Giving Dell Laptop to friend, question about reinstalling Windows XP

[Megan123]

I'm giving a my old laptop to my friend but first I want to reinstal
Windows XP so all my data will be wiped.

I bought the laptop used, so it didn't come with an OS DVD. I searche
through my stuff and managed to find the Operating System DVD for m
old computer which the disc to install Windows XP Media Center 2005.

So can I install this OS on the laptop? And if I do, does that mean al
of my data will be gone (which is my goal)

 

[Daave]

I'm giving a my old laptop to my friend but first I want to reinstall
Windows XP so all my data will be wiped.

I bought the laptop used, so it didn't come with an OS DVD. I searched
through my stuff and managed to find the Operating System DVD for my
old computer which the disc to install Windows XP Media Center 2005.

So can I install this OS on the laptop? And if I do, does that mean
all of my data will be gone (which is my goal)?

What is the model and model number of this Dell laptop?

Does it have a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) sticker on the bottom?
If so, is the license for XP Home or XP Pro? (Or perhaps XP MCE?)

Wiping the drive and installing a fresh OS may be as simple as a few
keyboard strokes when you first boot up the laptop (assuming there is a
hidden recovery partition).

 

[smlunatick]

I'm giving a my old laptop to my friend but first I want to reinstall
Windows XP so all my data will be wiped.

I bought the laptop used, so it didn't come with an OS DVD. I searched
through my stuff and managed to find the Operating System DVD for my
old computer which the disc to install Windows XP Media Center 2005.

So can I install this OS on the laptop? And if I do, does that mean all
of my data will be gone (which is my goal)?

NO. Most laptops usually have a CD key (COA) sticker on the bottom of
the laptop. This sticker is "version" specific and the CD must match
the XP version printed on it.

Professional requires a Professional CD
Home needs a Home CD.

MCE seemed not really been shipped on laptops.

 

[Megan123]

Oh okay. It's a Dell Inspiron 700m. And the sticker says "Designed fo
Microsoft Windows XP"

Guess I'm out of luck. Thanks guys

 

[Daave]

Oh okay. It's a Dell Inspiron 700m. And the sticker says "Designed for
Microsoft Windows XP"

Guess I'm out of luck. Thanks guys.

That's the wrong sticker!

Do you have a COA sticker on the bottom of the laptop? It would look
like this:

http://i1.iofferphoto.com/img/item/354/750/76/X08.jpg

(In the photo, the Product Key is whited out.)

(BTW, *don't* tell us your Product Key!)

If you have a COA sticker, what type of XP is the license for? XP Home
or XP Pro?

 

[Daave]

Oh okay. It's a Dell Inspiron 700m.

According to the Owner's Manual:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins700m/en/OM/G74722LRs.pdf

.... your laptop has something called Dell PC Restore (which "restores
your hard drive to the operating state it was in when you purchased the
computer").

All you need to do is follow the instructions on pp. 52-53:

1. Turn on the computer. During the boot process, a blue bar with
www.dell.com appears at the top of the screen.

2. Immediately upon seeing the blue bar, press <Ctrl><F11>. If you do
not press <Ctrl><F11> in time, let the computer finish restarting, and
then restart the computer again.

NOTICE: If you do not want to proceed with PC Restore, click Reboot in
the following step.

3. On the next screen that appears, click Restore.

4 On the next screen, click Confirm. The restore process takes
approximately 6–10 minutes to complete.

5. When prompted, click Finish to reboot the computer.

NOTE: Do not manually shut down the computer. Click Finish and let the
computer completely reboot.

6. When prompted, click Yes. The computer restarts. Because the computer
is restored to its original operating state, the screens that appear,
such as the End User License Agreement, are the same ones that
appeared the first time the computer was turned on.

7. Click Next. The System Restore screen appears and the computer
restarts.

8. After the computer restarts, click OK.

 

[Megan123]

;3387820']Megan123 wrote:-
Oh okay. It's a Dell Inspiron 700m.-

According to the Owner's Manual:

http://tinyurl.com/22rpa8m

.... your laptop has something called Dell PC Restore (which "restore

your hard drive to the operating state it was in when you purchased th

computer").

All you need to do is follow the instructions on pp. 52-53:

1. Turn on the computer. During the boot process, a blue bar with
www.dell.com appears at the top of the screen.

2. Immediately upon seeing the blue bar, press CtrlF11. If you do
not press CtrlF11 in time, let the computer finish restarting, and
then restart the computer again.

NOTICE: If you do not want to proceed with PC Restore, click Reboot i

the following step.

3. On the next screen that appears, click Restore.

4 On the next screen, click Confirm. The restore process takes
approximately 6–10 minutes to complete.

5. When prompted, click Finish to reboot the computer.

NOTE: Do not manually shut down the computer. Click Finish and let th

computer completely reboot.

6. When prompted, click Yes. The computer restarts. Because th
computer
is restored to its original operating state, the screens that appear,
such as the End User License Agreement, are the same ones that
appeared the first time the computer was turned on.

7. Click Next. The System Restore screen appears and the computer
restarts.

8. After the computer restarts, click OK.

Wow that sounds pretty easy! Thanks so much for the help. Going to tr
this. Thanks a whole lot

 

[Daave]

;3387820']Megan123 wrote:-
Oh okay. It's a Dell Inspiron 700m.-

According to the Owner's Manual:

http://tinyurl.com/22rpa8m

.... your laptop has something called Dell PC Restore (which
"restores

your hard drive to the operating state it was in when you purchased
the

computer").

All you need to do is follow the instructions on pp. 52-53:

1. Turn on the computer. During the boot process, a blue bar with
www.dell.com appears at the top of the screen.

2. Immediately upon seeing the blue bar, press CtrlF11. If you do
not press CtrlF11 in time, let the computer finish restarting, and
then restart the computer again.

NOTICE: If you do not want to proceed with PC Restore, click Reboot
in

the following step.

3. On the next screen that appears, click Restore.

4 On the next screen, click Confirm. The restore process takes
approximately 6-10 minutes to complete.

5. When prompted, click Finish to reboot the computer.

NOTE: Do not manually shut down the computer. Click Finish and let
the

computer completely reboot.

6. When prompted, click Yes. The computer restarts. Because the
computer
is restored to its original operating state, the screens that appear,
such as the End User License Agreement, are the same ones that
appeared the first time the computer was turned on.

7. Click Next. The System Restore screen appears and the computer
restarts.

8. After the computer restarts, click OK.

Wow that sounds pretty easy! Thanks so much for the help. Going to try
this. Thanks a whole lot.

YW. Glad to help.

 

[bj]

Just remember that when the computer is restored to its original factory
condition it's also going to need all the security updates & patches done
again. BTDT. Easy, yes, but requires a fair amount of babysitting,
rebooting, msupdating, & so on, but at least can be done as you go about
other business & chores....
bj

;3387820']Megan123 wrote:-
Oh okay. It's a Dell Inspiron 700m.-

According to the Owner's Manual:

http://tinyurl.com/22rpa8m

.... your laptop has something called Dell PC Restore (which
"restores

your hard drive to the operating state it was in when you purchased
the computer").

All you need to do is follow the instructions on pp. 52-53:

Wow that sounds pretty easy! Thanks so much for the help. Going to try
this. Thanks a whole lot.

YW. Glad to help.

 

[Megan123]

Thanks for Daave, smlunatick, and bj!

The Dell System Restore worked like a charm and I downloaded th
Windows updates. Thanks for all the help guys