How to do a clean OS install on a Dell Latitude Notebook

[Starbuck1975]

On my desktop systems, I typically do a clean OS install every year. I have had this Dell Latitude notebook since 2002, and have not used the same maintenance cycle.

Bored, I decided to attempt a clean install of my OS...WIN XP Professional.

I have the OS disk that came with the computer. The problem is that when I run WIN XP setup to reinstall the OS, I get an error message stating that the version of Windows installed on my system is newer then that on the CD...and that it can therefore not perform this function.

I tried simply doing a format C:/, but that didnt work as well.

So what are my options for running a clean install of my OS...I also have the driver CD that came with my laptop.

 

[Pakman117]

You get that error message because the WinXP copy you have installed on your laptop is WinXP SP2 and the copy included on the Dell WinXP CD is SP1. Windows thinks your crazy for trying to "downgrade" and doesn't let you do it.

To reformat your laptop, simply place the Dell WinXP CD in your computer, reboot, and press F12 before your computer boots into Windows. This will take you to an option screen where you can select "boot from CDROM".

Once you boot from the WinXP CD, enter setup and press ESC (I think) to let Windows know that even though it's already installed, you want to continue through setup anyway. Note: The setup screens will let you know the appropriate time to press ESC - don't randomly hit it.

Then, once you're at the partition screen, remove any old partitions until you have some FREE SPACE. Finally, press ENTER after highlighting FREE SPACE, select your formatting method (NTFS), and let Windows do the rest.

Good luck.

 

[Starbuck1975]

Thanks for the pointers.

I went ahead and hit F12 upon starting my laptop. A menu came up that allowed me to select the boot device.

I chose my CD-ROM drive, and received a message to press any key to boot from CD.

And then the system just lingers.

The CD-ROM activity light does not go on, and I end up staring at a black screen with the boot message sitting there.

As far as I can tell, there is nothing wrong with my CD-ROM drive...I can view and explore CDs from within windows, although it does work rather slow.

Any pointers on what could be preventing my system from booting from the CD...it is the Dell provided WIN XP Professional installation CD-ROM.

 

[santuitman]

Not sure but I think you may have to highlight the drive in the bois settings. My bios has a list of the bootable devices and you can change the order but you must also enable the devices.

Hope this helps...

Brian

 

[santuitman]

Hello
Did you ever solve this? I've got a similar probelm wit h a new hard drive drive in a C610 It seems like it just doesn't want to read the oem cds and a win xp install disk won't recognixe the product key....

 

[Zirconium]

I have seen a similar problem. Sometimes, the MBR gets f'd up and the windows CDs refuse to load. Options:
1. Slipstream yourself a new cd with SP2. This will kill 2 birds with 1 stone: you don't have to do windows updates, and sometimes the slipstreamed CDs work.
2. Create rescue floppies (if the computer has a floppy drive) and run fixmbr
3. Delete your partitions with knoppix, and create new ones. Booting into knoppix will tell you if your computer can boot off CDs.