Installing a Windows Recovery CD
This guide will help you navigate the sometimes troublesome reinstallation of Windows Operating System using a Windows Recovery Disk. It's similar to installing the retail version of Windows on your PC.
Before getting started you should weigh your options. Is a reinstallation necessary? If you have a bad hard drive, Windows won't start up, if you are bogged down with spyware and viruses then the answer is probably yes.
Keep in mind that a reinstall will take about 1-2 hours minimum, plus you will have to address the driver installations on some models. Usually the driver that needs to be installed will be the driver you need to get on the internet, so make sure you have some basic drivers from the PC Manufacturer's Website (visit my "Helpful Links" page) prior to installing Windows. It may be necessary to use another computer in order to burn the drivers to a CD. The Dell C series laptops are pretty good about loading drivers from the XP CD.
Most of the desktop computers and newer laptops are not good about drivers, so you really should make this CD ahead of time. Get at minimum the modem and Ethernet drivers, as long as you can get online then you can fix the rest of the drivers once you know what is missing. Let's get to the install.
Step 1: Put the CD in the drive and shut down the computer. Start it back up and press F12 a couple times when you see the Dell logo. This should bring up a boot menu with options like CDRW/DVD, floppy drive, Internal HDD. Choose the CD drive by using the arrow keys and hit enter. It might say hit any key to boot to the CD, do it quick. It might just go ahead and start without the hit any key statement. You should see a blue screen. If not then read below. If it worked continue to Step 2.
Problems: If you weren't able to get to the boot menu then restart the computer and try again. If it still won't work then you will need to go in and change the boot order. You can change the boot order by hitting F2 when the computer starts up. It will enter the BIOS. This page varies on every model, so what you are looking for is a boot order. Read the instructions on the screen to find out how to navigate in the BIOS. The boot order is on the second page on most laptops. Sometimes ALT and P will change pages. You need to move the CD drive to the top of the list, above the hard drive. Use the instructions on the screen to change the order.
Step 2: When the blue screen finally stops you will hit the enter key to install Windows. The next screen will ask you to agree to the license, hit F8 to agree. The next screen will search for old installations. When it finds your old Windows hit esc to install a new copy of Windows. Now you should see a screen talking about partitions. There may be several partitions. We need to delete all of them to ensure you get the most space possible out of your hard drive. On each partition you should highlight it and hit the D key to delete, hit the Enter key and then the L key to confirm. Do that for each partition until you see one partition that says unpartitioned space. You can't really mess up unless you proceed without completing this step. The last selection is choosing a file system. Anything above 6GB hard drive should be NTFS, anything below 6GB is usually FAT. I recommend the default of NTFS, don't use the quick format. The hard drive will begin the format process. This step was the hard part and it's where most people mess up. If it went really bad you can always start over.
Step 3: The hard drive is now being wiped clean. If it hangs up during this process then it usually means you have a bad hard drive. This process takes awhile depending on how big your hard drive is. I've seen 10 minute formats to an hour. You can walk away at this point for about 45 minutes. When you come back you will be asked a series of questions like date, user name, easy stuff. On some versions it will ask for the product key. On the Dell recovery CD we use it enters the key for you.
Step 4: Once you are done with the second set of questions you just wait about 30 minutes and another set of questions come up. Just get through them as quickly as possible. Don't register Windows, skip it. Don't setup your internet connection, skip it. Just avoid the questions the best you can, answering only when necessary to proceed. Once that's complete it will bring you into Windows. Don't be suprised if it looks a little weird, color is off, resolution is horrible or blurry, big icons. That's all normal.
Step 5: I hope you read the begining of the manual because now you need to load those drivers that we discussed. Install what you have on your CD. Next we will go to the Control Panel. Use the Start Menu to get there. Once the Control Panel is open, switch to classic view on the left side. Click on the System icon. Click on the hardware tab accross the top and click the device manager button. Now you can see which drivers are missing. You may not need any. A yellow exclamation point signifies a driver that needs to be installed.Write down each one. Fortunately we had the CD with a minimum of your drivers needed to get on the internet. Now that we have a list of drivers needed, get your internet connection working. Then go back to the Dell site we discussed earlier and get the rest of the drivers from the list we made. Install the drivers and you are done.
Final Comments:Keep in mind this is a general guide and we refer to the steps used with the recovery Disks. It may vary slightly on your model or Disk. If you think there is an error or something that didn't seem to work let us know.
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OEM Software Source provides backup copies of Windows XP and Vista Recovery Reinstallation CD DVD Disks for Dell, Acer, HP, eMachines, Toshiba, Sony Vaio, Gateway and Compaq Computer PCs.
We are a backup copy service. You are receiving a free backup copy of your operating system. The price you pay covers all the costs of buying media disks, handling time and shipping. Please note that we own ALL of the original CDs and DVDs at WWW.OEMSOFTWARESOURCE.COM. Every Windows Recovery Disk you receive will be as if you made a copy of your own Windows Recovery Disk.
Also Note: All of our Windows Recovery Disks and other software work exactly like the original. All you need to do is to enter the Serial Key Code. This service is fully legal, as in the Microsoft Documentation, you are allowed to own and create a backup copy of your software. If you never made that backup copy, that is what we are here for, to provide you with one.