XP Restoration

[mtdavis]

I have a series of problems! It all started last year when I decided to upgrade to Windows Vista from XP. During the upgrade the factory restore point created by Dell had been erased. I didnt like Vista so I reformatted my computer and reinstalled windows XP and all factory software, but unfortunately without the factory point still available. Recently I installed Adobe Design Premium CS3. Upon completion of the install, I received an error message stating that my serial has expired and closed the program. No other options were available. I thought that I may be able to uninstall Adobe, reinstall it and possibly something will work? When I went to Control Panel, and clicked remove on the add/remove, it said the the program had stopped responding and needed to close. I restarted and experienced the same thing. Now, Im stuck with a expensive program that I cant uninstall/use, and a computer that has no restore point.

My goal is to uninstall this program, and reformat my entire HD, create a restore point, and have a fresh new computer!

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Matthew

 

[mscallisto]

I would first go to Adobe Support where I'm sure you will find a solution.

http://www.adobe.com/support/

search for "serial has expired"

 

[Freestone]

What is the point of uninstalling anything if you are just going to reformat the hard drive anyway?

 

[mtdavis]

Well I didn't want to reformat the HD until I had a problem with the software- thinking that I wouldn't be able to remove it. Obviously I'm not a computer expert, it was just a thought which is why I posted here, to hopefully get a solution to my problem.

mscallisto, thanks for the help!

 

[twiSSt]

There are two possibilties with your CS 3 install, 1. you did not "deactivate" it before formating your drive, or more likley it was a trial copy and the serial has in fact expired.

Your best resource there is to go the Adobe site as suggested or call customer support and have them reactivate your software if that is the case.


Twist

===========================================
Everything will be OK in the end.
If it's not OK, then it's not the end

 

[Freestone]

mtdavis, please don't take offense at my question as none was intended. You stated "My goal is to uninstall this program, and reformat my entire HD" which prompted my question. Why go through the angst of uninstalling an uncooperative program just to turn around and format the drive...

At any rate, contacting Adobe as mscallisto and twiSSt suggest would be your best option, even if you decide to start from scratch. Clearing up any serial number issues beforehand will probably prevent any future CS3 install issues.

 

[mtdavis]

Freestone, nontaken! The fact that my factory restore point doesn't work bothers me, but not to the extent to where I want to reformat, create a new restore point, and go through the whole nine yards for no reason. The difficulty that I'm having with Adobe prompted the idea. The problem that I have now is that Adobe doesn't work, won't install and when I press Ctrl+F11 to begin to reformat my HD, but that action doesn't activate anything.

 

[linney]

Do you still have a hidden or second partition with the restore files on the machine? Is it a Laptop or Desktop?
Are there any FN function key to change the F11 key?


F Lock Key.

http://mvps.org/jtsang/flock.html

 

[mtdavis]

I don't believe so and it's a labtop E1505. From what I've read, it comes with two partitions. When I upgraded to Vista, it deleted the restore point created by Dell.

 

[linney]

Not a lot here, mainly talks about contacting Dell for replacement CD's etc.

System Recovery XP Home Pro for Dell
thread779-1363855

reinstalling xp & saving info
thread779-1313351

How do I use the Dell™ PC Restore by Symantec Utility?

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1090151

http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?s=dhs&c=us&l=en&cs=19&k=ctrl+f11&cat=sup&x=13&y=8

326246 - How to Replace Lost, Broken, or Missing Microsoft Software or Hardware

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;326246&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

 

[Freestone]

I own a Dell Inspiron E1505. It not only came with XP installed, but also with all CDs required to reinstall everything, including the hidden Dell Service partition (which I long ago deleted myself). Did you not receive these CDs with your system?