At the time that I took the system in I was actually able to go into safe mode but since I've gotten it back from the tech I'm unable to do that. When I turn the unit on there is a black screen with only the message "Strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility". If I hit F1 there are two soft beeps then this message just appears again below the original message. If I hit cntrl, alt, delete together, the Dell screen pops up as though it's going to boot however it never does. If I hit F8 here as I normally would to go into Safe mode it only goes back to the black screen with the message mentioned above. I would like to figure out how to clean the malware that the tech found with your help but currently I can't use the system and have to post here from my roomates'. Please help.
System is an older Dell Dimension 4800, I'm pretty sure it's Win XP sp 3 though it could be sp 2. Almost positive I went to sp 3. The tech didn't tell me the name of the infection but did say that it looks like it came from a "smart defragger" and possibly a "game booster" add-on to the Advanced SystemCare Freeware that I must have recently downloaded. Thanks in advance for your time and please let me know if I've forgotten any info you might need.