What will happen to other program files when reinstalling XP?

I'm probably in trouble then because my main problem is I accidentally deleted the file BCMSMMSG.exe from my C:\WINDOWS directory and from the C:\DRIVERS\MODEM directory mistakenly thinking these were spyware files. It doesn't sound as though the repair option you identified is going to get into the level of detail necessary to fix this problem.

 

The loss of these files has made that computer unable to access the interenet and none of my devices are now visibible in Device Manager. I can't use CD drives or USB ports to bring in any files to the computer. Apparently a direct solution to replacing these files must not be possible since none of the forums have been able to tell me how to do this.

 

Any other thoughts?

 

 

If you perform a "Repair" installation all of your data and programs should be left as is.  You do this by booting from the Windows CD as though to perform a full installation, pressing "Enter" to install Windows, and selecting the option to repair the existing Windows installation.  This process replaces all Windows files with the original versions.  You therefore must perform all the Windows updates that have been issued since your Windows CD was made.  You can short circuit this a bit if you download the Service Pack 3 update and burn it to a CD before beginning the process.  Don't forget that you need to start with an installation disk that has at least Service Pack 1 on it.  If you are using the original issue of the Windows installation CD with no service packs you will need to update to Service Pack 1 or 2 before attempting to update to Service Pack 3.

 

A repair installation may not fix your particular problem.  Minimal changes are made to the registry during this process, so if the cause of your trouble is a configuration error, the repair installation may not fix it.  If this occurs your only choice may be a full installation, and this will remove all data from the hard drive.  Also, if the version of Windows on your hard drive uses a later service pack than the one that is included on your installation disk you will not have this option available to you.

 

 Apologies Mombo; slow typer today.

 

GEMMSM77;

 

If you have access to the repair installation option, it is still worth trying.  You may not get full operation back, but it should restore your ability to access most of your devices.  If you have data on the drive you want to keep this process gives you an excellent chance to copy the data to other media.

 

If you cannot perform the repair, or the repair fails to improve the present condition of the computer, I would purchase a new drive to replace the drive you presently have and install Windows and all your drivers on the new drive.  I would also purchase a USB drive shell, install the old drive into it, and after I had the computer up and running, I would attach the shell containing the old drive to the computer and try to copy my data to the new drive.  Once that is done I would format the old drive and use it as a back-up storage device, or I would put it away as a back-up of the data that I just copied to the new drive.

 

BCMSMMSG.exe  is part of your Broadcom modem driver software, you should be able to reinstall your modem software to restore this file, it is not a Windows file, so repairing XP will not replace the file.

 

I am not sure deleting this file will cause all the issues you now have.

 

 

Please post your model of Dell, so others can help you.

 

 

Check your system for malware

Download, install, update twice, scan

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

 

 

Some anti malware programs are malware themselves, you have to be careful what programs you use, this MBAM is one of the best.

 

What program did you use that deleted this file?

Thanks for the advice. I have a OneTouch external drive that had a relativley recent backup of all my critical files. It also has an image that is supposed to be able to restore the computer to its operating state at the time of the last image (a couple of months ago) and then use the backed up critical files to to restore them. I have not tried using it yet because I still trying to work with the Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus forum to see if what it is supposed to do is what it does and if this would be my next best step to get going again.

I have an old Dimension 8200 with windows XP Home version 2002 w ser pack 2. My wife and 10 year old son use this computer everyday and it is running very poorly. I ran a varity of malware and spyware programs and it still is sluggish. i thought if I reistalled a newer version of XP it might fix the problem except I don't want to mess with the other programs and files i have in the system. What do you suggest? Just yesterday Outlook stopped working although I can still connect to the web using IE brower. Again because the system is so old I have no idea where any of the original disks are (MS Office Outlook, XP, etc.)

@ ARAI

 

More than likely you need more memory 512mb minimum, 1gb is the sweet spot for XPsp2 and above.