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Post by the1kobra on Jun 29, 2007 16:16:05 GMT
I've recently had a virus destroy my main computer's hard drive. At first, I thought the thing was now a scrap pile, considering I could not open windows and my mom had confascated my reinstallation CDs when I got the computer. This morning, while she was out, I was looking around her room, and to my amazement, I found one of my reinstallation CDs, undamaged and amazingly enough not in the trash. I then went to try and re-install my hard drive.
I was able to activate the CD, but unfortunately, I found that I was unable to reinstall the Hard Drive, as embarrisingly enough, I don't know what i'm doing with this CD. It has a lot of executables and drives, but mostly, I'm finding that i'm unable to utilize anything. (I get a lot of "Cannot use in DOS" messages.)
I'm looking for someone who would be willing to walk me through this, as Dell phone support is amazingly useless and charges huge amounts of money while doing nothing useful. (And I can't ask my parents, in fact, they're a large reason I've taken so long to get this thing fixed.)
My computer is a Dell, and the information on the CD reads that it installs:
Device Drivers (Thats why I think this is the right one)
Diagnostics and utilities
Computer documentation.
It's a Windows XP, or was a Windows XP system, but I can't get any other information due to my computer being "broken". It's also a November 2002 CD (5 year old computer)
I'm sorry if I can't get more information, but any assistance in this matter would be appreciated. I would really like to get that thing in working order again. If anyone has ever re-installed thier hard drive, I would like to hear how it is done.
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Post by dodrudon on Jun 29, 2007 20:22:31 GMT
Oh man, I feel for you. It's tough having parents like that. Just try REALLY REALLY hard to get them to let you move out for college.....
As for the device drivers, that's for the operating system (XP) to communicate with devices connected to your computer (gfx card, printer, etc). You want the XP Reinstall CD, if you can get your hands on an XP CD. You'll want to "interrupt normal startup" by pressing whatever key it tells you to, then boot from your CD, then format your harddrive or reinstall XP on a new partition. I'd format the harddrive because you said the data was corrupted, so you can't get it back again anyways =/.
Sorry dude, good luck!
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Post by the1kobra on Jun 29, 2007 20:43:42 GMT
Thanks, I took a look through the CDs I have, and I do not have that one. I guess I will have to look through my mom's room again, and hopefully she has not destroyed it. I had better get to it though, she is coming home soon and I can't do a search on the weekend, as she is home. I'll probably have to get to it on Monday, hopefully I'll be able to do a detailed search.
Thanks for the help anyways.
T1K.
Edit: I took a look around, and couldn't find it. She is home now, so I'll have to do it on Monday. I hope she does not find out, she'll probably smash what I have.
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Post by the1kobra on Jul 2, 2007 1:18:23 GMT
I've managed to get a similar CD from my dad. My computer is a 2002 Dell, and the CD is a 2004 Dell, so I hope it works. If not, I'll have to use my laptop. (Got it this weekend). Unfortunately, it's internet is phone based, so I can't play using that. I hope I'll be back soon, from what I've read, it seems that you all have had one "hell" of a time  T1K |
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Post by FunkySwerve on Jul 2, 2007 2:19:56 GMT
You can play over phone modem, the game requires very little bandwith, reletively speaking.
Funky
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Post by the1kobra on Jul 2, 2007 2:33:51 GMT
There are a few problems with using the phone line, and it has little to do with gameplay.
It makes the phone unuseable, and my mom sems glued to it, and when she isn't screaming at someone on the phone, she is screaming at me, and thats enough to make me play klondike rather than HG.
I guess I could use my dad's spare line, but then again, I only visit him once every two weeks, so, that features it's own problems.
I just hope i'm able to repair my main computer, it should work, but i'm afraid i'll blow something up with a careless mistake.
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Post by the1kobra on Jul 2, 2007 4:42:42 GMT
Double post, I know, but anyway...
I managed to successfully repair my computer back to full capacity. I worked until 1 in the morning to do it, but it's working again!
I'll of course reinstall NWN (and a very good antivirus as well), when I wake up in the morning. (Probably at 12 or something, but who knows.)
Oh, and sorry about depriving the server of kobolds in my abscence. =(
Oh, and thanks for the help dod, I might have been on ground 1 if not for the help, thanks again!.
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Post by dodrudon on Jul 2, 2007 5:43:24 GMT
Yep, gratz! See you soon!
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Post by the1kobra on Jul 2, 2007 14:10:54 GMT
Heh, turns out the computer isn't "fully" functional yet. Most things work, but currently, my resolution setting is stuck at 640x480. It's really annoying.
Uhh, anyone know which CD or what i'll need to fix this? (And I already tried using control panel display, it doesn't work.)
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Post by bort on Jul 2, 2007 14:44:06 GMT
Heh, turns out the computer isn't "fully" functional yet. Most things work, but currently, my resolution setting is stuck at 640x480. It's really annoying. Uhh, anyone know which CD or what i'll need to fix this? (And I already tried using control panel display, it doesn't work.) Sounds like you need to install graphics drivers. These are pretty easy to find on the net if you know what your graphics card is. Just do a google search for (card name) drivers |
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Post by the1kobra on Jul 2, 2007 14:58:21 GMT
Thanks.
That's a relief, I won't need to search my mom's room again for my CDs.
At any rate, I'll see what I can do. (and I hope I can figure out what my graphics card is...)
Edit: Ok, i'm really clueless, does anyone know how I can check that?
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Post by chainlink on Jul 2, 2007 15:23:30 GMT
Go to the Dell support page and let it search for your service tag then it will be able to suggest the latest drivers for your hardware.
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Post by the1kobra on Jul 2, 2007 15:51:34 GMT
It's working again, good as ever! Thanks to everyone that helped. And I hope it will be a while before something else breaks down. (Or I discover something is broken down.)  |
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Post by dodrudon on Jul 2, 2007 23:50:07 GMT
Gratz! Yeah, the Dell website is great for drivers, if you know what computer you have (and didn't install any new hardware). I'd suggest you pick up the chipset and network drivers too. Don't select any that are marked "application" just the ones marked "driver." If there are multiple ones of the same name, choose the one with the most recent date.
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