Re-installing OS/Drivers on Dell XPS

ve

Hi, Just a quick question. A friend has a 2.5yr old Dell XPS. Its giving us a blue screen during boot with a "Fatal Error". To be honest the machine wasn't treated the best and was possible riddled with viruses, spyware, etc. I am between two worlds as to what the problem is. During boot while displaying the "Loading XP Pro" screen, the screen goes completely black and there there is a click from inside the tower (not sure is it coming from the optical drives or HD) and then we get the bluescreen. So I'm not sure are we dealing with a hardware or software error.

Anyhoo I managed to bring the machine up in Safe mode with network access to retrieve photos, music, etc. All went well there and we have everything backed up. I am now about to boot the machine with partition magic and wipe the partition table. Create a full disk size NTFS partition, and then install XP Pro again. They have their driver and system disks at hand, but what I want to know is if I wipe and re-write the partition table, will I simply be able to use the XP disk that comes with the XPS machine. E.g. can I boot from it, or is this the kind of setup where they expect all users to do things using some "Dell restore procedure/fancy GUI" or is it grand to motor on with the more raw approach?

Just in case the disk is physically knackered, what could I use to check it's integrity (Safe Mode -> Scandisk, yeah?)

Any advise you can offer as to the approach I should take with this is greately appreciated. Basically we want to get the machine back up booting just Windows XP Pro again, with all drivers installed, security apps and bugger all else for now.

Biggins

A full format should be enough to erase nearly all possible viruses.
Don't remove partitions unless your sure a virus is somehow in there. Its a bit of a extream measure but I can understand your caution in wanting to do so.
YOU HAVE TO BE 100% SURE OF WHAT YOUR DOING WHEN DOING THIS - I URGE CAUTION.

Be certain before you do anything that the XP disk is indeed a bootable one and that it contains even just the basic operational system.
Do you know how to check this?

After that, I recommend by one way or another, going to the dell site and downloading (in their support section) the necessary drivers needed to additionally install (that or using a service such as www.driveragent.com).

Then you have two options:
1. Make a new partition (leaving you to still format the other) and copy those same drivers into a "temp" folder" (there is a good reason for this which I will explain further down) and have them sitting there ready to install after the basic XP is installed.
or
2. Save the same drivers in the same partition that your erasing in a similar "temp" folder but if you format the same drive, you will remove them too.

Thus I also suggest you consider the following option also:
If you can boot into dos using a bootcd/floppy, using the dos command "deltree.exe" (found on the net) will completely delete all files and folders (and without asking further confirmation on internal sub-folders) as you should chose an option for each folder from the root of c:\ where deltree.exe should be placed.
You can by pass the "temp" folder at deletion time by pressing "N" for "NO" when asked by "Deltree.exe"
Note: The "windows" folder and "recycled" folder will be the longest in time to delete.

---

The reason for copying the dell drivers to a folder onto the hard drive is a good one.
Sometimes the drivers needed for a cd drive might not be included on an actual basic XP disk. Its rare but it happens!
So having the drivers burned onto a cd sometimes don't work if the actual cd-drive isn't up and running and subsequently is not operational.
Sometimes I even copy the whole XP cd to a temp folder - this works too BUT only when the version of XP is one that is installable from dos and not just windows. The last point is important. You have to be sure about what version of XP you have, Dos or Windows installable!

gamer

run scandisk c:\
chkdisk c:\,download drivermax,free program, install,run it,set it ,click export ALL DRIVERS, to folder my drivers,copy folder to a cdr or usb key,10meg approx.it takes 10mins approx to find all the driver files.MOST dell pcs have a hidden partition on the hd,reboot ,press fkey ,ie a function key plus cntrl, to restore winxp,plus all programs to the hardrive.see dell .ie support, search your pc, ie xps model 530c,eg whatever model you have,or search restore repair windows.dont format the drive ,use a new directory for windows,ie c:\windows 2 folder.copy the dell cd,restore cd to a folder,to test it has no scratchs,disk errors.when you install winxp,it tests the whole hardrive first,before it installs any file, use option leave existing file system,ie DO NOT FORMAT THE hard drive,it,ll leave the old windows ,in folder windows old,with files,including,the *.inf and all inf or sys driver files.go to control panelsystem,hardware,device manager,,write down ,all device names, eg superfx 30 grahics card,neo50 sound card,ibm 47multimedia card,,sata hd card,all the main peripherals.if you,got loadsa time,run a defrag on drive, c:takes 4/7 hours at least,if you,ve got loadsa time.if you do a dell restore from the hidden partition,it wipes out all,your old,files,mp3s,pics,etc as far as i know,eg i did winxp restore on a toshiba laptop,it wiped out the whole hd,hardrive ,then resinstalled windows xp,so i copyed all mp3s,drivers, to a usb drive,,be4 i restored the os,windows checks the whole hd be4 install anyway.

ve

Cheers Biggins, gamer;

Right what I may do is leave the partition structure alone, just format the partition with windows on it to NTFS.

