# Solved: Keyboard Failure Dell Inspiron 580



## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

Hello again,
I've got a customer with what sounds like a memory issue. I want to run Memtest86+ on it, but there is an issue. On bootup, I get "keyboard failure" and I can't enter the BIOS to change the boot device priority so that I can load Memtest86+ from a flash drive or cd. The keyboard works fine once I'm into Windows, but I can't use it before Windows loads. 
Things tried:
Reset CMOS.
Unplugged all other usb devices, including card reader internally.
Checked device manager, looks clean.

Thanks for any help.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

Couple of other things I forgot to mention... I also tried sfc /scannow, and there are no PS/2 ports on the motherboard. USB only.


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

This would appear to be a common problem on Dells judging by the number of hits on Google.

The most common fix is to shut down the system, unplug everything including the power supply. Hold in the power button for 10 seconds, then plug everything back in and see if the problem is cured.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

I tried that.. unless you mean unplug everything internally.. Is that what you mean? Unplug the PSU from the mobo?


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

The customer did not have this same issue did they? If they didn't then the system may be somewhat picky on what keyboard is used with it, you may want to try another keyboard or the original Dell USB keyboard.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

Ok, just tried that for good measure. Unplugged main psu, 4pin cpu, and hard drive and plugged back in. No go.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

Hmm, not sure if the customer had that problem. They probably never would have noticed, because it boots right up after that message. I'll see if I can scrounge up another keyboard to test.


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

jephph said:


> I tried that.. unless you mean unplug everything internally.. Is that what you mean? Unplug the PSU from the mobo?


No need to unplug anything inside, try holding in the power button for longer, try 30 seconds.


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## jakeferren (Jan 19, 2012)

Sounds like you need to reset some components of your BIOS when you first boot up... or your CMOS battery is running down. When you first start up, you can usually access the BIOS by depressing F2 or F3... Then you may be able to see areas that need to be changed.

____________
Open Office Download


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

Mark1956 said:


> No need to unplug anything inside, try holding in the power button for longer, try 30 seconds.


Held it for 1 minute for good measure. Still a no go.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

jakeferren said:


> Sounds like you need to reset some components of your BIOS when you first boot up... or your CMOS battery is running down. When you first start up, you can usually access the BIOS by depressing F2 or F3... Then you may be able to see areas that need to be changed.


Thanks raybay, but I can't get into the BIOS because the keys don't work...


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

Ok, lets try another approach. When its booted up go into the Device Manager and see what you have under "Keyboards".

Right click and uninstall anything in the list and then reboot, windows should reload the keyboard drivers. Once back at the dektop, reboot again and see if the "keyboard failure" warning is still present.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

Didn't work. "keyboard failure" is still there.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

As it turns out, I may be barking up the wrong tree anyway. I don't know how reliable MemTest by HCI Design (a Windows-based RAM tester) is, but it came up with 0 memory errors over the course of about an hour of running (over 100% coverage). I'm willing to concede that I'm not going to be able to run MemTest86+ as long as MemTest by HCI Design is reliable. I'll make a different post about this customer's main problem (computer shuts off randomly while running programs or trying to print). Thanks for the tips guys and gals.


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

I'm not sure if this will work but with the Memtest86+ disc in the drive disconnect the hard drive and then bootup and see if it will boot from the CD.

I'm not sure about MemTest by HCI but Memtest86+ is considered to be the best AFAIK. It runs from the CD so it can scan the memory while Windows is not using it which gives more accurate results. It should be run for 8 passes or more which takes a long time, running it overnight is a good option.

The Keyboard error is a strange one, I would like to know of any other solution. All I have read about it is something to do with the order that Windows loads the systems drivers, and for some reason the keyboard driver gets left out until later in the boot sequence. Running chkdsk /r from the command prompt (the same way you ran sfc /scannow) might resolve it if the hard drives file system has got into a mess.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

Good call on all fronts Mark1956. Nice trick with the unplugging the hard drive. I'll try that soon. I want to run chkdsk on the computer, but that may also fix the issue she's having with random reboots, which I haven't encountered yet. I don't want to run chkdsk and then not be sure if that's the resolution to her reboot problem or not. But, I will try that after I've seen a reboot. Thanks!


