Windows XP reinstall - no disc

cash22

Hi,

I'm kind of clueless when it comes to this stuff but my laptop (Packard Bell Easynote A8) is running slow, freezing etc so I want to reinstall Windows XP. The problem is that I can't find the discs that I got when I bought it....actually I'm not even sure if I got discs with it? I have my brothers xp disc that he got with his dell computer. Can I just use this disc and download the drivers etc from the net somewhere? Or maybe download or request replacement xp software/discs from microsoft??

Also does anyone have a link for a step-by-step guide to reintallation...

I did a quick search but couldn't find the answer to my questions on previous posts...apologies if this has been covered a million times already:)

Capt'n Midnight

you can't download XP

because it's OEM microsoft will not give you media or help

the packard bell may have a program to make a disk or may have a hidden partition, you may see something on the boot menu

note recovery / reimaging may mean you will loose all data on the laptop

all this is done to save money on the cost of providing a CD, which as you know cost so little they frequently given away free :mad:

check PB's web site for recovery options.

watty

Take it to someone expert. You can ALWAYS fixed windows without re-install.

It may have a bad driver, faulty ram or faulty disk.

I had bad trouble with going extremely slow and 3 mins (like freeze, but I was patient) if I tried to look at network properties after install of SP3. I found I had about 10 unused Network drivers not showning up because card/device was removed. I had to manually delete the services Registry entries and then it was perfect.
Moral is uninstall a driver BEFORE you swap out the Network card

I installed a SDK for ARM and USB drivers and as soon as I connected the BSOD. first time in over 5 years. I figured how to use JTAG, serial port an ethernet and uninstalled the evil USB driver, Laptop 1 year later still perfect.

Just a couple of examples.

JonathanAnon

Agree with the above. Reloading will be a lot of hassle, especially since you dont have the disk.

You dont say how long you have the laptop but if it was working fine when you got it, it is probably more likely some software (application/spyware/viruses/malware/misconfiguration of drivers) that is causing the problem. Like watty said, you should be able to fix it without having to reinstall UNLESS the problem is being caused by an intermittent hardware fault.

Do you have any Anti Virus software, is the laptop virus free?
Does the laptop crash when you open a particular application?
Is there anything in your Event Log to say what the issue is?
Have you tried using MSCONFIG to stop non-essential items at startup?
Have you removed unused software from Add/Remove programs?
Have you checked hard disk space?

Obviously you will have to take the above actions at your own risk, so if you are unsure about removing/editing anything, just bring it to a professional. That's my disclaimer.

watty

JonathanAnon wrote: »

Like watty said, you should be able to fix it without having to reinstall UNLESS the problem is being caused by an intermittent hardware fault.

If it is an intermittent HW fault trying to re-install could be very time consuming and wipe the disk and fail anyway.

Capt'n Midnight

If it's only recently gotten slow then system restore is worth a try

if you have an i386 folder on the hard drive then run
winnt32 /cmdcons
this will give you a command prompt as a backup in case you need to rename or overwrite files
then check the http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=1009 forum to check for malware and stuff

kaizersoze

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Dell disk will only work on the Dell , it checks the BIOS

I think you and I have been down this road before.:D

A Dell branded XP disc will install on any pc.
On a non-Dell pc the install will complete but XP will have to be activated. You enter the product key from the CoA sticker on the non Dell pc and you're in business.
When installed on a Dell pc it checks the product in the BIOS so when the install completes it's pre-activated.

XP versions must match of course.

watty

Some DELL disks only install on Dells. But that might have been NT4.0

I didn't know about the autoactivation till a few weeks ago when I replaced a lovely Fedora with XP on a Dell.

Most of my XP installs have been Volume Licence Key disk, so different from retail or OEM.

Capt'n Midnight

kaizersoze wrote:

A Dell branded XP disc will install on any pc.
On a non-Dell pc the install will complete but XP will have to be activated. You enter the product key from the CoA sticker on the non Dell pc and you're in business.

