Computers & Networking

[ridingo]

i have had the geek sqd fix a hp pc twice now....it is again infected. how can i completely nuke the hard drive and reinstall a 4 year old verson of XP? i have tried to load the xp disc in the recovery mode, but it gives a message that it can't load.

can i just old school the hard dirve via the ms dos format command and start over?

[Adamtech Emerging Expert]

What kind of message do you get when you try to boot from the XP CD?

[ridingo]

it says it can't read the disk or the disk is not an original......however, it is the original with the laser watermarks......also, when i attempt to just reboot, it gives an error ...windows has a missing/corrupt file.....windows\system32\config\system.sav.......i would assume the xp disc has this, but since it won't read the disc, i am a bit stuck.....

[Adamtech Emerging Expert]

Which error message is it giving you? I need to know exactly what it says.

[ridingo]

both.....the first message comes when it is attempting to load XP from the original XP disk..... i load XP into tray, it asks to boot from CD....brings up a blue setup screen......it loads a bunch of drivers,etc.....meaning it is reading the disc, then it brings up another XP window that requests me to enter the XP disc and hit enter.....i accept the user agreement then, hit enter to proceed, then i get the "can't read disk or the disk is not a valid Windows CD....however, it certainly should be since i have the original box and activiation key....

the second error shows up if i just try to allow the HP to boot without the XP cd in the tray......

hopefully, this explains better.....

[Adamtech Emerging Expert]

Do you have the original recovery discs for this unit?

[ridingo]

not sure what i am looking to find....have the xp disk, have the disks that the geek sqd guys pulled off the hard drive during the last repair session....what other disk do i need? xp was the original operating system on this pc....

[Adamtech Emerging Expert]

Correct but HP should have supplied a set in the box or the computer requested that you make them on initial startup. If you do not have these, I would contact HP Support to obtain a new set.

[ridingo]

i have spent $600 on geek sqd repair on this PC....should i just give up and go buy a Mac?

[Adamtech Emerging Expert · Accepted solution]

I have a Mac and I quite enjoy it.