Netbook Windows reinstall.

slipd

slipd

slipd

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Hampshire, England.
Hey guys,

I had a call from a friend earlier who was having issues with a netbook she bought over Christmas - from what I can make out, it basically needs windows re-installed :D

I've never really had anything to do with netbooks so I'm not to sure what she has to do? Since they don't have an optical drive what are you meant to do when you want to re-install your operating system? ie. Where are you meant to get the media from? I've offered to mail her a 'copy' of my windows (xp) cd, but that would obviously take a few days to get to her... there must be some kind of provision for this eventuality, possibly from the netbook manufacturer?

Getting the os onto the netbook is not an issue; the issue is obtaining the media. She got nothing with the netbook itself.

Any ideas?

Cheers!
 
If it was a preinstalled netbook then the OS and recovery options should be already on the system. You'll only become a cropper if the OS does not boot at all.

Does it boot in to windows at all, safe mode ??
 
Thanks for the reply mate!

I don't know the specifcs of the problem/s she's having, I was thinking more about how you would do a fresh installation if you really had to - say if you had to replace the hard drive? Afaik, her netbook has got 2 partitions; 1x for windows and 1x for android. She didn't mention any recovery stuff, just a load of pre-loaded acer games, trial apps etc, which she's already uninstalled.
 
Using a usb memory stick you can create boot images of XP, there are methods to doing it on the internet.

I have some links saved on my home pc on how to do it, I am at work at the moment so can't remember them now.
 
it will likely have a recovery partition - just look up the brand and instruct your friend to press the appropriate buttons at startup to kick it off. make sure she backs up.

alternatively its easy to setup a windows install from usb but you will likely need to do this for your friend.
 
Thanks guys! The issue is more about how you're meant to get the operating system media in the first place? How you get it onto the machine is not a problem, I just don't get how the average person on the street is supposed to magic up an operating system, that they have a licence for, to use on their netbook or whatever... I'm being hypothetical ;)

I'm hoping my mate will take it back to where she got it from and they'll be able to sort it for her... then again :p
 
sam.wheale said:
Thanks guys! The issue is more about how you're meant to get the operating system media in the first place? How you get it onto the machine is not a problem, I just don't get how the average person on the street is supposed to magic up an operating system, that they have a licence for, to use on their netbook or whatever... I'm being hypothetical ;)

I'm hoping my mate will take it back to where she got it from and they'll be able to sort it for her... then again :p
Click to expand...

They all come with recovery partitions that can be accessed on startup. My Samsung does that when F4 is pressed when booting.

Also in windows there will often be an option to create your own recovery discs. This will of course need an external writer or backup to usb stick for later use. Best to do this in case there are problems with the recovery partition.
 
Acer laptops usually use Alt+F10 during post to access the recovery program. Not sure if it is different but worth a try. If it doesn't work, check in the BIOS with F2 and make sure the recovery is enabled.
 
i still would try and see if it is possible to boot from a USB stick, "just in case" something major happens during the installation process.....
 
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