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The disks that came was the vista operating disks, drivers and utilities,nvidia geforce 8600 drivers cd, Its a dell inspiron 531 btw
How do i unpartition my hd
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#63
smax013 
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Posted 24 August 2007 - 12:11 AM
lilxkid24 said:
The disks that came was the vista operating disks, drivers and utilities,nvidia geforce 8600 drivers cd, Its a dell inspiron 531 btw
That is consistant with my experience with Dell. Both the Vista machine that I recently setup for a client was that way as well as my Dell that I bought for myself about three years ago. From my experience, Dell has gone exclusively to the recovery option being on the hard drive...if that does not work, then you are stuck with a true re-format of the drive and re-install of the OS, the drivers, and the applications.
#64
smax013
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Posted 24 August 2007 - 12:12 AM
lilxkid24 said:
i still cant believe something i did in 3min could cause such a diaster lol
It is amazing how quickly things can go wrong...especially if Mr. Murphy makes a house call! :D
#66
rgreen4
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Posted 24 August 2007 - 03:44 PM
Lilxkid - If you are determined, you have the tools. This process should, repeat should, clear the HD. I honestly do not know if it will clear the free space or not as I have never encountered this situation. Going back to a previous post, if we had the luxury of your drive being a Seagate or WD, and had an XP machine on hand, the disk prep software from these suppliers will clear the drive. But, we work with what we have.
When you are ready and have all the programs and data that you want off the machine, insert the Windows Vista OS disc. Make sure the have the COA handy, for you will need it. The install process is very similar to XP.
Booting from the DVD, it starts copying files to memory, with a white bar moving across the screen
Then Windows runs from the files it copies into memory, you will get several option screens as you go including:
Setup for Language, Keyboard, etc.
It will then ask if you want to Repair or Install - we want to Install
It will then ask you to enter the product key - enter the product key (COA) without hypens (it will insert them)
Uncheck automatically activate windows. You can do this anytime within the next 30 days after you get all the drivers installed and internet setup
You must check on the next screen that you accept the license terms
The next screen asks if you want to do a backup or custom install. Backup should be greyed out, it is only available if you start within windows.
It will then ask where you want to install and will give you a layout of the drive partitions
You should click on drive options at the bottom of the window, and then click on format at the bottom of the options screen.
It will then finish its setup and then reboot
On reboot, you will be asked to enter your username and password, password hint and choose your picture
Next you choose the desktop background and enter the computer name.
The next screen asks about the automatic security setup, I always click on ask me later, as I do all that later, not from this screen
Next the date, time and time zone
If you already have your ethernet cable connected, it will ask for your location for internet protection purposes
You will then get a Thank You screen
Click on start, and let Windows set itself up, of course while you are waiting, you will get Vista ads, at least they are better than the ones on XP.
Then it will boot and you have to sign on.
Then you get the same welcome message you did when you first started your machine. The next step is to install all the drivers, then install all your programs and set up the internet.
Any questions?
When you are ready and have all the programs and data that you want off the machine, insert the Windows Vista OS disc. Make sure the have the COA handy, for you will need it. The install process is very similar to XP.
Booting from the DVD, it starts copying files to memory, with a white bar moving across the screen
Then Windows runs from the files it copies into memory, you will get several option screens as you go including:
Setup for Language, Keyboard, etc.
It will then ask if you want to Repair or Install - we want to Install
It will then ask you to enter the product key - enter the product key (COA) without hypens (it will insert them)
Uncheck automatically activate windows. You can do this anytime within the next 30 days after you get all the drivers installed and internet setup
You must check on the next screen that you accept the license terms
The next screen asks if you want to do a backup or custom install. Backup should be greyed out, it is only available if you start within windows.
It will then ask where you want to install and will give you a layout of the drive partitions
You should click on drive options at the bottom of the window, and then click on format at the bottom of the options screen.
It will then finish its setup and then reboot
On reboot, you will be asked to enter your username and password, password hint and choose your picture
Next you choose the desktop background and enter the computer name.
The next screen asks about the automatic security setup, I always click on ask me later, as I do all that later, not from this screen
Next the date, time and time zone
If you already have your ethernet cable connected, it will ask for your location for internet protection purposes
You will then get a Thank You screen
Click on start, and let Windows set itself up, of course while you are waiting, you will get Vista ads, at least they are better than the ones on XP.
Then it will boot and you have to sign on.
Then you get the same welcome message you did when you first started your machine. The next step is to install all the drivers, then install all your programs and set up the internet.
Any questions?
#68
rgreen4
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Posted 24 August 2007 - 04:50 PM
That is supposed to be an OEM install disk. I may not say that, mine does not. It should have the phrase like - Licensed only for distribution with a new PC (this is on a MS disk, not from a manufacturer).
It should probably have the Dell Logo, be labeled Operating System DVD, and "For distribution only with a new Dell PC" or something to that effect (I am paraphrasing off one of my HP XP install disks).
If you are unsure, leave it until you acquire a second drive, then you can make a back-up before you attempt to recover the free space.
It should probably have the Dell Logo, be labeled Operating System DVD, and "For distribution only with a new Dell PC" or something to that effect (I am paraphrasing off one of my HP XP install disks).
If you are unsure, leave it until you acquire a second drive, then you can make a back-up before you attempt to recover the free space.
