i need help as you can see from the last thread i posted about this computer theres barely any free space to download any anti virus&anti spyware programs so what do i do?i dont know anything about computers i know how to go on the internet thats pretty much it haha so what do i do

Go by a nice Norton 360 from Walmart...

Probably what you should do, is restore your computer to factory settings, then buy Norton after you configure your computer again (Making sure you keep a copy of all important files)

Urk, no, dont buy norton, it will slow down your PC.
Anyway, if you have no space to download anything then you wont have space to install anything either.
IF your computer came with a factory restore then back up your important files and use it.
If it doesnt have one then back up your important files and use a windows disk to format the whole thing then install the operating system.
And since you probally want free antivirus, after you are done restoring or reformatting go and download AVG free.

like i said i dont know anything about computers so what would be "important files"?how do you know if it has a factory restore?and what windows disk do i use?sorry for all the questions guys just tryin to fix this old thing

Important files are anything that's important to you.
Photos, videos, music, stuff you are not sure you can get online anymore.

If the thing has a factory restore feature you should be able to find it in the start menu somewhere.
Or you might have a CD/DVD somewhere that says "factory restore" on it.

What windows came on your computer?
You would use whatever windows CD installs the version of windows you want to have.

Your best option might just be to get whatever important files (see above) are on the computer onto CDs and let someone else reformat it for you if you are unsure.

um i have many cds that came with this desktop and i put in the ones that sounded important to see what they were and theres one that installs modem helper which diognoses the modem to see if theres any problems with it so i installed it and tryed using it come to find out you need a hom,e phone to use it and i gont have a home phone and then come to find out it wont let me uninstall it.i have windows xp and theres 2 cds that are the same well im assuming there the same that reinstalls windows xp so does that format the computer and installs everything over again or what?

Yeah, that sounds like some recovery disks to me.
Put them in and see what it says when the disk runs.
Dont worry, it wont recover or format unless you tell it to.

well i put those 2 cds in and they are the same they both say install windows xp,learn more about the set up process,install optional windows components,preform additional tasks,and check system campatibility.none of those sounds like it formats the computer

Actually, they do.
"install windows xp" installs windows xp over the top of what you have on the pc right now.
BUT that wont solve your problem as it doesnt reformat as well, just upgrades.
You have to have the disk in the drive when you are starting the computer up for it to reformat.

Here is what you do. First make sure you have your Windows XP installation ID or product/license key.
You can find that either on a sticker on the computer somewhere or you can possibly find it by right clicking "My Computer" and choosing properties from the drop down list.
You NEED to have your installation key otherwise you wont be able to install XP after you format.

Here are the next steps to do AFTER you find your XP product/license key.
Start the computer. Let it go into windows. Put the disk in the drive.
Leave it in the drive. Restart the computer with the disk in the drive.
You should get a message that says "Press any key to start windows installation" or something like that.
Press any key on the keyboard and the installer will start.

Then just read the instructions and press the buttons that continue the installation, and when you get to the part that shows hard drive letters, look for the choice to delete partitions.
Delete them all, then after that is done it wont say any drive letters anymore.
That means that the computer is nearly reformatted.

After that use the choice that says install windows, then it will ask you how you want to format.
Just choose quick format NTFS and let it install windows.

After a while you will have a setup wizard.
Just leave everything on the defaults, but make sure to use your product/license key when it asks for it and dont forget to name the computer.
Any name is fine.

Let me know if you cant find certain things or you have any trouble, reformatting a computer and installing the OS can be tricky if you havnt done it a few times.

so if i actually end up doin this by myself what else do i need?because theres some more cds heres a list

dell dimention and dell xps resourcecd
theres a cd to reeinstall sonic recordnow 7.3 le software
dell e153fp color monitor user documentation
a reinstall cd for dell tools system software
a reinstall cd for v.9x (capable)/56k data/fax modem software for microsoft windows

As well as the XP disk you will probably need any disks that contain drivers for the parts, like video card drivers.
There are probably on those resource cds you mentioned.
If you use the dial up modem then you will need that cd too, but if you use the lan port instead then you dont need a disk for that.
The dell tools cd might help you as well.
Apart from that you should get whatever anti virus you are going to use.
If you think your pc is currently infected wait until after you reformat and reinstall windows then make the anti virus website your first visit online.

Also here is a link to Microsofts Windows XP installation guide, it might help you out.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/winxp/install.mspx

well dh i put in the reinstalltion cd of windows xp(im assuming thats the windows xp cd that it mentions in the link you gave me)i put it in and restarted the computer like the thing said im supposed to get prompted to start from the cd but i never do it just startes windows like it usually does.am i doing something wrong?

you might have to change your boot order, when you restart your computer, there should be a screen with a brand name on it (Dell,Compaq,Asus,ect.) somewhere on that screen (i think its usually in the bottom right corner) it should say something like press *insert key here* for boot menu. The button for it is usually either F8 or F12 but not always. Press the button and then a list should come up, go down the list and select your disk drive and press enter, it should then boot from the CD. After that do the repair install.