I have a DELL 8100 tower that gas issues. It is poorly designed and the hardware is not the best. It is functional but is slow and "HANGS UP" randomly. Restarting will give me another session. Under the conditions that exist, I am willing to experiment even if I kill it. Can anyone tell me if it is possible to uninstall and reinstall windows xp pro WITHOUT the use of a cd or floppy disk? I also do NOT have the skill to burn a disc on one machine and copy it to another. Nor do I have a burner and the software for it. I am NOT a techno geek. System Restore is not functional. Is there a third party "FREE" replacement I can download? Or is there a "FREE" REPAIR program for xp that will fix the issues WITHOUT having to reload the OS? My tech friend has reloaded the OS twice. The first time was for viruses that my program let through. The 2nd time was because the hdd got corrupted. He warned me this tower might slowly die and it seems to be coming true. Help please.He does not want to work on this tower again since he does some work for me for "FREE". We are both on limited budgets. Most of my TOYS are also FREE from transfer stations, the street, and given to me. working or not. Some I can fix and sell, others end up at my frieds or at the transfer station. Thanks in advance.
Try this http://www.lockergnome.com/windows/...nstalling-windows-xp-using-a-usb-flash-drive/ but first you will need to do this to boot of the usb. you have to make the usb drive bootable http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5490289.html
Get the free "macrium reflect" software, this program can make a copy of your c: drive (this copys everything including windows/programs) and saves the backup as a "compressed file". This compressed file can be restored on a new drive or back to the same drive and it will be bootable. This is a way of "reinstalling windows" without the original cd. The only drawback is that backup will be a duplicate of the original, if the original had problems the backup will also have them, also you need another drive to store the backup. And you will need someone to burn you a macrium reflect "recovery cd" to bootup the computer to load the backup. If your windows folder has a "I386 folder", you can actually make your own windows xp installation cd from those files. But you will need someone to burn it for you. Somethings that can make your computer slow are. 1. file corruption - a chkdsk c: /f can fix that (or scandisk with the boxes to fix errors checked) 2. hard drive heavily fragmented or full (download the free UltimateDefrag Freeware Edition 1.72 it works better than windows builtin defragger) 3. too many antispyware software running in the background 4. hard drives not set to DMA (if drives are set to PIO it will slow down the computer) Also if you have IDE drives, if 2 of them are connected on the same IDE cable and both are set as master or slave at the same time it will slow everything down. 5. driver problems 6. hardware problems (example onboard audio) sometimes a hardware problem will have your cpu running at 100 percent with no programs loaded. Another problem might be a cpu not running at it's correct rating(underclocked, rare but it has happened to me). 7. Virus/malware problems. Before you try any repairs make a backup of your c: drive, that way if you run into problems, you can at least restore your computer back to it's original configuration. Keep your security system simple, the less software the faster it will run. My system windows xp sp3. 1. zone alarm pro firewall 2. avg 8.5 free antivirus 3. firefox 3.5 browser 4. returnil (used as my antispyware software and system restore) always enabled when on the internet. I haven't had a virus/malware problem in over 2 years using my very basic security setup. I don't have windows system restore enabled, I just use a weekly backup and returnil to protect me from problems.
Check your "All Programs" list for "Dell" or just look through all the list for any documentation or help on your dell you may find you are able to create recovery diskettes (floppy disks) if the computer doesn't already have a recovery partition,if nothings there contact dell & see if there is a download of recovery diskettes,microsoft have them on their website for download but am unsure if they'd work for the dell
Sorry I cant help you but I wondering what you get for a working computer? I am looking for a used one and have no idea what they go for. How much do you usually get for one? Thanks
Since my first posting I have since replaced this DELL 8100 revision 2 with another DELL 8100 revision 8. The new tower came from my tech friend whom I trust not to burn me or any one else. They are both XP PRO SP2. This one works perfectly and is always stable. Only one issue of late which is true for my 4 towers. FIREFOX will NOT open for the last 4 days. I also use AVG 8.5, "free"ADAWARE "free". ZONEALARM "free", and SPYBOT "free". System restore DOES function on THIS machine. My friend told me that AVG is interfereing with FOX. Nothing else is affected. His suggestion was to remove AVG "safe search/ search link" from the addon list. I removed AVG , opened FOX(at least that proved his theory), checked ADDON file list, found nothing. Reloaded AVG, and FOX will now NOT open again. I downloaded a replacement for FOX called "FLOCK" which is FOX based. Opens every time. I am using it now. As for your other suggestions they are beyond my abilities. To the person who asked about used towers, GOODWILL INDUSTRIES can be a good source, second hand stores, tag sales, repair shops might have towers to sell, although they can be pricey. As for the other sources, $20 to $100 can be had. My suggestion is to connect a monitor to it and a keyboard and mouse if available. At the very least you can see if there is full video, and maybe even be able to check the OS. Also take the cover off and see if there are any missing parts if there is NO video. Hard drive, memory strips, cards, removable drives.If these parts are missing you will have to decide whether the $s are worth it to you. One last thing, if the system is "PASSWORD PROTECTED", that is the user is required to enter a password to get past the LOG ON screen, the hard drive will need to be wiped clean and the OS reloaded. This can again be pricey. It MAY be possible for a shop to remove the password ONLY, and then see if the system functions. There are any number of places the password is stored and some are practicaly impossible to remove alone. Good luck to you.