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

Random reboots? Is it showing a black screen and completely shutting down and rebooting or is it a Blue screen?

If it has Blue screened then please attach the minidumps.



> First locate your minidump files, they are usually found by clicking on your *C:* drive, in *Windows Explorer*, then click on *Windows* to view the contents._ If your operating system is installed under a different drive letter then look there._ They should be stored under a file called *minidump*.The files will have a *.dmp* extension.
> Zip up at least 6 of the most recent files into *one* zip folder and save on your desktop (if there are less then just zip up what you have).
> *NOTE* To zip up a file in Windows (all versions). Right-click the file or folder, click on *Send To*, and then click *Compressed (zipped) Folder* and save it to your desktop.
> Open *Windows Explorer*, click on *Desktop* in the left column so you can see the *zip* file. In the left column click on *C: > Windows > Minidump *and then drag & drop any additional .*dmp* files into the zip folder.
> ...


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

are attached.


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

Those minidumps are conclusive, 5 of them state Memory Corruption so odds are that the RAM is bad. There are no drivers seen in the stack trace at the time of the BSOD so that further confirms this is due to bad RAM.

If there is only one stick, try to get Memtest to run just to confirm it. If there are more than one, run the PC on one stick at a time with the other/s removed, if it is just down to bad RAM you should notice a change and only see a problem with one of the sticks.

There is also a slim chance someone has messed with the RAM voltage and timings or fitted incompatible RAM. The earliest minidump caused by Memory Corruption is dated 3rd September 2011.

I did also note that Service Pack 1 was not installed until early January so the owner must have had Windows Update turned off, not a wise thing to do in respect of System Security.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

Well, here's the story. I had worked on this computer previously. After those first blue screens. It was giving POST code of 4 short beeps, which indicated that the memory need to be reseated. So I reseated the RAM, and let the computer run for a few days, and everything looked good, so I gave it back. 
The customer called a couple of days later and said it was still turning off randomly. One time when trying to print, one time when playing a browser based game, and one time when no one was using it. 
So I've got it back now, thinking that one of the sticks must be going bad. However, I did what you said and unplugged the hard drive, and now I've got Memtest86+ running, and it's been through two passes with no errors.
The system has 4 sticks of 2GB RAM. I'm running memtest86+ on all of them.  And like I said, two full passes with no errors. Should I just let it run longer?


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

By the way, all of this happened within the last week. I'm not sure when those minidumps are dated, but the random turning off has happened within the last week.


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

The six minidumps are dated from 3rd September 2011, the first three are spread out over three months but the last three are dated 8th, 11th & 18th of January which does suggest the RAM fault is getting worse. I don't recall any occasion when the minidump analysis showed "Memory Corruption" without it being a failed RAM stick that caused it.

You need to run Memtest86+ for at least 8 passes to be a worthwhile test.

Trouble with diagnostic software is that none of them are perfect, I have often seen Memtest pass the RAM with flying colours and then by running the PC on each stick individually it has been found that a stick "was" bad, so you cannot be 100% sure the RAM is ok even it it shows no errors.

Obviously, if Memtest does show an error then you can be sure "there really is one" and then you should run it on individual sticks to see which one it is.

Just to add further confusion, Memtest can show an error which is caused by a bad RAM slot or the associated circuitry on the mobo (although this is rare). So if you get to the point of testing individual sticks, after the test has shown errors, you need to check a stick that passes the test, in all of the slots. It is a long tedious process.

Don't forget what I said earlier:


> There is also a slim chance someone has messed with the RAM voltage and timings or fitted incompatible RAM.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

All righty. Thanks for all the help Mark1956. I'll keep you updated. By the way, I now have a working keyboard. I just had to switch it out with a different one. Now I should be able to get into the BIOS and I'll check on the RAM voltages. The RAM is all the same brand/speed/size, so I'm assuming it was all installed when it was ordered. But I'll check on the voltages.


