Choosing a partition to re-install the Operating System

Question

Greetings forum community - this is my first time here...

Hopefully somebody can help me as I'm sure a lot of you have been in this situation before?

My Inspiron Laptop will not boot & the system files are either missing or corrupt!

Dell online support went through everything with me & as a last resort advised me to re-install the operating system from the system disk as all else had failed.

I fell at the first hurdle as it asked me where I wanted to install my Operating System (options below). Does it matter where I put it? Do I need all these partitions? Can I delete some of them? What should I do? Help please...:smileysad:

74882 MB Disk 0 at id 0 on bus 0 on atapi [MBR]

-:Partition1 [FAT]    86 MB (78 MB free)
C:Partition2 [unknown]   53937 MB (53936 MB free)
   Unpartitioned space   8 MB
D:Partition4 (backup) [NTFS]   17618 MB (17517 MB free)
F:Partition3 [FAT32]   3224 MB (560 MB free)
   Unpartitioned space   8 MB

simpswr · Answer

Looks like you have two physical drives in there.  You want to install it on C:   If you need, This is a great guide for reinstalling on a Dell:  http://www.djdenham.com/Install%20Procedures.htm

smtje · Answer

Many thanks simpswr - I will have a read through. What about the other partitions?

simpswr · Answer

No need to do anything with them. They are:

-

artition1 [FAT] 86 MB (78 MB free) Dell Diagnostics
C

artition2 [unknown] 53937 MB (53936 MB free) The Operating system
Unpartitioned space 8 MB Rounding
D

artition4 (backup) [NTFS] 17618 MB (17517 MB free) An nearly empty partition you can use for storage and backups
F

artition3 [FAT32] 3224 MB (560 MB free) Either Diagnostics or Recovery information
Unpartitioned space 8 MB Rounding

smtje · Answer

Thanks again... I will install to C: & ignore the rest of the drives.   As the C: drive is showing 53936 free - does this mean that the drive is empty, i.e. all previous info (inc. Operating System, etc) has been wiped? This may explain why it doesn't work!!!   Regards...

simpswr · Answer

It does look like that . . but I would still delete the partition, then create a new one to install on.

smtje · Answer

Thanks Rich for all your assistance to date - so far so good, the OS is back up. However I'm stuck now installing the Drivers from the CD.   Basically, how do I find out what System Model I have? Options are models DM051, DV051, etc.   My Laptop is an Inspiron 6400 - that's all I know!!!   There are Driver versions for various models on the CD.   Regards,   Steve...

simpswr · Answer

One alternative is to click on the Drivers and Downloads button in the left panel of this page and navigate to your laptop . . download the drivers and copy to cd or flash drive to install on the laptop

smtje · Answer

Thanks for all your help Rich - 'puter now up & running. Transpires I was using the wrong Drivers Disk, Oops!!!   Thank God for Forums...   Best Regards,   Steve...   PS: Do you know if you are able to download a Dell Resource CD? I have a link on my newly built computer, but it doesn't go anywhere.

simpswr · Answer

I've not seen it offered as one download, but the Drivers and Downloads link will get you everything on that disc

Windows General

Choosing a partition to re-install the Operating System

Was this post helpful?