How to format windows vista without cd dell

Now, follow the steps below to do a factory reset:. The steps for resetting Windows 8, 8. Now that you get that, take up your Dell laptop using any of these Windows versions mentioned here and do a factory reset as follows:. You can use a password reset disk to remove the password before doing a factory reset.

This is made possible by the built-in feature of Windows called "Create a password reset disk". This feature is normally available when you are setting a login password to your Windows.

If you have this disk, all you need to do before your factory reset is to insert the disk into the computer, then click the "Reset Password" link that appears on your sign-in screen.

If you want to know how to reset a Dell laptop with Windows XP but you do not have the login password, then you should pay attention to the steps below to serve as a guide for you:. It is advisable to back up all your vital files before resetting your Dell laptop. You may or may not have a manufacturer's recovery partition imaged onto your hard drive to do what you want to do if XP came preinstalled Acer, Dell, HP, etc. How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site. Hi Charlie, You don't, at least not without the installation media. What problem are you having that brings you to want to try a "Factory Reset" of XP? That's called factory resetting which is what you asked about. And you still can get the updates and Service Packs up until when support ended for XP. Your Dell should now be back to its original, clean settings. Method 3. Make sure that you have a Windows installation disc.

With a few tweaks to your computer's settings, you can prompt your computer to boot from the CD rather than from the main hard drive, allowing you to erase the hard drive and then reformat it. Insert your Windows disc into the computer. Place the disc logo side-up in the DVD tray, then close the tray. Wait for the "Press any key to boot from disc" prompt to appear. On most Dell computers, inserting a Windows installation disc will prompt the computer to select the disc as the boot option.

If your computer completely restarts without this prompt appearing, you'll need to change your BIOS boot order. Press any key on your keyboard.

Doing so will start the disc booting sequence. Click the "Language" drop-down box, click the language that you want to use, and click Next in the bottom-right corner of the window. Accept the terms of use. Check the "I accept the license terms" box, then click Next. Click Custom. It's in the middle of the window. This will prompt a list of your computer's connected hard drives to appear. Select your Dell's hard drive.

Click the hard drive with C: on it to select it. If you don't see a C: option, look for a drive with the largest amount of space on it. Click Format. It should be near the bottom of the page. Doing so will erase your hard drive and reformat it according to Windows defaults.

You may be prompted to select a file system. The reformatting process can take several hours, so just make sure that your computer is plugged into a power source.

Click Next or Continue when prompted. Doing so completes the formatting process. Follow the on-screen instructions. There should be a "Reinstall Windows" option here; clicking it will begin the Windows reinstallation process, at which point you can follow the on-screen prompts to finish reinstalling Windows. Click Detect. It will know how big your monitor is, and do it all for you.

Yes No. Not Helpful 3 Helpful 5. Thanks for your feedback. I need to format my laptop which has windows vista. My windows is original so i have an original product key. Can i download an original copy of windows and insert my product key?? If yes from where? This thread is locked.