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Resolved Question

reformat hard drive

Mar 12, 2012 1:27PM PDT

I have an ancient (discontinued) Dell Dimension 5150 Desktop computer, running Win XP Home Edition.

I believe the primary Hard drive is contaminated with a virus. I had previously removed this drive and installed it in a cage connected by usb 2.0 to my main computer. I got suspicious, even though it was functioning normally. Scans by NIS failed to find any virus.

Upon advice from other techs, I believe my safest option is to reinstall this HD in the old Dell and reformat it to remove any virae still present .

Can somebody direct me to a page where I can find detailed info on how to accomplish this? I have win XP driver disks obtained previously, before infection.
I realize I will lose any and all data residing on this drive. I must now learn how to reformat it using Win XP and then reinstall the OS.
Any input would be appreciated.
Thanx.

Discussion is locked

padyboy has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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The nice thing about Dell
Mar 12, 2012 1:47PM PDT

The nice thing about Dell, at least once upon a time when this system came along, is that the XP disc they sent with it is nearly identical to what you'd get if you had bought XP at retail. The only real difference is that you get to skip the product key portion of things if you install it on Dell hardware. So the hundreds, if not thousands, of websites out there detailing how to install XP should be applicable.

Just make sure to pay close attention, so that when given the choice, you format the drive. Quick format or regular, for your purposes it doesn't matter. Just do one or the other before continuing.

Then it's just a matter of installing the drivers, AV program, service packs, associated updates, etc.

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Answer
Agree with Jimmy but
Mar 12, 2012 9:06PM PDT

one thing I noticed from your post. You said you have the Win XP driver disks. Does that mean you don't have the XP Setup CD?

If so you need to get that from Dell if it is still available from them. If not they can still be obtained retail from a few places.

Older Dells did come with the XP Setup CD but if you didn't receive yours, may be the computer has a recovery partition?

Why do you think the OS on that hard drive has a virus?

Mark

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Disks found
Mar 13, 2012 6:35AM PDT

Dear MarkFlax et. all,

I apologize for my misinformation. On deeper search, I discovered the os reinstallation disk for Win XP, as well as some of the program software that was installed on the computer.

The previously mentioned disks had been ordered for my now defunct HP Netbook 110-1030CA, which had no internal cd drive. I had uses an external drive with this machine.

I am reinstalling the original hd in the dell before study of the correct reformat procedure.

Thanx for the advice. I will inform you of the results, good or bad.

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MIRACLE!!!
Jun 7, 2012 8:44AM PDT

I downloaded a boot disk file from Microsoft. When decompressed, this would provide the information necessary to use the cd-rom for reinstallation of the Win XP os. The files were copied to a series of 6x3.5" floppy diskettes.

With the first disk, I got an error message that the disk was unreadable. I removed this disk. Restarted the computer.

Windows XP booted up normally.
I believe this is another example of "the ghost in the machine". The system should not have worked, but did.
I have no idea what I have done to accomplish this. Usually with the ghost, the machine is malfunctioning, but nobody can figure out why. In my case the machine was functioning, and I cannot figure out why. Obviously I am not a computer expert, but am glad that it appears I will not have to invest in another copy of the Windows XP os.
Is there a "knock-on-wood" icon??
I am interesting in hearing what the real computer experts have to say about this.How could this happen? There must be a simple explantion which I fail to realize.
Grats again for your input.

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A miracle perhaps
Jun 7, 2012 9:55PM PDT

but a mystery, certainly! Happy

Good work. I doubt anyone here will be able to say exactly what went wrong.

What can you do now to help prevent this in the future? Anti-virus and anti-malware scans, backup all of your personal files and data, and of course, have a plan for if it does happen again and you need to reinstall the OS.

Good luck.

Mark

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reply
Jun 8, 2012 6:07AM PDT

Grats!!!

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still wrong
Jun 11, 2012 9:48AM PDT

Actually, things are still wrong.
Shall continue, though.

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no miracle after all, sorry
Jun 11, 2012 9:46AM PDT

I was over confident that my XP os started "normally". All seemed well at the time, but then again it had refused to boot in Windows XP peviously.
Next step was to join my home network with this computer. I purchased a usb 2.0 network adpter, but was unable to setup to connect to the internet through my known-to-be-functioning router. My netbook reqired no setup with this router.
I am not discouraged, as I know 'miracles' seldom happen. It appears my hd had recovered just enough to allow what appeared to be a normal bootup. Alas, I assumed too much.
Anyway, considering my previous posts on this thread, do you think the problem is still with my WIN XP OS? I believe this network adapter should have worked in this situation. Can I test this device on my PC (cable) or netbook computer by using the usb port? I wold like to eliminate this possibility before investing in Win XP again (I did not receive any OS disks with this Dell computer).
This Dell Dimension 5150 is obsolete, so I have found there is a dearth of information on the subject.
I still wish to rejuvenate this computer, if financially feasible.

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How I test hardware when I don't have Windows.
Jun 11, 2012 11:50AM PDT

I use a Live CD called UBUNTU.

No install, no cost, don't have to learn Linux.
Bob

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found
Jun 12, 2012 8:46AM PDT

I have found my Win XP os disk and am extremely sorry for previous mis-statement.
Reinstall and Install (different disks) failed.
Much info recorded. Should I start a new thread?

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yes
Jun 12, 2012 9:01AM PDT

I must start a new thread, since I previously marked this thread as resolved.