so i have a dell desktop that is a few years old. belongs to g/f. all kinds of infected and i need t reload OS and whatnot and wipe hard drive clean. I have tried and for some reason it refuses to work. u can check my previous thread about this issue. If anyone has the reinstall discs that ould be helpful because i'm not sure if i have everything here that I need someone to come over and fix this for me, from what i understand it would not be a lengthy procedure. I don't have much money but if someone could help me out here it would be greatly, greatly apprciated. I would also be willing to trade. I have all kinds of shit to trade. ie: dvds, wireless keyboard and mouse, furniture, x box games, w.e name something. thanks for the help.

5/15/2006 4:34:24 PM

should cost about $325 $225

5/15/2006 5:22:35 PM

$50 and you drop it off here, pick up two days later

5/15/2006 5:31:20 PM

30 minutes - Analysis of machine
60 minutes - Attempt to clean machine
30 minutes - Installation/Education of keeping machine clean

That's a minimum of 2 hours ... or $40. IF the System DOES require a total wipe/reinstall ... backing up the current hard drive will take another hour. Reinstalling things will take 2-3 hours. That's a maximum of 6 hours ... or $120.

You'd have a LOT more luck if you can bring the computer to somebody's place and have them take a look at it there. Or find a friend who is willing to help you out. (If it was still during the semester, you could have posted some stuff around EBII and probably had a ton of responses).

5/15/2006 5:31:54 PM

If you don't have install discs, the legit way to do this would be to either get Dell to send recovery discs (at this point I beleive you would be charged 45 bucks.) These would have all the drivers on them as well as the OS. A windows xp pro upgrade disc (70 bucks) would also work I think, though I forget what it asks for to verify a previous installation of windows. I'm assuming you have xp home on this thing?

Anyways, you might be able to convince dell to send you the recovery discs for free if you're still under warranty. Once you have those anyone who's done this kind of thing before could fix it for you easily. It'll take like 2-4 hours or more depending on how many updates need to be installed before you'd REALLY be ready to go though so expect to pay someone around 40-50 bucks if they're not a pro or 100-200 if they are. This can take as much as 6 hours depending on how attentive the person doing it is about clicking "next" and "ok" and how out of date the install discs are.

If someone has the reinstall discs and you still have that windows serial key on the back of your computer, that'd be fine too. Your best option though is to get a friend to come over and do this for you or figure it out yourself. It's not really worth most people's time to do it for less than 50 bucks and it's not worth paying someone more than that. It does take a suprising amount of time to do, even though most of that time is spent sitting and waiting for the computer to complete this and that. It's not hard though.

[Edited on May 15, 2006 at 5:37 PM. Reason : ^ yeah dropping it off with a friend or trusted person would be a good option too]

5/15/2006 5:34:44 PM

i have think i have the original reinstall but not the case it came in so i don't have the key. I do have the xp disc for small business that came with new laptop only it says it doesn't have programs or drivers. does that matter? i am really just lookin to get this fixed to sell. it is a dimension 4400.

5/15/2006 5:37:30 PM

i have a dell xp home disc...i was, of course, assuming that the serial sticker was still on the case, but i didn't ask

^ you mean you don't have the original COMPUTER case or the original SOFTWARE case/sleeve/jewel case/whatever?

[Edited on May 15, 2006 at 5:39 PM. Reason : q]

5/15/2006 5:38:14 PM

no jewel case or slip or anything, i had it in a binder

[Edited on May 15, 2006 at 5:42 PM. Reason : .]

5/15/2006 5:41:47 PM

Most likely the installation disc that came with another computer will not work, or at least won't work completely/easily. I'm not sure if dell recovery discs require a cd key when you use them (I know thinkpad ones don't as they just verify that it's a thinkpad model that it's mad for.) I don't think I ever had to enter a serial number for a dell restore cd I've used.

If you're just going to sell it you could always put fedora core on it and sell it as a linux box and say it includes original windows disc or something. Selling it with what would effectively be a pirated copy of windows isn't nescessarily a good idea. Yes, it would be pirating if you put a copy of windows you have on another machine on this machine as well (not that I think anyone would be likely to care.)

^There should be a serial number that says "windows...." whatever stuck to the back of the actual computer. It's on the bottom for laptops, back or bottom for desktops.


[Edited on May 15, 2006 at 5:44 PM. Reason : ]

5/15/2006 5:41:48 PM

^ dell does require a CD key after it verifies that it's a dell computer (though i've never run into one that was model specific...

^^ check the side or back of your dell computer case, it should have a white/pink/teal sticker with a windows xp serial number...if you have that, i can help you out...if not, your best bet is to take Charybdisjim's advice about linux

5/15/2006 5:43:55 PM

^ Ah that's right, the driver disc I had did have drivers for like 50 models on it... I forgot about that.

5/15/2006 5:44:59 PM

even if the serial isnt found on the case or wherever, can always go into the registry and get the serial or get a utility that does it automatically.

5/15/2006 5:45:19 PM

Assuming he can access the registry. Is this thing still booting?

