Reinstalling Windows XP

Question

Does anyone know of a way I can force reinstall windows on my inspiron 1200?  My internal cd rom was broken and could not be replaced so I have an external drive but I cannot find a way to get my computer to load from the disk in the external drive.  Anyone know if I can do this?   The reason I'm needing to do this is because when I turn on my computer, windows doesn't load properly.  It sits on the Windows XP screen for approx 15-20 minutes before moving on and loading my desktop.  Once that is loaded, the programs won't open.  I cannot open system restore.  I called Dell tech support and spoke with a lady for 3 hours and she did had me do the basic troubleshooting, but we got no where.  Once she told me to remove my internal cd rom and insert my external cd rom in it's place, I knew the whole conversation was pointless..  Any ideas?  I'm going through internet withdraws.. Message Edited by crazydreamer84 on 10-06-2006 10:08 PM

laz123 · Answer

You can't boot from an external hd. What she told you does make sense. You use the rom's channel to hook up the external hd and it may boot from that. You've tried hitting F8 on bootup to get options?

sparkenh · Answer

It might boot to external CD if you can setup your BIOS so that USB drive is the first boot device. To go to BIOS setup, press F2 when Dell logo appears. Message Edited by sparkenh on 10-07-2006 07:34 AM

rickmktg · Answer

crazydreamer84 wrote:

Does anyone know of a way I can force reinstall windows on my inspiron 1200? My internal cd rom was broken and could not be replaced so I have an external drive but I cannot find a way to get my computer to load from the disk in the external drive. Anyone know if I can do this?

The reason I'm needing to do this is because when I turn on my computer, windows doesn't load properly. It sits on the Windows XP screen for approx 15-20 minutes before moving on and loading my desktop. Once that is loaded, the programs won't open. I cannot open system restore. I called Dell tech support and spoke with a lady for 3 hours and she did had me do the basic troubleshooting, but we got no where. Once she told me to remove my internal cd rom and insert my external cd rom in it's place, I knew the whole conversation was pointless.. Any ideas? I'm going through internet withdraws.

Systems shipped after July 15, 2004 came with Symantec PC Restore. This utility restores the computer to an "as-shipped" condition. If you haven't reformatted, repartitioned, or otherwise modified the master boot record, it should work. Click here for instructions about Symantec PC Restore.

crazydreamer84 · Answer

I made it the first device, but when the computer starts up, it says there is nothing to boot from.

crazydreamer84 · Answer

I don't have an external hard drive.  It's an external CD ROM.

crazydreamer84 · Answer

Yeah I've seen this same thing on everyone else's questions about reinstalling Windows. However...

The reason I'm needing to do this is because when I turn on my computer, windows doesn't load properly. It sits on the Windows XP screen for approx 15-20 minutes before moving on and loading my desktop. Once that is loaded, the programs won't open. I cannot open system restore. I called Dell tech support and spoke with a lady for 3 hours and she did had me do the basic troubleshooting, but we got no where. Once she told me to remove my internal cd rom and insert my external cd rom in it's place, I knew the whole conversation was pointless.. Any ideas? I'm going through internet withdraws.

rickmktg · Answer

crazydreamer84 wrote:

Yeah I've seen this same thing on everyone else's questions about reinstalling Windows. However...

The reason I'm needing to do this is because when I turn on my computer, windows doesn't load properly. It sits on the Windows XP screen for approx 15-20 minutes before moving on and loading my desktop. Once that is loaded, the programs won't open. I cannot open system restore. I called Dell tech support and spoke with a lady for 3 hours and she did had me do the basic troubleshooting, but we got no where. Once she told me to remove my internal cd rom and insert my external cd rom in it's place, I knew the whole conversation was pointless.. Any ideas? I'm going through internet withdraws.

Ah, this has NOTHING TO DO WITH SYSTEM RESTORE... Did you even click on the link I provided? Go back and re-read my response.

Windows General

Reinstalling Windows XP

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