Reformatting a Dell Inspiron 1300 without a disk?

Question

Recently my Dell Inspiron 1300 has been behaving very badly and I think I have a virus. I really need to reformat it, but I have no disk. I'm pretty sure there's a way to reformat it without the disk, because I think my friend reformatted it before but i have no way of contacting him (he moved) ... I think you need to press some button at the startup screen? Not sure.... can someone help me? Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

The only way to do it without a CD is if the computer has a recovery paration. So if you have this feature, click start, all programs, system recovery.



If you do not find this feature, then you must use the recovery cds. If you have lost them, contact dell and they can send you replacements.

Answer 2

The first thing you could try:



You could get lucky if......you turn on the laptop, and immediately put the Recovery Disc that came with the laptop in to the CD/DVD/RW drive. When it starts to boot up, the computer could see the disc and start some recovery program (this would be good if you need to not lose any files).



If you do not have a recovery disc for your model laptop, you might be able to find one at Dell support (link for your model is below), or you might be able to find one on eBay.



If that does not work, you could immediately put a legal Windows XP install disc in the CD/DVD/RW drive. When it starts to boot up, the computer might see the disc and start to set up. If it does, it will format, partition, and install (but you would lose all of your current files).



If that does not work, I searched for you and found the official Dell Inspiron 1300 support link. Get it here:



http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=&SystemID=INSPIRON1300/B130



Here they will have manuals, driver installs, software installs, utilities, etc. You might need some of these files even if you have a successful recovery. You probably will need some of them if you do a clean XP install (because Windows might not have all of the drivers for your sound card, video card, modem, etc.).



Good luck. :-)

Answer 3

urgent between the F keys on the best row of the keyboard at bootup in many circumstances does it, yet on condition that he has a restoration partition on the demanding stress. in many circumstances it is F11 or F10 or F12, besides the incontrovertible fact that it ought to selection. examine for a hallmark on startup on the backside of the exhibit screen.

Answer 4

Ctrl+F11

Answer 5

One Word.. "IMPOSSIBLE