Windows XP Home Edition

[kevdhoushby]

I need a copy of this too restore a Dell Inspiron 1501. I found a torrent, downloaded it and copied to disc, but the option too install Windows was shadowed and wouldn't let me select. Looking at the reviews, it was fine for everyone else and was at the top of the torrent list...

Could anyone else point me to a copy that would work? Not interested in keys etc, as I have one.

[lagerland]

I need a copy of this too restore a Dell Inspiron 1501. I found a torrent, downloaded it and copied to disc, but the option too install Windows was shadowed and wouldn't let me select. Looking at the reviews, it was fine for everyone else and was at the top of the torrent list...

Could anyone else point me to a copy that would work? Not interested in keys etc, as I have one.

Does it not have the built in factory default partition m8 also look at your bios settings and set it boot from you drive............

[kevdhoushby]

Does it not have the built in factory default partition m8 also look at your bios settings and set it boot from you drive............

It came with disc's, so I assumed it wouldn't have a partition. I have googled it and it seems too show that it does. When I have laptop, I will try it.

Thanks.

[Murf22]

..you should be interested in keys as there's a few versions (and I aint talking home, home premium etc) you need to make sure you get the OEM version.. if you get any other version it won't accept your key.

option to install windows was shadowed out.. hmm.. you did boot from the disk didn't you.. rather than just running setup.exe...? And you wouldn't be doing upgrade.. it'll be full new custom install...?


er.. hold on.. iiirc xp doesn't grey stuff out in the setup.. you've ran setup.exe or done something else wrong...

[kevdhoushby]

..you should be interested in keys as there's a few versions (and I aint talking home, home premium etc) you need to make sure you get the OEM version.. if you get any other version it won't accept your key.

option to install windows was shadowed out.. hmm.. you did boot from the disk didn't you.. rather than just running setup.exe...? And you wouldn't be doing upgrade.. it'll be full new custom install...?


er.. hold on.. iiirc xp doesn't grey stuff out in the setup.. you've ran setup.exe or done something else wrong...

I used setup.exe. I'll try boot from disc later, too see if that changes. I have booted from disc on another laptop, but I couldn't manage to change the values on the Dell. It was different too my Acer laptop.

[lagerland]

Found this its saying its built in unless its been played with b4 and then may not have it..............

1. Reboot, and press Ctrl + F11 at the Dell logo.
2. The Dell PC Restore by Symantec screen will come up.
3. Select "Restore" or use the Tab key to highlight it and press Enter.
4. if you wish to continue, click "Confirm", or use the Tab key to highlight it and press Enter.
5. When the utility is finished, click "Finish", or use the Tab key to highlight it and press Enter.

Or

1. Reboot, and press F8 at the Dell logo. The Advanced Boot Options menu appears on the screen.
2. Select Repair Your Computer and press Enter.
3. Specify the language, and then click Next.
4. Log on to an administrator account, and then click OK.
5. Click Dell Factory Image Restore, then next.
6. Click Yes.
reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition.
Click next.
7. When the restore operation is completed, click Finish to restart the computer.

***This will erase all your unsaved data!***

[kevdhoushby]

Found this its saying its built in unless its been played with b4 and then may not have it..............

1. Reboot, and press Ctrl + F11 at the Dell logo.
2. The Dell PC Restore by Symantec screen will come up.
3. Select "Restore" or use the Tab key to highlight it and press Enter.
4. if you wish to continue, click "Confirm", or use the Tab key to highlight it and press Enter.
5. When the utility is finished, click "Finish", or use the Tab key to highlight it and press Enter.

Or

1. Reboot, and press F8 at the Dell logo. The Advanced Boot Options menu appears on the screen.
2. Select Repair Your Computer and press Enter.
3. Specify the language, and then click Next.
4. Log on to an administrator account, and then click OK.
5. Click Dell Factory Image Restore, then next.
6. Click Yes.
reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition.
Click next.
7. When the restore operation is completed, click Finish to restart the computer.

***This will erase all your unsaved data!***

Its the first option for XP, cheers.

Its me ma's laptop and her nephew installed Windows 7 on it, so god knows if it still has the partition. Its more or less unusable at the moment, because the idiot installed that.

Cheers for your advice.

[lagerland]

Thinking about it it dont sound right to me,its usually a two button combination. Ie on me acer its alt f10 i pretty sure on a dell its ctrl f11 rings a bell for some reason ,worth a try although i could be wrong.Only one button i can remember was a tosh so tahts out coz its a dell...............

[kevdhoushby]

Thinking about it it dont sound right to me,its usually a two button combination. Ie on me acer its alt f10 i pretty sure on a dell its ctrl f11 rings a bell for some reason ,worth a try although i could be wrong.Only one button i can remember was a tosh so tahts out coz its a dell...............

It seems that partition is gone, I rang my mam to get to do it and nothing came up. She could of also done it wrong, but I gave her clear instructions. Wouldn't be surprised with it being obliterated with Windows 7.

[lagerland]

Nice 1 you shouldnt have much problem getting the O/S its in the usual places.............

[12345guy12345]

i did this once installed windows 7 on an xp machine then couldnt get xp back on the machine because of the hdd ,if you are using a sata hdd you need drivers so xp can install on the hdd i couldn t suss it out and just put windows 7 back on

[Murf22]

no great shame the recovery is gone m8.. it'll be full of crap and out of date anyways.. the machine could be BETTER than new with a standard install. (as it won't have any of the pre-loaded crap with it)

grab xp home oem, boot from disk - voila.

[lagerland]

i did this once installed windows 7 on an xp machine then couldnt get xp back on the machine because of the hdd ,if you are using a sata hdd you need drivers so xp can install on the hdd i couldn t suss it out and just put windows 7 back on

Go into the bios and change a setting in the main menu it will say either achi or sata.Achi is for vista or 7,sata is for xp or it could be the other way round its to early to remember but thats the one...........................

[lagerland]

It seems that partition is gone, I rang my mam to get to do it and nothing came up. She could of also done it wrong, but I gave her clear instructions. Wouldn't be surprised with it being obliterated with Windows 7.

Had a word with admin for ya as your thanx button dont seem to work I do all this to help others coz i have to not coz i want to......................

[ifred]

If I remember right when win 7 has been put on PC you nearly always have to do a format and reinstall XP a fresh! so your partition maybe corrupted
Its from memory because win 7 uses hives to install a form of self healing OS
Hate to think what win 8 is like with the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface ( UEFI) locks the bios