Enabling System
Restore
NOTE:
Windows Vista does not disable System Restore, regardless of available disk space. Therefore,
the
following steps apply to Windows XP
only
.
If
you reinstall
W
i
ndows
XP
with
less
than
200
MB of
free hard-disk space available, System Restore
is
automatically disabled.
To
see
if
System Restore is
enabled:
1
Click
Start
→
Control Panel
→
Performance and Maintenance
→
System
→
System Restore
.
2 Ensure
that
Turn off System Restore
is
unchecked.
Using the Operating System CD
Before You
Begin
If
you are considering reinstalling
the
W
i
ndows
operating system
to
correct a problem
with
a
newly
installed driver,
first try
using
Windows
Device
Driver
Rollback. See "Using
Windows
Device
Driver
Rollback"
on
page 100.
If
Device
Driver
Rollback does
not
resolve
the
problem,
then
use System
Restor
e
to
return your operating system
to the
operating state
it
was
in
before you installed
the
new device
driver.
See
"Using Microsoft
W
i
ndows
System Restore"
on
page
103.
NOTICE:
Before performing the installation, back up all data files on your primary hard drive. For
conventional
hard
drive configurations, the primary hard drive is the first drive detected by the computer
.
To
reinstall
W
i
ndows,
you need
the following items:
•
D
e
ll
™
Operating System
CD
•
D
e
ll
Drivers and
Utilities
CD
NOTE:
The Dell Drivers and Utilities CD
contains drivers that were installed during assembly of the computer. Use
the
Dell Drivers and Utilities CD
to load any required drivers. Depending on the region from where you ordered
your
computer, or whether you requested the CDs, the Dell Drivers and Utilities CD and Operating System CD may
not
ship with your computer
.
Reinstalling
Windows
The reinstallation
process can take 1
to
2 hours
to
complete.
After
you reinstall
the
operating system,
you
must
also reinstall
the
device drivers, virus protection program, and other softwar
e
.
NOTICE:
The Operating System CD
provides options for reinstalling Windows. The options can overwrite files
and
possibly affect programs installed on your hard drive. Therefore, do not reinstall Windows unless
a
Dell
technical
support representative instructs you to do
so.
1 Save and close any open files and
e
x
it
any open
programs.
2 Insert
the
Operating System
CD. Click
Exit
if the
Install Windows
message
appears.
3 Restart
the computer.
When the DELL
logo appears, press
<F12> immediately.
NOTE:
If
you wait too long and the operating system logo appears, continue to wait until you see
the
Microsoft
®
Windows
®
desktop; then, shut down your computer and try
again.
104
Reinstalling
Software
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