How to reinstall windows vista again on dell inspiron 1525?

Question

Hi i have dell inspiron 1525 ( centrino , 2gb ram ,windows vista basic)
I have all the cd's which came with the laptop
Presently in my laptop i have 2 partitions :-
C drive -25gb (which has vista in it only)
D drive -121 gb

Now i am facing issues with my laptop and i want to install vista again i have following questions:-
1) Can i do factory restore ? If yes how & will it erase data lying in drive d..?
2) If i want 2 install fresh vista again on c drive itself how 2 do it leaving my other partition on d drive untouched.
3') When to install media direct cd before or after installation of vista ... want 2 know the proper process.

Please help urgent support would be appreciated ..!
If any one has this particular laptop and have done this already please help in detail so that it would be easy for me to do things ..

And if it involves any risk & if yes what ?

Answer 1

yes a factory restore is possible:

http://practicalskills.blogspot.com/2009/09/take-shortcut-to-reinstall-vista.html

this is will not erase data in d drive.

for question 2 format the c drive only during installation.

Answer 2

I had this problem & then realized I had created it myself by tapping on the volume controls on my laptop situated ABOVE MY KEYBOARD (on the upper right, just right of the power button on my Dell laptop--there are three of them one shows no volume, one shows moderate and one shows full by the use of ')))' marks.) In the past, I had tapped on the volume icon showing no volume 'emerging'......to FIX it, all I had to do was tap on the right-most one, showing full volume and MY PROBLEM WAS SOLVED! I am surprised none of you 'geeks' suggested that be checked first!

Answer 3

call dell if you still have warrenty