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I've ruined our new PC, help..

14 replies

admysteltoe · 18/12/2008 08:35

New PC came last week and worked great. Just plugged it in and it worked.
Dh had the clever idea to bring some 'great software' from work including Microsoft office. Trouble is he said if it doesn't install here is windows xp pro (we had home) and I should install that then teh other cd will work.

I installed XP pro and then the rest of the stuff but since then the mouse doesn't scroll smoothly, looks as if the page is rolling or flicking when I scroll down and I can't adjust it with the mouse settings - the monitor doesn't adjust either. It's either showing everything too small or the next setting shows it too big and on the internet the page is too big for the screen. Have I messed it all up or should I get help to delete everything and start again fresh? I want windows xp home back on as it worked fine with that.

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admysteltoe · 18/12/2008 14:24

Help, does anyone have any ideas? Or am I doomed to keep it as it is?

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VirginBoffinMum · 18/12/2008 14:29

I am not the world's best PC support person, but it sounds a bit like your display settings might have got buggered.

Go to Start - Control Panel - Display - Settings and fiddle about there with different screen resolutions to see what happens. (I am not sure if that is what you have done already).

If that doesn't work, you might have buggered your display driver, so you could try reinstalling that, or as it's a new PC anyway, another option would be to reinstall all the software that came with it to get it to a virginal pristine state.

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admysteltoe · 18/12/2008 14:36

Thanks, yes I did control panel-display-etc but it didn't help. I want the old windows xp home back on, that's what I think I'm going to have to do.
Do you know how I delete everything to start from scratch? Or does the windows cd do that automatically?

We got this new computer because the old one was totally full and so slow you needed 20 minutes to switch on but I now have visions of me filling this one up with installation after installation and it being slow again.

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VirginBoffinMum · 18/12/2008 14:44

It's probably a case of just pressing 'yes' at the appropriate intervals as you reinstall.

If you are completely sure you have all the software drivers for everything, you can reformat the hard disk, but I have got caught out in the past by in fact not having all the drivers, and then not being able to find replacement versions.

You could do this on the old one though, and might find you end up with a very fast and whizzy machine.

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VirginBoffinMum · 18/12/2008 14:48

reviews.cnet.com/4520-11319_7-6422934-1.html?tag=rb_mtx;wp_body

Maybe even watch this film for tips regarding the old PC.

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admysteltoe · 18/12/2008 14:50

OK well I am going to have to try it with one of them. Theoretically i should have all the software I need that came with the new one shouldn't I (ie the brand new windows-xp-home cd)? What went wrong when you did it?

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admysteltoe · 18/12/2008 14:51

Can't watch it as my speakers and headphones don't work either since I messed it up!

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CruelAndUnusualParenting · 18/12/2008 15:02

If it's a recovery CD, it will probably wipe the disk completely and do a clean install.

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VirginBoffinMum · 18/12/2008 15:03

The wireless network card driver wasn't on the CD that had been supplied with the PC, and wasn't available from the manufacturer, so they actually gave me a refund in that case but there was a lot of messing about involved.

Why not start by trying to rehabiltate your old machine via some sort of process like the one here?

lifehacker.com/software/lifehacker-top-10/top-10-ways-to-clean-up-your-pc-294189.php

Get that working better and then you have backup in case things go pear shaped with the new one, for example to download drivers onto memory stick or whatever.

Also put AVG free anti-virus on there as well.

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admysteltoe · 18/12/2008 21:02

Thanks alot, your ideas gave me the guts to try again and I've managed to fix the mouse and screen problem by installing the driver cd that came with teh computer. Still no sound even though it has atleast recognised my headphones! Will try again tomorrow, wow it's exhausting and takes ages to fix things like this!

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VirginBoffinMum · 18/12/2008 21:26

Good progress, btw have you checked whether mute is on in the volume controls?

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admysteltoe · 18/12/2008 21:33

Yes, checked that and it's all set to work but no sound. I suppose the headphones could be broken - I might borrow some from the neighbour and see if they work. My speakers are ancient so that could be why they don't work, but the headphones are fairly new.

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SalLikesEggnogUnderMistletoe · 18/12/2008 22:05

The sound driver might need to be reinstalled. When you installed the driver CD, did you also update the sound driver?

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admysteltoe · 19/12/2008 07:34

I'll put the cd back in maybe it didn't install 100%. Thanks, good idea.

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