Clean install XP on Dell laptop

[jst7906]

Ive got a dell inspiron 1500 laptop,(made around 2003) and i am trying
to do a clean install of windows xp on it.
I saved what i thought i needed on my portable hard drive.
Then i put in the reinstall xp disc. I went through the steps. there
were 3 partitions,one was very big~30 gig,then one was about 3 gig,and
one really small one. It wouldnt let me refort the big one. I deleted
the medium one in fats32,and created a new partition,same size in nfts.
Everything seemed to go well.
When xp booted up,it was in the largest resolution,and only 16 bit
color. This could not be adjusted,i looked into it,i guess it didnt
have the needed drivers.
I tried to get online, but i guess it didnt have ethernet.

Anyways,i rebooted again,and a black screen came up telling me to
choose between 2 different versions of windows xp home.
i found out,one of them is my "new" xp,where i am stuck. the other is
my old windows xp just as I had left it. Im trying to save more drivers
from the 'old xp' to my portable hard drive,then try another clean
install.
Can anyone give me any insight as to whats going on?
I can seem to find my ethernet/modem drivers either.

 

[GreenieLeBrun]

Ive got a dell inspiron 1500 laptop,(made around 2003) and i am trying
to do a clean install of windows xp on it.
I saved what i thought i needed on my portable hard drive.
Then i put in the reinstall xp disc. I went through the steps. there
were 3 partitions,one was very big~30 gig,then one was about 3 gig,and
one really small one. It wouldnt let me refort the big one. I deleted
the medium one in fats32,and created a new partition,same size in nfts.
Everything seemed to go well.
When xp booted up,it was in the largest resolution,and only 16 bit
color. This could not be adjusted,i looked into it,i guess it didnt
have the needed drivers.
I tried to get online, but i guess it didnt have ethernet.

Anyways,i rebooted again,and a black screen came up telling me to
choose between 2 different versions of windows xp home.
i found out,one of them is my "new" xp,where i am stuck. the other is
my old windows xp just as I had left it. Im trying to save more drivers
from the 'old xp' to my portable hard drive,then try another clean
install.
Can anyone give me any insight as to whats going on?
I can seem to find my ethernet/modem drivers either.

The small partition was probably a boot partition, the 3Gb partition
probably the Recovery partition and the ~30Gb what you would normally
see as your C; drive.

If I read you correctly you booted your machine and then inserted the
CD and tried remove the active partition/reformat the C: drive whilst
running XP from it - no can do. You cannot format the drive that XP is
running from.

If you had read your documentation there was probably a requirement to
press a certain key at boot up to restore your machine to the factory
defaults. You will most likely be unable to do that as it appears that
you deleted the recovery partition.

Is the CD you have the proper bootable Dell XP install CD for your
machine?

If not then you are most probably going to have to purchase a new
retail version of XP.

The drivers for your machine would or should be available from the Dell
web site.

To do a fresh reinstall of XP you need to boot from your XP
installation CD, to do this you will need to set your BIOS such that
the CD is the first boot device. This will require you to press a
certain key when you first start your machine. That key may be Del, F2,
F10 - look at your documentation or on the Dell site.

Make sure you have the correct product key for the version of XP you
are installing.

The following may help :-

How to install or upgrade to Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316941

 

[jst7906]

The small partition was probably a boot partition, the 3Gb partition
probably the Recovery partition and the ~30Gb what you would normally
see as your C; drive.

If I read you correctly you booted your machine and then inserted the
CD and tried remove the active partition/reformat the C: drive whilst
running XP from it - no can do. You cannot format the drive that XP is
running from.

If you had read your documentation there was probably a requirement to
press a certain key at boot up to restore your machine to the factory
defaults. You will most likely be unable to do that as it appears that
you deleted the recovery partition.

Is the CD you have the proper bootable Dell XP install CD for your
machine?

If not then you are most probably going to have to purchase a new
retail version of XP.

The drivers for your machine would or should be available from the Dell
web site.

To do a fresh reinstall of XP you need to boot from your XP
installation CD, to do this you will need to set your BIOS such that
the CD is the first boot device. This will require you to press a
certain key when you first start your machine. That key may be Del, F2,
F10 - look at your documentation or on the Dell site.

Make sure you have the correct product key for the version of XP you
are installing.

The following may help :-

How to install or upgrade to Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316941

Thanks for the advice. How do I set up BIOS?
The disc i have is the original dell xp reinstall cd.
I will look at the dell website and the link.

 

[jst7906]

The small partition was probably a boot partition, the 3Gb partition
probably the Recovery partition and the ~30Gb what you would normally
see as your C; drive.

If I read you correctly you booted your machine and then inserted the
CD and tried remove the active partition/reformat the C: drive whilst
running XP from it - no can do. You cannot format the drive that XP is
running from.

If you had read your documentation there was probably a requirement to
press a certain key at boot up to restore your machine to the factory
defaults. You will most likely be unable to do that as it appears that
you deleted the recovery partition.

Is the CD you have the proper bootable Dell XP install CD for your
machine?

If not then you are most probably going to have to purchase a new
retail version of XP.

The drivers for your machine would or should be available from the Dell
web site.

To do a fresh reinstall of XP you need to boot from your XP
installation CD, to do this you will need to set your BIOS such that
the CD is the first boot device. This will require you to press a
certain key when you first start your machine. That key may be Del, F2,
F10 - look at your documentation or on the Dell site.

Make sure you have the correct product key for the version of XP you
are installing.

The following may help :-

How to install or upgrade to Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316941

Thx for the advice. I have the original Dell windows xp install
disc,with product key.
I have to figure out how to set up BIOS so the CD is the first boot
device.