how to delete hard drive

[Guest]

i use windows vista. a few weeks ago i had gotten a trojan horse on my
computer so to get it out of the system i reinstalled vista. there is problem
though. after i did that, every time i open my comp it shows the `Windows
Boot Manager`screen and asks me which Microsoft Vista version i would like to
use. Not only, after reinstalling vista, something happened to my video
card. i called the place where i bought my laptop and they said that i have
to delete my hard drive. the only problem that i have is how do i delete my
hard drive....

 

[Guest]

You must have misunderstood the instructions. You do not "delete your hard
drive." He probably said reformat your drive--not for the inexperienced
user. You should take the computer to a friend or a computer repair shop for
help.

 

[Michael Solomon]

i use windows vista. a few weeks ago i had gotten a trojan horse on my
computer so to get it out of the system i reinstalled vista. there is
problem
though. after i did that, every time i open my comp it shows the `Windows
Boot Manager`screen and asks me which Microsoft Vista version i would like
to
use. Not only, after reinstalling vista, something happened to my video
card. i called the place where i bought my laptop and they said that i
have
to delete my hard drive. the only problem that i have is how do i delete
my
hard drive....

The reason why you now have a boot screen is you probably have two versions
of Vista installed.

You don't get rid of a Trojan or any virus by installing the OS over itself.
You need to use antivirus software and there are some sites online that will
also scan your computer and remove viruses. Once that is done, you can then
certainly move on, format, delete or whatever you want but your best bet
right now is to boot back into your previous Vista version and properly
remove the Trojan.

Once that's complete, you can't be sure the Trojan isn't the cause of other
problems you mentioned, you can then move on to Formatting your hard drive
or specific partition on which Vista is installed, you may need to find all
instances of a Vista installation and do this and then reinstall Vista.

Assuming you have a retail version of Vista and not a recovery disk, you
would boot from the Vista DVD and during setup when you are presented with a
partition map, a list of the partitions on your hard drive, you would format
the ones on which Vista exists and it's possible both your Vista installs
are on the same partition. If you are unsure about this, take it to the
place where you purchased it and let them resolve this for you but first,
you must properly get rid of that Trojan.

 

[Guest]

well i did run some anti-virus software on my comp and there was no trojan
horse.

 

[Gary G. Little]

No trojan that your protection software found ... Was your anti-virus
software up to date?

When you re-installed Vista did you format the harddrive containing Vista?
It sounds like you have two disks or a single disk with multiple partitions
and simply installed to the other HDD or partiition. That won't get rid of
evil software lurking in the boot area of an HDD. It sounds like you need to
repair Vista from the install DVD by first deleting the existing volume,
re-creating it, and then installing Vista again. As has been said, that is
not for the feint of heart.

 

[Guest]

so my best bet is to go to the manufacturer and asked them to fix it.

 

[Michael Solomon]

so my best bet is to go to the manufacturer and asked them to fix it.

You have a pretty messed up system right now and without our being there,
it's difficult for us to fully diagnose and help. From your description,
you may already have two instances of Vista installed and depending upon
your system's recovery procedures you might even end up with a third.

In your original post, you said the place where you purchase it gave you
some advice. At this point, it might be best for them to take a look at it
and get things back where they should be because you might just keep digging
yourself into an ever deeper hole. While you do learn from doing, you are
in pretty deep water right now.

Do understand, if the shop formats your hard drive and starts over, you will
lose all your data. If there are things you want to try to save, tell them
that as well as they might be able to help, at least if the Vista install on
which you have your applications installed is accessible.

 

[Verger]

You must have misunderstood the instructions. You do not "delete your hard
drive." He probably said reformat your drive--not for the inexperienced
user. You should take the computer to a friend or a computer repair shop for
help.

No, he should learn how to do it himself so he can upgrade his
knowledge of using a PC.