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

Great :up:


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

11 passes, no errors. Should I still run it on each stick individually?


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

I doubt you will get a different result by running on individual sticks. This could be one those hard to find errors.

Lets try a stress test and see what happens, follow this guide and post the report.

• Download OCCT and save to the desktop.
• Extract the contents of the zip file to the desktop.
• Double click on the OCCT folder to open it and then double click on the OCCT icon







to run the program.
• Click on the *CPU:OCCT* tab, leave the default setting at 1 Hour, check the* Automatic* button and click on the green ON button and leave the test to run. Make sure all programs and your browser are closed and do not use the PC during the test.
• When the test ends click on the OFF button to close the software.
• The Results window should open, if not open Documents > OCCT. You should find a folder with todays date on it. Zip the folder and send it as an attachment with your next post.
*NOTE*
If the tabs for the PSU and GPU are greyed out it means your DirectX 9 version is too old. OCCT requires DirectX 9 from March 2008 or newer.
You can manually check it easily : just look for the file "d3dx9_37.dll" in the following folder C:\Windows\System32
If it is not present, just download the latest Direct X9 Update for your OS and everything should run fine afterwards.

Then we can run a test that will also stress the memory, but first go into the OCCT folder and move the results folder or it will put all the new results into the same folder which makes it complicated to analyse, better to keep the two test results seperated.

*To stress the memory.*
• Open *OCCT* as detailed in the previous instructions.
• Select the CPU : LINPAK tab.
• Set Test Type to Automatic, Duration for 1 Hour 0 min, Idle period to 1 min at beginning of test, 5 min at end of test.
• Set the Memory box for Custom and enter the full size of your installed RAM in the adjacent box. For example if you have 4GB of RAM enter 4000 MB, 16GB of RAM enter 16000 MB, etc.
• Click the On button and let the test run to completion.

Both these tests should run to completion unless a fault is detected. A report will still be saved if the test fails so please complete both tests, whatever happens, and post the reports.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

I get "OCCT has stoopped working" when I try to start the program. She's also had trouble installing a Kodak driver which says that "Microsoft .net framework cas policy manager has stopped working" and her NVidia graphics drivers won't install the update components. I figured that was something I'd have to deal with later, but it seems pretty pervasive. Maybe I should run sfc /scannow and/or chkdsk /f /r from a boot disk to try to resolve the install problems before attempting to fix the random reboot problem?


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

> Maybe I should run sfc /scannow and/or chkdsk /f /r from a boot disk to try to resolve the install problems before attempting to fix the random reboot problem?


After what you have just told me that sounds like a good idea. It could also be a sign of an infection, have you run (sorry if you have mentioned this earlier) any Anti Virus scans?

I would also run a test on the hard drive as follows:



> Identify the make of your hard drive and then use one of the links below to get the manufacturer's diagnostics for *ISO (CD)* not the one for Windows.
> When the download is complete right click the file and select Extract Here and burn the image to a CD.
> In Windows 7 right click the extracted file, select *Open With*, then select* Windows Disc Image Burning Tool* then follow the prompts. For all other versions of windows (if you do not have an ISO burner) download this free software. ImgBurn
> Install the program and start the application. Select the top left hand option to burn image file to disk and then on the next window click on the small yellow folder icon and browse to the file you have downloaded from the links below. Then click on the two grey discs with the arrow in between (bottom left) and leave it to complete the operation.
> ...


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

Virus Scan was clean. I tried to run sfc /scannow from the Dell Windows 7 cd, and got "There is a system repair pending which requires reboot to complete. Restart Windows and run sfc again." I tried to run it several more times to the same effect. Seems like I just keep adding more layers to this problem eh? Well.. should I just try to run chkdsk /f /r first now?

