dell screw up-need help

ha7

New Member
My family has a computer(it's a dell) that is really screwed up. It might be virus, but im not sure. It has windows XP on it. When i start it up ...it gets to the login screen where you choose your user and log on....and there is no user....then a message pops up and says the computer will shut down in 60 seconds. I cant figure it out.need help plz. peace out
 
ha7 said:
My family has a computer(it's a dell) that is really screwed up. It might be virus, but im not sure. It has windows XP on it. When i start it up ...it gets to the login screen where you choose your user and log on....and there is no user....then a message pops up and says the computer will shut down in 60 seconds. I cant figure it out.need help plz. peace out
Yeah Dell never again will I ever think of buying one again! its hardly Dells fault though its not really anyones!
 
Okay. Calm down everyone.
He can't back up the stuff because he can't access it.
Dell's are not always bad.
The CD that came with your computer:
Stick it into the CD drive. if it boots from it, good. if not, tell us. There will probably be an option to repair windows without deleting your files. if so, try that. hopefully it will work! :) just remember that these times are learning experiences, not the end of the world.
Jet
 
Jet said:
Okay. Calm down everyone.
He can't back up the stuff because he can't access it.
Dell's are not always bad.
The CD that came with your computer:
Stick it into the CD drive. if it boots from it, good. if not, tell us. There will probably be an option to repair windows without deleting your files. if so, try that. hopefully it will work! :) just remember that these times are learning experiences, not the end of the world.
Jet
he can access the data. if he has another computer he can slave in the hard drive, copy the data, and put it back in to reformat.
 
I keep an external enclosure for moments like these. Stick the hard drive in the external, plug into another computer and backup all my files. I have two other external hard drives, so that does tend to make the back up process a little easier. With just a little knowledge, the idea of removing it and installing as a slave in another computer isn't a bad idea either. I too suggest trying to start in safe mode "first", before other more drastic options.
 
LiquidSilver said:
might i remind u that this guy might not know jack crap about computers so lets make it as simple as possible
haha i like that... jack crap
haha, im gona be saying that phrase all night:)
 
I just re-installed windows on a dell and it was a pain. The original drivers are out dated and its hard to find the drivers. Infact I conctact dell and they did not even how to find the drivers.

As for the issue is the dell hooked up to dsl?
 
Well, even if he's a relatively unpracticed computer user, this is a fairly easy process to go through. Take that hard drive out that you need to get the information off of. Switch the jumper to the slave position, and install in some nice friend's computer. Make sure that they have a very good anti-virus so that they don't get infected with the virus as well, and then move over the data.

Obviously the time required will vary on the amount of data to be transferred, but it should be around 2 - 3 hours for that step. Then you want to take the hard drive back out of the computer, change jumpers, and reinstall on the original computer. Next, reformat the drive by reinstalling the OS, about 1 hour. Then move the hard drive (and jumpers) back to computer #2, transfer data back to original computer (after scanning the drive for viruses).

Reinstall hard and you're good to go. Much of the time, the computer will do the tasks on its own, so you can do other stuff, but the whole process will probably take the better part of a day or so. But again, there will be long stretches (like actually moving the data) that won't require your presence. Hopefully you get this all set-up correctly, good luck!
 
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