Computer Help - Reformatting Windows 7 Computer

[FreeflyChile 0]

Hi all,

So I've tried to find solutions online, and was hoping that the collective geek wisdom of DZ.com could help me out.

I am selling my alienware Area 51-7500 to a friend, as I don't need a computer like that and I bought a laptop to replace it.

I wanted to reformat the hard drive to a) give my friend a computer that's basically clean so he can do whatever he wants to it and b) I have some sensitive work documents in there and while I don't think my friend will do anything that will get me in trouble, for piece of mind I'd rather just have that stuff gone.

So the computer originally came with Windows Vista 32bit installed because at the time the online portal of the company I work for did not support 64 bit - but the hardware can run 64bit apps.

I have the recovery DVD, but they have this thing called Alien Respawn to re-set the computer to factory settings that was an extra option that I did not get. So the computer has only the recovery DVD.

In January (before I knew I'd be selling the computer), I got Windows 7 - the upgrade version - and installed it. I successfully installed the 64 bit version.

Now, I can't either a) restore the computer with the recovery disc to Vista or b) reinstall Windows 7.

If I put in either the recovery DVD or the Windows 7 upgrade disk and restart - it goes to the 'boot from DVD' prompt and just stays there. If I press a key, it does nothing.

I tried reformatting it from the Windows 7 system recovery menu, but with either disk it tells me it cannot find a valid Windows installation CD.

Once, when I restarted, I got the menu that allows a restoration to an earlier point in time (though I'm not sure how that happened). I thought about going to the earliest point possible and then trying to restart it, in case it was any of the windows 7 updates that's causing this mess, but I didn't want to screw things up further.

Basically, i just want to wipe the hard drive, and have Windows 7 freshly installed.

Based on this, can anyone help???? Is there more info I should post?

Thanks!

[regulator 0]

So is this a SATA hard drive...and is it the only drive you have in the bay? If it's the only drive I'd see if you could burn a copy of fdisk on a CD and boot from the CD and try formatting it that way. I haven't tried it with Windows 7 yet but it worked for all the other OS's including Vista. If you have more than one drive then place the disk you want to use as secondary as primary (ie swap disks..) then try going to Control Panel/Admin Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management & see whether your ext HDD is present then if it is showing with a question mark above it, it may need to be initialized first.

[FreeflyChile 0]

Thanks for the reply!

The hard drive is the only one in the machine.

As far as the other method you describe - can you go into a bit more detail? Unfortunately, I haven't kept up with computer stuff in quite a while and prior to this, doing reformatting on a computer I've had in the past has never been a problem.

Also, why is the startup screen getting stuck on the "boot from DVD" prompt when a disk is in there? Is it because it's not a valid boot disk? Isn't the recovery disk and/or the Windows 7 upgrade install disk supposed to be bootable?

[regulator 0]

You know that's a weird one...usually if it states 'press any key to boot from the cd' and you do it usually boots right to the disk. I would think the disk is bootable if it asks you to press any key to boot from the CD. Try removing all power, open the side up, and remove the CMOS battery and leave it out for a minute or so and put it back in, then try booting to the CD again. I'm just trying the easy stuff for you at first to eliminate it and then we can proceed further if that doesn't work. I'll be here all day...no really I will that's my schedule

(you gotta love Flo from progressive)

[FreeflyChile 0]

Thank you - I really appreciate it.

I am not sure how to find and remove the battery, but I will look into how to do it without destroying the machine or myself. I'll let you know what develops!

[FreeflyChile 0]

oh, I forgot to ask...

could it be a bios issue? I didn't fiddle with trying to update those because I don't want to do anything to aggravate the problem.

[mdrejhon 8]

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I am not sure how to find and remove the battery, but I will look into how to do it without destroying the machine or myself. I'll let you know what develops!

Important note:

Many computers don't have a CMOS battery (they use a permanent capacitor). Some motherboards don't have a battery.

For these machines, there's a jumper you change or remove to clear the CMOS. Alienware, last I heard, uses the jumper method.

