XP wont boot

My PC was/still is infected with spyware/virus. I have given up or should I say can not get rid of it. After my last attempt at removal the PC wont boot past XP loading screen. Thats fine because I went and bought a copy of Vista and was going to format and start over. When I hit F-8 for safe mode so I can use command prompt my arrow keys dont work. Any advice on how to fix this would be great, thanks.

 

:wave Welcome to Major Geeks! :major

If you're just going to format and start over, why do you need F8 and/or the command prompt? Anyway- I think the reason the keyboard isn't working is that it is likely a USB keyboard. Go in to the system BIOS and look for section that primarily lists USB settings. All BIOSes are a bit different, but you should have some settings similar to 'USB keyboard support' and 'USB mouse support' and 'Legacy support for USB' and 'DOS support for USB'. Again, you may not have these exact settings, but you should have something close to these. Basically, you want to set everything to 'Enabled'. Be sure to save the settings before exiting and restarting the PC. But, like I said, this is all redundant if you're just going to format and install a clean Vista....

[dlb]
:-D

 

Thanks for the response and welcome dlb, my knowledge is limited on this stuff. I understand what you are saying but I cant access BIOS either, when ever I try to gain access to BIOS or safe mode I can get as far as the selection screen and then my keyboard wont work. If there is a easier way to format my hard drive so I can install Vista please let me know. I have tried putting the disk in but that dosent seem to work either. Thanks again for the reply.

 

Thank you all for the advice, but im tired of messing with it. Ill just go buy a new HD in the morning and start over. Thanks once again.