Edit: Oops, missed the second part of your post. I'll try that next.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

All right. Now, after burning the WD Diagnostics disc and booting to it, I get this "Starting Caldera DR-DOS... Caldera DR-DOS 7.05 Copyright.... blah blah all right reserved" and a rapidly blinking underscore.

It's been on the screen for about 10 minutes now. I don't think it's doing anything. I tried to press some buttons on the keyboard, but got nothing.


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

Ok, sounds like the System File Checker has found something it cannot repair. Follow this to find and post the log.

Click on* Start* and type* cmd* into the search box. Right click on *cmd* in the popup menu and select *Run as Administrator*.
Copy & Paste:

*findstr /c:"[SR]" %windir%\logs\cbs\cbs.log >%userprofile%\Desktop\sfcdetails.txt*

at the command prompt and press *Enter*. This will place a *sfcdetails.txt* file on your desktop with the SFC scan details from the CBS.LOG. Zip up the file and attach it to your next post.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

sfcdetails attached


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

This does not get any better, the SFC scan is full of bad, missing and unrepairable files. I would take a calculated guess this may be down to a failing hard drive.

Did you get chkdsk /r to run, I rather suspect the result will be a bad one.

First follow this guide to find the *chkdsk* log.
Windows 7 Disk Check log
Once the log is in view then click on* Copy* in the right hand pane and select *"Copy details as text".*
You can then right click on the message box on this forum and select *Paste* and the log will appear, add any further information asked for and then click on *Submit/Post Quick Reply* and your done.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

When I try to run chkdsk from the Dell Windows 7 disc, I get "Cannot lock current drive. Windows cannot run disk checking on this volume because it is write protected." I'll try to run it in Windows and let you know how that goes.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

Ok, got it running from Windows after a restart. I'll post the log when it's done.


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

jephph said:


> When I try to run chkdsk from the Dell Windows 7 disc, I get "Cannot lock current drive. Windows cannot run disk checking on this volume because it is write protected." I'll try to run it in Windows and let you know how that goes.


This is normal, it should ask if you wish to run it at the next reboot and you just type in *Y* and hit Enter, then reboot. Sounds like you figured it out. I am out for the day so will not reply again until this evening.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

Log Name: Application
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Wininit
Date: 1/26/2012 1:50:56 AM
Event ID: 1001
Task Category: None
Level: Information
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Owner-PC
Description:

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is OS.
A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk. 
CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 5)...
202496 file records processed. 
File verification completed.
470 large file records processed. 
0 bad file records processed. 
0 EA records processed. 
76 reparse records processed. 
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 5)...
277638 index entries processed. 
Index verification completed.
0 unindexed files scanned. 
0 unindexed files recovered. 
CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 5)...
202496 file SDs/SIDs processed. 
Cleaning up 118 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 118 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 118 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
37572 data files processed. 
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
36973784 USN bytes processed. 
Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
202480 files processed. 
File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
223623751 free clusters processed. 
Free space verification is complete.
Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.
961360599 KB total disk space.
66442852 KB in 135846 files.
86948 KB in 37573 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
335791 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
894495008 KB available on disk.
4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
240340149 total allocation units on disk.
223623752 allocation units available on disk.
Internal Info:
00 17 03 00 75 a5 02 00 2c db 04 00 00 00 00 00 ....u...,.......
5c 09 00 00 4c 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 \...L...........
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="Microsoft-Windows-Wininit" Guid="{206f6dea-d3c5-4d10-bc72-989f03c8b84b}" EventSourceName="Wininit" />
<EventID Qualifiers="16384">1001</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>4</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2012-01-26T06:50:56.000000000Z" />
<EventRecordID>34331</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID="0" ThreadID="0" />
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>Owner-PC</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is OS.
A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk. 
CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 5)...
202496 file records processed. 
File verification completed.
470 large file records processed. 
0 bad file records processed. 
0 EA records processed. 
76 reparse records processed. 
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 5)...
277638 index entries processed. 
Index verification completed.
0 unindexed files scanned. 
0 unindexed files recovered. 
CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 5)...
202496 file SDs/SIDs processed. 
Cleaning up 118 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 118 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 118 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
37572 data files processed. 
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
36973784 USN bytes processed. 
Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
202480 files processed. 
File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
223623751 free clusters processed. 
Free space verification is complete.
Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.
961360599 KB total disk space.
66442852 KB in 135846 files.
86948 KB in 37573 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
335791 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
894495008 KB available on disk.
4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
240340149 total allocation units on disk.
223623752 allocation units available on disk.
Internal Info:
00 17 03 00 75 a5 02 00 2c db 04 00 00 00 00 00 ....u...,.......
5c 09 00 00 4c 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 \...L...........
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

