Problems fixing computer.

I'm having some major issues repairing a DELL 4500S series computer. It was infected with sasser, sobig, and a bunch of other trojans and worms. After I cleaned most of them up, using stinger, it looks stable. The problem is...that the Display is stuck on 640x480 with a 16bit Color quality.

I need to update the drivers on the video card...but cannot find them, because I do not know what video card it has (integrated). Under device manager, It says Video Controller (VGA Compatible) under the "other devices" with an exlamation point.

I tried installing NAV, but it wasn't letting me run liveupdate for some reason...so I guess i'll run housecall on that.


The computer came with WinXP home edition. I installed Professional edition...but nothing got fixed. I'll install home edition again. Another problem is that, even though I am connected to the internet, It will not allow me to run windows update...its says connection problem (another worm that I might have missed?).

I'm planning on completely deleting this partition first, and then creating a new partition and reinstalling XP fresh.


BTW...how do I run Fdisk in XP? Once I boot up...what do I do?

Have you tried booting in safe mode w/networking support, then running windows update?
As far as the driver I had a gateway with the same problem, called there tech support and they emailed me a driver even though the computer was 6 years old.

To update the video card drivers, you'll probably have to flash your BIOS with the new version. Consult your motherboard-manufacturer's website for the newest BIOS version.

Is the Windows version a legal one? Illegal Windows XP versions won't allow you to update...

Fdisk doesn't exist anymore in XP. Once you've booted into XP, though, you can go to
Control Panel --> Administrative Tools --> Computer Management. Then in the left column, select Storage, then Disk Management in the Right column.

The copy of XP is legal. I was looking at the motherboard for a name or something...all it says is DELL. It doesn't have a serial number or anything. Anybody know what 4500S series uses for motherboards? I'll keep in mind to run the windows update in safe mode with networking tonight.


So I guess I wouldn't be able to just delete the partition and create a new one with XP?

The drivers for your onboard graphics chip will come with the Mother Board drivers/utillities disc, you will be able to download this if you dont have it, you will just need to know the make/model of your Mother Board.

Your problem is definatly missing drivers for this chip!

When you say you want to delete your current partition and then make a new one, do you mean that you want 2 partitions on your hard drive or just want to format your current one and start all over again?

If you want to just format you dont need, what you need to do is to go into your BIOS and make sure that it is booting from your CD-ROM first, then put your windows disc in ur cd-rom and restart your computer,

Follow the options of installing a new installation (dont go into the repair console) then select your current partition and the option to delete this partition and format it using the NTFS file system but dont use the quick option.

If you want multiple partitions I would recommend Partition Magic (Kazaa??) it will guide you through everything you need to do and is very easy to use!

* if you dont know your make/model of MoBo the two choices i use are to either open your computer up and look on the MoBo somewhere and see if it says it or download SiSoft Sandra this has a lot of awsomw features to tell you about the insides of your computer and will tell you all the info u need about your MoBO

Hope this helps you out a bit!

unfortunately I cannot connect that computer on the net right now....i'd love to try these suggestions out. Thank you very much guys/gals, keep em coming ;). I want only one partition but to start out fresh. Besides Stinger, are there any other antivirus removal tools that have emergeded lately to clean up from the recent viruses?

The problem still is that I cannot find out what motherboard my computer is using. Maybe I can find something on the DELL website....

You could maybe download the sisoft sandra program i mentioned earlier to the comp ur on now burn it to cd and install it on the problem computer??

Follow my earlier post for a new instalation of win xp just remember to stay away from the repair console and u cant go wrong. The setup utillity will pretty much guide you straight through it!

Here is a nifty utility I found that will give you a profile of your computer's hardware. Hope it helps.

Belarc Advisor

Cybr1d,
I ran into the update problem after a fresh install of XP home one time. It was the date. Seems to have reset its self approx. 30k years into the future, and wouldn't even except the msn update cd, much less make use of the update site.

If you can boot from the cd, then press F8 at boot. Boot from the cd and select install XP (as said above 'Not the Repair' function. Delete current partition and reformate using NTFS. Full reformate is better than quick especially if you want to be sure all nasties are removed.

Note - A complete reinstallation might solve your screen problem (but I doubt it).

Thats a very cool utility. Under Main Circuit Boards it says: Dell Computer Corporation Dimension 4500S.

As for Bios, it says: Dell Computer Corporation A03 07/25/2002

You think I should update them or something? Could I download the bios utilities from a different computer, burn them and run them to the other computer?


