Formating Hard Drive in Windows XP

[Guest]

After having my son's Dell laptop for 2 weeks, the IT department at his
university say they cannot load the software to allow him to connect to the
university's internet system ( RESNET), but they don't know why. They
instructed him to re-format his hard drive and reload Windows XP and all
driver software that came with the laptop. I have two problems:

1) The laptop did not come with a Windows XP Operating System CD. Is this
CD usually packaged with a Dell laptop purchase?

2) When I try to format the C drive, I receive a message that applications
from the drive are running and I need to "dismount" them. I have closed all
operations running on the task bar so it must be some background utility or
something. How do I see what is running in the background?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me answer the questions above.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

All new Dell PCs are shipped with a Dell Reinstallation CD.

How to Replace Lost, Broken, or Missing Microsoft Software or Hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[ln];326246

Clean Install Windows XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Michael Stevens]

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| After having my son's Dell laptop for 2 weeks, the IT department at his
| university say they cannot load the software to allow him to connect to the
| university's internet system ( RESNET), but they don't know why. They
| instructed him to re-format his hard drive and reload Windows XP and all
| driver software that came with the laptop. I have two problems:
|
| 1) The laptop did not come with a Windows XP Operating System CD. Is this
| CD usually packaged with a Dell laptop purchase?
|
| 2) When I try to format the C drive, I receive a message that applications
| from the drive are running and I need to "dismount" them. I have closed all
| operations running on the task bar so it must be some background utility or
| something. How do I see what is running in the background?
|
| Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me answer the questions above.

 

[Ted Zieglar]

All Dell computers purchased from Dell come with a full Windows installation
CD, as well as CDs for all the software that was originally installed on the
computer.

For detailed (very detailed) instructions on how to reinstall all the
software that came with the laptop, go here:

"Dell Software Reinstall Guide"
http://tinyurl.com/47gdg

Ted Zieglar