Help with new laptop - Please?

[Sticky]

Hi computer geeky types I just got a Dell Laptop at a Flea market last weekend. Today is the first day I've had the time to boot it up and have a look. (I'm thinking I'll give it to my daughter for Xmas) It's a Pentium 4 and that's all I know about it.

At boot up there is a login screen that requires a password. I don't have a password - never even thought to ask for one from the vendor. OS is Windows 2000 Professional but I'd like to format and install XP.

How do I get into DOS right away to format?

Thanks!

[DS1]

1. Your XP CD should be bootable

put it in and give it a shot.

[Sticky]

2. and just override the windows 2000?

I was hoping to do a clean install but perhaps I'll try that first.

Thanks

[Deja Q]

3. Install XP but do a NEW install, DO NOT UPGRADE!!!

Not just because it'll keep the password list intact, but because upgrading to XP from a prior Windows version will likely retain the problems the prior OS had (registry doesn't get wiped out, compressed, optimized, or anything else.)

Definitely do a clean format. NTFS is preferred (I'll gripe about it, but it's far better than FAT32!)

[KTM]

4. It depends...

On whether that screen you see at boot is a BIOS password or a windows login prompt. If you are booting into Win2K. but don't have a password, thats no big deal... since you want to format anyway, you can just boot to your WinXP CD (you may have to change the boot device order in the BIOS) and have at it... you can choose to format the drive during setup. Alternatively, you could boot to a Win9x floppy and format, or use a program like Ghost or Imagecast to doa complete zero-write to all sectors of the HD... but the easiest would be to simply boot to the XP CD.

On the other hand.. if it is asking for a boot-time password, you have a bigger job ahead of you. Many laptop vendors, in an effort to thwart would-be laptop thieves, do not provide any mechanism for resetting an admin boot password if it is forgotten. I believe Dell does this. You will need to call Dell Tech support and explain the issue - they can give you a code which will work, and then you should get rid of any BIOS passwords.

Are you seeing the Win2K splash screen ? Does it boot all ther way to a "Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to login" screen ? Or is it asking for a password in a DOS-like screen, well before Windows 2000 loads ?

[Sticky]

6. Nope - Boots to Windows login screen

I've loaded the XP disk but how do I get a menu to use it?

[KTM]

7. Post #7

Is correct - enter the BIOS.. usually a message is splashed on the screen saying "press F2 to enter setup" or something similar... usually its either F2, F10, or ESC. If the message flies by too quickly, or doesn't flash at all, do what Post #7 says.. turn the PC off, hold down the ESC key, keep holding it down and power the PC on... if you keep holding the ESC key, you will generate a Stuck Key error, which should then offer you a choice to enter setup (BIOS).

Once in the BIOS, follow the navigation instructions (they're all different) and poke around until you find a screen that displays Boot Order... you want to move the CD-ROM to the top of the list so that the laptop looks to the CD before looking to the floppy.

One other note.. you have an XP CD... did you buy that just for this PC, or did it go with another ? Because of Microsoft's Windows Product Activation protective measures, you will only be able to use that CD to load ONE computer. You will get a short window of time where everything works, but will be prompted to activate that copy - you will not be able to do so if it has been used (and is still in use) on another PC.

Finally, one last thought: If you are about to be thrwarted by WPA, why not keep it on Win2K ?? As an IT Pro, I'd make that recommendation all day long.. yes, I'd prefer a clean load, but I'd put Win2K Pro on any PC, especially a laptop, before any other Windows OS.. it is the most stable, trouble free product Microsoft has ever released. Like many of my peers, I will keep my systems running on Win2K as long as I possibly can.

--Edit--

If you have close ties to a geek, they may have a program called ERD Commander... one of its features is a locksmith tool that allows you to reset a Win2K admin password so you can log in. There are other tools that do this, but I have not tried any of them.

[Sticky]

8. Woo Hoo - Thanks KTM!

Files are copying right now! Yes, this version of XP is being used by another computer here. I can run to Staples Monday for another copy! (I hope the WPA won't have fits before then)

Is it possible to use the copy I now have but pay MS for a new KEY # online?

Anyway, thanks all!

[localroger]

9. WinXP doesn't do this

WinXP does not pester you for a registration code after you've installed it -- you can use one XP disk and code to load more than one machine, just as you could with Win2K, though it's still illegal. It is OFFICE XP which I refuse to use because of this annoying nag behavior. (The original XP beta did have such a nag, but it was quietly dropped after the furor which erupted over making peoples' computers unusable if they couldn't get to the key. One journalist had his laptop shut down when he was on assignment in Hawai'i and he was pissed.)

Also, while I use Win2K for work I've found that if you plan to use any USB peripheral at all, XP works much better. Win2K is better with USB than 98/ME, but it is much more prone to nag you about shutting devices down, requiring hard to find drivers, and not recognizing devices. I use XP on both a laptop and desktop and several of my customers use it for critical applications, and it seems as stable as 2K, though much more bloated.

[KTM]

10. Not true

Possibly you are using an OEM version ? MS made concessions to the IT world when we threw a fit over the impractacality of WPA.. the home version does indeed pester for a code.

Furthermore, I'm not sure how the this plan will work... I've encountered issues inthe past when trying to install Office XP, with plans to use a different code later...I ended up having to completely uninstall Office and reinstall from the proper CD (the once who's code I waqs using.) I've never tried to swap CD's using Windows XP - good luck ! (And let us know how it works out.)

[Wulfian]

5. You dont need a PW to reformat

All you have to do is hold DEL when the CPU starts up. Enter the BIOS. Change the CD-rom to primary boot.

Toss your XP cd in and restart.

Then install XP and reformat to NTFS. Partition as much as you can to the C: drive. Then let it go.