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How do I redo my computer back to it was like brand new?
I have just tryed to redo my computer like it was by installing windows xp on it again afteralready having it on there and so far things have been goin really bad, my computer is running slow with programs missing and my old documents still on my harddrive and i tryed at the dell boot screen Ctrl+F11 and nothing would come up and i know some computers have a cd where you can do this but it seems that my dell didnt come with one so please help me in anyway to get my computer reformated.. and by the way i have a dimension 8400 that i ordered late december of 2004
shesagordie
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10 Elder
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46K Posts
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February 22nd, 2005 02:00
pparks1
59 Posts
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February 22nd, 2005 16:00
so, if you tried to reload Windows on your own, you have lost your ability to do the PC restore utility by pressing CTRL-F11.
This utility was a very nice thing that the Dell came with, but their decision to tie this to the master boot record was a little silly. It should have been an entry in the F12 boot options, like the diagnositc boot that they have.
Occasionally viruses and the like infect the master boot record so it is necessary to run a utility to recreate the boot record.....but if you do, the recovery option is gone.
Some people like to play with operating systems for a while (like Linux). But when you load this, it loads to the MBR and then the recovery option is gone.
I called Dell and asked them if there was any way to re-create what was overwritten in the master boot record and they said NO. Once it is gone, it's gone forever. I would have to send back either the whole computer or the hard drive.
The part that irritated me was that I called before doing this. Said that I wanted to see how the machine performed with the Dell load, versus my own personalized load. The guy assured me that I could load Windows again from the Microsoft cd and try it out and that i could always go back hit CTRL-F11 and get back to the way Dell had it. Well, come to find out, you CANNOT do this. My next call to tech support after doing that confirmed that I shouldn't have done it.
Oh well, didn't want the extra garbage anyway. I would have gladly taken just an OS load with nothing else. I just rebuilt by hand and am much happier.
But having that utility was nice, you could rebuild in only about 5 minutes with their utility.
Slyone148
33 Posts
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February 23rd, 2005 11:00