</EventData>
</Event>


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

The disc check looks fine.

So, something somewhere along the line has messed up the system files so I would say the best option is to do a full format and re-installation of Windows.

Trying to replace all the missing files shown by SFC will be a nightmare so a re-install would be a quicker and much easier fix.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

All right. Thank you!


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

Your welcome.


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

Can I backup the registry along with program files so she can still be able to run her programs, or will that just bring the mess back?

Hey, listen. You're awesome, but you're using "your" wrong. I know, nobody likes grammar police, but you're a smart guy, so I think your grammar should reflect that.


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

> Can I backup the registry along with program files so she can still be able to run her programs, or will that just bring the mess back?


I honestly don't know the answer to that, I've not seen that method used anywhere to restore a system so I would have to say most probably that would not work.

What you could try is to do an Upgrade install from a Windows 7 disc which will preserve all the software and data. It will replace all the system files and put the registry back as it was. But you cannot do this from a Recovery partition it has to be done from a retail Windows 7 disc (and in this case that would have to be a 64bit version).

The level of success achieved with either approach will depend on the registry being in good health, which is a bit of an unknown, and doubtful considering the state of the system files.



> Hey, listen. You're awesome, but you're using "your" wrong. I know, nobody likes grammar police, but you're a smart guy, so I think your grammar should reflect that.


Thanks for the compliment. I can fix PC's, renovate a house from an empty shell single handed and got a blue belt in Judo but mastering grammar has never been one of my greatest achievements. To be honest I can't see where I have used "your" incorrectly .


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## jephph (Mar 7, 2011)

The disc I've got is the Dell "Reinstallation DVD Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit" That's a full copy of Windows 7 right? That's what I used to get to command prompt. I think it allows for a full Windows installation.

P.S. "You're" is a contraction for "You are", so when you want to say "You are welcome", you would say "You're welcome". Or even if you want to say "Submit/Post Quick Reply and *you're* done." Also, I've renovated a bathroom and have seen lots of judo videos on youtube. I'll catch up to you soon enough 

Edit: I've already backed up the "Users" folder. Do you think the best course of action would be to just let her know that she'll need to reinstall any programs she had installed, but she'll still have all of her documents, music, desktop, etc?


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## Mark1956 (May 7, 2011)

> The disc I've got is the Dell "Reinstallation DVD Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit" That's a full copy of Windows 7 right? That's what I used to get to command prompt. I think it allows for a full Windows installation


.
Yes, that is a full copy, but as it will have been tailored by Dell it may only be possible to do a clean install which will wipe everything off the drive. The only way to find out is to insert it when at the desktop and see if you get an option to do an "Upgrade install" which will preserve all data, user accounts and software.

With some OEM discs you only get an option to preserve data which it will save in a folder called Windows.old. If so, it will be necessary to reinstall all the software from scratch.



> P.S. "You're" is a contraction for "You are", so when you want to say "You are welcome", you would say "You're welcome". Or even if you want to say "Submit/Post Quick Reply and *you're* done." Also, I've renovated a bathroom and have seen lots of judo videos on youtube. I'll catch up to you soon enough


I see what you're saying, bad habit of mine. I earned my living from renovating bathrooms for many years before I moved to Spain


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