HP PC Recovery issue

[Fhloston]

Hey BG,

Long story short, my PC became corrupted with malware/possible virus. My friend recommended a complete wipe of the system and starting from scratch. Well, I saw this PC has a "PC Recovery" feature, did this and my pictures, documents, and music were all erased. So it seems like a reformat (had to go through the Windows XP intro and everything), but, a lot of programs I had on the system are still there.

Now the problem. My PC is running a bit weird now, dragging windows/scrolling down is like watching a slide-show, and increasing my screen resolution only worsens this. Also, I tried installing my graphics card drivers again, and the system won't allow it. (Tells me the video card was used for an older version of XP, even though I've had the vid card for about 2 weeks) So I can't run WoW anymore.

So my question, is there a possible fix to this? Or, am I SOL and should consider a complete wipe of the system and start over. (Problem with this, I can't find my windows XP CD, so I would probably have to go pick up a copy of Vista and start from there) Trying to save some $, but willing to spend it if I have to. Thanks in advance!

Edit: I'll add my specs if that helps
HP Pavilion Media Center TV PC
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.20 GHz Dual-Core Processor
2048MB DDR2 SDRAM / 320GB SATA HDD

[Cephius]

I'd definitely wipe your machine and start over. You can download a windows XP iso off of a torrent website, or just try to borrow one from a friend. I wouldn't waste money buying Vista unless you really want to.

When you reinstall, make sure you pick up all the drivers off of the HP website.

[Fhloston]

I'd definitely wipe your machine and start over. You can download a windows XP iso off of a torrent website, or just try to borrow one from a friend. I wouldn't waste money buying Vista unless you really want to.

When you reinstall, make sure you pick up all the drivers off of the HP website.

Yeah, figured I'd have to go this route. I'm calling a friend now in hopes he still has his Windows XP CD, otherwise I might try the iso route, though I have no clue how to work an iso...can google that info I'm sure. Thanks for the reply!

Update: So it seems through the PC Recovery feature, I was able to do a "destructive recovery", which completely wiped the system, but still kept Windows XP. Just had a tech-savvy relative show me how. Saved some money and got my system back.