#70
rgreen4
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Posted 24 August 2007 - 06:11 PM
Fantastic. That is a lot easier than reinstalling the OS, which even in the best of circumstances is a hassle. It took me about 35 minuted to do the Vista install on my new machine. I got the 80GB drives and installed Vista on one of them. It took about 1 hour to get the drivers updated, the network connected and acess to the network drive. I have yet to install the printers. But then you know what it takes to get a new machine set up and customized the way you want it.
That is why I clone drives. Insall the backup (cloned) drive, swap cables and boot.
Or you can put the replacement drive in as drive 0 and make the older boot drive as drive 1 and copy the data off. Of course I with with network connection so I can acess the data from any machine.
That is why I clone drives. Insall the backup (cloned) drive, swap cables and boot.
Or you can put the replacement drive in as drive 0 and make the older boot drive as drive 1 and copy the data off. Of course I with with network connection so I can acess the data from any machine.
#72
rgreen4
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Posted 24 August 2007 - 06:59 PM
Assume you are cloining with just two drives. At the start, drive A is the operating drive with the OS, programs and data. Drive B is blank, or even an older drive. You clone A onto B, remove A and run on B. Everythink that was on A is now also on B. Over time as you use B as your operating disk, it has changed. You have saved files and maybe installed a program. Then you have a problem with B. You reinstall drive A with the cables so it is drive 0 and drive B is not connected to the cables to make it drive 1. You then copy all the updated data onto A and install the missing programs on A until it is updated.
At this point then, you can clone the updated A back again onto B, thus refreshing the operating system on B. The ideal method is to really use 3 drives. The third drive remains the data drive, and all data is stored on it.Overtime, you will gather more and more data. You may want to keep school papers, and other items until you finish college (I realize that's about 7 years away) at which point you will really start to gather important financial data. My data drive is almost 60GB. On my operating Vista drive, with the OS and programs only 13. (No recovery partition as this was an upgrade) Thus when I swap a drive in, I only have to update a program that may have been added.
Right now, for Vista, I have a 250GB which is the master, and a 160 that is clone 1 and a 400 that is clone 2. I use clone 2 as the test drive when a question comes up. I had temporarily installed it in my new machine, so over the last several days I was experimenting on the 160. That's the one in the snapshots I posted. I was willing to experiment on it, because the 250 master was sitting in the cabinet behind me as a backup.
Maybe I should do a document on cloning, the reason, the method and the use.
At this point then, you can clone the updated A back again onto B, thus refreshing the operating system on B. The ideal method is to really use 3 drives. The third drive remains the data drive, and all data is stored on it.Overtime, you will gather more and more data. You may want to keep school papers, and other items until you finish college (I realize that's about 7 years away) at which point you will really start to gather important financial data. My data drive is almost 60GB. On my operating Vista drive, with the OS and programs only 13. (No recovery partition as this was an upgrade) Thus when I swap a drive in, I only have to update a program that may have been added.
Right now, for Vista, I have a 250GB which is the master, and a 160 that is clone 1 and a 400 that is clone 2. I use clone 2 as the test drive when a question comes up. I had temporarily installed it in my new machine, so over the last several days I was experimenting on the 160. That's the one in the snapshots I posted. I was willing to experiment on it, because the 250 master was sitting in the cabinet behind me as a backup.
Maybe I should do a document on cloning, the reason, the method and the use.
#74
rgreen4
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Posted 24 August 2007 - 10:29 PM
Yeh, if your not careful these computer thingies will drive you bonkers. I mentioned the new computer build. I got 3 80GB drives from Newegg this evening and put the first one in and did the formal (not a test this time) of Vista, MB drivers, Video Drivers, connected to the network, etc. Then I took a second drive hooked it up electrically and went into Disk Management to format it. No Dice. Drive volume show up as unallocated, but over to the left it says "not activated", yet no option to activate it.
The only way I had to activate it was to install Vista. So I disconnect the first drive, install Vista, then reconnect the first drive and reboot, it boots on the second drive not the first! I had to move the MB connector from SATA 2 to SATA 3 and get it into the next pair. I don't have a lot of experience with SATA, and it may be that the paired SATA connections are like the single IDE ribbon cable, don't connect two drive to the same cable. Anyway, I was then able to format the drive and it now shows healthy and active. But the system operator is fast approaching the status of blithering idiot. :^0 If we didn't love these computers so much we would hate them. X-(
Have a good weekend. Remember the forum is open 24/7, but usually only mph keeps those hours, the rest of have to sleep. ;-)
The only way I had to activate it was to install Vista. So I disconnect the first drive, install Vista, then reconnect the first drive and reboot, it boots on the second drive not the first! I had to move the MB connector from SATA 2 to SATA 3 and get it into the next pair. I don't have a lot of experience with SATA, and it may be that the paired SATA connections are like the single IDE ribbon cable, don't connect two drive to the same cable. Anyway, I was then able to format the drive and it now shows healthy and active. But the system operator is fast approaching the status of blithering idiot. :^0 If we didn't love these computers so much we would hate them. X-(
Have a good weekend. Remember the forum is open 24/7, but usually only mph keeps those hours, the rest of have to sleep. ;-)
#75
smax013
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Posted 25 August 2007 - 07:34 AM
lilxkid24 said:
thanks r green, your a big help lol. I dont plan to reformat unless i screw up my computer like hell.
And keep in mind that if you do wipe the drive and reformat, then there is a good chance that you will wipe the Dell recovery partition. This is where I will definitely agree with rgreen in that you should get a blank new drive that you clone your boot parition to and then use as your primary drive. Then you can pull out the original drive with the recovery partition and keep it safe in case you need it in the future.
