Hi I hope you are doing well. I called Dell and asked for them to send the disks to reformat my computer. They did then I tryed to reformat but I got cannot copy this file don't remember particulary files. I tried to install the file again but came up so I said skip the file. But, the problem is it came up for 30 about thirty files until I decided to quit the process. So Dell said I had corrurpted files and needed a new hard drive. When I turn on the computer now it says failed reboot to retry push F1. I did says failed reboot. Then it says push F2 to go to setup utility. Please feel free to reply and ask any questions you may have. Thanks for all your help in advance.

Hi there

Normally when you get that error message during installation, it means the system can't read the files on the installation disk, rather than there being a problem with the hard drive. However, that doesn't mean it isn't the hard drive, especially given that your installation disk is new.

First thing to check is the installation disk (I assume this is a CD or DVD). Make sure there are no scratches or finger prints etc on the disk. If is looks at all dirty, clean the disk with a soft lint free cloth.

If the CD/DVD is ok, then you need to check the hard drive. As you have no operating system on the drive, you'll need to boot the system from a CD or floppy disk. Probably the best utility to use for checking it is the hard drive manufacturer's own diagnostic utility. This means you need to know what make the drive is.
You might be able to find this information by looking in the bios. It may not give the manufacturers name but if there's a model number for the drive, we can work it out from that. Failing that, you might have to open up the case & have a look at the label on top of the drive itself.
Is this a desktop or laptop computer?

Yes it did have some bad smudges so I cleaned it off. Then I reformatted and it worked. But one problem my mouse is not working. I tryed a different mouse from a different computer and it didn't work for this one but it worked for its normal one. And the normal mouse I use does work for the other computer that I tryed that mouse for this one. I also pulled it out and put it back in and restarted the computer several times. Can't install drivers etc. until I get mouse to work. But when I reformatted I didn't get any can't copy this file or any error. Thanks for your help so far. Please could you tell me what you recommend to try for the mouse since it still isn't working.

Are the mice you have tried USB or PS/2 ones?

It is a PS/2. And also what do you recommend I try? Thanks for all your help so far.

This post has been edited by heat123: Aug 24 2008, 01:34 PM

Try this first:
As you have no working mouse, I have included keyboard shortcuts here as well...

Go to Start -> Run and type devmgmt.msc (click OK)
Use the Windows key on your keyboard (or CTRL+ESC) to bring up the Start menu. Use the arrow (cursor) keys to navigate. Use the Enter key to select/open the Run command. Type devmgmt.msc into the box and press Enter.

In device manager, go to the View menu & select Show hidden devices.
Use the ALT key to activate the menus. Use the arrow keys to navigate the menus & highlight the 'Show hidden devices' option. Once highlighted, press Enter to select it.

Do you see any devices that have a yellow exclamation mark next to them (!)?
If so, then make a note of what they are. If they are mouse related (i.e. PS/2 mouse or PS/2 port) then delete these devices and reboot the system.
Press the Tab key to select the first device in the list, then use the arrow keys to move up and down the list. To delete a device with a yellow exclamation mark, just select it (so it's highlighted in blue) then press the DEL key.



If all else fails, I recommend you try a USB mouse if possible. I could be that the PS/2 port is blown.
It may also be that the PS/2 mouse port is disabled in the bios (although this seems unlikely as it was working before) but may be worth checking.

Tryed the start run and didn't work so tryed in bios and worked successfully. Thanks for all your help. Has internet, protection, security center working, and etc.

Great, glad to hear everything's working now

I am glad to.