What I'll do first though is start the machine up from his XP PRO cd and see if can boot in to the installer from that. If it can't does it mean my only option is to install from within Safe Mode of the corrupt XP installation?

I am not a fan of painting over the problem (never was). With my own built PC, when I software gut it, I wipe the partition table, setup my partitions, format them. Install my chosen operating systems, and then drivers. I never install Windows over Windows. After every completed gut, I have a perfect system in place. It would take under 2hours to complete all of this.

I have a copy of XP Pro that's bootable myself. Since he has XP Pro also, would I be able to use my CD to boot/install it and use his serial number to license it to him, or would the wonder that is Microsoft have a problem with that?

Biggins

ve wrote: »

...I have a copy of XP Pro that's bootable myself. Since he has XP Pro also, would I be able to use my CD to boot/install it and use his serial number to license it to him, or would the wonder that is Microsoft have a problem with that?

Technically, you might be breaking their rules but they would want to be seriously hard pushed first of all to track you down and chase you for doing what in all honesty I would try doing myself in the same situation.
If your using his genuine bought serial to install his operating system on his own machine, I seriously doubt they will be kicking in your door to get you.

AlmightyCushion

Gamer, can you please try and format your posts a little better, they are next to impossible to read.

Sully

No idea what gamer is saying, I am find it hard to dissect the message.

Personally, I think formatting in itself is an over reaction unless absolutely necessary. On the blue screen, can you give me the error code that appears? When you say "click" do you mean a beep by any chance?

gamer

say your winxp cd is 3years old, if you just boot from cd,install winxp, you may find 1,or 2 drivers for device a,b, are not installed .IE, the install cd may not have drivers for all the devices in your pc ,if your pc is 2years old.GO to dell .ie ,support ,download drivers if needed.ITS alot easier to just use winxp/os restore from the hd hidden partition on a dell pc,as that will contain all relevant device driver files.MOST dell pcs after 2005 have a boot option,restore os thru pressing function key f11 ,plus cntrl,be4 windows boots up.
i installed winxp on my shuttle pc, then i had to download 3device drivers for
the pc from shuttle pc.com, as these drivers are not supplied on a standard winxp cdrom.ALL device drivers can be downloaded from dell.ie for any dell pc or laptop,use dell.iesupport /search function .REBOOT pc ,hold down f11 key and cntrl, to start the dell winxp os restore process,this will probably delete any mp3/personal data files on drive c:\ .its faster than a cd install cos all data is on the hidden partition.

TonyM.

I know its off the subject but can i recommend you all just keep a spare harddisk with a full install of Windows, after all there pretty cheap to buy nowdays ,you just have to enter the BIOS and boot into it and your up and running, it gets me out of trouble all the time.

ve

Sully wrote: »

On the blue screen, can you give me the error code that appears? When you say "click" do you mean a beep by any chance?

I don't have his machine here, I am taking it off his hands later.

As regards the "click" sound, it is not a beep (in that it is not software produced), it sounds more like a mechanical glitch, but I will take a better look at it later. The fact that the machine starts up perfectly in Safe Mode suggests to me that it's a software problem, or else it's just not accessing a buggered part of the disk during a Safe Mode boot. I'll run a scan disk on it later in Safe Mode to rule out hardware problems.

TonyM, typically I would be in favour of such redundancy tatics like your suggestion, but I think for a home pc it would be overkill from a economic perspective to have another working disk sitting on a shelf depreciating in value, for the sake of convenience. I think perhaps a good disk image that I could restore later sitting on a DVD or something would probably be a better option, IMO anyway.

Again though there's what we do, and there's what the rest of the people do, and unfortunately this PC is firmly in the hands of the latter. I don't mean to generalise but the majority of people out there don't appreciate or even see the value in taking good care of their computers in terms of usage policies. When something goes wrong, they're all "Computers are mighty when they work!, and nothing but trouble when they don't".

If I have any concerns regarding this I will post later this evening/tonight, once I have had time to take a good look at it myself. I really appreciate all your responses so far, ye're a great help Between us we'll figure it out I'm certain.

TonyM.

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