corrupt system file

ry_guyry_guy
edited March 2007 in Hardware
I have an old (2002) Dell Inspiron 2500 laptop that will not boot because of a corrupt system file. I've tried the recommended procedure of copying files in the recovery console with no success. Since there are no important data/files on the laptop I'm thinking of just wiping the hard drive and reinstalling windows XP. Unfortunately, I don't have any CDs for that particular computer. I do however have a windows XP reinstallation CD from a slightly newer Dell desktop. Could I use that CD with the Windows product key on the bottom of the laptop? Will this even work? And if so, what is the best way to go about this?

Comments

  • mtroxmtrox Minnesota
    edited March 2007
    Maybe, yes, and just put it in the CD drive and reboot.

    Maybe you can use the same disk as a newer Dell. It has to be exactly the same version (like XP Home SP1a). I think with Dell the color of the disk tells the whole story. If they are exactly the same version of XP you can reuse it with the CD key on the bottom of the computer (I just did that last Sat with another Dell lappy).

    And as I said, just put it in the CD drive and reboot. If you get a screen that asks you to hit a key to boot from the CD....................................hit it!
  • ry_guyry_guy
    edited March 2007
    Thanks mtrox. If I reinstall XP, will I have to reinstall all drivers, etc.? I don't have any of that stuff, just the reinstall CD for XP.

    Also, during the XP setup it shows all the partitions currently on the hard drive. In my situation there is C: and another smaller (31MB) partition which I believe Dell creates, as well as the unpartitioned space. At this point should I delete C:? What about the smaller Dell partition? If I delete C:, do I have to create a new partition or does the XP setup do that automatically?

    Sorry for all the questions. Thanks again!
  • mtroxmtrox Minnesota
    edited March 2007
    Yea, it will boot up with the standard XP install, but then you should get over to support.dell.com, plug in the Service Tag and download all the newest drivers.

    Yea I'd delete the C: partition. That will put all your raw, unpartitioned space in one block. Then the XP install will ask you where to install XP. Choose the unpartioned space and the next thing the XP intall asks is to format it. You got no choice here....let it format it and you should end up with one partition.

    EDIT: When you get drivers from Dell, you usually have no sound till you download that driver, often don't have a NIC card, and I would also pay particular attention to the chip set driver, video card driver.
  • TroganTrogan London, UK
    edited March 2007
    I moved the thread to Emergence Help from General Hardware.
  • ry_guyry_guy
    edited March 2007
    FYI: I have reinstalled Windows XP on the laptop. It never asked me for a product key and is currently working fine. I have been downloading updates from Microsoft, including the validation tool and it seems to recognize the copy of XP as "genuine". I haven't even had to download any of the drivers from Dell. So far, no problems! Thanks for all your help.
  • mtroxmtrox Minnesota
    edited March 2007
    ry_guy I had the same thing on the Dell lappy I rebuilt last weekend. I used another Dell disk to install XP on a brand new 120 Gig hard drive and it never asked for the CD key. Maybe someone else knows why...I don't.

    I would strongly advise you to at least take a look at Device Manager and see if there are any yellow question marks. In my experience it is rare that you rebuild a Dell and all devices are detected and installed. The yellow question marks mean the standard install of XP is puzzled about some piece of hardware.
  • ry_guyry_guy
    edited March 2007
    mtrox wrote:
    I would strongly advise you to at least take a look at Device Manager and see if there are any yellow question marks.

    I checked Device Manager and there are no yellow question marks. The only thing out of the ordinary is a red X through the icon for the internal PCI ethernet adapter, which stopped working before I reinstalled XP and doesn't really matter since I have a new wireless USB adapter. I'm quite surprised that everything is working properly without downloading any of the drivers. Maybe Dell installs the drivers on the additional smaller partition of the hard drive, which I did not delete during the reinstall and this is why there have not been any driver related problems (so far)?
  • mtroxmtrox Minnesota
    edited March 2007
    ry_guy wrote:
    I checked Device Manager and there are no yellow question marks.

    Guess that shows you what I know. I don't think I've seen that on a Dell before. Did it search the recovery partition? Not a bad theory...I'm not sure.

    Glad you got it fixed!
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