HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

W

wise guy

I want to restart my computer. not through system restore, i want to
completly restore it back to factory defaults. Can some one help please??
 
D

Daave

wise said:
I want to restart my computer. not through system restore, i want to
completly restore it back to factory defaults. Can some one help
please??

Yes, but first you need to tell us the make and model of this PC. Do you
still have the documentation that came with it?

Restoring your PC is a major undertaking. Why do you believe it's
necessary? (Usually, it's not.)
 
B

Big_Al

wise guy said this on 4/22/2009 2:59 PM:
I want to restart my computer. not through system restore, i want to
completly restore it back to factory defaults. Can some one help please??

With this much info its kinda hard to say.

If you got a Windows XP CD with your system, then just booting with it
in the drive should start the XP install, at least if the BIOS is set
right, and one of the options you will have will be to delete the
current partition of C: and remake it then format it and away it loads.
This will destroy all your data, so make any backups.

The other possibility is you have a Recovery CD that just reloads. Here
again you boot from it.

And lastly if there is a recovery partition on the drive and you hit
some keystroke sequence while the PC boots up and it launches the
restore utility.

But all this is more up to you to find out. You should have docs or
maybe the manufacturer's web site will help. That or give the make
and model and year of purchase, I'm sure there are others that will know
from that much info.
 
W

wise guy

i have a compaq presareio. everytime i start the computer it says run dll as
app error. then the system restarts. but in safe mode it dosent do that and
restartin the computer will be more easier i think.
 
W

wise guy

well i dont have the cd or a recvery cd. i dont know which keystroke to push
to it. i know i can do it from the boot. but i dont know how.
 
K

Ken Blake, MVP

On Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:59:01 -0700, wise guy <wise
I want to restart my computer. not through system restore, i want to
completly restore it back to factory defaults. Can some one help please??


If your computer came with Windows XP pre-installed, it also came with
either a Windows XP CD or a special partition to be used to restore
it. Which it is, and how to use it depends on what make and model
computer you have. Please consult your manual, check the
manufacturer's web site, or call the manufacturer to find out what
procedure to follow.
 
B

Big_Al

wise guy said this on 4/22/2009 3:31 PM:
well i dont have the cd or a recvery cd. i dont know which keystroke to push
to it. i know i can do it from the boot. but i dont know how.
If you can do it with a boot, you have to have the software someplace.
XP itself has no 'reload' ability built in. It has to be on a CD /
partition.
I'd contact Compaq tech support. They have to be able to help. That or
you find your manual even if on line. Presario is a bit generic a
model. You might want to look on the sticker and see if there is a
model #. That or a service tag or ID # tag.
 
D

Daave

i have a compaq presareio. everytime i start the computer it says run
dll as app error. then the system restarts. but in safe mode it
dosent do that and restartin the computer will be more easier i think.

Again, we need more info!

What is the model *number* of this Compaq Presario?

What is the *exact* message you see?

As Big Al posted, you can figure a lot of this out on your own. For
instance, if you go to the hp.com Web site, you can enter your tag
number and get your manual (and lots of other information, too). The
manual will contain the instructions you need to restore your PC.

But that's probably not even necessary. Better to post back with
information like the complete text of error messages you see, specs,
including amount of RAM, size of hard drive and amount of free space,
Operating System (Pro, Home, or MCE), Service Pack level, antimalware
programs you regularly run, etc.
 
G

Gerry

Make sure there are no unnecessary errors and warnings in Event Viewer.

Have a look in the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for Errors
and Warnings and post copies here. Don't post any more than 48 hours ago.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Right click on the Report in the
list and select Properties. In the window, which appears are three buttons
towards the top right of the window. The top one has an arrow up, underneath
is an arrow down and third is a button resembling two pages. Click the
button and close Event Viewer. It is not obvious but this action places a
copy of the report in your Clipboard. Now start your message (email) and do
a paste into the body of the message. Make sure this is the first paste
after exiting from Event Viewer.


--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
E

Elmo

wise said:
I have a Compaq Presario. Every time I start the computer it says "run dll as
app error". Then the system restarts. But in safe mode it doesn't do that and
restarting the computer will be easier I think.

In Safe Mode, click Start, Run, type REGEDIT, click OK. Press the Home
key, press F3, type "rundll32.exe" into the search pane. Click "Find
Next", and when located, if the entry has the name of a .dll file in the
same entry, delete the reference to the file. (There are quite a few
entries for "rundll32.exe", but none should have a filename following on
the same line.) Press F3 to continue the search. If this helps, you
won't need to reinstall Windows.

Others are helping you find whether you have an install partition, or a
CD. If it's a partition on the hd, you *could* lose all personal data
on the hd. In that case, save everything you need to keep to a
thumbdrive while in Safe Mode before the reinstall.
 
E

Elmo

wise said:
I have a compaq presareio. Every time I start the computer it says run dll as
app error. then the system restarts. but in safe mode it doesn't do that and
restarting the computer will be more easier I think.

A better thought.. in Safe Mode, click Start, Run, type "MSCONFIG" (no
quotes again), click the Startup tab. locate any rundll.exe (or
rundll32.exe) and deselect it. Restart and see if that fixes the
problem. If so, see where the bad entry is located and report back on
how to eliminate it permanently. Upon restart, you'll be asked if your
want to continue running in diagnostic mode. Say you do, or the problem
will pop up again on the next restart.
 
P

Patrick Keenan

wise guy said:
well i dont have the cd or a recvery cd. i dont know which keystroke to
push
to it. i know i can do it from the boot. but i dont know how.

Time to look at the manual then.

On the startup screen, there will be a listing of what key to press to start
system recovery; it may be F10. That's the key to press.

Only do this if you have already backed up, or do not care about, your data.

HTH
-pk
 

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