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General discussion

Dell Inspirion Lap Top

Mar 3, 2011 6:07AM PST

I have a used lap top trying to erase it I have the disk but not sure what to do. Please help.

Discussion is locked

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Quick question
Mar 3, 2011 6:09AM PST
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Messed up
Mar 3, 2011 6:22AM PST

I cant even do anything on the lap top, I cant open internet or go to any other programs. So im not able to download anything I need to wipe it clean erase everything. So I can reinstall the vista.

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How are you going to reinstall this Vista?
Mar 3, 2011 9:04PM PST

You don't give any details of make/model, or what resources you have, so there is little I can say.

With OEM machines nowadays the 'Reinstall' option is usually on a hidden recovery partition on the hard disk. Accessing that will return the system to factory setup, eg it will wipe the C:\ drive partition and reinstall Vista as a fresh install. Using DBAN on such a machine would delete that recovery partition.

If you have the original, genuine, Vista DVD, then booting from that will allow you to delete all or any partitions, format, and install Vista as a fresh install on C:\

You would still be able to do that with the genuine Vista DVD even after using DBAN.

Mark