fault and solution finding

From: mich (anonymous_at_discussions.microsoft.com)
Date: 06/01/04 

Date: Tue, 1 Jun 2004 09:40:54 -0700

am complete novice at computers
my keyboard button used for adding the `at` in a web
address wont work only shows hyphon. have tried other
keyboards and yes i am using the shift key. was told might
have problem with hard drive and that i should uninstal
and then re-instal, does this sound correct if so how do i
do this,do i need a disk