Logon Problem after clean reinstall XP

[Juls]

Hi...I can't find help for this at the microsoft support site or anywhere for
that matter! The computer is a Dell Latitude D600 laptop...It's running
windows media 2005...It was the victim of a very bad virus and after much
effort I decided to do a clean reinstall of XP using the recovery disc...The
reinstall went fine, but when I rebooted it wanted an administrator
password...There never was one so that was odd..it also showed an error
message that said the following:

The System cannot log you on due to the following error:
The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted.
Please try again or consult your system administrator

After some research I found a way to get into the user accounts during the
actual installation, so I ran the install again, created new user accounts,
one with administrator rights, and then assigned new passwords..All went
well, the system rebooted, I clicked on the administrator account when it
asked for that, was almost in and bam..the error above came up and I still
can't get in. So I don't think the problem is a password issue.....Searching
using that error message returns posts about the same problem after a clean
xp install on windows media, but no solutions were forthcoming...So, thank
you for reading and I'm open to any ideas anyone may have...

 

[Leonard Grey]

A 'clean reinstall' means that your hard disk is erased and then you
install all your software from scratch. This procedure does not require
a password when performed with a retail Windows CD or DVD.

Since you were apparently using Dell's recovery media, your best bet is
to contact Dell technical support. Each OEM has their own way to restore
a computer to factory settings, and the method can even vary from model
to model.

The error message you encountered is unusual in that it refers to
logging on to a domain. That sounds like a computer that was
pre-configured to be part of a network. Did you buy this computer
directly from Dell?
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

"A Day in the Life of a Web 2.0 Hacker" - PC Magazine
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2330952,00.asp

 

[Juls]

Yes..it was a corporate castoff and a year old when I bought it..so it may
very well have been part of a network..It's been a reliable computer up until
the viruses took over...So, if I understand what you are saying, I didn't do
a clean install but a reinstallation. I dug through my box of discs that came
with computers and found the reinstall discs that came with this laptop which
means i used a reinstall disc from one of our other systems...I tried to use
the correct discs and reinstall again and found the correct discs to be full
of errors...these discs came from the seller of the used laptops...I tried to
contact them and their site is gone...So that's a dead end. I don't know if
I can actually call dell since I didn't buy this from them...And it sounds
like I'm going to have this domain conflict with any OS I try to install?
Juls

 

[Leonard Grey]

Correct. Now you have to go and find a retail copy of XP to do a clean
install. (Good luck - you might find one online.)

You have encountered one of the 'gotchas' of buying a used computer.
Especially when you buy from a fly-by-night outfit.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

"A Day in the Life of a Web 2.0 Hacker" - PC Magazine
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2330952,00.asp

 

[Juls]

We actually bought 3 laptops from them over a period of 3 years for different
family members...all arrived in good condition and are still fine, except
mine! I do wonder why I can't contact them anymore though...maybe the
economy did a number on them...Last night I did do a bonified clean install
and this is the first I've done this. Clearly I did it wrong because
although I am now able to access the desktop and i do have a working copy of
XP, I don't have drivers for anything. So my question is where do I get them?
This system has/had a wireless setup...I do not have drivers that were sold
with the computer..only the error filled reboot disc...to make this worse, I
need the laptop by Saturday or I'll have to buy one, which I really really
want to avoid...I have CD's that came with our desktops from Dell that have
device drivers listed on the front..they are called resource CD's, but they
don't seem to have what I need. When I look at my device manager, there are
6 things under the category called OTHER that have yellow question marks on
them..I assume these are the items that need drivers? Juls