Format Drive Problem

Question

I have a Dell Dimension 2400, it has an inbuilt Recovery System, however I think I may have deleted the partition where it was hosted. I think this is where my problem stems from, the blue bar at boot up does not appear where you would normally hit CTRL and F11. I only have an XP CD, I can make it boot from the CD but that only installs a new edition of Windows XP which is not what I need. I have backed up all my information and have my license key. Please advise. Thanks.

jmwills · Answer

A reinstall from the CD will do the same thing the Restore partition would have done, only it is a little more time consuming, and better I think.

RoHe · Answer

Do you need a full reinstall of XP or just a Repair/Reinstall? A repair can fix many XP problems without making you reinstall all the drivers and software, etc. You will have to reinstall all XP updates and fixes if you do either a full Format/Install or Repair/Reinstall.

If you haven't reformatted the hard drive, a Dell user has published some info on recovering a lost PC Restore partition:
http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/

Ron

rickmktg · Answer

RoHe wrote:
Do you need a full reinstall of XP or just a Repair/Reinstall? A repair can fix many XP problems without making you reinstall all the drivers and software, etc. You will have to reinstall all XP updates and fixes if you do either a full Format/Install or Repair/Reinstall.

If you haven't reformatted the hard drive, a Dell user has published some info on recovering a lost PC Restore partition:
http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/

Ron

Just to clarify, Dan Goodell has info about how to recover the Dell PC Restore capability IF THE PARTITION HAS NOT BEEN DELETED. Once deleted, as the OP indicated, it's gone.

rickmktg · Answer

gaffer51 wrote:
I have a Dell Dimension 2400, it has an inbuilt Recovery System, however I think I may have deleted the partition where it was hosted.

I think this is where my problem stems from, the blue bar at boot up does not appear where you would normally hit CTRL and F11.

I only have an XP CD, I can make it boot from the CD but that only installs a new edition of Windows XP which is not what I need.

I have backed up all my information and have my license key.

Please advise.

Thanks.

If you deleted the partition, your only option is to do a reinstall of XP. Any pre-installed software that you don't have on CD is gone.

RoHe · Answer

That's why it's worth trying the Repair/Reinstall first, before formatting the HD and starting over. If the Repair works, all the existing software will survive (except XP updates and fixes). If the Repair fails, then it's time to reformat and reinstall.

Download all the drivers (including chipset, if required) for this system and burn onto CD before beginning. That way, if you're forced to reformat and reinstall, you'll have the drivers ready to install right after loading XP.

Ron

gaffer51 · Answer

Formatted with XP CD, all ok now thanks to all. Message Edited by gaffer51 on 12-06-200610:11 AM

Windows General

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