Format drive or use "restore disc" from dell?

[de8212]

This is on a work machine BTW. I ran into a problem yesterday and had to use the "restore" disc that came with this dell laptop. From past knowledge I know these restore disc's aren't the best way to go. Should I just format the drive and then use the restore disc or just leave it alone until another problem arises? If I format C: will I still be able to boot from the cd drive w/Win2k cd in it?
de

 

[burnedout]

We have 'late model' Dell machines with Win2K at work also.

When an employee departs, what we do is this: Format the hard drive FAT32. Go in the bios and set it to boot CDROM. Then boot the recovery CD which has Win2K on it and perform a fresh install.

After installation is complete, set the bios to boot from floppy and HDD.

Yes, you should be able to boot from the CD after making the necessary bios adjustment. I think you press F2 when the www.dell.com screen comes up to access the bios.

 

[de8212]

So just go to command prompt and format c:, or is it format c: /s? It's been a while.
Then BIOS, select CD drive as first boot device, CTRL/ALT/DEL with their restore disc in there and then follow directions? I am used to 98SE, only installed 2k a couple times.
Another thing is that they sent us these machines with FAT32, I'd rather have NTFS. Can't remeber when it gives that option during setup?
de

 

[burnedout]

So just go to command prompt and format c:, or is it format c: /s?

I always use just format c:. Some techs type format c: /s.

Then BIOS, select CD drive as first boot device, CTRL/ALT/DEL with their restore disc in there and then follow directions?

After you go in the bios, set the boot devices to the order of CD, HDD and FDD. Make sure you save the bios settings and exit. The PC will reboot by itself.

Once installation is complete, then set the bios back. If I'm not mistaken, the Dell stock configuration is FDD, HDD, CD.

Another thing is that they sent us these machines with FAT32, I'd rather have NTFS. Can't remeber when it gives that option during setup?

Yes, Win2K gives you the option. What happens is that the W2K install program on the Dell recovery CD looks at your disk space. Then it gives you an option on where to install it and also the option to create NTFS.

I recently set up a Dell factory RAID configuration for my boss. Came with two 20 GB, 7200 RPM drives and a Promise controller RAID installed. Because he wanted striped and it was configured as mirrored, I had to reinstall Win2K. Reformatted the RAID setup as NTFS. Runs fairly quick too!

 

[bacillus]

I always assumed that when using the restore disk(I have a compaq laptop), your hdd got formatted before the installation of OS etc as you are warned that all info on the hdd will be wiped using a full restore from the restore disk. anyone! :frown:

 

[fargus]

Yes, most of the restore disks do format the HD first if you select "full restore". Some have the option to repair or reinstall just portions.
One of the main drawbacks of most vendor recovery disks is that in addition to the OS, they install all that unwanted garbage like product demos, "Welcome" tours, and so on. When I worked at an all-Compaq shop, we routinely deleted about 400Mb of junk after running their W95 recovery.

Now we use Ghost after getting the new machines set up the way we want them. Much better results than the vendor's CD. Don't have to format or anything, just restore the image. Sweet.