Mox, thats what I thought when I installed the professional Edition...but it still has the same issue

jus google (Dell Computer Corporation Dimension 4500S) it will you to the right sites for your MoBo downloads

Don't know if you still need it but here is a LINK to the specifications of your DELL pc

Hope it helps though cuzz video (intel graphics) doesn't say much I think :confused:

HMM....I just remembered...and I feel very very very stupid right now...but perhaps I should just ask for the customer's CDs that came with the computer...all the drivers and utilities are in there. I have about 7 copies of them in my store, for the internet cafe but I'm using a different dell. You think it would matter much which Dell version it is? They all come with integrated video cards.

That just might solve the problem.

As long as all they are for the same make Mo Bo and graphics chip it should work, but obvioulsy if the driver is for a different graphics chip it wont work, it may not cause any more problems for you though as you dont have any drivers installed for it anyway!

Its worth a try mate!!

well im glad you answered your own question. their on the dell resource disk. theres alse a seperate disk for the modem and roxio. before it unpacks it will list the model numbers it applies to...i hate dell resource disks. after you unpack them to the hd burn them to a cd. dont use the default folder names you'll never know later what they are. use /dell/drivers/vidio rather than their del/drivers/R1234567

As long as they have the same chipset the other cds will work... If you can, find some way to find out what chipset both computers have because if they have the same even if they are a different retail model the drivers will work...

if your still having problems Fdisking the drive you might want to check out bootdisk.com
they have some old boot disks that will put dos on the system so that you can reformat the drive.

Cant run Win Update?

Gaobot family of malware will do that.. and can be %$#$ hard to find.. many different varieties.. , will also stufff up the updates for NAV, AVG, PC-Cillen etc.. Go to one of the AV sites and get ahold of the generic removal tools, run it in safe mode then in normal mode.. then get each of the others.. run thenm as well..
With the Video Drivers.. HAVE A LOOK AT THE MOBO CHIPSET NUMBERS.. that is oneway of finding the drivers ..XX810 is intel 810 series.... DELL isn't that bad when it comes to getting drivers.. compared to Compaq/HP

I skiped may of the post in this thread.. but was Bugbear mentioned in dispatches? some thing about it and screen resolution rings a bell..

also.. you have turned OFF system restore haven't you? Yes ..good.. I am suprised at the number of ppl who recommend using system restore to remove viruses... if they only knew..

see how ya go..

Cheers

If you can not get hold of the customers original disks. Have a look on the box there will be an "Service Tag" note the number down then when you go to Dells web site>>service and support>> dowload drivers and updates. Enter the service tag. This should give you a list of drivers specific to the system.

In case you still have problems, and/or for future reference: Both Western Digital and Maxtor have HD software - Seagate and others might as well. Maxtor's is fairly good, I don't remember about WestDig. Western Digital supposedly has a disk analyzer program you can run. I believe some of the manufacturer software downloads are able to format and partition own-brand drives (possibly other brand as well). I think the software Maxtor bundles with its HDs can format in both FAT32 and NTFS. If you are actually doing this as a business, you may want to got major drive manufacturers and see what utility floppies (and CDs) you can create.
Some of this software has the advantage of fitting on a floppy AND being bootable.

Thank you All for your help. I called the customer up and asked for her CDs that came with the computer. I found the video driver in there, and now it works perfectly. I'll flash the bios just in case and also patch up the computer.

Enjoy the greenies :)...don't spend them all in one place :D

I read in a book (whose title escapes me at the moment) that Dell uses Intel motherboards and Intel chipsets... so chances are, the video drivers would have been intel extreme graphics (possibly intel extreme graphics 2, depends on the chipset).

If you had the dell service number (which would have been on the back panel or on the motherboard somewhere) you might have been able to hit dell's support website http://support.dell.com/home.aspx
In the left column there is a panel that says "customize support", click the link "select a system". Then enter the service tag into the text box. Then you can get all of the drivers and manuals for the machine in question.

This can really be helpful if you are like me and frequently buy used computers.

you're right. It was an Intel Extreme Graphics.

Everest Home Edition (the successor of AIDA32) Since I could not find aida32
This tool will send you to your mobo's driver updates. And list everything on your board.

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/everest.html

imitation...thats an excellent program. Many thanks for it. It will make a great addition to my "Useful Tools" archive. I tried it on my laptop and it shows in great detail all its info. Being a freeware makes it even better :D