-=PCTechTalk=- Re: Dell Reinstall CD (with a correction)

Hi David,
    Faithfully following my guides does not guarantee success, but it will 
guarantee that I have included everything I could possibly think of when 
written.  As a related example, Don wrote to me offlist to let me know that 
he had just tested one serious exception to my stated rule that ESC will get 
you out of everything you could possibly do in the BIOS.  Details follow.


When you're ready to actually change the boot sequence so that your optical 
drive is checked first, you'll find that the mechanism is different than 
those I described in my previous post.  To wit, instead of a small menu with 
options you can up/down arrow to move through, your BIOS requires you to 
arrow to the one you wish to set as the default and then use the + key to 
move it up and ahead of the one above it.  Conversely, the - key will move 
the selected device downward.  In this case (changing the boot device order 
in certain BIOS'), the changes do indeed show immediately and ESC will not 
reverse your actions.

    My apologies for any confusion this may have caused for anyone following 
along.  It has been so long since I have encountered this type of BIOS that 
I simply forgot all about it.  Perhaps it's a tribute to Dell that I don't 
service their towers as often as I do those of other makers.       :O)


    The layout of your Windows Install CD is not only promising, it's 
downright awesome.  Once you enable the BIOS to boot first from the optical 
drive, you should have no trouble running the Repair function.  It has also 
dawned on me that you have absolutely no need to follow my earlier advice on 
creating an SP2 slipstreamed CD.  According to your Installation CD's title 
(which I didn't notice until I recognised the extra files and folders in the 
'root' directory of the disk), your CD already includes SP2.  That means 
that you're 'off the hook' for that task.

    As far as you left clicking on the CD drive in the left pane of Windows 
Explorer, I am currently baffled, bewildered and bewitched.  There is no 
reason I can fathom that would cause that behaviour under those exact 
circumstances.  I am assuming (since you haven't stated otherwise) that you 
are right handed or at least have your mouse set up right handed.  That 
simply means that it takes a right mouse button click to produce most 
context menus.  Still, even a 'left handed' mouse shouldn't set a drive's 
Autoplay into motion.  I'm more than just a little curious about this, but I 
will most likely not persue it further.       lol


    Finally, as stated above, Don wrote to me privately to let me know I had 
made an erroneous claim in the ESC issue corrected above.  I'd like to 
openly thank him both for the correction as well as for his attempt to save 
me from public embarassment.  That is a sign of a true gentleman and I 
sincerely appreciate the gesture.      :O)

Peace,
GMan

"The only dumb questions are the ones we fail to ask!"

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Morris" <dsmorris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2007 4:08 PM
Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: Dell Reinstall CD WAS: Wobbly Fonts - Outlook 
Express Problem


> Hello GMan
>
> As informative (and humorous) as ever - thank you
>
> Blessed are those few who provide "detailed" instructions. How often have 
> I
> messed up, having faithfully followed a guide that seemed to be complete,
> only then to be told "but I thought you would realise that you needed to 
> be
> facing to the East" or whatever
>
> Yes, with traditional British stiff upper lip (and wearing my bowler, if I
> can find it) I will venture into the BIOS thickets and, little by little,
> gingerly poke about. When a famous explorer was asked of what he was most
> frightened, when in strange territory, he replied "My shadow"
>
> I'm glad that my Dell CD looks promising. In answer (I hope) to your
> question, clicking on "sp2_pro_rtm(E:)" on the left, I get on the right, 
> as
> well as i386, its siblings:
>
> Folders
>
> $OEM$
> DOCS
> DOTNETFX
> SUPPORT
> TABLET (Wacom) - seems out of place!
> VALUEADD
> AUTORUN.INF
>
> Others
>
> README.HTM
> SETUP.EXE
> SETUPXP.HTM
> sq.txt
> WIN51
> WIN51IP
> WIN51IP.SP2
>
> However, I am now 99% convinced that my CD is "The Full Monty" (pre-film
> meaning). I  originally tried left clicking on "sp2_pro_rtm(E:)" only 
> about
> 20 minutes after inserting the disk and using "Shift" to stop it spinning.
> In view of what you said, I have now repeated this half a dozen times. 
> Each
> time, I get the blue "Welcome to Windows" screen and, among its options,
> "Install Windows XP" . Clicking this really does start the installation
> process
>
> Regards
> David 


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