Anything different about reformatting a laptop?

[kduncan5]

I'm going to be visiting with my father in August (only see him once a year...). He has a laptop that's been sporting corruption in some of his programs for quite some time. I've told him to bring all his software with him and I'll reformat the d*mned thing for him and re-install his OS and all his programs, and HOPEFULLY, he'll be able to keep from screwing things up this time (he's not the most computer literate person I've ever met.....).

Is there anything different about reformatting a laptop than reformatting a desktop? I've reformatted my PC several times, so I'm relatively familiar with the process, as regards to desktop PC's anyway.

Thanks, -kd5-

 

[TallBill]

u have to be upsidedown when u do it.. some internal balance mechanism

 

[kduncan5]

Yeh, right..... -kd5-

 

[Elledan]

Certain (old) laptops have the bios stored on the HD. Format the HD and you die

There recently was a thread on this topic, you might want to search for it.

 

[lowtech1]

1. Backup all your data.
2. Download the latest BIOS driver & extract it to a floppy.
3. Make sure the OS have the Cdrom driver or have a manufacture compatible driver in hand.
4. Also good to have the NIC driver in hand just incase you need to get on the www for drivers & help.
5. It is also nice to have the graphic card driver inhand, and if it doesn't fit a floppy then have the the to the appropriate driver befor you format & reinstall the laptop.
6. Sound driver also is nice to have, but you can always find & download it at any time.

 

[MOgeeks]

formatting laptop or pc is about the same.

what i normally do before i re-re-reformat my p133 laptop is prepare a bootable diskette that make sure the cd-rom can be read.
my laptop is an old one that has some hardware that required special manufacturer's drivers so be sure the drivers are there.
And lastly, I sing to my laptop to make it happy.

 

[perry]

Get the laptop model and go to the manuf's page and download all the drivers and take them with you on CD or floppy. Windows sometimes doesn't have all the weird drivers that laptops use, or it has em and they don't work perfectly.

Most laptops will come with a system restore CD that can be used to restore the laptop to exactly what was on it when it left the factory. Perhaps he will have that and your life will be simpler.

 

[lowtech1]

Make sure you setup his email accounts correctly & dialups if applicable.
Resycornize the Palm Pilot with his Exchange server/Outlook email, address book, and calendar (reset email to use Text or HTML format...not MS stupid default Richtext).
Check to make sure if he uses VNC, Terminal Sevices, PCanyWhere or Remote Admin, and reset the port & IP if applicable.
The above services are critical to laptop users.

 

[MrCodeDude]

It's like Etcha-Sketch. Tilt it at a 45 degree angle and shake until you can see a blank screen
-- mrcodedude

 

[kduncan5]

He doesn't have a palm pilot, just a plain old laptop. Not THAT old, but not new either. Don't know the mfg., but I'll find out when I talk to him next time.

Normally, when I reformat my PC, I just boot with CDROM support, type FORMAT C:, wait, then type E:SETUP, re-install Windows 98se, and go from there. If it's basically the same, then I shouldn't have a problem, right? -kd5-

 

[HansHurt]

format c: /s or some other switch to keep the system files intact.

I just did format C: on my old p100 lappy and now I am screwed b/c I have no floppy...it does not boot from CD.

I get the 'ol system disk error message.

I am going to search for my thread where I got assistance on this and paste it here.


Here it is some good advice in that thread.

 

[bonkers325]

<< I'm going to be visiting with my father in August (only see him once a year...). He has a laptop that's been sporting corruption in some of his programs for quite some time. I've told him to bring all his software with him and I'll reformat the d*mned thing for him and re-install his OS and all his programs, and HOPEFULLY, he'll be able to keep from screwing things up this time (he's not the most computer literate person I've ever met.....).

Is there anything different about reformatting a laptop than reformatting a desktop? I've reformatted my PC several times, so I'm relatively familiar with the process, as regards to desktop PC's anyway.

Thanks, -kd5- >>



just make sure u know how to make cdrom boot
very helpful

 

[kduncan5]

Thanks guys. I'm pretty sure his has both CDROM &amp; floppy. I'll make sure to use the /s in the format command.

Thanks! -kd5-

 

[lowtech1]

&quot;just make sure u know how to make cdrom boot&quot;

If life was that easy...many laptops requier weird cdrom driver, so cdrom boot is often a no go.