SP2 Fail--- Vista ReInstall Errors

Hey all, so here's what's up:
-My brother's Dell Inspiron 1750 did not have any updates or service packs installed on the OEM installed 32-bit Vista Home Premium. I updated it to SP1 then began SP2. After the update's auto reboot, it hung on a number of files. SP2 failed--and what's more, somehow my Restore Points were deleted when the Auto-Update created its own Restore Points. So I only had a Restore Point that would boot the system into Completing the upgrade.
-In frustration, my brother wiped his drive and tried to reinstall Windows via the Dell Recovery Disc. But when he tries to reinstall Vista, it gives him this error: "Windows cannot access the installation sources. Verify that the installation sources are accessible, and restart the installation."
-After I looked at it, I see 4 partitions and a "BOOT " partition, all of which may not have been reformatted correctly.

Is there a way to wipe all the partitions and try reinstalling Vista again? Suggestions?

Thanks.

on some factory built pcs like dell you should use their own version of the service pack as it,ll will update the restore partition on the hd as well with the correct file versions.
you can make a bootable formating disk, the drive manufactorer should have one on their site or a site like major geeks etc.
but you,ll need a genuine disk to reinstall from scratch not a system restore/recovery disk

Hey Wheelsmith

Thanks for the input. Actually that's what I just finished doing...I wiped the drive, formatted a usb flash drive and loaded the re-install disc onto it. Worked like a charm...minus the missing drivers for the hardware. But it's all good.

Thanks.