[toffeetop]

HI guys

i have a Dell inspiron 6400 with a windows vista (32bitt) OS. i want to reboot my computer to wipe my hardrive as i have little room left. how do i do this? i have a windows vista reinstallation dvd and a drivers and utilities dvd. i tried to run the later and i was told that i can only do this as an administrator - I am Logged in as Admin!!!! Please help

[SHAWN]

Insert and boot off the Windows Vista DVD. Follow the prompts to remove and create your partition then install the software. When you get to a Vista desktop run the drivers and ulities DVD. It sounds to me like you should really have someone who knows what they are doing complete this task for you. Rebooting a PC and reloading Windows Operating System are two completely different things.

[toffeetop]

Originally Posted by SHAWN

Insert and boot off the Windows Vista DVD. Follow the prompts to remove and create your partition then install the software. When you get to a Vista desktop run the drivers and ulities DVD. It sounds to me like you should really have someone who knows what they are doing complete this task for you. Rebooting a PC and reloading Windows Operating System are two completely different things.

i take it that the instructions you have give are for reloading the OS. if so will this free up space on my hardrive

[SHAWN]

Reloading Windows will format the drive. By doing so you remove all data on the drive and reload Windows starting off fresh. If you're simply looking to free space, go through your data and delete items of a decent size that are no longer necessary for storage and delete temp files. Uninstall any applications you no longer use.

[toffeetop]

cheers.
hopefully i will not need to get back to you.

[KurrentEweser]

Running Disk Cleanup(cleanmgr.exe) may help.

[Mak213]

Re-installing Windows will NOT format the hard drive unless you SELECT that option during the install process. Just clicking next and okay to everything in the install process will just give you a dual boot system with even less room. You MUST select the option to format with Vista.

Installing Windows Vista - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki

[King X13]

Originally Posted by toffeetop

HI guys

i have a Dell inspiron 6400 with a windows vista (32bitt) OS. i want to reboot my computer to wipe my hardrive as i have little room left. how do i do this? i have a windows vista reinstallation dvd and a drivers and utilities dvd. i tried to run the later and i was told that i can only do this as an administrator - I am Logged in as Admin!!!! Please help

I would just like to take a second and help you with is terminology as it can be an important tool for future trouble shooting.

"Rebooting" is simply completing a power cycle of your computer when it is on by turning it off then on.

It does nothing for providing you with more space.

The Term i believe you are looking for is "Format". ie. "How do i format?" for your title.

Formatting deletes everything...and by everything i mean think of all the files you have on your computer and then double it and thats what it deletes lol. ie. Pictures of family and friends, music, school or office documents all of which can be important. This may not be the tactic you want to use. You will also have to install every program you bought and installed after you bought you pc, such as Microsoft office or Call of duty etc.

Sounds to me like you have to delete a few unused programs, maybe go through and delete movie files you dont need, music you dont listen to anymore and things of that sort.

[toffeetop]

Originally Posted by Mak213

Re-installing Windows will NOT format the hard drive unless you SELECT that option during the install process. Just clicking next and okay to everything in the install process will just give you a dual boot system with even less room. You MUST select the option to format with Vista.

Installing Windows Vista - NeoSmart Technologies Wiki

you were right it did take up even more room, however i deleted the file entitled 'old windows' and that freed up some space.

cheers for the advice i will use it the next time i run out of room.

Originally Posted by King X13

I would just like to take a second and help you with is terminology as it can be an important tool for future trouble shooting.

"Rebooting" is simply completing a power cycle of your computer when it is on by turning it off then on.

It does nothing for providing you with more space.

The Term i believe you are looking for is "Format". ie. "How do i format?" for your title.

Formatting deletes everything...and by everything i mean think of all the files you have on your computer and then double it and thats what it deletes lol. ie. Pictures of family and friends, music, school or office documents all of which can be important. This may not be the tactic you want to use. You will also have to install every program you bought and installed after you bought you pc, such as Microsoft office or Call of duty etc.

Sounds to me like you have to delete a few unused programs, maybe go through and delete movie files you dont need, music you dont listen to anymore and things of that sort.

cheers for the terminology advice

[EricB]

next time use powermax to delete the drive then install vista