Hi all I've been a home computer user since the days of MS-DOS. Despite Vista being one of the less popular operating systems, I've not had a problem with the Home Premium edition preloaded on my Dell XPS420 since buying it 18 months ago. In fact, it's functioned flawlessly. Unfortunately I couldn't leave things alone and when a friend with an MSDN subscription offered to download the Ultimate version for me, I gratefully accepted . Although the installation seemed to complete OK (the upgrade option was greyed out so I did a clean install after a back up), disaster struck when the machine rebooted. Virtually NOTHING works. Trying to install the driver for my Nvidia 8800GT graphics card results in the BSOD, basic programs like Adobe Reader generate countless error messages, and even Internet Explorer crashes after 60 seconds at most. In fact the only programs I can get to run are a freeware disc burning suite, and Firefox - although the moment I try to install any plug-ins, that crashes as well. I can't reinstall my old Home Premium (OEM) either, there is a partition on the hard drive containing a restore option but a message appears saying "Access to tools\dp.sc was denied". Anyone got an idea as to what is wrong? The software my friend downloaded was not the Checked/Debug version so I can't figure out what the problem is. Thanks in advance Caroline Forgive me if I occasionally ask silly questions. I'm only human!

... try tapping "F8" key @boot-up look @ options there . . Grrrr "...pentathol makes you sing like a canary" http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/... ... got brain freeze

Hi, Thanks very much for the quick response. I've tried that but an option that is supposed to appear on the advanced boot menu - Repair Your Computer - doesn't! So I can't access the 'Dell Factory Restore' facility. Sorry, I should have made it clear in my original post. Any other ideas? I've tried googling and looking on the Microsoft knowledge base but I've yet to encounter the problem elsewhere. Kind regards Caroline Forgive me if I occasionally ask silly questions. I'm only human!

... have you tried Using Microsoft Windows System Restore? ... there may be a little box to check to display "more" restore points . . Grrrr "...pentathol makes you sing like a canary" http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/... ... got brain freeze

Sadly, the new installation has obliterated any system restore points from Home Premium. The old saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" is a very good one!! Caroline Forgive me if I occasionally ask silly questions. I'm only human!

... as you're dos conversant... you could try this Download 1.04MB ... it's an "iso" to make a bootable cd ... boot up with it select the partition you wish to boot to ... ie... restore partition ... type the number of the partition 1or 2..remove cd..[ENTER] ... the pc will then boot to "that" chosen partition.... ... depending on how your restore is evoked you may have to navigate and open/run an application. ... if you do NOT succeed boot back to original partition... if it works you may have to boot with that CD and select the original partition anyway as it may cause a restore loop(?) ... might not! ... worth a try! ...ps... while you are in there have a look for any *.XML <files just something I found during this research . . Grrrr "...pentathol makes you sing like a canary" http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/... ... got brain freeze

Hitting F8 should give you options in Safe Mode(with or without networking), last known good configuration, wtc. There isn't supposed to be a "Repair Your Computer" option as far as I know-that's if you boot up with an XP CD. Try safe mode without networking and see if you can uninstall MSDN. You may have to try with networking.