Problems prior to formating my notebook...

Hi, I've got this Dell Latitude Notebook and I really need to format the whole thing and start from scratch. There are an inumerable amount of problems. However, I thought it would be wise to make a list of hardware and drivers that I'm going to need to reinstall after I format and install windows XP. HOWEVER, this windows 2000 professional is not displaying any text. Not even the file, edit, view, tools, help etc. etc. It shows the little picture icons, but displays no text at all. Is there any wonderful computer person out there who can help me remedy this situation? It would be greatly appreciated. Maybe, I can just go ahead and format and Windows XP will autodetect my devices and help me get the drivers off the internet? Any advice would be so happily received. Thank you.

XP is pretty good at automatically detecting your average hardware devices. I'm assuming you have an XP disk to install on the notebook. Go ahead and do a full format of the HD, then just install the XP disk and you should be good to go. Even if it doesn't detect everything, as long as you're able to connect to the internet you should be able to download whatever you need.

Dell includes a CD of additional proprietary drivers per model that may or may not be needed. XP detects most hardware, but some ethernet cards and wireless devices may need additional drivers. The included CD should have this. Or, you can download them from the Dell support site and burn to a CD prior to the rebuild.

Do yourself a favor though and forget Windows altogether.

Kick your computer. It helps.