Computer help...

[chellt]

I have an ancient dell laptop. Got it out of the repair shop in September- was there for virus removal. It is WACK at the moment. I would like to restore it to factory settings. Anyone have any clue how to do this?

 

[Albort]

I have an ancient dell laptop. Got it out of the repair shop in September- was there for virus removal. It is WACK at the moment. I would like to restore it to factory settings. Anyone have any clue how to do this?

when did you purchase this dell laptop(what year?)

Did it come with a DVD?

 

[chellt]

Bought in fall of 2007. It was stolen in a break in and I got it back a year later! In that time I threw the disc away. They also wiped it clean so I lost all my installs. Since I got it back it is whack! Just trying to make it through the holidays and then buy a new one!!

 

[mickilee]

Depends what os you are using. For dell , turn off computer, when you turn it back on, keep hitting CTRL AND F8 or f11 then follow the screen .

 

[Albort]

Depends what os you are using. For dell , turn off computer, when you turn it back on, keep hitting CTRL AND F8 or f11 then follow the screen .

not sure if the computer has it though... it says all dell computers after 2009 has it, but since its a 2007, it may not have it... id try it anyways though.

Dell has designed two new backup and restore programs, see below for the details:
Dell Inspirons, Studios, and XPS Systems use DataSafe Local Backup 2.0 as the PC Restore/Factory Image Restore option as of April 22, 2009.
Click here if your computer is an Inspiron, Studio, or XPS
Dell OptiPlex, Latitude, Vostro, and Precisions use Dell Backup and Recovery Manager as the PC Restore/Factory Image Restore option as of May 26, 2009.
Click here if your computer is an OptiPlex, Latitude, Vostro, or Precision

you can either, call dell and purchase a recovery disk... if the linke doesnt work, id call dell and ask for a copy. --> here <--

or look what windows you have, find someone with a copy of it and reinstalling windows with your CD key listed on the back of the laptop.

 

[Maria1985]

All formatting, reinstall the xp

 

[FireDancer]

Whack? Haven't heard that in a while.

If it was truly wiped then the restoration partition would be gone so booting into it is probably out of the question. The first thing you do when wiping a drive if you know what you are doing is unpartition it so the wipe truly hits every sector. You can try to call Dell and have a Windows disk shipped. There will be a charge and they'll need your service tag number but it will be less than purchasing an OS off the rack.

There are also free Operating Systems out there so you don't have to pay for one if you can't get the disk from Dell. I recommend Ubuntu or Debian.

 

[wiigirl]

All formatting, reinstall the xp

This, but I would use dban to wipe your hard drive first. DBAN will clear it all back to a clean state.