Reformatting the hard drive - how to?

I bought my system from Dell and it comes with lifetime technical support over the phone. When I needed to reformat my computer (due to a virus) I called them up and had this guy guide me through it step by step.

If you have technical support from the manufacturer... call them up right after you back up your files.

Sorry if it doesn't help much.

What operating system are you using, and do you have an install CD for it?

if you are using windows XP... u do not need boot disk..

1) put the windows XP cd in your comp.

2) restart comp.

3) go to bios setup and change boot sequence so it reads CD drive before harddrive

4) when it reboots again, your comp will read your XP cd first and not harddrive

5) choose install windows, and delete all partitian

6) then it will ask if u want "quick format" or "normal format".. quick format is just as good..

7) continue installing windows


things u need to have in mind are:

-do u have all the drivers? especially the ethernet or modem driver? w/o it u can not connect to internet to find drivers if u forgot

-are all important stuff saved up? onto a CD or online

-do you have a working XP CD key? if you dont have one... i guess u can IM me at "deadblueworm" on AIM.

-do you know your IP address? (if its static IP)

-research and write down as much info as possible because u wont get online while formatting... unless u have another comp

btw.. if u are NOT gonna install windows xp.. this will not work

It has been brought to my attention that my problems might be being caused by my current video card drivers. Could bad drivers, or driver conflicts be causing my crashes and freeze-ups?

Problems with either graphics or audio drivers can produce symptoms such as those you describe, yes. You say you took your machine into a shop and they reported findin' no problems -leadin' to the conclusion either those issues were not the problem or that shop certainly isn't capable of determinin' a solution.

find out what yer video card is, and then download new driver for it.

i'd suggest lookin' not only for updated video drivers, but for updated audio drivers and updated BIOS as well. A problem with any of these could result in the symptoms described.

How do I go about getting an updated BIOS?

See the Support pages of your machine's manufacturor. Details concernin' any available updates for your particular machine, as well as explicit instructions for determinin' whether you need, and for applying those updates, should be available there.