hi there,

i have a old dell dimension pc that i want to give to my girlfriends mum for a bit of IE and basic things. however ive got so much junk on here i just wanna wipe the lot so its all fresh for when i give it to her.

I started deleting some of the stuff but then got fed up of waiting. do i have to do it this way to clean it or is there a faster way

i tried putting in a windows xp disc and restoring it but i got confused when it started telling me that was already a partition and do i want to delete this and that????

thank in advance for ur time

M

I am assuming you have the Dell disks here:

How to reformat a Dell computer with Microsoft Windows XP

Step1

Unplug all external devices such printer, digital camera, MP3 music player, or any other device attached to your computer.

Step2

Place your Dell Windows XP reinstallation CD (usually purple or blue) in the disk drive. (Either CD or DVD drive will do).

Restart your computer to get into the Windows XP setup screen. Hit the F12 key immediately when the computer screen starts back up.

Step3

Then, select option 4.

NOTE: Press the space bar right away or Windows will start up and you will have to repeat these first three steps.

Step4

You should get a blue screen that deals with SETUP. In that screen, hit the F8 key and do not try the repair option. We are going for a clean install. Then hit the ESC key in the corner.

Step5

Partition __ (usually the larger one), (d) for delete (not the FAT32, only NTFS choice with the highest volume on it). Hit enter to execute your choice.

Step6

Press L to complete, and C to create.

Step7

Select "new raw format" (Quick format) will work just fine. Unless you have a lot of time on your hands.

Step8

Proceed to Windows setup screen as directed. Remember, you only want 1 partition.

Step 9

You will go to Windows screen where it states "setup is copying files" on your computer. It will take just about an hour to get through this Windows setup on your Dell (or less).

Step 10

Then the computer will restart automatically and warns you ahead of time.

Step 11

You will see the screen "preparing installation." Once Windows is ready to be set up, follow the on-screen setup prompts for the Internet, time zone, and other customizations. You should not have to register with Microsoft since you already have.

Step 12

You will also have to reinstall any device drivers using the blue Dell support CD if they are not installed properly such as Network cards, wireless internet, USB driver, sound card and more. Always test your computer to make sure these are functioning properly.


I found this somewhere but have forgotten where. so cannot give anyone credit for it...

ah sorry no i only have a basic copy of windows xp its not a reinstall/recover dell type disk????

Just install a fresh XP in my opinion. If you don't care about what's inside this computer and just want to wipe everything out, installing XP all over again shouldn't take more than 30 minutes.

This tutorial should show you how to do it exactly.

ok great, its asking if i want to continue to create a copy of xp on a partition that already has xp???

Just tell it to overwrite the old XP.

ok it is now saying that some of the computers settings to make it run properly could be deleted,only proceed if you are planning on reinstalling them?? i dont have any of these settings??