GUYS
I hope someone can help me because it's getting serious here. My PC has been pretty crippled for a good couple of weeks now. It wasn't that big a deal but now I need it running strong immediately. I am a photographer and I have a big shoot to edit in Photoshop which my computer can barely open. I need to fix this thing today if I can.
I was advised to do a "clean install" of Windows XP but my computer did not come with the disc itself. It's an HP and all the software was pre-installed.
I had a computer-saavy friend come over with a copy of Windows and a list of 25-digit product keys but he was unable to get any of them to work.
Now that I'm desperate I'm willing to buy a new copy of Windows (Vista, maybe?) and use that for my 'clean install' or whatever you guys call it. BUT I don't want to go spend that money unless I can be fairly sure that will fix it.
My computer is only about a year and a half old. Fast processor (Athlon 4200+), 2 gigs of RAM, 250 GB hard drive that is now mostly empty as I moved all my files to an external drive. From what I can tell the problem is with the OS itself, something corrupted by a virus or some such thing. But it runs EXTREMELY slow in every way - startup, opening browser windows, opening files or programs like PS.
SO, in your collective opinion would you agree that it sounds like something a "clean install" of Windows would fix? And if so should I just run down to my local computer store and buy a copy off the shelf? I just don't know if I have other options or if that would even fix it. Since I know very little about PCs I was hoping you could help.
I will be waiting for your responses so thanks a lot in advance.
I hope someone can help me because it's getting serious here. My PC has been pretty crippled for a good couple of weeks now. It wasn't that big a deal but now I need it running strong immediately. I am a photographer and I have a big shoot to edit in Photoshop which my computer can barely open. I need to fix this thing today if I can.
I was advised to do a "clean install" of Windows XP but my computer did not come with the disc itself. It's an HP and all the software was pre-installed.
I had a computer-saavy friend come over with a copy of Windows and a list of 25-digit product keys but he was unable to get any of them to work.
Now that I'm desperate I'm willing to buy a new copy of Windows (Vista, maybe?) and use that for my 'clean install' or whatever you guys call it. BUT I don't want to go spend that money unless I can be fairly sure that will fix it.
My computer is only about a year and a half old. Fast processor (Athlon 4200+), 2 gigs of RAM, 250 GB hard drive that is now mostly empty as I moved all my files to an external drive. From what I can tell the problem is with the OS itself, something corrupted by a virus or some such thing. But it runs EXTREMELY slow in every way - startup, opening browser windows, opening files or programs like PS.
SO, in your collective opinion would you agree that it sounds like something a "clean install" of Windows would fix? And if so should I just run down to my local computer store and buy a copy off the shelf? I just don't know if I have other options or if that would even fix it. Since I know very little about PCs I was hoping you could help.
I will be waiting for your responses so thanks a lot in advance.