Heres the problem I have recently taken over my mothers laptop as she got a new Dell laptop. The one I acquired is a Inspiron 4100, when i was looking through all of the cds that she had saved with it I have the media backup cd and the drivers cd as well as the office cd. What I do not have is the systrem restore or Xp cd. Is there a way I can restore my computer to out of the box state without this cd. I basically just wont to get all of her information off as well as clean up a few viruses it may have. THanks

11/15/2006 12:30:14 PM

A standard XP Home CD will work.


You'll need to get the drivers afterwards from dell though. Could prove to be a bitch if your NIC isnt recognized.


You may be able to order the CDs from Dell, but they wont be free.

11/15/2006 12:51:25 PM

exactly as he^ said, use a stock xp home cd and get the drivers from dell, here are the drivers you need:
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/devices.aspx?SystemID=INS_PNT_P3C_4100&os=WW1&osl=EN

it's to your advantage on a clean install to have all the most current and fixed drivers to minimize system instability. my suggestion would be to download the driver packages you need and save them to a usb drive or cd that you can install from after windows is installed. at the very least you should have a copy of your NIC drivers.

11/15/2006 1:03:21 PM

Google up a program called "Magicical JellyBean". It can extract MS Product License Keys from the computer it is running on. No guarantees it will match up to whatever CD you use to reinstall with, but nice to have.

11/15/2006 1:55:46 PM

that should have a built in system restore:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft® Windows® XP Reinstall Guide [ All Desktops and Portables ]

This is a step-by-step Troubleshooting Wizard. Use the options below to navigate.

STEP: Perform a PC Restore of the operating system.

NOTICE: To help prevent further complications, it is important to disconnect the system's modem or network cable before starting the restore process.

To perform a restore of the operating using PC Restore, perform the following steps:

NOTE: Dell PC Restore by Symantec is available on Dimension and Inspiron systems that shipped on or after 7/16/2004 in the Americas and 8/30/2004 in Europe.

1. Power the computer on.
2. When the Dell screen appears press and hold the <Ctrl> key on the keyboard, press the <F11> key, then release them both at the same time.
The Dell PC Restore by Symantec window appears.

NOTE NOTE: Press the keys one time only. If you press them more than once, a keyboard error occurs and the process has to be initiated again.

3. Click the Restore button or press the <Tab> key to highlight Restore and press the <Enter> key.
A caution message appears advising that all data will be lost.
4. Click the Confirm button or press the <Tab> key to highlight Confirm and press the <Enter> key.
The Progress window appears. Once the process is begun, Dell PC Restore usually takes only 8 to 10 minutes to complete.
When the restore is complete, the message The system recovery process was successful appears.
5. Click the Finish button or press the <Tab> key to highlight Finish and press the <Enter> key.
The computer will restart.

--------------------------------------------------------

sorry it looks like crap just copied/pasted from the Dell website, those are the direct dell instructions on how to restore the Inspiron 4100

[Edited on November 15, 2006 at 4:38 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on November 15, 2006 at 4:39 PM. Reason : bold]

11/15/2006 4:36:01 PM