pc wont start up

[rolovis]

a friend of mine got a virus on his computer, and it wouldnt let him get rid of it or download anything or even use the internet.  he restarted his computer, but now it wont start up fully. we dont know what to do, hes been trying to reinstall windows vista, but it wont let him.  hes set the cd drive as the first drive in the boot menu like it said on microsoft.com but still nothing. is there any thing we can do?

[guestolo]

Are you able to start the Computer in safe mode?

hes been trying to reinstall windows vista, but it wont let him. hes set the cd drive as the first drive in the boot menu like it said on microsoft.com but still nothing.

Why won't it let him, are you getting error messages?
What is the Exact Make/model of computer

[rolovis]

it just doesnt come up.  The computer makes noises likes its trying to read a disk, the the screen stays blank.

dell xps410

[guestolo]

And what about Safe mode, are you able to enter it?

[rolovis]

He doesnt get the option. he said he can't even get that far.

[guestolo]

Did he go into the Bios and set CD first on the boot menu?

What about when starting if he taps F8
Do you get the the Advanced startup menu?

Are you planning to start from scratch
You should be able to use the following method if so

To use PC Restore:
 1 Turn on the computer.
     During the boot process, a blue bar with www.dell.com appears at the top of the screen.
 2 Immediately, upon seeing the blue bar, press <Ctrl><F11>.
     If you do not press <Ctrl><F11> in time, let the computer finish starting, then restart the computer
     again.
     NOTICE: If you do not want to proceed with PC Restore, click Reboot in the following step.
 3 On the next screen that appears, click Restore.
 4 On the next screen, click Confirm.
     The restore process takes approximately 6–10 minutes to complete.
 5 When prompted, click Finish to reboot the computer.
          NOTE: Do not manually shut down the computer. Click Finish and let the computer completely reboot.
 6 When prompted, click Yes.
     The computer restarts. Because the computer is restored to its original operating state, the screens that
     appear, such as the End User License Agreement, are the same ones that appeared the first time the
     computer was turned on.
 7 Click Next.
     The System Restore screen appears and the computer restarts.
 8 After the computer restarts, click OK.

Use Dell PC Restore by Symantec only as the last method to restore your operating system.
PC Restore restores your hard drive to the operating state it was in when you purchased the computer.
Any programs or files added since you received your computer—including data files—are permanently
deleted from the hard drive. Data files include documents, spreadsheets, e-mail messages, digital photos,
music files, and so on. If possible, back up all data before using PC Restore.

[rolovis]

he did set the cd first on the boot menu, but it still didnt work.
He tried using ctrl and f11. it did nothing.  I had him try it two more times in case he wasn't pressing it in time, but still nothing.

He is willing to delete everything on the computer to get it working again. he has everything valuable stored on a flash drive.

[guestolo]

You didn't answer my other question?

After the Dell logo appears, have him start tapping the F8 key
Does he get the Advanced startup menu/

[rolovis]

im sorry, no nothing came up with f8.  He can press f2 to get the system menu, or f12 for boot menu.  Thats all he has been able to get to so far.

[guestolo]

What options does he have under F12?

Under F2, this enter Bios correct?
Did he change the boot order to DVD/CD there?
Is he using the correct DVD to boot with, there may be more than one

I have to step out for a bit, I'll be back in about an hour or so

[rolovis]

F12 or boot device menu shows:
onboard or usb cd-rom drive
st3250820as
system setup
hard drive diagnostics
boot to utility partition

F2 has system setup,
system
drivers
onboard devices
video
performance
security
power management
maitanence
post behavior

The bios are under the system category in F2.

[guestolo]

You need to double check this, and ensure it's done correctly
After the Dell logo and possibly single beep from the computer

Start tapping the F8 key, don't just tap it once, consistenly keep tapping it, every half a second
Do you get another screen?

[rolovis]

he tried a few more times, and still nothing. are there any other ways of restoring his pc?

His pc has been manually restored once, so dell said that he will no longer be able to do a pc restore, or restore to factory settings.

[guestolo]

Disconnect all peripheals not needed to run the computer
Only leave keyboard/mouse/monitor hooked to the computer

Enter F12 on startup..Enter System Setup
Ensure that the harddrive is detected, is it?

Ensure CD/DVD is set to first boot, and try the Recovery CD again, if more than one CD, make sure you are using disk 1

[rolovis]

st3250820as is detected. (i think thats the hard drive.)
on board sata hard drive is not detected. (second hard drive???)

CD/DVD rom is first to boot.

by recovery cd you mean the windows vista os cd? he is trying it again. (if that is not what you mean, then he doesnt have a recovery cd.)

[guestolo]

Any luck here?
I'm surprised the F8 method on the keyboard is not working

Did this come preinstalled with Vista or XP?

[rolovis]

no luck. it came with vista.

[guestolo]

Does he have the original Vista disks supplied by Dell?
Were they sent to him, or did he have to create them?

Can he boot this computer with any other CD or DVD
As eg. A linux based distro such as Knoppix?

EDIT>>What is the stated on the label of the DVD?