My computer is so messed up how it is. I have got more viruses on here somehow I can't seem to take them off. Computer runs slow, can't see videos anymore for some reason, my CD drives do not work anymore... I want to start with a brand new computer somehow if I only learn how to delete the entire computer and start new and download everything back into it.

I have a Dell 8600 running on windows XP. How do I go about deleting the entire computer??

(I have tried to call Dell a couple times before about this but never can I get anyone I can understand as there English over there in neverland are horrible!)

maybe someone here that knows something about computers can help me out?

 

throw in your xp cd, boot to it, do a new install. That will include a nice format.


BACKUP YOUR DATA

 

back up date does not work anymore. The virus thats in it won't let me to back it up at all! I can't loud any disk, my disk drives do not loud anymore!

 

Before you go deleting everything with a clean install... Open your virus program and update it. Then disonnect from the internet and run the virus program. Also run spybot search and destroy. If this doesn't work , You May need to do a clean install:http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html .
If it won't let you back up anything, at least write down all the info you can as far as what you have ID#'s etc..

 

mountaineer02V8 -

What you're talking about doing is erasing (or scrubbing) the hard drive on your computer and starting all over again; re-loading your Windows program, all your drivers, and any other programs you had on the computer. I've done it several times on both laptops and desk tops. The first time I did it was pretty scary because I'd never done it before and wasn't completely sure I knew what I was doing. Fortunately, I was using an older model laptop, the first one I ever bought, and everything worked out fine.

Make sure you have all the CDs you need to re-load and the Product ID numbers that go with them. Make a list of all the programs you have on the computer and then you can decide later if you really want to put them back on. I also went through and copied all documents, pictures, etc. to a CD so I could put them back after the re-load. Remember, when you erase your hard drive, it will erase everything and you won't be able to get it back.

It's a time consuming process but it's not difficult and it really is worth the effort if your computer is all messed up. It will make a world of difference. Remember, you can't just re-load the Windows program without erasing the hard drive. If you do, you'll end up with two versions of Windows on your computer and that won't solve your problem.

Good Luck!

 

While the process isn't difficult if you have no experience with this stuff....check to see how much best buy or some place wants to do it. It may be worth the money to let them handle it.

If you are technical than it really isn't a problem but if not you probably wont get it working correctly.

If you are going to attempt it try the guide from Dell

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...30030ABD62041A

if the link doesn't work go to support.dell.com put in your service tag and from the drop down list select reinstall guide.

 

Thanks for all the replys so far. I've never done this before, but I do have all the disk. BUT..... right now my hard drives do not work for some reason?? By deleting the entire computer, what would make the hard drives all of a sudden work to load the disk in to re-boot the computer???

I did check into Best Buy, and they wanted 325 bucks to be fixed by whats a called a "Geek Squad" that drives around in gay little VW bugs. I said no way to that since I thought it was to much money, I'll risk it and do it myself so I'm just trying to learn how to do it yet. The only thing that scared me is my hard drives do not work anymore, how do I get them working again to load the disk in?

 

My vote:

 

Go to http://www.trendmicro.com/home/default.asp and do a FREE online virus-scan and that will rid your computer of the virus.

 

ok, the advantage of formatting (wiping out) your hard drive:
Everything is effectively erased, the hard drive is re-partitioned and formatted so any errors with the drive itself be fixed. It will perform like new.
Re-installing windows from scratch helps in a number of ways.
Your registry will be free of all the false references, excess unnecessary code, etc.
There will be no temporary files left on the machine, or files you just forgot about that are unknowingly taking up space
Your hard drive will not be fragmented, speeding up average performance
You can choose what you want to put back on the machine and what you don't want to

There are plenty of good tutorials for this online, just google them.
What you need to do to make the CD boot:
Put the disc in the CD tray, restart your computer. It should prompt you "Press any key to boot from CD/DVD...."
If it does, press a key
If not, you'll need to get into your BIOS, which is potentially dangerous if you aren't careful, in which case I'd take it in (and not pay more than $80 to have a reformat done)

 

The last time I did it on an older unit, I just deleted the partitions put in my boot disk and started over.

I also just did my HP desktop a couple of months ago using the HP system restoration CD's That way was really simple and the computer did everything for me and it only tooh about an hour.

Does your Dell have some sort of system restoration set up in it? Te one in the HP did a full format and reload of windows. All I had to do was put in the proper disk when it told me to.

 

LOL!

Trust me, that thought came to mind plenty of times!

 

Some computers come with nice restore cds that will restore your computyer without deleting your personal data but they theres DELL that does not for some reason. Dell is a great company so I am assuming its a good reason. Send your computer to me I will do the work for you...

 

As you must know, I had the same problem. Not with viruses, but mine crashed totally trying to update my virus protection. BTW, never do that from the website!!! I found Dell extremely helpful. I was on the phone with them on and off for a total of 6 hours and they walked me through each step. They were very kind and patient with me. I was speaking to the offices in Canada, so language wasn't a problem. Be sure you are calling the technical support number for Dell. Good luck.

 

I know what it's like.

Back in '00 I picked up a $400 emachine desk top. To this day it wirks like a trooper. If I ever had any problem I could easily fix it with system restore or an emergency boot diskett.

In '04 I bought this $1400 Toshiba lap top. It worked good for about six months then started having problems. I don't know if it's something I did or what. No matter what I do I can't seem to get it working right. I've spent hundreds of dollars trying to get it to work. I want to run AutoTap and the emachine is just to big an bulky.

I may try to wipe the hard drive again and see if that'll help.