Reformat and restore

[Guest]

I am going to have to reformat my hard drive. I have a lot of programs and
updates I do not want to have to redo. My system is backed up but I am
concerned that if I use restore, I will just reinstall the problems.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Why do you have to reformat? Depending on which type of XP CD you have, you
could try a 'Repair' install of XP. Please have a look at the following
article by Michael Stevens:

"How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install"
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

 

[Gordon]

I am going to have to reformat my hard drive.

Why?

 

[Guest]

let me guess.....your computie running toooo slow

uninstalled software didn't uninstall cleanly, etc....

If this is true, then you need to do some performance tuneups and
maintenance... What have you tried to resolve the issues...?

Like a car that needs an oil change wouldn;t need the engine replaced...
or would you?.....

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I am going to have to reformat my hard drive.

Why? It's seldom necessary and it's seldom the right thing to do.

I have a lot of
programs and updates I do not want to have to redo. My system is
backed up but I am concerned that if I use restore, I will just
reinstall the problems.

Is there a question here somewhere?

 

[Guest]

I got a virus I cannot get rid of, losing programs, files and freezing up,
slow as well

 

[blacklotus90]

I got a virus I cannot get rid of, losing programs, files and freezing up,
slow as well

Run a combination of Spybot, Ad-Aware, HijackThis, AVG, and Security
Task Manager until it is clean from malware. If the virus is the cause
of the deleted files/corrupted programs, then you may have to reinstall
anyway. After the computer is as clean as it can be, run a registry
cleaner and a dll cleaner. (these are available free at sites like
download.com) Also, run msconfig and disable any unwanted services at
bootup.

 

[Guest]

Will, I read this article, for some reason I do not have wpa.bak, what's up
with that

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

It's not in the windows\system32 folder? Have you got the wpa.dbl file -
same folder? If so back that up to a floppy.

--


Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
Please reply to the News Groups

 

[Guest]

yeh, i remember them ole days when it was much easier to kill the o.s. if it
caught a virus. Now adays, there have been new technological advances in the
field of computer health and recovery is highly possible.

I suggest that the first step is to remove any foreign contaminates from
memory. Go to safe mode and disable all the startups. This will free up
memory and inhibit any viruls from starting without your knowledge. And
reboot. See if some of the symptoms have been illeviated in normal mode.

If not, then I would boot up with your windows cd and utilize the repair
method, which will repair any system files that got corrupted. Boot into
normal mode again and take(use) 1 antivirus, 1 antispyware and 1 anti adware.
You can you more than the recommended dose....

Keep in mind that if some personal software no longer function in windows,
then it is highly likely they were incompatiable and caused your o.s. to
functon like a lop sided wheel.

If the symptoms are still there, then it may be necessary to repair the
registry....

 

[Hotline]

Seems to me that it would be quicker to format and re-install than do
20,000 steps to clean up. Formatting once in a while will make your pc
happy happy.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I got a virus I cannot get rid of,

What virus? How do you know? How have you tried to get rid of it? What
anti-virus software do you run? Is it up-to-date?

losing programs, files and
freezing up, slow as well

It's possible that all of those problems are the result of the virus.
Reformatting is almost never necessary to get rid of a virus. Tell us what
it is, and let people here give you advice on how to get rid of it, and you
probably won't have to reformat and reinstall.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

yeh, i remember them ole days when it was much easier to kill the
o.s. if it caught a virus.

That was never true. Except for a very rare extreme situation, it's always
been much easier to remove the virus. Reformatting and reinstalling has
always been, and still is, extreme overkill.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Seems to me that it would be quicker to format and re-install than do
20,000 steps to clean up.

That statement is literally true, but extremely misleading, since cleaning
up a virus is almost always very easy with appropriate software, and never
takes anything like 20,000 steps.

Formatting once in a while will make your pc
happy happy.

I couldn't disagree more. For anyone who takes reasonable care in
maintaining his computer and runs appropriate protection software,
reformatting should *never* be necessary or desirable. I've run Windows 3.0,
3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, each
for the period of time before the next version came out, and each on two
machines here. I never reinstalled any of them, and I have never had
anything more than an occasional minor problem.

It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical support
people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to almost any problem they
don't quickly know the answer to is "reformat and reinstall." That's the
perfect solution for them. It gets you off the phone quickly, it almost
always works, and it doesn't require them to do any real troubleshooting (a
skill that most of them obviously don't possess in any great degree).

But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You have to
restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all your programs, you
have to reinstall all the Windows and application updates,you have to locate
and install all the needed drivers for your system, you have to recustomize
Windows and all your apps to work the way you're comfortable with.

Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome, you may have
trouble with some of them: can you find all your application CDs? Can you
find all the needed installation codes? Do you have data backups to restore?
Do you even remember all the customizations and tweaks you may have
installed to make everything work the way you like? Occasionally there are
problems that are so difficult to solve that Windows should be reinstalled
cleanly. But they are few and far between; reinstallation should not be a
substitute for troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only
after all other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person have
failed.

 

[Guest]

I think it was wpm-3, both Avast and Windows Live Care picked it up but it
keeps coming back

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I think it was wpm-3, both Avast and Windows Live Care picked it up
but it keeps coming back

OK. I'm not a virus expert myself, and haven't even heard of that one, but
there's a good chance someone else here can help you with it. If not, I
would try a virus newsgroup before taking the extreme step of reformatting.

 

[Guest]

Thank you for your help.

OK. I'm not a virus expert myself, and haven't even heard of that one, but
there's a good chance someone else here can help you with it. If not, I
would try a virus newsgroup before taking the extreme step of reformatting.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thank you for your help.

You're welcome. I wish I had more specific advice for you.

 

[Guest]

microsoft.public.security.virus

may provide some help...

 

[Guest]

believe it or not, there was a time before windows and long before dos,
before microwaves and yes, before zerox.

Back then we used lots of carbon paper. And the 4bit O.S.'s that crashed
were sent to their maker......