Reinstalling operating system

Question

This is sort of unbelievable. My niece has a Latitude D505, with Windows XP Pro. Everything was working great. She wanted to change the paperclip thingy in Windows Office, and when it asked for the disk, she put in the disk for the operating system, and proceeded to try and install it. It's already to the stage of 'Do you want to connect to Microsoft etc.' I assume she's already clicked on a bunch of stuff which will overwrite many of her files. They are bringing it over later so I can look at it. Is there anything I can do to minimize the damage? I have never installed an operating system, and my guess is this is a big deal......Thanks for any help.

Neener16 · Answer

Thanks, they're going to drop it off tonight. She couldn't even tell me what they clicked on, so I'll just have to see when I get it tonight.

jmwills · Answer

First of all, the System would not boot from the Office CD, it is not a bootable disc.   Start the machine and hit F8 and select Boot to Last Known Good Configuration.  Once you are in, do a System Restore to a point before she tweaked Office.   I think if you search the Office help files for 'turn off Office Assistant' you can find the proper method of disabling that annoying thing.

mombodog · Answer

Depends on if she rebooted, if she did, and continued with the install, it depends on what options she chose, more than likely it is Ok, but you may be able to cancel the install, may be a little work to do this. Post back with info on what stage the installation is at.

Neener16 · Answer

My darling niece didn't put in the Office CD, she put in the operating CD. Yes, I know, not too smart, but she's only 10. Should I still try the F8 and boot to last known configuration and do a system restore, or are all bets off when you mess with the operating system?  I will see tonight when I get it how far into this she got. Maybe I can cancel the install as previously suggested. She didn't want to turn office assistant off, she wanted to change it and it asked for the Microsoft Office CD. Instead, she put in the operating CD.

Neener16 · Answer

It appears they went pretty far in the installation, all the way up to Activate Windows.  The problem is, I can't even activate it. It does not take the Product key that's at the bottom of the laptop. This is a refurbished laptop from Dell and this is the disk that came with it. Any suggestions???

mombodog · Answer

Are you saying that you are at Activation screen, looks like this

Or still in setup, and it is asking for the Key to be entered? Looks like this.

Message Edited by mombodog on 01-27-200707:31 PM

mombodog · Answer

If you are at the first screen, call this number and tell them you reinstalled XP and need a new key, they will walk you through the process and give you a new key enter.   1-888-571-2048    Toll-Free     Hopefully she did not format the drive before installing.

Neener16 · Answer

Thank you. I called that number, it is activated and everything works! Looks like I freaked out for nothing. Appreciate the help.

mombodog · Answer

You got lucky my friend, Is all your old data still there?   You will need to do a windows update a couple of times ,be sure the critical patches did not get removed in the process.

Neener16 · Answer

I know I got lucky!  All the data and programs were there. I had tried to do a system restore before I activated Windows XP. After it was activated it did give me a message about system restore being completed, but the only restore date choice I was given was for today. I know it was stupid I tried but what the heck at that point. I had 28 windows updates to download after it was over. I feel extremely fortunate, and my niece was thrilled. I told her if she ever did that again, she was on her own.

mombodog · Answer

A near miss, Great news. :smileyhappy:

rickmktg · Answer

Neener16 wrote:

My darling niece didn't put in the Office CD, she put in the operating CD. Yes, I know, not too smart, but she's only 10.

Glad everything worked out.

The issue is with the parents giving a 10 year old access to CDs that not only can mess things up but are worth a good deal of money. It constantly amazes me how people lose CDs, throw them away, or give kids access to them.

When I get a new PC, I take inventory, then put all the CDs away. My kids know they cannot install anything w/o permission, and they can't download anything w/o permission. Never had an issue.

Tell your relatives to take an inventory of the CDs and then remove them from the 10 year old's access.

mombodog · Answer

I have a nephew, when he was young, 8 years ago, I could give him a CD (not valuable) and watch him walk to his bedroom with it, he would come back out 2 minutes later, looking for it, We never could find it, this happened many times, quite humorous. I call it the Vortex of Adam. If I want something to go away, I just give it to him.

Neener16 · Answer

Rick:   I couldn't agree with you more. My brother-in-law apparently was a part of this. While he is computer challenged, I am guessing my niece told him what she was going to do, and he wasn't paying attention. At least I hope he can tell the difference between a Microsoft Office CD and the Windows Pro CD. Fortunately for him he was away on business this weekend so he did not have to suffer the wrath of my sister......

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Reinstalling operating system

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