Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
16 Posts
0
2748
May 26th, 2004 18:00
Reformatting...need guidance
On Easter weekend, my nephew was playing on the computer and I have no clue what he did, but it's never been "normal" since then. I have done virus scan after scan, and nothing comes up. I do get emails from Symantec saying that I sent a file that couldn't be scanned....or something to that effect. (I've not sent files.) I've also run spyware detector programs, etc. and nothing comes up.
After sheer frustration, and very little time to sit and work on the computer, I've decided that I'm going to try to wipe it clean. I put in the Re-installation cd today and did that, but after it was all said and done, I realized that it wasn't wiped clean.
Can someone point me in the right direction to wipe it clean and start over with everything? Do I need more than just the re-install cd from dell? (Plus my other programs, etc....)
Thanks for any help!
Jennifer
DELL-Stephen S
2 Intern
•
1.4K Posts
0
May 26th, 2004 19:00
Jennifer,
Thank you for visiting the Dell Community Forum.
If you have already run the setup from the Windows CD, it may be to late to do this (but for future reference), but you may want to try running the System Restore utility and see if there is an available restore point from before the time the problem started; this can sometimes undo problems caused by software, driver or settings issues.
You can find information on doing a clean install of Windows in the following Dell Online Knowledge Base article (make sure to backup any important data before doing this):
How Do I Install the Microsoft® Windows® XP Operating System on My Dell™ Dimension™ 2350?
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?dn=1072630
jenalr
16 Posts
0
May 27th, 2004 00:00
Me again...isn't Win XP pretty good about having all of the drivers already installed? I was going over the link (didn't get very far, yet) that you sent, but I shouldn't have to worry about the drivers for the video card, etc. etc. etc. should I?
Thanks again!
jenalr
16 Posts
0
May 27th, 2004 00:00
I did try the system restore. I tried several, all the way back to the beginning of the year, but none of them were successful. UGHH.
WHAT could this kid have done to the system?
Thanks for the link. I'll check out the information there about a clean install. Can you also tell me.....will I need to find the driver for my cd or monitor? Or is that on the Dell Re-Install cd? With an older computer that I had, I re-installed with the cd, but AFTER it was all said and done, I found out that I didn't have the driver for the monitor, etc. etc. and it never worked properly after that.
Just trying to prepare and/or avoid any upcoming headaches.
Thanks!
DELL-Stephen S
2 Intern
•
1.4K Posts
0
May 27th, 2004 14:00
Jennifer,
Windows XP is good about having most drivers needed for hardware from this era. All CD drivers are built into Windows and the monitor driver will likely be there also. Any extra drivers needed should be on the Resource CD for the system. You will also need to reinstall any software applications that you want from the various backup CDs.
For more specific information on installing Windows, you may want to post a message in the Software – Windows XP Forum and if you have questions on a specific driver you can post a message in the specific Forum for the particular hardware device in question.