Ok, I'm computer illiterate and broke, so I am placing myself at the mercy of the computer Gods.

Last year I replaced my fried 8 year old Dell PC with a new one. My old one had Windows XP and I loved it. THIS one came with Vista 64 bit home premium. It took some getting use to, but it is sooo slow. Besides that I have random problems with stuff I never had before, sites that I cant visit, and things that wont load. I got to the point where I dont even use my PC for anything but balancing my checkbook and Facebook because it is sooo frustrating.

What I THINK I want to do is completely wipe my machine and install the operating system and drives from my old one. This is probably not a good idea, but I figured it was worth a shot to get some feedback on. I would be doing this with the re-installation CDs that came with my Dell back in 2003.

I have an HP laptop with windows 7, but it was a refurb and so I dont have the reinstallation cd for it or I would go with 7 instead of XP.

Another thing ... My ex boyfriend used my PC more than I did for about 5 months and he loaded all kinds of stuff. He only exacerbated the problems I had from the start. I cant use my media player at all ... I use to though.

If nothing else, I would want to return the PC to the original NEW state untill I can afford windows 7. At the least I can start again with everything working and try to keep it as clean and smooth as possible.

Any thoughts?

Barbara

hello barbara

can you post the exact brand and model number of your laptop -- maybe we can help you check the manufacturer's website for available windows xp/vista/7 drivers.

first we must secure the drivers, and then obtain/borrow windows xp/vista/7 installer cds.

with your current working systems, you can try running ProduKey
(ProduKey - Recover lost product key (CD-Key) of Windows/MS-Office/SQL Server)



ProduKey will try to detect the serial keys currently used by your Windows installation. you can take note of the serial numbers and then use them the next time your reinstall your system.

Next would be securing the installer cd's. If your computer came with the default installer cd's, that would do fine -- but it will restore your system to the default OS (if i read correctly, you have restore cd's for Windows XP and/or Vista).

Of course, remember to backup your files before attempting any reformat

goodluck, and let us know how you want to tackle this task i hope we can help and provide you suggestions