[Joanna22]

DanTheMuffinMan- have I deleted the right code from my post now? and is there no way I could save this computer without having to buy any components? not really affordable for a student pocket and really need it for my studies

Originally Posted by leroys1000

May have corrupted your display driver.
Click start and right click my computer,then click properties.
Click the hardware tab,then click the device manager button.
Click the + next to display adapters.
What does it list there?
Right click the listed display adapter and click update driver.
Let windows search for and install a driver.
May need to restart after.
If that doesn't work, you may need to got to the manufacturers
website and download a driver to install.

ok I'm at the Device Manager, but not sure where is the "display adapters" option, from what I see here there's:
-Computer
-Disk drives
-DVD/CD-ROM
-Floppy disk controllers
-Human Interface devices
-IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers
-IEE 1284.4 compatible printers
-IEE 1284. 4 devices
-Imaging devices
-Keyobords
-Mice and other pointing services
-Network adapters
-other devices
-processors
-soud, video and game controllers
-storage volumes
-system devices
-universal serial bus controllers

so which one of this list is it then? and what do I do then? I would really appreciate if you could please instruct me in babysteps stages as I don't really have much technological knowledge as you all probably noticed.. and thank you once more

[Joanna22]

Originally Posted by Compiler

You followed the steps to uncompress your HD. Your HD is pretty much full, pretty much a 15 or 20GB model. You can't really make it bigger, but we can delete some junk that may help out.

1 - get your hands on "WindowsXP for dummies" or something like that for about $5~10. So you can learn about computers, it will help you. And also save time in explaining things. Your computer use will be faster, easier, less scary, more fun.

2 - Lets do a bit of clean up. Open Windows Explorer. Hold down the Windows key (between the control and ALT keys near the space bar and press E. Go to My Computer / C: Drive You want to go here:
C:\Documents and Settings\<User name>\Local Settings\Temp

User name is the name of your account. That is the name on the TOP of you start menu.

When I go Local disk C: and then documents and settings there are 3 folders there: Administrator, All Users and USER and when I click at the last one it displays: desktop, favorites, my documents, start menu, some text document files with strange names (although not done by me), DelB96 MS DOS Batch File and 2 TMP files- so where do i go from there? Bizzarre thing is that my user name (the one at the top of the start menu) is just my name- Joanna, but it is nowhere to be seen.. am doing it right?

[leroys1000]

Not even showing a display adapter installed.
Your either stuck in safe mode or you need to download a
driver from the manufacturers website and install it.
What is the make and model of the computer?
If it is a factory built computer,there should be a data plate
on the back with a model number.
If it happens to be a laptop,it's on the bottom.

[Joanna22]

Originally Posted by leroys1000

Not even showing a display adapter installed.
Your either stuck in safe mode or you need to download a
driver from the manufacturers website and install it.
What is the make and model of the computer?
If it is a factory built computer,there should be a data plate
on the back with a model number.
If it happens to be a laptop,it's on the bottom.

It's likely that I'm stuck in the safe mode- from what I said earlier this appears to be the case altough I haven't got enough expertise like you guys to judge that.. it is a DELL it says Dimension 9100 serial number 67ZM981 model number: DCTA Mfg Date 082505 IC Class B ICES 003 FCC Class: B Ref number 05056- is that the relevant data you need?

[leroys1000]

Ok,dell is pretty picky about entering the info,so you will need to
go here,enter your info,download the driver and try it.
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx
If it won't load,you are probably stuck in a limited user mode
due to a corrupted user profile.
If you have a dell reinstallation disk(not a restore disk) you
can try a repair installation.
If not,you are probably looking at a full system restore.
Meaning you will have to save what you can on a backup drive
or something and start over fresh.

[Compiler]

With 5 years of data, you should backup your data to an external USB drive or thumb drive. In case anything else happens or the restore function doesn't work the way that is desired.

The goal is to repair your system to a functional state... but that will depend on what kind of recovery disc you have, if any. Typically, the restore function is most reliable as it returns the computer to a factory state... which means the loss of all user data, all software would have to be updated and re-installed.