format HD and re-install windows vista

Question

hello I have an old Vostro 1700 and I would like to format the hd and re-install Vista; however since it is something really new to me I fear I could make mistakes and get stuck in the middle of the process . . . In additionaI wonder whether my laptop is too old for this.

I visited many sites but I'm still not sure regarding the backup and re-installation of the program and drives. For example I've heard that the drives should be re-installed according to a certain sequence. . . .

Is there anyone who can give me a list to follow or maybe a good link?

thanks for any help or advise you can provide! Giancarlo

Philip_Yip · Accepted Answer

I have wrote a Windows Reinstallation Guide which may be found here: http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/ See A Clean Install of Windows Vista It should take you through it step by step.

Philip_Yip · Accepted Answer

Of course, post back to this thread if you have questions. The guides are continuously modified to address areas where users get stuck.

Philip_Yip · Accepted Answer

My first guess would be corrupt installation media.

If you downloaded the files from Digital River what size are they and did you download 32 Bit or 64 Bit installation files. Also what size is the .iso you created? Did you load SATA drivers during the installation?

Philip_Yip · Accepted Answer

If its the Dell Reinstallation DVD the media should be fine. However its worth trying to load the SATA drivers particularly if it is an earlier Dell Reinstallation DVD which won't have them inbuilt.

Try loading these:

ftp://ftp.dell.com/SATA/R154164.exe

See the instructions here:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/a-clean-install-of-windows/downloading-preparing-and-loading-sata-drivers/

Philip_Yip · Accepted Answer

They were taken from the Dell drivers and downloads page for your model so they should be correct. Regarding DBAN I would not go for the full secure wipe again, its unnecessary if you've just done it.

Philip_Yip · Accepted Answer

2000-0146 means your hard drive is dead you need to replace the drive ASAP. A Crucial M500 or Samsung Evo 840 are good candidates as the Solid State Drives will give you better performance.

Its extremely unlucky that this happened just as you had things running nicely.

There is no point in trying any Windows Reinstallation until the drive is replaced. If you have some newer data not backed up then perform data recovery using Fedora:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/data-recovery-using-fedora/

You should be able to recovery your Acronis Image of the Clean Install on the new drive which should save you some time:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/backing-up-your-windows-installation-using-acronis/

giancarlo60 · Answer

step by step indeed !  thanks so much for you help, I think I'll try . . . could I get back to you in case I have a question or a problem?  rudy

giancarlo60 · Answer

Philip, I have two final questions on the anti-virus and the repartinioning of the hard drive.  I use Avast and Malawarebyte;  should I save the installation files of both in my external hd?  If this is possible,  in which step should I execute them,? Perhaps right after loading the OS?  The second question is:  is it necessary that I do the repartition of the hard drive?    Thanks for your help and forgive my deep ingnorance ! rudy

giancarlo60 · Answer

I have followed the guide but unfortunately I have had a problem, when I try to install Vista the system gets stuck around the 65% of the whole process (when completing the installation).  I tried twice and wait for quite a long time but at the end I had to recover the back up I made with Acronis.  Fortunately I was able to recover the exact image.  I have searched in to the web and found out that other persons got the same problem.  Do you have any I idea where and when I have made a mistake?  Rudy

giancarlo60 · Answer

No, I didn’t take the digital river option into consideration since I was absolutely ignoring it.   I had the DVD with the OS, pre-installed by Dell and received with my laptop.  That’s what I have used.  I didn’t load the SATA drivers neither . . . I thought it could work fine just using the Vista DVD . . . I have had some problems reading the guide because while very detailed it was also  complicated for me, but I'm getting more familiar with it.   . . . should I try again with the Dell dvd and load the drivers ?

giancarlo60 · Answer

It's an old DVD indeed, I bought the laptop in 2008.  I can try the drives you mention but I wonder whether there's a way to make sure they are the correct ones.  I only have a computer here at home and if I fail again it will take hours to do everything including the preparation with DBAN and the possible recovering of everything with Acronis.

giancarlo60 · Answer

OK I'll go ahead and use them, if it doesn't work I'll be always able to re-load the image I have saved.

I know it may sound weird to do all this for a 2008 laptop (and an OS like vista), but it's been my first computer and even if I buy another one I wish I can keep it. If Vista isn't good any longer I'll buy W7.

Thank you for your help and patience, if it's ok I'll get back to the forum with the results. Rudy

giancarlo60 · Answer

I have a problem . . . I downloaded the driver you indicated and unzipped it. In the folder I have found file x32 but it only contains two files (iaNvStor and nvccoin). I have probably made a mistake somewhere. I try to find the same driver in Intel download center but couldn’t find it. While I was trying to find a solution I also noticed that my system configuration lists a Sata driver with a different number (R154200.exe | Hard-Drive Intel Matrix Storage Manager - Notebooks, v.7.0.0.1020, A02), I unzipped this one as well and the files appear similar to the ones reported in your guide (no exe. files) . . . . Rudy

Philip_Yip · Answer

I mentioned R154200 above, don't know if you had issues downloading it, its the correct one to use.

giancarlo60 · Answer

no, you did not mention R154200, you mentioned R154164 instead.

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format HD and re-install windows vista

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