BleepingComputer.com: Reformatting without boot disc

Page 1 of 1

You cannot start a new topic
You cannot reply to this topic

Reformatting without boot disc

#1 Bassplayer15

Member

Group: Members
Posts: 76
Joined: 09-August 09
Gender:Male

Posted 06 March 2011 - 09:40 AM

The laptop i'm using is pretty old, and has never been reformatted. It's running slow and I was gonna try starting from scratch just to see if it'll work better, because there is nothing on it I need. However I don't have the original xp disc. I've looked up and saw that there are ways to reformat without it, such as using a linux boot disc, but when then I would have no way to get an OS on the laptop. So i was wondering if there was a way to reformat everything but the essential OS files. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Grace is given freely, but respect must be earned.

#2 hamluis

Forum Addict

Group: Moderator
Posts: 31,442
Joined: 03-September 05
Gender:Male
Location:Killeen, TX

Posted 06 March 2011 - 10:00 AM

System manufacturer and model?

Have you checked the system user manual...for recovery/restore options which don't call for removeable media?

Louis

Am I Infected, What Do I Do?
Preparation Guide, Malware Log Topics
Using The Report Button
Misplaced Malware Logs
Discussion Forum Rules

#3 Bassplayer15

Member

Group: Members
Posts: 76
Joined: 09-August 09
Gender:Male

Posted 06 March 2011 - 04:21 PM

Its an IBM Thinkpad, near the screen it says T43 and the product ID is 266849U. Im not sure which is the model, and I do not know where the user manual is.

Grace is given freely, but respect must be earned.

#4 caperdog

Distinguished Member

Group: Members
Posts: 777
Joined: 01-December 06
Gender:Male
Location:Nova Scotia

Posted 06 March 2011 - 05:46 PM

how to recover to factory defaults
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles_pdf/39t2332.pdf

something tells me this laptop came with windows vista. if so, whomever installed XP may have wiped the recovery partition.
good luck