That said, I think it's fixable by changing BIOS settings. First, try changing your boot device, and reordering the boot devices.

[regulator 0]

Thanks Mark for pointing that out. I personally don't own an Alienware machine (bad ass computers but $$$$) and I just build my own. But you can google the proper method on how to reset the CMOS by using jumpers.

[FreeflyChile 0]

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I am not sure how to find and remove the battery, but I will look into how to do it without destroying the machine or myself. I'll let you know what develops!

Important note:

Many computers don't have a CMOS battery (they use a permanent capacitor). Some motherboards don't have a battery.

For these machines, there's a jumper you change or remove to clear the CMOS. Alienware, last I heard, uses the jumper method.

That said, I think it's fixable by changing BIOS settings. First, try changing your boot device, and reordering the boot devices.

Thank you! - I'll look into it.

Right now, the boot order is CD, then hard drive. I'll change them and then change back to see if it makes any difference.

[mdrejhon 8]

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Right now, the boot order is CD, then hard drive. I'll change them and then change back to see if it makes any difference.

That boot order should, ideally, work.

But try it both ways to see if there is a change in behaviour, like "Press key to boot from DVD..." might disappear or reappear.

[Zep 0]

You could try burning UNBUNTU on to a CD, boot from CD then delete all on C:\

I still have MS DOS so I have no problems formatting

Gone fishing

[mdrejhon 8]

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You could try burning UNBUNTU on to a CD

For those who can open a console as root, there's the good old fashioned lobotomy:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda

[theonlyski 3]

try plugging the hard drive into the other sata connection on the motherboard.

also there is a setting in most BIOS' that allows you to change between regular and enhanced mode for your hard drive controller... look into that as well

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[murrays 0]

Just a suggestion...if it is just some work documents that you are concerned about, can you do a secure delete/wipe of them and just leave the OS alone?

--
Murray

"No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey

[Zep 0]

Or use "file ASSASSIN" works for me.

Gone fishing

[theonlyski 3]

depending on your motherboard, it probably needs the sata motherboard driver, as its hanging because it cant find the drive. download the drivers from the support site, put them on some sort of removeable media and when windows says "Press (whatever) to load additional drivers" do that, point it to the place you have the drivers and let them load, then it will use the drivers, and install them with windows.

you could vliteos it, but thats another thread

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[mdrejhon 8]

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...it goes to the 'boot from DVD' prompt and just stays there. If I press a key, it does nothing.

Another thing I thought of: Does your BIOS have USB keyboard support enabled? Is your keyboard directly plugged into the USB port, rather than through a hub? Try different USB ports for the keyboard -- try a rear USB port instead of a front USB port.

In rare cases, this results in the keyboard not functioning for BIOS setup and Install disc -- until the USB drivers are loaded by the booting operating system.

(Making sure this stone is not left unturned. If it's hanging there before loading the blue Windows installation screen, then it's probably not the SATA driver being the problem yet -- because it's not yet even able to boot from the install disc, right?)

[theonlyski 3]

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(Making sure this stone is not left unturned. If it's hanging there before loading the blue Windows installation screen, then it's probably not the SATA driver being the problem yet -- because it's not yet even able to boot from the install disc, right?)

Keyboard is a good catch. The Win7 installer is weird in how it operates unlike any pre-vista installer, and for that, its taking time for techs to get used to the common errors... for my vote, I'll go with needing sata driver or keyboard.

Mail it to me, pay postage back to you and Ill have it working for ya.

"I may be a dirty pirate hooker...but I'm not about to go stand on the corner." iluvtofly
DPH -7, TDS 578, Muff 5153, SCR 14890
I'm an asshole, and I approve this message

[LouDiamond 1]

If all you want to do is make sure your old documents and midget porn files are permanently deleted, try using a program like Eraser or any other overwrite program and be done with it. No need to re install OSs or programs, etc. just wipe all the freespace using 7 passes and you're golden.

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