FORMATTING A 8400

My son's Dell 8400 is getting sluggish and the mouse is getting ornery by
sticking a lot. I suspect a driver problem since after awhile other mice
develop the same symptoms on the computer. The fastest way to fix it is to
unplug the USB mouse and replug it in again. I have the feeling that the
only way to fix this all is to reformat the HD which I've never done on the
8400, but was forced to do it on the 8300 about three years ago and even
with Dell's help it was a scary task. I don't relish the idea of doing it
on the 8400, but what is the proper sequence to do it?

It's Windows XP, SP2 with a 160 Mb hard drive and I would assume the hidden
partition is still there, unlike on the 8300 which no longer has it because
it was wiped out with the reformatting.

Thanks,
Scotty

"Scotty Silton" <> wrote in message
news:k3tui.1190$...
> My son's Dell 8400 is getting sluggish and the mouse is getting ornery by
> sticking a lot. I suspect a driver problem since after awhile other mice
> develop the same symptoms on the computer. The fastest way to fix it is
> to unplug the USB mouse and replug it in again. I have the feeling that
> the only way to fix this all is to reformat the HD which I've never done
> on the 8400, but was forced to do it on the 8300 about three years ago and
> even with Dell's help it was a scary task. I don't relish the idea of
> doing it on the 8400, but what is the proper sequence to do it?
>
> It's Windows XP, SP2 with a 160 Mb hard drive and I would assume the
> hidden partition is still there, unlike on the 8300 which no longer has it
> because it was wiped out with the reformatting.
>
> Thanks,
> Scotty
>


The magic/quickest easiest way it to use CTL+F11 at the Dell splash screen.
That will restore the image to it's original factory state .... and you will
lose all created data and added applications.

Whether you go this route or with a clean install of Windows XP, I'd suggest
disconnecting all but the necessary externals during the restore or install.

Stew

Scotty:

I’m at Dell Headquarters in Austin, Texas and I just came across thi
thread. The previous post suggests using a built in feature calle
Image Restore, which would restore the system to its default setting
that it left the factory with quite quickly and easily. I believe 840
was shipping right around when that feature came out so I would have t
look your system up to see if it has it or not. If it does then th
job is as simple as Stew describes and only takes 20 minutes or so. I
not it still shouldn't be too hard but will take about an hour and
half.

The key to making sure it goes smoothly is to get all the media an
drivers you need rounded up before you format the hard drive. You'l
need a Windows CD and a driver one. I would recommend going t
support.dell.com and getting the latest drivers if you have not don
that since you ordered the system since there have almost certainl
been updates since the CD that came with the machine was made. Th
proper order for installing drivers on the 8400 is:

1. Desktop System Software
2. RAID if system configured for RAID.
3. 925 Express chipset
4. Broadcom network
5. Video drivers
6. Audio drivers

If you have any questions feel free to post them and I'll check bac
here for the next few days.


Neil
Dell, Inc


--
DellCustomerAdvocate

Neil,

We appreciate your joining us, but please:

1) Quote when you post. This post is meaningless without it
2) Try to respond to posts in the same millennium. This one is very
old.


Tom

> -----Original Message-----
> From: DellCustomerAdvocate
> [mailtoellCustomerAdvocate.10a65d6@computerbanter .com]
> Posted At: Thursday, August 16, 2007 11:43 AM
> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> Conversation: FORMATTING A 8400
> Subject: Re: FORMATTING A 8400
>
>
> Scotty:
>
> I'm at Dell Headquarters in Austin, Texas and I just came across this
> thread. The previous post suggests using a built in feature called
> Image Restore, which would restore the system to its default settings
> that it left the factory with quite quickly and easily. I believe
8400
> was shipping right around when that feature came out so I would have
to
> look your system up to see if it has it or not. If it does then the
> job is as simple as Stew describes and only takes 20 minutes or so.
If
> not it still shouldn't be too hard but will take about an hour and a
> half.
>
> The key to making sure it goes smoothly is to get all the media and
> drivers you need rounded up before you format the hard drive. You'll
> need a Windows CD and a driver one. I would recommend going to
> support.dell.com and getting the latest drivers if you have not done
> that since you ordered the system since there have almost certainly
> been updates since the CD that came with the machine was made. The
> proper order for installing drivers on the 8400 is:
>
> 1. Desktop System Software
> 2. RAID if system configured for RAID.
> 3. 925 Express chipset
> 4. Broadcom network
> 5. Video drivers
> 6. Audio drivers
>
> If you have any questions feel free to post them and I'll check back
> here for the next few days.
>
>
> Neil
> Dell, Inc.
>
>
>
>
> --
> DellCustomerAdvocate

"Tom Scales" <> wrote in message
news:20D3CCFA1D034BF2BB21E081F454C52A@M2010...
> Neil,
>
> We appreciate your joining us, but please:
>
> 1) Quote when you post. This post is meaningless without it
> 2) Try to respond to posts in the same millennium. This one is very
> old.
>
>
> Tom
>


lol...........nice.

Tom:

Sorry about that. I figured that with how few posts there were in th
thread it would be easy enough to figure out. What info do you se
when you look at this though your usenet client? I usually only bothe
quoting if the thread is complex enough to require it but if I'
inadvertently making it difficult for usenet people then I want t
change that.

As for the timeframe, there are many cases I wouldn't pursue if the
were this old but a lot of people put off a format/reinstall for week
so I figured there was a good chance this person could still use th
info.


Neil
Dell, Inc.



Tom Scales;745136 Wrote:
> Neil,
>
> We appreciate your joining us, but please:
>
> 1) Quote when you post. This post is meaningless without it
> 2) Try to respond to posts in the same millennium. This one is very
> old.
>
>
> Tom
> -
> -----Original Message-----
> From: DellCustomerAdvocate
> [mailtoellCustomerAdvocate.10a65d6@computerbanter .com]
> Posted At: Thursday, August 16, 2007 11:43 AM
> Posted To: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell
> Conversation: FORMATTING A 8400
> Subject: FORMATTING A 8400
>
>
> Scotty:
>
> I'm at Dell Headquarters in Austin, Texas and I just came across this
> thread. The previous post suggests using a built in feature called
> Image Restore, which would restore the system to its default settings
> that it left the factory with quite quickly and easily. I believe-
> 8400-
> was shipping right around when that feature came out so I would have-
> to-
> look your system up to see if it has it or not. If it does then the
> job is as simple as Stew describes and only takes 20 minutes or so.-
> If-
> not it still shouldn't be too hard but will take about an hour and a
> half.
>
> The key to making sure it goes smoothly is to get all the media and
> drivers you need rounded up before you format the hard drive. You'll
> need a Windows CD and a driver one. I would recommend going to
> support.dell.com and getting the latest drivers if you have not done
> that since you ordered the system since there have almost certainly
> been updates since the CD that came with the machine was made. The
> proper order for installing drivers on the 8400 is:
>
> 1. Desktop System Software
> 2. RAID if system configured for RAID.
> 3. 925 Express chipset
> 4. Broadcom network
> 5. Video drivers
> 6. Audio drivers
>
> If you have any questions feel free to post them and I'll check back
> here for the next few days.
>
>
> Neil
> Dell, Inc.
>
>
>
>
> --
> DellCustomerAdvocate


--
DellCustomerAdvocate