks Shunney,

Yes, it is win98se.  Thanks for you help, is there anywhere I can look for step by step instructions starting with the dos command to erase the hard drive?  Just in case I get bogged down in the middle of everything.

jwstine

 

 

Message Edited by jwstine on 02-22-2004 06:14 PM

It depends what o/s, i'm guessing its win98se...

If you want to format the drive (wipe everything), you have to restart in Dos mode and use the (format c:) command to wipe the drive, then use a win98 boot disk to start the installation, then when the o/s is installed, windows usually has the drivers for all the hardware except the video card and maybe the sound card, which will be on the resource cd...

Wiping the Hard Drive 101

Disconnect everything from the coputer except:  Power cable, mouse, keyboard & video connection.

Boot to the Dell Dimension Resource CD (RCD) (Press DEL at the Dell Screen to enter setup, right arrow to boot screen & move the ATAPI CD-ROM to the 1st boot device using the + - keys  F10, [Enter] to save & exit)

The CD will boot to a an A: prompt.  Type Format C: [enter] You should get a warning you are about to format non-removable disk C:  Do you want to continue.  Press Y [enter]

The format will progress from 0 to 100% then prompt for a label, press [enter]

Remove the RCD & insert the Windows 98 CD.  (If the CD is titled Dell Product Recovery CD for WIndows 98, ignore the instructions on copying files to the hard drive)

Type the following commands:

MD WIN98 [enter]

copy *.* E:\win98 c:\win98 [enter]  (this will copy the Win98 folder from the CD-ROM drive to the WIN98 folder on the hard drive.) (The CD-ROM should have been assigned the drive letter E by the resource CD) Remove the CD from the drive at this time.

This process will copy the Cabinet files (95 to 101 files depending on the version) to the hard drive.  Once complete, type CD\win98 [enter]  This should give you a C:\Win98>\ prompt.

Type Setup /ie /is [enter] this will start the WIN98 installation & omit running scandisk & creating a boot diskette during the installation. 

At this point, follow the prompts to select the type of installation & such.  Select the Custom installation, when prompted for what componets to install, using the arrow keys, highlight the following options, & press the spacbar 2 times.  Accessories, Communications, multimedia, internet tools, & system tools.  This will install options that you had when you received your system, that the Default installation does not select, like GAMES.

Once the WIN98 installation has completed, you will need to install the video, sound, & modem drivers.  If your system has a Network card, you'll need to install drivers for that too.  Then printer drivers & any other periphial items you have.

Enjoy

The purple WIN98SE recovery CD gives you the option to format the drive and Re-install the OS. All you need is to boot from that cd. Then enter the product code from the case of the computers COA to finish the install when it asks you.