How do I do a master sweep/hard drive sweep(Basically renewing my computer)?

Question

I have a Dell studio 17 and i need to master restart, just delete everything and start over. How do I do this and what would be the consequences? (Losing things is not a problem) Thanks

Answer 1

Hi,



There should be a recovery disk supplied with the pc or a partition on the hard drive with the same recovery on it.



Just check in the manual to see how to use the recovery software.



The consequence of doing that is that you will loose all your data and installed programs and the pc will be restored to factory default.



Just back up anything you need before you do that.



Arnak

Answer 2

Find the Windows Install Disc (should have come with the computer), stick it in, restart, and when it says "Push any key to boot from disc", do so, and then just go through the steps.



What you are speaking of is called reformatting. This means everything will be deleted and a fresh build of the OS will be installed.



I know Dell sometimes has a factory default restore on some of their computers. This can be located somewhere in the Start menu, probably in a folder called Dell. This method would be preferable since you wouldnt need to install drivers.



If you do reformat your computer using my first method, you will need to install drivers, too. In which case, you would need to find and download a driver for your specific graphics card, chipset, LAN, and sound card. You will need to know your computer's specifications and look for each of those on Google.



If this is all foreign to you, Id recommend avoiding a complete reformat. Just defragment your hard drive and uninstall any programs you arnt using.



Edit: If you post what computer you are using, Ill point you to all the drivers you will need.

Answer 3

the process you're talking about is known as total hard disk format. If you do a total format, the major consequences will be loss of data (if you forget to backup ur data), u hav to reinstall opersating system for eg. windows xp, or whatever u like, you have to insatll all necessary softwares like motherboard drivers, ethernet and graphic card drivers, audio and video drivers, ms office, nero, and all those other programmes which you think, you need, hav to install a good and updated antivirus.

So if you hav taken care of all those issues, then you can start formatting ur lapi's hard disk. For doing this, u'll need a windows xp or any other operating system's bootable disk.

First of all insert the disk in cd rom and restart ur lapi. configure bios settings to boot fron cd. Generally you can access bios settings by holding down f8 or delete. Now prompt will ask you to press any key to boot from cd. So hit any key. The setup will configure ur hard disk and will begin installation. Let it load all necessary files. After loading all necessary files, ur lapi will reboot. After reboot don't do anyrhing till the installation screen appears. DON'T PRESS ANY KEY TO BOOT FROM CD THIS TIME. Now windows setup will ask you to either install a fresh copy of xp or repair already installed windowS.so select install a new copy of windows. After this setup will search for already installed windows, and will ask to repair already installled windows or install new. So install new. When you select new installation, swtup will prepare a list of available drives. Here the real process begins. Here first of all, delete all the available partition. For deleting a partiton, read the instuctions on setup screen. After deleting all the partitions, create new partitions according to ur specifications. Here basic knowledge of size calulation will definitely gonna help you. Just remenber, 1 gb=1024 mb. So if you want to create a 20gb drive, then 20x1024=20480 mb. Put the out comewhen setup ask for size of drive you wanna create. After creating install the windows. After installing windows, first of all,even before installing drivers, install antivirus, update it and then install all other necessary softwares.

Genrally a disk containing all the necessary drivers comes with the lapi at the time of purchase.

Hope you find this info usefull and if you do, please vote it for best.

Answer 4

The hardrive does no longer injury different aspects on your computing gadget. Your working device won't load if yuor HD is broken. i could set up the force in yet another computing gadget and set it as slave and set up a information restoration application like R-Studio 3.0. I had to apply this application merely 2 weeks in the past while my relative's annoying force became into currupt. wish this enables.

Answer 5

...honestly i have no idea but if you just wanna completly retart your computer use the recovery disk you got in the box it will make your computer just like you had it when it was new (not literally there will still be fragments of what you had before you recovered your computer ...but you will not be able to find them..it will just basicly be ...invisable crap to slow down your computer :) ) also there is suposed to be like a disk or something that will completly wipe your computer clean..dont know what it is :O but atleast i gave you a clue [<< just wait for someone that knows what they are talking about to come.