[Edited on May 15, 2006 at 5:45 PM. Reason : ]

5/15/2006 5:45:35 PM

touché

5/15/2006 5:49:09 PM

there is the sticker with serial on the back. sweet. next prob. is the computer will boot up i just can't get into setup pre-office loading up. i try and hit a key while screen is black right from when i hit on button up until everytime it just boots up to office

5/15/2006 5:59:51 PM

^
If you want us to help you, please make your posts a little more coherent. If we are going to take the time to post potential solutions, you should take the time to make coherent posts about the problem. Not trying to be mean, but giving you a friendly tip.

5/15/2006 6:26:02 PM

^^ i have no clue what you just said, and Perlith is right about coherency...that said, you'd be surprised how much can be fixed by simply booting into safe mode (hit F8 while pc is still booting, before windows starts) and removing the software that appears to be holding you up (i think that's what i gleaned from those words up there)...msconfig is also a good place to start if you want to eliminate startup software as an issue

5/15/2006 7:17:24 PM

what i was trying to say previously is this: Yes, there is a sticker with serial on the back of the computer. The problem i am having with trying to follow the instructions that i have already received is that i cannot get into the setup menu during start-up. When i restart the computer the screen is black and then goes straight to windows no matter what key i hit. sorry for the previous post.

5/15/2006 8:12:50 PM

sounds like it just isnt booting to the CD to me. u have to be able to get into BIOS somehow either by hitting the delete key or F2 key. once in there, change the boot sequence so that it boots to CD first b4 booting to HDD. restart and it should boot to the CD.

[Edited on May 15, 2006 at 8:19 PM. Reason : .]

5/15/2006 8:18:37 PM

i may have read this wrong, but why does he want to boot to the CD? if it's software (bad install, spyware, etc.) that's causing the problems, what CD is he going to boot to that's going to fix it?

i've yet to meet anyone who's been able to fix a corrupt windows issue using the recovery console, btw

5/15/2006 8:38:45 PM

well to reformat and reinstall u have to boot to the CD. this is what i was under the assumption he was tryin to do.

5/15/2006 8:55:26 PM

*shrug*...i'm not sure he knows what he's trying to do any more than we do

5/15/2006 8:57:04 PM

i am trying to:

A) Delete everything off of the computer (completely) including whatever virus, trojan, spyware, wtf ever is on it
B) Reinstall all microsoft programs, OS, Drivers etc.
C)Have the computer work normally again
D) Sell the fuckin thing for a couple hundred bucks

[Edited on May 15, 2006 at 11:41 PM. Reason : .]

5/15/2006 11:40:34 PM

so you're trying to reformat it...do you have everything off of it that you want/need? if so, do as mentioned before, change your boot order so the cd-rom boots first, follow instructions, done

5/16/2006 12:55:32 AM

For Part A, if you are SURE there are ABSOLUTELY NO files on that computer you want to recover, download a program called Darik's Boot and Nuke. It will erase EVERYTHING off the hard drive and make what was erased IMPOSSIBLE to recover.

Parts B-D are unnecessary if you are trying to resell it. A technical person will take the computer as is, and will be more than happy with the sticker on there. A technical person won't pay the extra for you to do the installation yourself. A nontechnical person you can jack the price up on and THEN do a normal windows install from scratch ... AFTER you make the sale. Don't waste your time now when you aren't sure who you are selling it to yet.

5/16/2006 7:20:09 AM

^^I cannot get into bios... ^ I cannot access the internet from this pc anymore, too fucked up

5/16/2006 10:59:30 AM

yes, you CAN get into BIOS, you just don't know HOW

and you're posting, so you obviously have internet access somewhere...if you don't have a flash drive already, then A.) how do you function in college?, and B.) dl the program wherever you are and put it on the flash disk

5/16/2006 11:15:36 AM

^ok- that makes sense, just didn't know if i were to download program onto my laptop if it would cause any problems on this computer or not.

5/16/2006 12:10:07 PM

this process is really not that hard and ur turning it into a huge federal project. anyone in this thread could do this whole thing in a few hours and save u the trouble of noobing it up.

5/16/2006 12:20:25 PM

yeah i know- that is why i asked previously if i could pay somoen a few bucks or trade for something to do it for me- i'm a bit of a retarf with all this (english major) but i don't really hav $50 to throw out when i will probably only get $100-$150 for this pc

5/16/2006 12:23:39 PM

$25 and your pic of 4 dvds from my posted collection. Any takers to help out a computer ignorant broke ass???

5/16/2006 11:51:23 PM

anyone

5/17/2006 11:10:16 PM

i'd help but i'm in D.C.

all you need is for someone to burn you a copy of Windows XP OEM (since you already have a legit key) and download all the drivers via dell's support site onto a CD and be done with it. possibly back some stuff up on someone's usb hard drive... is this really that hard for someone to help this guy out?

[Edited on May 18, 2006 at 12:29 AM. Reason : .]

5/18/2006 12:27:12 AM

I may do it.

5/18/2006 12:38:13 AM

I pm'd you yesterday. If you still need help give me a call.

5/18/2006 2:04:44 AM