xp trouble

bigworm55

New Member
hey everone great place here.i don't think anyone can help this problem but i will ask any way.my buddy at work bought a used dell computer at a pawn shop about 6 mounths ago,and all was well until he messed around with the control panel.to make a long story short it asked him to reboot,when he did it asked for a password before he could do anything.somebody told him to try to start it in safe mode but no good.then he really messed up since he did not have the xp pro disk for the computer he tried to use a xp home restore disk from another persons computer.after 6 hours now all he has is the screen with the safe mode option on it.any help would be great thanks. the worm:confused:
 
Yeah, that thing's probably toast... Obviously a XP Home disc will do nothing for Pro. Anyway, the best route to take would be to get a full install disc of XP Home and reformat the drive. That'd be what I would do if the computer is recent enough to warrant buying a copy of XP.
 
Hmm. Well, I know what he did to merit the password screen anyways. However it's too late. The damage has been done. You're best off to wipe it.
 
thanks for the fast reply, i read something about pressing f1 at boot up on some,if it came with xp from dell and only a restore disk.but i think he said there was a 98 sticker on it somewhere.so does that mean xp pro is gone now or not,also what would he need to do to install a brand new boxed set of xp if he did go and buy it,clear the drive some how?any idea on the price of xp home/pro?thanks again,the worm:)
 
It probably means they had 98SE on it originally and then put either XP Pro full or upgrade on it. You're right that XP from Dell is not an actual full version of Windows. At any rate whatever was done before, it's clear that now you need to get a hold of another copy of Windows...

However, if the computer's pretty old, it might be better to consider completely replacing it, even though they just bought it.
 
also what would he need to do to install a brand new boxed set of xp if he did go and buy it,clear the drive some how?any idea on the price of xp home/pro?thanks again,the worm:)

All you need to do is put the cd in then restart the computer. It should boot to the cd and you can instal windows. You dont need to do anything before that since the installation process reformats the hard drive.

You can get a cheep copy of windows xp home for $90. Heres the link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832116056
Only problem is its a oem which really dosent matter.
Or you can get a windows xp home retail for $200 Heres the link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837116193

Pro is obviously a little more expensive Retail is $280 Link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837116195
Or an oem copy for $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832116059

Unfortanantly your not going to get much cheaper.
 
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