Starting Over

Lunchbox wrote:
> I randomly got a virus on my XP laptop. This bug makes all my icons
> disappear and reapear unexpectedly. I cant seem to open any programs, and
> some of the processes look shady. I want to delete it all and start over.
> One problem, i dont have the discs that the laptop came with, and it seems
> like a strech to pay 200 dollars for a whole now OS. What are some of my
> options?

Since you have a laptop, contact the laptop's mftr. for replacement
restore disks. Depending on who that is, the cost may be very little. HP
for instance only charges around $20.

If that isn't feasible, then see if your laptop has a restore image on a
special partition. Refer to the laptop's manual or the laptop mftr.'s
tech support site for details.

And if neither of those options are feasible, take the machine to a
professional computer repair shop (not BigComputerStore/GeekSquad). They
can reinstall Windows for you with a branded OS install disk, they may
have restore disks for your model, or a generic install disk and use the
Product Key from the sticker on the bottom of your machine. This will
not be free of course, but will probably cost quite a bit less than
buying a new operating system (at least it does when I do it - YMMV
because of where you live, etc.).


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
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