Bit of PC advice please?

PaulBoy

PaulBoy

Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,544
Name
Paul
Edit My Images
Yes
I am trying to help a m8 who's Dell PC got a Trojan (password stealer)
It was going to a "blue screen of death" with Fatal Error & not loading XP Pro but I got XP Pro to boot by asking for it to load the previous working boot etc
McAfee identifed the Trojan & dealt with it but there is still signs that the PC has been screwed up & it occasionally reboots without warning!
I have advised him to reformat the hard drive & reinstall everything from scratch - BUT its a Dell so has no copy of XP Pro on CD - I remember when I had my Dell laptop there was a way of extracting XP Pro onto a CD but I looking in the Help files on his PC & can't find any mention of it (?) We couldn't get online from his PC last night so can anyone advise me how to created the XP Pro CD from HIS PC?
TIA ... Paul :thumbs:
 
A friend of mine had a problem with a Dell PC recently, and contacted Dell who sent him the required CD's to rebuild his pc. I think it was similar to a ghost image rather than a full os installation cd.
 
If it's got an XP license sticker on the bottom then you can use any copy of Windows XP OEM to reinstall the system. Let me know if you want me to try and get my hands on an XP Pro OEM CD from work.
 
Rob - Thanks - that'll be plan B
Mark - I should be able to lay my hands on the copy I did from my laptop - provided my m8 has the OEM sticker etc so if I follow you I should be able to use my copy to reinstall & when asked enter the number from his sticker (?)
Thanks again ... Paul :thumbs:
 
I had this problem with Dell.

They come with a recovery partition - most of the time and you hit F11 or some such key on boot and it starts it up. Sometimes this partition can become damaged and or deleted (either intentionally or otherwise). Dell charge you £6 for the windows disks now, I managed to wangle mine for free because when I bought the laptop the option to get the installation media was sent out.

Anyway to cut a long story short, they sent me Dell branded XP pro by accident (the laptop was XP home) which is useless to me because I don't have a pro key to use with it - they then sent me the Dell branded XP home oem kit so I have a spare Dell pro disc if your mate would like it.

You should be able to install it using an OEM disc but sometimes the keys only work with the specific manufacturers install discs - I know our HPs do here. I also noticed when I sold the dell laptop this weekend (and reformatted) it didn't ask me for the license key - Dell must embed it somewhere in the hardware and the setup pulls it from this automatically.

Let me know.

Matt
 
Weren't Microsoft doing an exchange programme to resolve this problem not so long ago? You could send them your CD or product code, and they'd ship you a proper WinXP CD as replacement.
 
Matt - You are right that F11 (IIRC) takes you to a Boot Screen but it does not take you into the Setup (or being thick I couldn't work out how to access it from this screen) so that we could delete the existing XP Pro setup & do a fresh install - TBH I'd rather have a CD of XP Pro in my hands before taking this on so I will try using my copy as per markp's post - if that doesn't work I will ask one of you nice guys to send me one of your unwanted ones ...
Cheers ... Paul
 
Microsoft were running a programme to give people legitimate copies for pirated ones - this isn't pirated.

You can give it a try Paul but I reckon it might need a Dell branded disc. What model is it? I'll try and dig out some documentation that tells you how to use the recovery partition (if it has one)
 
Darksaber said:
Microsoft were running a programme to give people legitimate copies for pirated ones - this isn't pirated.

You can give it a try Paul but I reckon it might need a Dell branded disc. What model is it? I'll try and dig out some documentation that tells you how to use the recovery partition (if it has one)
Click to expand...

The XP Pro disc I created was from my Dell laptop (I think I found the instructions on one of the utility discs supplied with my laptop?) - my m8 will be at work now & when I go back to see him we wont have any web access as his PC throws a wobbly & reboots when you go online! - his PC is a Dell about 2yrs old - he would like to get sorted ASAP but if he needs to get a disc from Dell first then he will have to wait - I wasted 3hrs trying to help him last night & could do without that again! - I will buzz him & see what he wants to do ...
Cheers - Paul :thumbs:
 
If you can use his internet connection whilst you are there take your laptop - at least you can grab info and things from the net whilst you are there if it comes to it.

Your XP Pro disc might work, it depends if its an OS CD or if its a recovery disk for your particular laptop.
 
Darksaber said:
If you can use his internet connection whilst you are there take your laptop - at least you can grab info and things from the net whilst you are there if it comes to it.

Your XP Pro disc might work, it depends if its an OS CD or if its a recovery disk for your particular laptop.
Click to expand...

Take your laptop with you ... DOH! :bonk:
My XP Pro disc is an OS CD not a recovery disc (I remember doing it and how it said I would only got one go at creating it or I'd have to contact Dell for one to be mailed to me!)
I spoke to my m8 & he's going to contact Dell today & we'll take it from there
If you wanted to send me the XP Pro disc you don't need I'd willingly pay your postage (& for a large drink of your choosing!) This might speed things along while Dell get their proverbial fingers out!
Thanks for your help (so far)
Paul :thumbs:
 
No problem Paul,

Just PM me your address and I'll get it in the post for you today. It'll only cost a first class stamp so don't worry about it :)

Matt
 
Darksaber said:
No problem Paul,

Just PM me your address and I'll get it in the post for you today. It'll only cost a first class stamp so don't worry about it :)

Matt
Click to expand...

Matt your a gent! PM sent ... Paul :thumbs:
 
A quick update - I rang my m8 last night to see how he got on with Dell & he told me Dell had spent over an hour :eek: on the phone with him & managed to recover his existing setup from the stuff Dell stick on their hard drives!
I'm not convinced he won't have further problems but that's his worry ...
I headed off to burn a CD on my Dell laptop & found that my DVD/CD drive isn't working :shrug: - taking the p!ss or what? - I wonder how much a new one of those will cost me?
Frustrated of Surrey :bang:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top