Starting from Scratch

[hmiles619]

I've got a laptop that I'm working on for a friend. Apparently she did something wrong with it, and now I think it's about time to start over from scratch.

I can't recover the computer from a past date using the system restore....it just won't boot it. So I'm just going to try to start over. In the past (windows 98) I would stick in the recovery cd and get it going. Now with XP there is no recovery cd that I'm aware of. How do I go about formatting, re-installing, and just starting over?

[Pflugerville Ag]

To start over, follow these steps...

1. See how far you can throw the laptop like a frisbee
2. Buy a new laptop

[hmiles619]

good call except you forgot a step....

1b. Get a job and save some money for a laptop

[jagowar]

they all do it differently these days... some have a partition on the laptop containing the recovery stuff, some have a cd, some have a cd which boots the recovery stuff, and some dont include a damn thing and force you to burn your own recovery cd's.

does it come with a windows cd or not?

[hmiles619]

it doesn't come with a recovery cd, but it does have a partitioned drive with recovery stuff on it (i think)...i just don't know how to access it.

[Pflugerville Ag]

good call except you forgot a step....

1b. Get a job and save some money for a laptop

It looks like you can get a new laptop with a 14" screen at Walmart tomorrow for $348.

[hmiles619]

how about I just fix the one I have?

[polish]

That happened to a friends computer with XP. We both tried to fix it. We went into safe mode and it asked to recover with or without a cd. We tried without and it didn't work, we tried with and it was fine

Which is why you make your own recovery cds

[hmiles619]

Which is why you make your own recovery cds

not my computer...i don't have control over that. Just trying to fix it now

[jagowar]

yeah i think you have (were supposed) to make them yourself if they arent included....