Hi there,
I'm soon selling my PC with Windows XP to buy a new computer and presumably the buyer will want a fresh OS system to start on when they buy it, ie. without all my documents, preferences and applications etc... and yes I could delete and uninstall everything manually, however this is where it gets tricky because I've lost the original Windows XP discs from dell so I can't simply reinstall it. Is there someway to (or at least close to) return it to a clean slate without these discs??

Please help me!

Many thanks,
Jerome

Hi and welcome to D-A-L

was the dell new when you got it?
Did the disc have all the drivers for sound and graphics?
if there a restore partiontion on the harddrive?

you may have to get a copy of XP and format and reinstall XP

Originally Posted by brain_damage

Hi and welcome to D-A-L

was the dell new when you got it?
Did the disc have all the drivers for sound and graphics?
if there a restore partiontion on the harddrive?

you may have to get a copy of XP and format and reinstall XP

yes, the dell was new when i got it.
I believe i have the discs for drivers
well according to the windows 'computer manager' in administrative tools, there is an unamed 47mb partition in my disc, so i think that might be a restore partition.

how much is a fresh copy of xp?

Thanks for the quick reply,

Jerome

Just to add:

Dell has a comprehensive interactive guide for reinstalling XP under varying circumstances.

Dell also offers Recovery CD's for sale if the troubleshooter doesn't work for you.

On the link below start by clicking:

Troubleshooting and FAQs

Then:

How Do I Install the Microsoft® Windows® XP operating system on My Dell Computer?

Then just keep clicking the steps appropriate to your computer and situation.

http://support.dell.com/