Sorting out my work laptop...

[Arthur_Jay]

Hey guys,

Not tooo sure if this is in the right place...If not, then my apologies, but not sure where else to place it.

Basically, I was giving a laptop where I used to work about 4 months ago to use for work and for personal activities. I have since parted ways with the company, and have the laptop still loaded up with all the work materials that was installed on it when it arrived, which includes an xp login screen whenever turning on the laptop. However work decided to keep the xp cd, and then as I knew they would, 'misplaced' it.

What I want to do now is basically get rid of all my old work nonsense that is on here, including the log in screen, so I can just use this as my personal laptop...Therefore clearing up somme space on it. What I ideally want is a complete fresh start, without a reboot...as well...I cant do it without the xp cd. The harddrive is also partioned into two sections, the second being 'backup'...something I too want to get rid of

So whats the solution here guys?

Thanks

 

[kmistry]

{snip} I cant do it without the xp cd. The harddrive is also partioned into two sections, the second being 'backup'...something I too want to get rid of

{snip}

Thanks

Unfortunately as far as I know you cant get rid of a partition without re-installing windows, because it is at the installation prompt screen (where you choose which drive you want to install windows on) that you can delete partitions. You can also use fdisk, but this means that you will lose all data on the c: drive, so really you will have to get yourself an XP cd and do am complete re-install, worth the hassle, meaning you will clear data, and free up the other partition.

Kiz

 

[rpstewart]

You can get rid of a partition in Windows using the Disk Management control panel applet.

You can use fdisk quite happily without disturbing the c: drive as long as your careful. Disk Management is far easier to use though.


I'm guessing that the partition contains everything which is required to restore the laptop back to it's factory condition - fresh install of XP & all the preloaded apps. There's probably a message during the boot sequence which tells you which key to press to recover the system. Be aware though that it will wipe everything on the disk so you'll need to backup your own stuff if you decide to go down this route.

 

[Deiwos]

You can get rid of a partition in Windows using the Disk Management control panel applet.

You can use fdisk quite happily without disturbing the c: drive as long as your careful. Disk Management is far easier to use though.


I'm guessing that the partition contains everything which is required to restore the laptop back to it's factory condition - fresh install of XP & all the preloaded apps. There's probably a message during the boot sequence which tells you which key to press to recover the system. Be aware though that it will wipe everything on the disk so you'll need to backup your own stuff if you decide to go down this route.

Like he said, the other partition (backup) is most likely the recovery partition with windows and all the pre-installed software stored on it.

What make and model of laptop is it?