how to remove everything off my HD?

[mvp]

hi everyone i have a dell and i want to remove everything off the HD and all the programs also reinstall the OS and make a new start on this pc. i did it once before through dell suport, but now my pc is so out dated they cant help me with it i hope someone here can help me out

pc info
Dell Dimension 4300

XP

ram 127mb

cpu 1.80ghz

intel pentium 4

nvidia geforce2 mx/mx 400 M$

[budz]

do you have the xp restore disc from dell? if you don't then that is a problem. i wouldn't remove everything from that hard drive until you get that xp restore disc.

[mvp]

do you have the xp restore disc from dell? if you don't then that is a problem. i wouldn't remove everything from that hard drive until you get that xp restore disc.

i have the XP home disc that was used to install windows on this pc. is that the disc your talking about?

[budz]

do you have the xp restore disc from dell? if you don't then that is a problem. i wouldn't remove everything from that hard drive until you get that xp restore disc.

i have the XP home disc that was used to install windows on this pc. is that the disc your talking about?

yup, but is that the disc that dell gave to you? because if it is then you should have all the drivers for your computer on it. then it would be okay to wipe your hd then reformat it and reinstall xp home.

[mvp]

do you have the xp restore disc from dell? if you don't then that is a problem. i wouldn't remove everything from that hard drive until you get that xp restore disc.

i have the XP home disc that was used to install windows on this pc. is that the disc your talking about?

yup, but is that the disc that dell gave to you? because if it is then you should have all the drivers for your computer on it. then it would be okay to wipe your hd then reformat it and reinstall xp home.

yes, is there any guide how to "wipe your hd then reformat it" ?

[budz]

yes that xp disc is a restore disc from dell?
just insert the xp disc into your cdrom/dvdrom. you'll be able to delete the old xp from your hd. google search is your friend.

[mvp]

ok thanks ill try it

[lacywest]

Hello ... I have a few Dell machines ... Desktops and Laptops .. if the label on the disk is olive green than it is ... WIN XP Professional ... if it is more or less purple in color than it is WIN XP Home. What is cool about these disks is they will install on your laptops or your desktops.

And you are ready to go ... a Dell WinXP Home or Pro Disk will install on a Dell machine ... with no problems. As for Drivers .... go to the Dell website and download the drivers.

I use Dell GX280 desktops ... and for my laptops ... Inspiron 5150 and the Inspiron 2200.

I have one E521 ... it uses a AMD 3800+ 2X Core ... only runs at 2GHZ ... without upgrading or changing the power supply ... I had a ATI X800 GTO2 video card in it ... made by Sapphire ... I had to splice into the power supply wires to power it up.

Since then .... I've switched over to Nvidia cards because some of my games require Pixel Shader 3.

But anyways ... just hook up a USB 2.0 drive and save all the stuff you dont want to lose.

I use a program called ... Driver Genius Professional Edition 2005 version 6.0.1882 .... [I actually bought it] and save all my driver files with it .... it is time consuming but works for me.

I've got a co-worker who has a Dell Inspiron 2200 [I sold it to him] and he went to some website and got tagged with some really bad malware and so I'm reinstalling WINXP Home on it .... very simple to do ... I do this kind of stuff all the time at work ... using the front office secretaries desk. Ha Ha ... the company I work for ... she has under her desk a Dell Dimension 5150 Desktop with a Comcast Cable Internet connection ... I unplug it and feed a Belkin Wireless Router ... and I get some really fast downloads.

But the head honchos want to lock up her office so we can't tap into her Internet connection ... okay fine go for it ... I'll use my Cricket Broadband Wireless connection .... not quite as fast but at least I can connect to the Internet ........ enuff said.

[handyguy]

Just buy a new HD. They are cheap, put it in & install on that. Then if you need some old files you still have them on your old HD.

[usually_quiet]

I also have a Dell Dimension 4300. I had to start over from scratch a little over 3 weeks ago because one or more OS files became corrupted somehow, and my computer could no longer load Windows XP.

Starting with a new HDD is good advice, unless you are sure you have backed up everything. I was fortunate enough to have an old 20 GB drive in the closet to use as a temporary boot drive. If you want to get a new drive, you need to know that your Dell can only use drives under 137GB in size (really up to 120GB), but good luck finding a new 120GB IDE drive. In the past few weeks they have pretty much disappeared from online retailers shelves. However, as of a week ago, new 40GBG and 80GB IDE HDD's were still available at New Egg for a good price, if you need one. (I decided I did. 20GB is not enough for me, and I don't trust my old drive, although diagnostics say it's fine.)

If you want to re-use your old drive and you have backed up all the files you need, here is what to do: Put the Windows XP disc that came with your system in the CD Drive, and turn on your computer. Press the F2 key and re-configure the BIOS to change the boot sequence to boot from the CD drive. Let it boot from the CD.

Reformat your boot drive, and install Windows XP on it. Re-install your ISP's internet access software, then firewall and antivirus software. Next, go online and download all the updates to your security software, and windows XP. When that is done, re-boot, press F2 again and restore the original boot sequence. Follow the instructions from the Dell drivers CD's for reinstalling device drivers that you still need. Some of them will have already been included and updated with the downloads from MS. This would also be a good time to download the A06 BIOS revision from Dell, if you haven't already.

Finally, re-install the programs you want, and your data. Good luck to you. This has been a long three weeks for me, getting everything installed again.