[QQQQQ-Trek]

depending on the brand of computer and BIOS manufacturer you have to press a certain key (or combination) directly after you turn on the machine.

For most machines this means pressing the "del" key during the boot up. If your computer is nice and says "press the del key" you can wait and do it then, otherwise I suggest hitting the "del" key repeatedly just so you don't miss the right time. (Don't hold the key down, it won't register).

Other computers use different keys or combinations. Dell likes to use the "F2" key or the ("Fn" + "F1") on laptops.

Once you get in the BIOS you need to look for a screen that talks about standard options or boot options. Once you find that screen you need to find the list of boot devices and their order. Chances are yous has HD0 as the top boot device and you need to have the boot order CDROM, HD0....etc.

[bestcigsnick]

depending on the brand of computer and BIOS manufacturer you have to press a certain key (or combination) directly after you turn on the machine.

For most machines this means pressing the "del" key during the boot up. If your computer is nice and says "press the del key" you can wait and do it then, otherwise I suggest hitting the "del" key repeatedly just so you don't miss the right time. (Don't hold the key down, it won't register).

Other computers use different keys or combinations. Dell likes to use the "F2" key or the ("Fn" + "F1") on laptops.

Once you get in the BIOS you need to look for a screen that talks about standard options or boot options. Once you find that screen you need to find the list of boot devices and their order. Chances are yous has HD0 as the top boot device and you need to have the boot order CDROM, HD0....etc.

[JosephNF]

Thanks both. I have a Gateway, and according to the Gateway help
site, it says use the F2 key....I tried that and it didn't work. I also read somewhere else to use the DELETE key....that didn't work either.

Yes, Odessan, I have the Gateway System Restore CDs, but don't want to use them and put all the junk from several years ago back on. I have much newer programs and have all the original CDs to reinstall everything from scratch. That's what I'm wanting to do....a complete wipe out and then just load a fresh new WindowsXP and start over from there.

I'll try the DEL key again.....

[gagagaridze]

If your computer has a floppy drive, you can create boot disks which will boot from the floppy drive to the CDROM. However, this method will only work for you if the floppy drive is before your Hard Disk in the BIOS boot order. If you can't get into your BIOS, but floppy is set up as first boot device, you can go here for more information:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310994/

[esenesesinas]

And thank God for littly Billy Gates! All of my info I had stored on MSN
is still there! So I didn't lose any of my email addresses or favorites that
were bookmarked; and I had all or most of my cell phone numbers stored in my cell phone. So about the only thing I lost was my outlook calendar, and one program that I don't have the CDs for, but don't use much now anyway. So it wasn't a total disaster after all. 8)

[BliliBoopsy]

Congrats Kay!

[weightpillsnow]

Now do Windows Update and install a firewall, virus, and spyware protection.

Yes, please do The World a favor and do what odessan says.

[9TWSg835]

Now do Windows Update and install a firewall, virus, and spyware protection.

Yes, please do The World a favor and do what odessan says.

[Michael-jeckson2]

Yes I'm in the computer business and I track this stuff. Currently 95% of all my new customers have spyware installed on the system 40% have serious infections that risk id theft.

Install a GOOD antivirus package. Not NORTON or McAfee. AND install a good spyware package or two.

For antivirus I prefer AVG http://free.grisoft.com and for antispyware I perfer Ewido. http://www.ewido.net/en/

Both are FREE for home use.

Windows Defender http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...e/default.mspx

Is also good to have as well.

My choices exactly. Kay, make sure you download and install these programs, and probably Firefox, before you do anything else. I'm also partial to Lavasoft's AdAware.

[Shiplyopidomi]

Oh geez. How could I forget Firefox. http://mozilla.com ops:

Thanks for the rebound dude. :wink:

[LypeReexy]

Better yet, she should install this and not have to worry about any of the above.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

:wink: :wink: :wink:

[DoctoNilsonDen]

Better yet, she should install this and not have to worry about any of the above.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

:wink: :wink: :wink:

[Erunsenef]

Routine maintenance is also a crucial and oftentimes overlooked task. I use TuneUp Utilities 2006 for some Windows optimization and registry cleaning. A good disk defragmenter is also a must; I use Diskeeper 9 (Diskeeper 10 is now available) about once a month to ensure my overtasked 120GB EIDE drive remains optimized. Both software apps are available as fully-functional 30 day trials from the usual places on the web.

Both apps keep my homebuilt rig turning and burning. Recommend 'em.

bc

[Inenuedbabnor]

Routine maintenance is also a crucial and oftentimes overlooked task. I use TuneUp Utilities 2006 for some Windows optimization and registry cleaning. A good disk defragmenter is also a must; I use Diskeeper 9 (Diskeeper 10 is now available) about once a month to ensure my overtasked 120GB EIDE drive remains optimized. Both software apps are available as fully-functional 30 day trials from the usual places on the web.

Both apps keep my homebuilt rig turning and burning. Recommend 'em.

bc

[FilmCriticAwezume]

Thank you all for the great advise and free program suggestions. I finally have everything reloaded and working great. I tend to do this anyway about once ever year or so, I just didn't have it in my plans right at this time. It's running so much smoother now.

One thing I learned from this that s.a.r.g. told me, is that it's not good to run 2 separate virus protectors at the same time. I had SystemWorks and McAffe both going and enabled simultaniously. Apparently, from what you all are saying here, they aren't that great to start with, and then both running actively at the same time, I guess just mangled up my registry.

I appreciate all the good advice. Thank you all.

[LeaderBiz]

Yes and it proably slowed your system to a crawl as well.