I wiped my Inspiron E1705, but not all of the drivers instaled

[Crimson20]

My 1yr old computer had just gotten bogged down. It was randomly closing my browsers on Internet Explorer. It would freeze alot, and sometimes it wouldent let me close a program. My fix for it was to just wipe it. I felt it needed it anyway. So, I got the CD in and going but on the reinstal part, it asked me what section to instal it on... This realy confused me because I am used to the older computers that just do it for you. I remember one of the dell ppl telling me that they had partioned my computers memory for me. (duno what for) Anywho, I just chose the one with the most memory on it. I am asuming it was the C drive. But now, after it went through, every time I start up it wants me to choose which program to start up with. Both choices are the same... I also noticed that the Utilities and Drivers CD that came with my laptop dident install all of my needed drivers so I cannot play dvds or burn CDs anymore. I went to the Dell website to try and figure out what to do, but I dident see any of my numbers line up with what they offerd. Its obvious that my computer is missing parts. I think that Dell might have sent me the wrong Utilities and Drivers CD. But I cant call them anymore because my warentee had run out and they said that the next help call will cost me a fee. I am hoping that someone here could help me out. I dont know if I need to take my computer into a local store, or if I can just wipe it corectly this time, or what. thanks

[hughv]

Let's see what's actually going on.
Right-click MY Computer/Manage/Disk Management.
This shows your disk and what's installed.
What are the partitions and disks shown, and their description?
Which is the System Disk? Is there more than one?
At boot, is the system giving you a choice between two versions of XP?
In Control Panel/System/Hardware/Device Mnager are there any yellow marks? What are they?
All Dell drivers care available free from their web site.

[Crimson20]

There are three partitions. The first one in Computer Managment dosent have a name, but heres what I see.

1. Volume= (there is no name there) Layout= Partiton Type=Basic File System= FAT Status=Healthy (EISA Configuration) Capacity= 47 MB Free Space= 39 MB % Free= 82% Fault Tolerance= No Overhead= 0%

2. Volume= (C: ) Layout= Partiton Type=Basic File System= NTFS Status=Healthy (System) Capacity= 51.22 GB Free Space= 15.87 GB % Free= 30% Fault Tolerance= No Overhead= 0%

3. Volume= (D: ) Layout= Partiton Type=Basic File System= NTFS Status=Healthy (Boot) Capacity= 16.95 GB Free Space= 5.86 GB % Free= 34% Fault Tolerance= No Overhead= 0%
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Two disks came with my computer. One says its the Operating System, and the other says its the Drivers and Utilities.
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Yes, when the computer starts up it askes me to choose a windows xp system to start up with. They are both the same.
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Yes I have a folder with a yellow mark named Other Devices Inside it there are three other Items. All three have the same name (Base System Device)
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Also I used to have four choices when I went to turn off the computer, Restart, Turn Off, Stand By, Hibernate. Now, I dont have the Hibernate option anymore.

please help me if you can
thankyou!

[hughv]

Ok.
Depends on what you want to do.
You've installed Windows twice, on C and D. (Both are system disks). That's why you're getting a choice at boot.
D was probably a recovery partition, and I think it's history now. Not a big deal as long as you have a disk.
I think you should reinstall. You may be able to save that work with some fiddling, but it gets complicated.
When you insert the disk this time, delete ALL the partitions.
You should end up with one disk, about 60 GB. (Adding up all the 3 disks).
Format this disk NTFS and you're good to go. You're doing this to get back the otherwise wasted space on your disk.
The driver disk is a little screwy, and you have to pay attention. You can install the drivers right from the disk, or I believe you can copy the driver disk to the computer and install.
I usually install from the disk.
Just be sure you install all the drivers on the disk. It won't allow you to make errors.
Just take your time and follow the prompts carefully and you'll be OK.

[Crimson20]

The drivers cd did have errors when I tryed to download the drivers. When it opened it had a place where it said model=me105 I think, not the model of my computer. Is it possable that dell sent me the wrong drivers cd? Thankyou so much for the advice, I realy had no idea what to do. thankyou thankyou thankyou

[hughv]

A lot of Dells use the same drivers, so anything's possible.
In any case, all the drivers are readily available at the Dell site.

[Crimson20]

ok, thankyou soo much!