Works on VM
but I will still swear that it didn't work on one Sony though that was a reinstall.

Capt'n Midnight

watty wrote:

I didn't know about the autoactivation till a few weeks ago when I replaced a lovely Fedora with XP on a Dell.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457078.aspx

watty

However the Dell not only autoactivated, but the licence key was automatic too, and never even prompted for, even though the CD was from a different Dell (key in registry matched COA sticker on side of case).

ynotdu

cash22 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm kind of clueless when it comes to this stuff but my laptop (Packard Bell Easynote A8) is running slow, freezing etc so I want to reinstall Windows XP. The problem is that I can't find the discs that I got when I bought it....actually I'm not even sure if I got discs with it? I have my brothers xp disc that he got with his dell computer. Can I just use this disc and download the drivers etc from the net somewhere? Or maybe download or request replacement xp software/discs from microsoft??

Also does anyone have a link for a step-by-step guide to reintallation...

I did a quick search but couldn't find the answer to my questions on previous posts...apologies if this has been covered a million times already:)

Hi,for various reasons i have had to reinstall XP on the same desktop three times
.In My case it was a dell desktop,it was a nightmare:mad:

Ten weeks and hours and hours on the phone to support before they sent Me the XP installation cd,another wait for the resource cd(which detects the hardware on the computer and to put it simply enables device drivers to be installed,If you have the the device driver cds:) ) Then You are on your own unless you can afford premium rates to software to guide you through!

Without the drivers I would not even attempt a reinstall of XP as finding the drivers online is pot luck.

There are various programmes,no free ones available that I know of that detect missing or outdated drivers for your hardware to buy online,neither can I vouch for them.

I recently bought a labtop from Dell but only agreed to buy it if they included all driver cds and documentation,they caved in no problem,why for the few $,s more they dont ship them beats the hell ou,ta Me ?as the other guys have said Your best bet proably send it for repair if all else fails.

If You find XP installation disc try the repair option as this keeps your drivers and settings as is(will not work if You accepted service pack 3:(
I wish You luck !:)

cash22

Thanks for the advice people! I have since discovered that I have one of those inbuilt versions of XP where I can go into setup during startup and restore settings etc (i'm sure you all know what I mean but I can't put it into the right words!)

Anyway, I'm going to do that which means that I am not going to have to reload the Operating System, Drivers etc from scratch. Will take some of the tips from here for cleaning the computer up as well maybe first and see how that goes.

I have to say the computer never ran very smoothly, even from the beginning. It's always taken about 3-5 minutes to startup but even that will be an improvement on its current sluggishness.
Thanks again

ynotdu

cash22 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice people! I have since discovered that I have one of those inbuilt versions of XP where I can go into setup during startup and restore settings etc (i'm sure you all know what I mean but I can't put it into the right words!)

Anyway, I'm going to do that which means that I am not going to have to reload the Operating System, Drivers etc from scratch. Will take some of the tips from here for cleaning the computer up as well maybe first and see how that goes.

I have to say the computer never ran very smoothly, even from the beginning. It's always taken about 3-5 minutes to startup but even that will be an improvement on its current sluggishness.
Thanks again

May,be You can help Me as I only know about Dell products.(to the degree of My personal experiance)

Do You mean boot to utility partition?or do you mean factory restore?(subtle diffrience between the two)either way at least on dell computers the driver cds for any device added to computer since delivery will be needed.If lucky the drivers might be available on the device manufacturors home site,or from custom update scan from windows update service.a custom scan will often discover drivers for a computer and to the left will be offered as optional updat.,once I found the driver i needed for My webcam using this method.

Can anybody tell me is boot to utility partition or factory restore a Dell only idea or is it industry standard?

Both will only work once,after that a clean installation is the only hope:)

Amalgam

No, that sounds about right.. HP install a lot of 'Helper' modules, that are, by and large, useless.

Typically with HP, pressing F11 at the start of the Laptop start up (before Windows) starts a fully automated format and factory image restore of the laptop.

Sadly, I am an HP owner..