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| Thread ID: 15114 | 2002-01-29 06:27:00 | Format Brand Name Computer ?? | Guest (0) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 33342 | 2002-01-29 06:27:00 | Story is, a lady in Chch went and got her compaq reformatted at a nation wide retail chain. In excess of $100 and two weeks later as 'it had to go to Auckland to get formatted....' Her question to the sales rep, she had the idea of buying her own full version system disk rather than use the Rescue CD. She was told that this was not possible, the computer could only be restored with the rescue disks, something to do with the motherboard. I assume from this, he means the BIOS. So, the ? is, can a brand name computer such as Compaq be formatted in the conventional manner using a startup floppy disk and a full version system disk. Is it possible that there could be something in the BIOS or motherboard set up that would prevent a full version setup disk from installing? To make matters worse, even though she put instrcutions in writing that only the OS and drivers were to be installed with no software, sure enough some clown has installed all the demo's, unwanted programs, spyware, etc that was on the rescue disk. Answer to that, it had to be installed as part of the setup. So, anyone out there formatting there own brand name systems with a full version OS in preference to the supplied rescue disks. |
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| 33343 | 2002-01-29 07:02:00 | Hi there, I have successfully loaded windows from scratch on a compaq and an HP, can't comment on other brands though and it may vary from model to model as well. Things to keep in mind: You will need to make sure you have the appropriate drivers. Formatting the hard drive from scratch will render the recovery disks useless. I know HP write a special MBR and some manufacturers use drive overlay. |
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| 33344 | 2002-01-29 10:37:00 | Why didn't someone tell me earlier that I couldn't reinstall a Compaq? Some months ago I reinstalled my daughter's early model Compaq pentium using a full version of Win 95 (haven't got rescue disks). Did eventually discover one small problem. Couldn't for the life of me work out how to get into the BIOS to set the NumLock on. (A minor irritation). Finally sat down and worked it out. Compaqs use the first few tracks on the hard drive for the BIOS instead of a seperate chip. Found the relevant files on the Compaq site and started again. These, as I remember, go on the empty drive first THEN you install the Operating System. It works (and the NumLock is now on on start up) |
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| 33345 | 2002-01-29 11:16:00 | From the Packard Bell perspective, on the recovery cd you had two options. The first was the full install with all the bells, whistles, and junk that comes on these cds. The second was w98 alone, and then you can choose which programs that come with the recovery cd that you actually need to install. I am currently running win2k on this Packard Bell, had no problems with the format or install. |
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| 33346 | 2002-01-29 20:03:00 | Hi Gordon. You may have to make sure you can boot from a floppy, some brands disable this function in the bios ( or don't have an option to turn it back on), with no easy way to get around it, others are easier but all would be harder than a normal generic PC. All can be got around with a little bit of lateral thinking. Alan |
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