Formating hard drive

  • Thread starter Thread starter D. H. Bates
  • Start date Start date
D

D. H. Bates

I have a Cicero computer system that came with Windows XP
home edition preloaded. Of course this means that all I
have is a restore disk. Because the hard drive has a lot
of corruption on it and is not running well I was going
to format and just reload the system. I have two
questions.

1. If I format the hard drive will I be able to reboot
from the cd or do I have to make a boot disk first.
2. Will I loose my registration information embedded on
the hard drive by formating and thereby not be able to
reinstall the software from the restore cd.

Of course since this was a preloaded software, MS will
not provide me with any information, instead say have to
contact the computer licensor, of course this info is no
longer available. I already tried that with the cd rom
that stopped working. In that case I contacted the
original manufacturer and they sent me a new one free of
charge. You think Microsoft would be so good?

Your info would be appreciated.

Sincerely
D. H. Bates
 
Normally a restore disk is bootable just as long as you first enter the BIOS
and set CD drive as the drive to boot from. Also most restore disks will
also format your hard drive prior to installation. Try booting from your
restore disk just to make sure before you do anything drastic.
The registration information will be included in the install on the restore
CD or there would be no point in having it.

Andy Dean
 
I have a Cicero computer system that came with Windows XP
home edition preloaded. Of course this means that all I
have is a restore disk. Because the hard drive has a lot
of corruption on it and is not running well I was going
to format and just reload the system. I have two
questions.

1. If I format the hard drive will I be able to reboot
from the cd or do I have to make a boot disk first.
2. Will I loose my registration information embedded on
the hard drive by formating and thereby not be able to
reinstall the software from the restore cd.

Of course since this was a preloaded software, MS will
not provide me with any information, instead say have to
contact the computer licensor, of course this info is no
longer available. I already tried that with the cd rom
that stopped working. In that case I contacted the
original manufacturer and they sent me a new one free of
charge. You think Microsoft would be so good?

Your info would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

First, be absolutely positive you want to re-format your computer as
there is no going back - all data will be destroyed. At least make a
backup first of all your E-mail, addresses, documents, etc.

Next, since the CD you have is a restore type CD, it probably will do
the format and restore of the OS and all other pre-installed programs
automatically. Some restore CD sets give a choice. So be sure to
check any documentation that you have. The OEM supplier of the
system should have included instructions on how to do this.
 
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