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giancarlo60
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March 18th, 2014 15:00
format HD and re-install windows vista
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
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Posted March 19th, 2014 10:00
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
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Posted April 5th, 2014 12:00
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
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Posted April 6th, 2014 15:00
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:
Philip_Yip
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Posted April 7th, 2014 16:00
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
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Posted April 17th, 2014 18:00
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
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Posted March 19th, 2014 10:00
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
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Posted April 2nd, 2014 07:00
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
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Posted April 5th, 2014 11:00
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
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Posted April 6th, 2014 14:00
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 ?
Philip_Yip
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Posted March 18th, 2014 16:00
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.
Windows 11 Installation Guide
Windows 7 Installation Guide