Re-Installing Win XP on Dell laptop

Trying to re-install OP after my system became unbearably slow. I saved all the files I needed, so I thought I could just overwrite and be good to go.

I'm going through the process and the first thing that throws me is when it asks;

Which partition should Windows be setup in?

Part1 [FAT} 39MB (31 FREE)
Part2 [NTFS] 57177 MB (48787 FREE)
Unpartitioned space 16MB

I assumed it would be PART2 but when I selected the system recommended not to put a second OP on the same partition. I thought I was overwriting on it, so I don't know where to go from here.

Should I delete partitions and then do the set up after that?

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards.
Joe

MOXJO7282 said:

Trying to re-install OP after my system became unbearably slow. I saved all the files I needed, so I thought I could just overwrite and be good to go.

I'm going through the process and the first thing that throws me is when it asks;

Which partition should Windows be setup in?

Part1 [FAT} 39MB (31 FREE)
Part2 [NTFS] 57177 MB (48787 FREE)
Unpartitioned space 16MB

I assumed it would be PART2 but when I selected the system recommended not to put a second OP on the same partition. I thought I was overwriting on it, so I don't know where to go from here.

Should I delete partitions and then do the set up after that?

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards.
Joe

Click to expand...

Partition 2 is correct. The old copy of Windows is still there thus the error message. If you are sure you already have the data you need format it or delete & recreate that partition. But do leave at least 7MB (currently 16) unpartitioned as Windows makes some hidden use of that dead area.

You don't say how old or what model laptop you have. Dell used to use recovery disks to reinstall Windows and other programs that came with your laptop. Later they went to putting the restoration programs in a partition. If yours is in partition 2, you do not want to install Windows in that partition. It is odd that you have 16MB that is unpartitioned, as that is unused space. Having just restored Windows on a Dell laptop whose hard drive crashed, I can tell you that it can be a long process to reinstall Windows and get all of the drivers and programs reinstalled. I suggest you call or e-mail Dell support for advice.

somerville said:

I can tell you that it can be a long process to reinstall Windows and get all of the drivers and programs reinstalled. I suggest you call or e-mail Dell support for advice.

Click to expand...

This unit was a gift from Dell when I did a lot of business with them a few years ago. A Dell Latitude D410. As it turns out, it still had a Gold warranty through 8/08, so I did call Dell and they gave me great support to reload the drivers.

The OP was easy, but the drivers would have been more difficult because when you go to the Dell website and plug in your SN# you get multiple choices on several drivers, so having someone tell me exactly which ones to load was a huge help. I was ready to go buy a nice unit, but now its as if I have a nice PC.

Regards.
Joe

partition 2 is where your XP operating system is installed.
Dell started putting a recovery partition on the harddrive a couple years ago.
Thats the fat 32 partition 1 you have on your harddrive.
You reboot your computer and hold down a sequence of F-keys and it goes into the recovery process. I forget the exact sequence but you can find it on the dell support site if you dig around.
It will restore the computer harddrive to the way it was when it left the factory. Very simple and fast way to retore your computer.
If you reformat the hardrive the partition will be lost and this great tool gone.
You can still reload XP from CD and install drivers and programs from backup disks.