Dell latitude 2100 recovery

I don't know if anyone knows this but did the Dell latitude 2100 netbook come with a recovery CD? Or is the recovery files are on a different partition?

 

I just got a used Dell Latitude 2100 netbook and I was wondering if it's ok to use generic drivers to update the video driver and sound card. Since the reason why I' am asking is that I remember I use to own a Dell desktop tower back around 2004 and it didn't let me use generic drivers and I could only use OEM drivers. I just don't know if this netbook will do the same thing and will not allow me to use generic drivers. I heard some people said that Dell tries to force people to use OEM drivers but maybe newer ones don't do that anymore. I just noticed that Intel and Realtek have more newer drivers than the OEM drivers on Dell. But if Dell computers even now won't let me use generic then I will just use OEM drivers.



Here are some of the specs for my netbook.


1.6GHz Intel Atom N270, Memory 1GB, 533MHz DDR2, Hard drive 80GB 5,400rpm,
Operating system Windows 7


It has a Intel GMA 950 IGP on this netbook.


The sound card is a Realtek ALC272

 

I moved/merged your posts and deleted the extras.

I'm not sure if the 2100 came with recovery media by default. At the very least the original owner should have been able to request it if it did not, though I do not know how you can find that information.

If you have the stock image on the machine (and the primary drive isn't one of those smallish 16GB SSDs), it should have some sort of recovery partition.

You should be able to use generic drivers in most cases. Just try them out, and if a specific generic doesn't work, use the Dell one.

 

Well was this type of laptop had a built in recovery program meaning it is on a different partition on HDD? I know that my Sony laptop has the recovery on the HDD. This Dell netbook has a 80 gig HDD so I thought maybe it had a built in recovery. But maybe someone owns this netbook and can tell me if I needed a recovery CD or is it on the computer itself.


Around 4 years agao I had a Dell tower that was a 2.4 gHz Pentium 4 and that tower had a Intel 82865G video card and I tried using the generic drivers but it never let me install it even I used a retail version of Windows XP Home meaning not OEM Windows XP. I just remembered that I saw someone posted that Dell computers once tried to force people to use OEM drivers so I thought maybe even now it's still the same.

 

Doesn't anyone have a Dell laptop that uses a Intel graphics card and use generic drivers to update it? Since if you guys do use generic for Intel IGP then it will likely work on my Dell.

 

Please use the edit function instead of double posting.

What I am trying to say is that if you have the original factory image loaded on that 80GB primary disk, there should be, as part of that original factory image, a recovery partition on that drive.

If the factory image was wiped at some point, there is basically no way to get it back.

As for the generic driver, even within the space of Dell I am sure that compatibility varies from laptop to laptop and device to device. You can't generalize from one or two data points; just try it and see if it works.