---

@boxcab wrote:

New Dell owner here... Inspiron 9300.

 

As a habit, and to help with system performance, I backup my data and reformat my hard drives at least once a year.  The Dell did not come with a XP disk, but does have the OS recovery utility and I can generate the recovery CD.  BUT...  I do not want to reload all the stuff the machine originally came with.  I want a single partition, XP only reload.  Then I will load the programs I require.  Can this be done with the OS recovery CD or am I locked into the Dell config??  I sure would like to get the XP install disk for this system, what are my options?

 

Thanks for the guidance.

 

The CD you create IS the XP CD.

Thanks Rick for answering. 

So the CD created by the Dell OS Recover Utility will not load anything but the basic XP system, that's good news.  Will I need to have the XP "Key" to load the OS from scratch or will that be built-in to the installation code?  Will the Recovery Utility have the latest (at time of CD creation)drivers included or will I need to make separate provisions for those?

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to be prepared.

 

 

---

@boxcab wrote:

Thanks Rick for answering. 

So the CD created by the Dell OS Recover Utility will not load anything but the basic XP system, that's good news.  Will I need to have the XP "Key" to load the OS from scratch or will that be built-in to the installation code?  Will the Recovery Utility have the latest (at time of CD creation)drivers included or will I need to make separate provisions for those?

Sorry for all the questions, I just want to be prepared.

The key is not built in.  Dell OEM Windows generally doesn't need the key, which is on the bottom of your laptop.  It will have NO drivers as it's Windows XP only. 

Hi boxcab,

Not sure why you want to reformat the hard drive for becuse it had the hidden partition that dell had for Dell - Support What Solutions are Available to Me if I do not have My Operating System or Drivers CD's? at http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?c=us&cs=19&DN=1092188&l=en&s=dhs

On Denny's New Dell User's Guide website it say "CAUTION--Read Before Proceeding

If you are using a Dimension or Inspiron system made after July 15, 2004 your hard disk has a partition on it which can be used to restore the system to an "as shipped" condition. The procedure for doing this is given here at http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1090151&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19 If you reinstall Windows XP you will rewrite the Master Boot Record on the hard disk and this feature will no longer be available."

I think it is much easer to use the PC Restore by Symantec Utility? The losing the PC Restore by Symantec Utility then reformat the hard drive.

Thanks Rick.

 

Brandon,

The partition is one of the reasons for wanting to reformat the drive.  I would rather have useful hard drive space instead of a second copy of the operating system standing by.  I am capable of reinstalling and configuring the system in a few hours if the worst happens.  I back up my data regularly so there would be minimal loss of data. Windows likes a lot of free space on the drive to operate well, so I try to maximize it.  It's amazing how much free space I can pickup with my yearly purges of the system (I picked up about 10 megs dumping the AOL/Netzero/various ISP offers)... so much trash gets loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and the performance decline is too slow to notice.

 

Thanks again for your thoughts.