imported_Team Rukus

I got a Dell Dimension 5150. My computer has way to many screw ups things like programs that have been deleted but not completely and still screwing up things, cant use the ctrl alt delete function for some reason, viruses, error codes blah blah blah (thanks to my freakin little siblings downloading bull****) anyways i want to basically reboot the entire computer and start with a clean plate again. However when i bought the computer i didnt opt for the cd's that have windows etc on it. How would i go about doing this without the cd's? or do i have to call dell and buy the cd's? i noticed when you add/remove programs there is a program called dell driver reset or whatever i am assuming thats to reprogram the whole computer again but i dont know where that program is in order for me to try and use it.

Cynikal.Mindset

you always get recovery disks with computers...maybe u lost them...in anycase ur gonna need a xp bootable cd (so u can format the system) and then ur gonna have to try and download any drivers for soundcard, videocard etc...and hopefully they arent integrated into the mobo...cuz then it will become a hassle to find the right ones if available at all...but yea u should have the dell resources disk somewhere and that will be your drivers and all that...then get ur xp bootable cd and away you go

imported_loudsubz

Jay how many drives do you have showing up in my computer? Sometimes they opt to partion the HD and save 2gig or so for the OS files that you can install later on if need be, instead of supplying a recovery CD.

Our compaq @ work is like this.

Also do you have Windows XP Home? Windows 2000? etc?

if so is there a product key sticker on the computer case anywhere? If there is I would just opt to find an OS cd and install a clean copy without the utilities and add ons they supply on the recovery cds.

Drivers arnt that bad at all, you can usually download them all at the MANU. website.

Cynikal.Mindset

hp/compaq do the partition thing...dell gives the resource disks

and believe it or not...drivers are a pain in the ***...especially onboard sound and video...especially on a machine thats a couple years old, they direct you to the manufacturers website and the manufacturer differs you back to the computer company...its a cat and mouse game they play

imported_loudsubz

Ive never had an issue with drivers. I was able to find drivers for all computers I have worked on, even older P233's with integrated touchscreen (sorta like a laptop config, only in PC form, kinda weird looking comp, forgot the brand of it).

Either windows drivers have worked, or I was able to find the direct files on the net, posted on a forum or website.

Never really been an issue.

Cynikal.Mindset

yes...forums are key or other computer related sites...I hate computers

imported_loudsubz

notepad + pen FTW

imported_Team Rukus

never got a single disk or cd.
the thing is they asked me at the time of purchase if i wanted all that crap i was like nah its okay.
the good thing about dell is that you can log onto their website and there is a drivers section where i can enter my serial code for my computer and it shows everything that installed on it and all the things inside it and i can download the drivers for it. however i never did a complete system recovery before (i did it on my ibm computer years back but it came with a recovery cd) this one doesnt so i am kinda lost.

imported_loudsubz

do you have a product key sticker anywhere on your comp?

Xscorpio

jay i will fix it up next time i'll come over

imported_Team Rukus

yup its on the tower.

imported_loudsubz

just get a legit copy of Xp and install it using that key then

just make sure its the right copy, eg. XP Home, Pro or OEM and your good to go.

than you can activate and get updates trouble free

imported_jj2ii3344

Matt is right.

XP should then be able to identify and install your hardware for you without additional effort.

imported_Team Rukus

but it will no longer be a dell version of the xp.
meaning it will be a regular xp. dell has certain programs etc that the xp came with that i wont get if i went with a normal xp.

i went on dell's site and entered my product id and they dont have any recovery drivers.

imported_Team Rukus

a screw it i have no time for this.
anyone here knowledgable on computers can do this for me?
i want the entire harddrive cleaned and emptied and reloaded with xp, office and norton antivirus and any other usefull programs.

how much? pm me
thanks

imported_jj2ii3344

Something to try before you do that, Jay.

1. Power on PC
2. When the Dell screen appears, hold the CTRL key, and press F11. Then release both keys at the same time

Let me know if this brings you to the Dell PC Restore screen.

imported_loudsubz

they are just a gimmick anyways, unless its a laptop then you want some of the apps to control keyboard functions and other integrated things

but those apps you can sometimes download.

imported_Team Rukus

my rogers internet has been suspended 4 times now in 4 days and reactivated again because of some kind of .bat file (trojan) and i did complete virus scans and it is still not picking up.
plus i lost the ctrl alt delete funtion for some reason it doesnt work either.
damn i hate computers. LOL tomarrow i am going to backup all my crap on a cd and then call dell and ask them if they can send out a cd for me to reboot it if joe's method doesnt work. the cd key etc for the xp is already labelled on my computer tower.

weezybaby

yoou probably have home edition, so try getting/ or downloading home edition with service pack 2 on torretn and install it with you cd key, which is legal as your paying for the key not the actual program