Reformating

Big question, really need help. I'm probably going to ramble off.

Ok, i have a Dell XPS400 which came with Windows Media Xp and all those other goodies like the audio crap, drivers, upgrades, some software, mccaffee, etc...

If i were to REFORMAT my computer, does absolutely everything go away and it goes to a DOS screen or w/e that's called? Or will it reboot as a Windows Media XP and EXACTLY like it was when i first turned it on? Because i don't know if i need to save all this crap (which is impossible for someone like me) before i reformat.

If there are easy ways to reformat (without going into c/flflds/dfskofjds/lalfd/lafd and taking 234-19432 manual files out and saving to a external harddrive), please help me. Thanks!

Yes, it will be exactly like it was new.

Reformatting is easy, you just boot on the XP disk and follow the instructions.

Originally Posted by Village Idiot Yes, it will be exactly like it was new. Reformatting is easy, you just boot on the XP disk and follow the instructions.

By new you mean when I first got it? When i first got it, Windows Media Xp was already on there and it could run properly. Otherwise, i don't have any disks such as the XP disk to do this. My computer just came with it when I bought it (no i don't have an illegal version, i have a legal version, just no disk). I don't know what to do now.

Contact dell, you may have to buy a disk from them...

Ok. So basically what your saying is it is not possible for me as an individual to reformat my computer without spending money? Because even though I have a legal copy of Windows Media XP on my computer, i really can't verify it with anyone, plus i'd have to pay $$ to talk to Dell since my warranty expired a while back. They only will talk to you if you pay them per hour or w/e it is.

Is there anyway I can extract it from my computer possibly? Or is that going to be gibble gobble 1555 different files everywhere which is already bugged out? Im sorry if i sound really stupid right now, im just kinda depressed over what happened on my computer and I really need to just bring it back to when I first bought it .

No, there is no way.

You can reformat your computer without spending money,
firstly there is the illegal way.
the second way is you put linux on it or a new os
The best way to do it (if you have a copy of windows that isn't from the actual computer manufacturer) is stick in a copy of winxp that doesnt have all the drivers and stuff and set the bios to boot from the CD (if it isn't auto) and it will allow you to delete a partition and that will format everything thats on it including windows (your BIOS will be fine since its embedded on a chip built onto the motherboard) and then will guide you through installing windows.
Or you could just buy a new hard drive and install your OS onto that
I would say remove the drivers manually since it would save a lot of trouble and cursing at the monitor

Where did you buy the laptop from? If you bought it from anywhere good they will have given you a "recovery" CD which is basically the installation disk for your XP installation plus all the extra drivers, trial software, and other bloat that came installed when you originally bought it. If you didn't then you don't officially own a retail license for XP, but it came pre-installed with an OEM version, which is a different license entirely.

Although OEM copies are cheap. My XP media center is OEM, I got it with a $10 nic.

One of my family just said that since i have a DELL and Windows service tag on my computer (tower), i can just go to Microsoft's site and re-download it for free? If so, where can i find this? I already searched on google / microsoft on how to enter a service tag XD, kinda weird keywords. Thanks!