[RitaM]

My new Acer laptop just got infected by spyware, and the only way to repair it is to delete the hardrive and completely reinstall windows XP, the problem is the installation disk that comes with the computer got misplaced, and CompUSA says they cannot even restore it without the disk and cannot provide me with a backup copy. My question is how can i obtain this disk or is there a place i can download the XP files and drivers i need to restore it back to normal

[Tipstaff]

Originally Posted by RitaM

My new Acer laptop just got infected by spyware, and the only way to repair it is to delete the hardrive and completely reinstall windows XP, the problem is the installation disk that comes with the computer got misplaced, and CompUSA says they cannot even restore it without the disk and cannot provide me with a backup copy. My question is how can i obtain this disk or is there a place i can download the XP files and drivers i need to restore it back to normal

Your best bet (legally) would be to contact Acer directly, or check online with sites such as eBay for sellers. Sometimes you can find people on eBay selling restore CDs for a modest price.

However, there is another option. Most laptops these days don't come with recovery CDs. Instead, manufacturers have been using hidden patitions to store restore images, as well as utilities within Windows on backing up those images to CD or DVD. It's quite possible your laptop has the same thing. To access these hidden images usually require some kind of keypress combo during bootup, or can be directly accessed via the bios. Again, your best bet to find this out would be through Acer directly.

Also, if you can post which laptop you have I might be able to get more info on it for you.

[Mr cairo]

i have an Acer and to restor i just press F5 on boot to get to the system recovery console ... your should/could be the same