Dell Desktop Restore Disk Options

[D-35]

I just stumbled on these S. MD forums...

I have an old (6 yrs) Dell Dimension 4700 desktop, which until 3 weeks ago was pretty much just a storage/back-up for a much newer laptop. It all but died when I tried to upgrade from IE-7 to IE-8 (via MS.com Downloads option).

The B.B. Geeks said I needed to contact Dell to score a "Restore Disk" at about $80. Do I have any other options? Thanks in advance. D-35 ;-)

[EmptyTimCup]

Originally Posted by D-35

I just stumbled on these S. MD forums...

I have an old (6 yrs) Dell Dimension 4700 desktop, which until 3 weeks ago was pretty much just a storage/back-up for a much newer laptop. It all but died when I tried to upgrade from IE-7 to IE-8 (via MS.com Downloads option).

The B.B. Geeks said I needed to contact Dell to score a "Restore Disk" at about $80. Do I have any other options? Thanks in advance. D-35 ;-)

you just need to OS reinstall disk .... ebay or anyone else who owns a dell ... they are not model specific ... like the HP stufff

[D-35]

Originally Posted by EmptyTimCup

you just need to OS reinstall disk .... ebay or anyone else who owns a dell ... they are not model specific ... like the HP stufff

Thx much for the reply...

Would that OS disk be among the provided disks for the bundled programs initially loaded on my PC when purchased?

I still have all those. Please advise. Thanks again! D-35

[advancedpc]

Originally Posted by D-35

Thx much for the reply...

Would that OS disk be among the provided disks for the bundled programs initially loaded on my PC when purchased?

I still have all those. Please advise. Thanks again! D-35

Yes... It should be stated on one of the disks that it contains the original OS.

[dn0121]

Originally Posted by EmptyTimCup

you just need to OS reinstall disk .... ebay or anyone else who owns a dell ... they are not model specific ... like the HP stufff

Except that his product key may or may not work with the disks he gets.

[TurboK9]

Originally Posted by dn0121

Except that his product key may or may not work with the disks he gets.

As long as he installs the OS version that goes w/ the key (XP Pro, for instance) he can use any disc, doesn't have to be a dell OEM disk. But, lets say he has XP Home, he can't use the key on an XP Pro install. That's his only restriction.

If he has a key, it's all good and legal, he can borrow a cd, or download from a toorent and burn to a disk, etc.

[dn0121]

Originally Posted by TurboK9

As long as he installs the OS version that goes w/ the key (XP Pro, for instance) he can use any disc, doesn't have to be a dell OEM disk. But, lets say he has XP Home, he can't use the key on an XP Pro install. That's his only restriction.

If he has a key, it's all good and legal, he can borrow a cd, or download from a toorent and burn to a disk, etc.

The cabs are coded to only accept a certain set of keys. MS does this as part of their piracy protection. Yes he is legal because there is a product key on his PC, but it may not be one that works with the cabs he gets. There are ways around this of course I was just stating that if he obtains the cabs it may not work with the key he has, he should get a key to go with it.

[LordStanley]

Dell usually puts a hidden partition on the harddrive that you can use to re-image your computer. Power on the computer and hit ctrl-F11 at the dell splash screen. If there is a hidden partition, Ghost will load and ask you a series of quick questions.

Caution!!! This will Erase your Data and return your computer back to like it was just shipped from the Factory.


Also, go to support.dell.com and type in your service tag #. This should confirm if you have the hidden partition on your drive.

[clevalley (Premo)]

Originally Posted by LordStanley

Dell usually puts a hidden partition on the harddrive that you can use to re-image your computer. Power on the computer and hit ctrl-F11 at the dell splash screen. If there is a hidden partition, Ghost will load and ask you a series of quick questions.

Caution!!! This will Erase your Data and return your computer back to like it was just shipped from the Factory.


Also, go to support.dell.com and type in your service tag #. This should confirm if you have the hidden partition on your drive.

And if it came with Windows XP any Dell Branded OEM Windows XP CD you can use this to boot from to reload the O/S without entering your key.

[D-35]

Thx for the input, everybody. I will cut, paste and triple-space responses in Word (so I can scribble in the empty space), to jump-start the my POS PC.

thx again