Formatting

[axel132]

Hey all i have an Acer Aspire 5920g and just wondering how to format it, with my old desktop pc all i used to have to do was on startup hit F11 and i would be able to fully format the pc back to factory settings without a disk or anything.

I dont have a windows/acer disk to use for the laptop, is there anyway of formatting it like i used to be able to on my desktop pc thanks

Dave

[logos34]

the easiest way is probably to use Gparted on the ubuntu live cd (settings>admin>partition editor), or else the Gparted CD

[axel132]

Just wondering what the key is to boot format my laptop? is it F6?! on my desktop it was F11

[Monotoko]

It doesnt have a key, most computers dont come with formatting built into them.

You can do it from inside the Ubuntu LiveCD as Legos34 suggested ;)

[ddrichardson]

It doesnt have a key, most computers dont come with formatting built into them.

You can do it from inside the Ubuntu LiveCD as Legos34 suggested ;)
He doesn't mean formatting - he means system recovery from a hidden partition.

[ddrichardson]

There is software you can get to do this, the most popular in Windows is Acronis True Image or Symantec Ghost - I don't know of an OSS equivalent but I use System Rescue CD and an external drive to create images to back up to and from.

[axel132]

what im wanting is to basically wipe everything off other than windows, so that i then can start fresh with no crap on the PC :-) But i want to be able to do this for free O.o

Any ideas?

Regards, Dave

[ddrichardson]

I don't really follow and think you're confusing formatting and recovery. Not all systems have a recovery partition and I couldn't say if the Aspire series does. If you have a recovery CD then boot with it to recover.

I'm also not sure what you mean by "other than Windows" are you talking about a clean Windows install or leaving the currently installed Windows?