Dell 1505 XP - Won't Reformat

Kirtsch · 11-21-2008, 08:30 PM

Had tons of crashes. Tried to use System Restore (Norton Ghost) but it was unable to recover the system. This left me no choice but to reformat the hard drive.
I have the reinstallation CD so I followed the steps on Dell's website. Unfortunately, even though I was able to change the boot sequence to read first, the XP goes nowhere! The drive seems to be reading it, but I get nothing but a black screen and NO apparent "life" in the hard drive.
HELP!!
CC

**belfasteddie** · 11-23-2008, 01:08 AM

I have no experience with Dell. But, ususally when the comp boots to the Xp cd it will ask you to press a key to boot to the cd. Are you getting that? if not maybe try pressing any key . Also, try cleaning the cd. Use a clean cloth and wipe from the centre out to the edge.
If this works please note do not press the key on the second part of the installation.

11-21-2008, 08:30 PM	#1 (permalink)
Kirtsch Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: West Posts: 1 OS: Windows XP	Dell 1505 XP - Won't Reformat Had tons of crashes. Tried to use System Restore (Norton Ghost) but it was unable to recover the system. This left me no choice but to reformat the hard drive. I have the reinstallation CD so I followed the steps on Dell's website. Unfortunately, even though I was able to change the boot sequence to read first, the XP goes nowhere! The drive seems to be reading it, but I get nothing but a black screen and NO apparent "life" in the hard drive. HELP!! CC

11-23-2008, 01:08 AM	#2 (permalink)
belfasteddie Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Belfast N.I. Posts: 1,551 OS: Puppy Linux 4.12	Re: Dell 1505 XP - Won't Reformat I have no experience with Dell. But, ususally when the comp boots to the Xp cd it will ask you to press a key to boot to the cd. Are you getting that? if not maybe try pressing any key . Also, try cleaning the cd. Use a clean cloth and wipe from the centre out to the edge. If this works please note do not press the key on the second part of the installation.