OEM restore disk question.

[Rob]

I have a 3 year old Dell 8200 that is in serious need of getting the
sludge out. It is slower than an old (10 years) IBM laptop running Win
98. Any way I need to reformat and reinstall. This group has already
informed me that I need to use the reinstallation CD sent form DEll.
My question is will all the hardware changes I made need to be put back
to the original state before I reinstall? I know I need to unplug all
printers, scanners ect. I have taken out a network card to add a TV
tuner, i took out the cd burner to add DVD burner and I added a 2nd
hard drive. I do want to in the end repalce the network card and
remove the internal modem, I now use a wireless usb adapter to connnect
to a DSL modem.

 

[Rob]

I forgot I also upgraded the RAM.

 

[TJ]

No need to put back to original state...

 

[Rob]

And I have a different video card I would like to install.

 

[Guest]

a restore will bring the computers software status to as purchased , so the
hardware will no longer match the drivers, it could cause some problems.
RAM is not an issue, but other add on cards might be, ie the video will
require different drivers.

 

[paulmd]

I have a 3 year old Dell 8200 that is in serious need of getting the
sludge out. It is slower than an old (10 years) IBM laptop running Win
98. Any way I need to reformat and reinstall. This group has already
informed me that I need to use the reinstallation CD sent form DEll.
My question is will all the hardware changes I made need to be put back
to the original state before I reinstall? I know I need to unplug all
printers, scanners ect. I have taken out a network card to add a TV
tuner, i took out the cd burner to add DVD burner and I added a 2nd
hard drive. I do want to in the end repalce the network card and
remove the internal modem, I now use a wireless usb adapter to connnect
to a DSL modem.

There's really only driver that you ABSOLUTELY need to have on disk
before you nuke. The wireless USB adapter thing (Or alternate means of
getting on the internet) All dell drivers are redownloadable. So are
the VAST majority of non dell drivers.. Really, you can leave
everything in place. Though it can't hurt to find the driver disks for
all your stuff.

There's no pressing need to unplug your peripherals, though it only
takes a second... you might as well.

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi Rob,

You can use the Dell Reinstall Guide for instructions on reinstalling
Windows on your particular Dell system.
http://support.dell.com/support/top...d=0A6DDE26E66F36C7E0401E0A5517368C&redirect=1

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org