[Sharon Lee]

I have had so many problems with this machine. I called the puter man and he told me that for one hundred dollars he could erace my machine and put Xp back on and get rid of all the problems that I continue to have. Plus it would be thirty more dollars to save what I wanted saved. May question to you is. Is this a complicated proceedure? Could one do this themselves or do they need to go have it done? Not sure if this is the way to go for me or what. Would love your imput. Thank you.

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I'm pretty sure you can format with an XP installation disk.

If you get one and insert it into your system, then reboot and it should open with the disk. I'm sure somewhere it'll say format, which will erase your hard drive.

Then you can continue to install XP as usual.

[Nathan]

I'm pretty sure you can format with an XP installation disk.

If you get one and insert it into your system, then reboot and it should open with the disk. I'm sure somewhere it'll say format, which will erase your hard drive.

Then you can continue to install XP as usual.

[Sharon Lee]

Really? That almost sounds to easy. I have been through so many programs on this machine and spent so many hours trying to figure out just what is causing me so many problems. I have saved all my stories and I will be saving my addresses. I have a couple of card shops but I can put them back on after we reboot. This would be so awesome. I worried about Microsoft's service pack two and three. I know I will need to have them and I wonder if I can still download them. Thank you so much for such a quick response.

[Nathan]

This will clear questions about the installation.

XP service packs should be available through Windows Update.

[rshaffer61]

Before going through all the format and reinstallation can you explain the issues you are having? We might be able to resolve them without a loss of all your data.

[Sharon Lee]

I thought of that. Yet, everytime I get one thing fixed something else will mess up and then the thing that was fixed starts to act up again. I have spent many hours on here trying to see what is going on. I have no virus for I have checked and re-checked that. I have taken most of my pictures off here and all of my stories are copied and saved. As for my addresses, I could copy and save them also. Really, it is beyond me what happened here but I have no one hundred dollars to pay a puter man. I really thought that was a little steep but I have no idea what they charge for something like this. It hasn't been 4 months that I paid 80 dollars and this was to be working great. It wasn't. So, I will take all the help I can get but I don't want to take too much of your time and please be patient with me. Thank you so much.

[rshaffer61]

Interesting you would bring up a virus as not being the issue.
Was there a virus on it that started all this?

[Sharon Lee]

I really don't know. When I took my machine to get it fixed I was told that lightening probably hit it. I got it home and it still did not work good. I guess that happens when one does not know what to expect. I know that I get getting this pop up message that says they have to shut down this web site. I have gotten into that message and tried to see what was causing it. Have no idea. Sometimes computers speak another language that some of us can not understand. Could I have had a virus? Probably. But if so my virus program did not let me know.

[rshaffer61]

Hidden infections happen all the time.

I get one thing fixed something else will mess up and then the thing that was fixed starts to act up again.

What exactly messes up?
I am asking because there are some infections that a simple format and reinstallation will not take care of and it may be better to get rid of the infection.

[Sharon Lee]

I have had to run a program when the computer starts that you helped me with. I went to my papers and did it all over again. Then there was another problem which I thought was taken care of and I know it was not for my machine does this all the time. I shall copy what is said so you can see exactly what I am talking about. It happens often so it will not be hard to copy and save. Thank you so much for trying to help me. I do appreciate it.

[rshaffer61]

If you want to do the format and fresh install I can instruct you how if you would like. I really would prefer to try and resolve the issue if at all possible but I will understand and respect your decision if you want to start all over.

[Sharon Lee]

I would appreciate that. I am not to keen on taking everything off here and then having problems that I would have to take to the puter man anyway. Thank you.

[rshaffer61]

Go HERE for step by step instructions on how to partition, format, and install XP fresh


http://lifehacker.co...atch-157578.php

[Digerati]

Reformatting and reinstalling should ALWAYS be a last resort option for many reasons, not least of which is it sets you back months or YEARS in security updates and patches. It wipes out all your security programs too. Plus you don't learn what was wrong in order to prevent it from happening again. And finally, it does not always fix the problem.

Note that even in the best conditions, it can easily take several hours to format, reinstall Windows, update Windows, setup your firewall up and anti-malware solution, and gather up and install all the special hardware drivers. Then you still have to install all your favorite programs and configure them (and Windows) how you like them. While most of that time is waiting to click on the next prompt, you (or the technician) cannot just click once, walk away and come back later and all is done. Nothing about that is technically difficult, it is very time consuming and sometimes tedious. So while $100 is a lot for something you can do yourself, it is not unreasonable.

[Sharon Lee]

I do realize just what you are saying. 100 dollars does not seem like much by itself, but I am thinking this machine is like a car. I fix and pay, fix and pay. I was just looking for help that would break this cycle. I guess I have some thinking to do here. I may bite the bullet and just work with this machine and when it quits, it quits. I have all important material off here and copied. All my stories are saved and printed. Thank you for your imput.