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Dell Laptop Recovery

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Hello, I currently have a dell inspiron 1300 and am looking to restore the computer to its factory settings. I do not hav any recovery disks and am tryin to find out how to do it – i.e. where to download programs from etc. I have restored other computers from CD but don’t have a CD or this comp. Any help will be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

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Clarifications

In reply to Dell Laptop Recovery

Clarifications

support.dell.com

In reply to Dell Laptop Recovery

Dell doesn’t use restore or recovery CDs. Systems ship with either a recovery util on the HD or software and driver CDs. Since you have no CDs and I don’t think the 1300 had it on the HD then you’re left with doing an install of whatever OS you choose and then downloading drivers from the Dell support site. You can punch in the service tag number and it will give you the system configuration and a list of possible drivers. I say possible because it is a list that matches your model but it’s not config specific. There may be 2 video drivers for example but only one matches the card in your system. As far as original software you would have to have the CDs and keys that it shipped with. Some software is available for download but typicaly not licensed softwares.

Dell Restore

In reply to support.dell.com

Thanks – a friend also has the same model laptop so would i be able to use his cds to restore my computer or would they be specific to his computer? I have full use of the computer at the minute so i can access what drivers i have – however, the computer has a virus and would like to get it sorted asap? I have access to the internet so i can download whatever drivers i need and place them on cd – the problem is i would need step by step help of what to do first and how to do it etc?

Reload

In reply to Dell Restore

Step by step might be a bit much to list here. His CDs would probably be fine but you could be missing things like CD burning software if say your system had it and his didn’t. You may want to download Belarc to find all of your license keys if you don’t already have them for things like MS Office. Your Windows key should be on a sticker. What is being reloaded? WIN98? Me? XP?

Restore

In reply to Reload

It would be XP. But say i dont use his cd’s – what do yo recommend i do? i’m not sure what are the key drivers etc that i should download and burn onto cd. I have access to genuine xp and office so the keys are not a problem. My main worry is without discs would i be able to restore my computer using downloads only?

Drivers

In reply to Restore

I’m not sure what you mean by “restore”. If data is being backed up to CD or USB stick you should be able to access these with a default XP install. A quick look at Dell for the 1300 shows Quickset – Dell device manager, Sonic Record Now – CD burning software patch – need the install to recover it, Sigmatel – Audio, Intel Chipset, Conexant Modem, Wireless network – model depends, BIOS update – not a bad idea, Synaptics – touchpad driver, Broadcom – wired network, Itel graphics.
If you download these and burn to finalized or CD-R CD then the default install of XP should be able to read it to reinstall drivers. If your friend has the drivers/Util CD then you can use that but the web is more current. Start with the Intel chipset driver then video followed by networking and the rest. I don’t have a 1300 but with the Dells I’ve worked with the network cards and video are the most likely to not install without drivers. The drivers you download most often come as an EXE file. Double click and follow directions. A driver folder is created and an install starts automatically. ZIP file come with instruction. If you are recovering from a virus be sure to format not just re-install.

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