Dell Windows XP Inspiron 700m help?

Cyanide · 19 Jan 2013

Hello.

For starters, I know this is a Windows 7 Forum. I just don't have anywhere else to go really.

Anyways, I have 2 Dell Windows XP Inspiron 700m laptops that I got from friends of my mom's. I want them initially as one to use for my mom, which I'm planning on getting upgraded in all ways that it can, and another one to build video game systems out of. Or both. Not so sure at the moment. What first I need help on, is what the specs are for it for possible upgrades. I'm any of you guys/girls could help me with this.

Second thing, is I want to know if there's any way of getting to Factory Image Restore these. They don't have a Recovery drive by the looks of things, which means i'd have to wipe everything the hardrive has manually, including programs. But the danger of that is that I don't want to uninstall any programs that are on the laptops by default in case of the laptops not working correctly. So if there's a way to clean these off I'd be glad to know.

Thanks!
Regards,
~CN-

alphanumeric · 19 Jan 2013

You can likely get a set of factory recovery disks (for a fee) from Dell. That should put them back to the that fresh out of the box state. Including all the bundled programs originally installed. A lot of forum members would likely recommend against doing that and recommend doing a clean install to avoid all the bloatware trial software. If you can find the matching OEM install disk you can do a clean install using the product code on the COA sticker. Assuming its still readable that is. As far as upgrades go about all you can upgrade is the CPU, RAM and hard drive. If you can find the service tag number you can enter that on the Dell web site and get detailed info on that particular model. You'll also get a list of applicable drivers and utilities for that specific model.

Cyanide · 19 Jan 2013

Thank you. Also, another question. Does Dell also sell rechargeable batteries for these laptops? Also is there a way to change a forgotten password on a user account if you can't login?

alphanumeric · 19 Jan 2013

You'd have to check with Dell to see if they still have those battery's in stock. There are ways to reset the password, just Google it. I'm not sure if it's OK to discus that type of thing here or not. The same procedure could be used to gain access to a lost or stolen PC so its probably better to not discuss it.

Cyanide · 19 Jan 2013

Oh alright. Thanks! +Rep to you man.

gregrocker · 19 Jan 2013

If you want to know if Win7 can run on that machine run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor