I would say given what you told us, that you might Schedule a Boot-Time Scan to make sure you don't still have the virus affecting the boot process. I know Avast! Anti-Virus has a very good free one, if you can get on the internet. You might try that.

hmm.i'm not too sure but the virus should have been gone.i've run a virus scan with AVG and cleared it.but now theres a bigger problem! when i switch on the comp now, during the Windows Xp loading screen, a blue screen telling me that Windows shut down to prevent further harm and gave me a string of Tech Support help and it happens everytime w/o fail when i turn it on(im on another computer now).argh.i've experienced this blue screen b4 and solved it by reformatting it then. but now i cant reformat! =/ guess i'll have to wait till tomorrow and contact dell then.

I had a problem similar to that once, my hard drive at the time died. Called Dell and they sent their Tech guy here and replaced it. But I had to give the dead one to the guy or I would've had to pay for it. Always regretted not going to a local computer store and have a Techie at least get the data from it before the Dell guy came. Someone told me that this was possible, not sure though. I learned a lot by backing everything up now, big help. Necessity almost for me. Dell Tech Support is usually available 24/7 also including Sundays. Not sure where you are from tho. :smileyhappy: 

bliste

See if the following can help you with a clean reinstall of XP.

First, disconnect all the peripherals from the system except the keyboard, mouse and monitor.

How to configure a Dell Dimension series system to boot to the CD or DVD drive.

This XP reinstallation guide is excellent, or you can use Dell's Restallation Guide here.

While installing, remember to delete all existing partitions when you are prompted, then recreate the partitions and format the hard drive, following by installing XP.

Note: You need not delete the small 40/50mb EISA Partition, if you wish to keep Dell diagnostics on the hard drive.

After installing XP, you need to install the drivers and applications in the following order,

Chipset
Video
Network Interface Card [NIC]
Audio
Modem
All other drivers.

Then, install the Anti Virus utility and update the definitions, followed by all the critical Microsoft updates.

Try to note the type of hardware devices you have, prior to reinstalling the operating system. This can help you select and install the correct drivers and applications.

Bev.


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