Help restoring to factory settings

[batch]

Hi.

Been having a few problems with my \mesh system recently. Mostly down to software i'm running conflicting with Norton Security.

I've tried using restore points, uninstalling software etc but that doesnt seem to work. The best thing IMHO would be to recover the system to factory settings and start again.

So i used my recovery disk thinking that it would reinstall XP and all the software with is - this being down to my experiences with another PC manufacturer whose recovery disks did just that - however i installed and just got a clean version of XP with no programmes.

Now i've seen the disk partition that i presume contains the system default settings but i cant access the restore facility via f10.

I've tried on numerous occasions and the PC continues to boot as normal. I've checked the instructions and it mentions an "f lock" key, my keyboard doesnt have one. However i'm still able to enter the BIOS via f8 so i cant see it being a problem with the "f" keys.

So is there any other way i can enter the restore facility ? Maybe a Dos command line ?

C'mon help me

[batch]

Just tried the hitting f10 thing again.

while doing it I got the message - BOOT DISK FAILURE - INSERT A SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER.

Although i think that may be down to me hitting f10 while the computer was attempting to read from the floppy drive which is 1st in the boot priorities. I also swithed the HHD to 1st in the priorities to see if hitting f10 with it set up that way would do anything - it didnt

[batch]

anyone ? :inpatient:

[Davey W]

The hidden partition relies on nothing altering the way the disk was setup by us. Unfortunately the use of the Recovery CD does just this and renders the Recovery Partition useless.

The only solution will be to proceed using the CD and re-install the necessary drivers again.

Did you backup the C:\Drivers directory when you got your system? If so then you will have all the drivers you will need. If not you may need to download a few.

During the installation you will see the option to create/delete partitions. At this point I would suggest you remove both what was the hidden recovery partition and your previous partition. Then you can create a new partition of the whole drive regaining the space previously hidden. You may as well do this as the Recovery Partition will be of no use to you now.

After this it's a case of re-installing Windows from the CD and then the drivers.

[batch]

yes i did back up the drivers.

So is it just a case of once i reinstall going through all the folders installing all the .exe files again ?

[Davey W]

Pretty much, yes.

It is best if you install the motherboard drivers first. If you do not know which ones these are, and cannot work it out from the sometimes obscurely named directories, post again with a list of folder names and we should be able to tell you the best to install first.

[batch]

One of the folders in the c:/drivers forlder is titled "motherboard" with just a nvidia sub folder in there.

I presume that is the correct one and i just hit setup on the exe in that folder ?

[Davey W]

That's the correct one, yes.

[batch]

Cheers

Is there any way i can get DVD Solution and Power Cinema back. When i try to install from the drivers folder it is asking for a reg key whichi dont have.

[Phil P]

I have sent the codes via PM

[batch]

thanks