Should i take my computer in to be rebuilt or rebuild it my self?

Question

i majorly messed up my 1.5 year old computer.

so how do i go about figuring out what i need to replace?

i got a lot of viruses and such on my computer and even though i removed them my comp is in bad shape.

i am sure the HD is gone from the damage the viruses did but what else do i look at and what am i looking for?

if i try and rebuild it and get stuck i can always ask a friend of mine to help, he is good with computers but is oftin vary busy

Answer 1

If all you had were viruses then a simple reformat and reinstall of your operating system is needed. Be prepared to lose all saved data since saving it and putting it on the hard drive again will only cause the same problems. In order to reinstall just put in the operating system disk and restart the computer and follow on screen instructions. TRY THIS FIRST and if it doesnt help then change the hard drive. If it is the hard drive that is bad you can easily change it. Look below for a couple of good online places to get a new hard drive.

Answer 2

I agree with Mike, if viruses were the problem, worse case is likely your hard drive. That is a fairly simple procedure to replace. The only thing that you will need to really know is what kind of hard drive you have (IDE, SATA,etc). You likely have an IDE drive. At any rate it basically consists of unplugging to cables from the old drive and plugging the cables to the new drive (and maybe setting a jumper). You will have to remove a few screws, and be careful not to bump anything on the main board, but it's about that simple.

If you take you computer in, you are likely looking at up $60+ just to have someone look at it.

I would suggest doing it yourself because:

1) You'll save some $$
2) It is the best way to learn

Even if you get stuck and your friend can't help, there are tons of forums (assuming you have alternative ways to get on to the Internet) with people who are willing to help you out.

Answer 3

If you could tinker with your car, most likely you could tinker with your computer.

Don't feel hopeless and do not disassemble your computer yet. Try first to reinstall Windows XP and reformat your hard drive during the process. If successful, you would need to reinstall the chipset drivers and the video card drivers. You don't need any screw driver yet because these are support softwares that usually comes in a CD with your computer and your video card.

If Windows XP could not be installed and your hard drive is making abnormal noise, you may have to replace it and do the Windows installation on the new drive, Now you need the screw driver to open the case, remove the old hard drive and place in the new one. If it is ATA, just check to be sure that the jumper is set to Master. The jumper setting guide is usually on the sticker label and/or the hard drive casing near the jumper pins.

Answer 4

All the problems you described are software related.

The good news is that software issues are not permanent.

All you have to do is run the system restore or reinstall windows from scratch. Keep in mind that this will erase all the data you have on the computer, so you will want to back it up first.

Depending on what kind of computer it is, it may have come with recovery disks, or a recovery partition. Read the manual that came with the computer to find out how to use them.

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Answer 5

I'll make this as simple as I can. You probably had Windows XP. Before you do anything else, have Windows XP ready to install on a new HD. The bigger, the better. (You said that the HD was likely fried). The computer was only 1.5 years old, so it is probably one with enough CPU speed and memory.
PS: If the HD is not fried, clean it up, (format) re-install XP and go from there. Don't let your HD get so badly infected that you're going crazy. There are free programs out there to keep your HD free from bugs.

Answer 6

If all you had was a virus, all you gotta do is re-install an operating system. Viruses can't physically damage your system. Maybe your hard drive has crapped out. Just buy a new one. A 1.5 year old PC should not be in bad shape physically.

Answer 7

whoa get a boot disk and format your hard drive a couple of times or get a goust disk.you can buy a hard drive and reinstall your system if you use your unit a lot buy a boot/repair disk for ten bucks there too then install you windows system again if you have a disk if you can't get a disk buy a new computer
its a LOT!!!! cheaper to buy a new computer then to build one.
look on ebay.com or ubid.com
they have all types at their auctions

Answer 8

If you don't know what you are doing, you definitely should let someone who knows computers do the work. You could end up with a bigger mess than you have now if you're not careful.

Answer 9

if you feel confident in your computer skills, it's fine but if you doubt your skills, then better get someone to do it for you. if it's hardware, it's fairly easy since you'll know which one does this and that, but if it's software, you'll have to isolate it it first to get it working right.

my two cents worth: find someone to do it for you, watch how he does it and take notes so that the next time it happens again, you'll know what to do. =)

Answer 10

i think you should not repair it yourself.