Q: I have a compaq windows xp computer.For 6 months it has been down cause of lots of viruses.I was told by a friend to clean it out that I would have to put the original disc that it came with in and reboot the computer and let it run...My problem is what buttons do you push in order to do this? I know my computer shows that in the beginning when you turn it on but I forgot..please help I really need my computer to work again and I dont have any money to take it to the shop or professional to get it fixed. thanks!!!
A: Its not at easy as what the others noted here. Your friend is talking about reinstalling Windows XP. I assume you do not have a virus scanner. if you do, you need to run it. If you don't, your best bet is to reinstall Windows but you will lose everything (all data - which is why it is always recommended you backup your data to a USB drive). these are the steps: 1) when you turn the computer on, you need to get the BIOS section. You should see a line stating to press either Del or F10 or ESC. Once you do that, you will see menus. You will need to find the one that talks about Boot Order. you will need to change the first order to CD/DVD and the second order to Hard Drive (C: or HD). Make sure you Save and Exit. 2) The computer will then load XP and start again. Put the disc that the computer came with but cancel whatever comes up. 3) Just shut down (start menu and then hit Shut Down and then restart). 4) The computer should then load Windows from your CD-ROM and give you options to either Repair or do a complete installation. Choose complete installation. 5) Just follow the instructions but this will take a little while. 6) Once everything has been reinstalled, your computer should work fine. Get a virus scanner. A good free one is AVG - http://free.avg.com/ Always have it running and be careful what you download. You must have downloaded this virus along with something. Hope this helps.