reinstalling XP after virus attack

[chobynne]

Hello my pc suffered a virus attack .I managed to clean it up but the virus
left some damages.When I turn it on, all my shortcuts,taskbar... appear for
just 1 sec then disappear again.all I can see on the screen is my wallpaper.I
can't access my files (photos,music..) I have the XP cd. My question is ,if i
reinstall XP will I loose all my files? When I boot from the cd are there
options i can choose from? Will the pc ask if i want to just repair XP?and if
this is the case will i loose any of my files?

thank you,choby

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Hello my pc suffered a virus attack .I managed to clean it up but
the virus left some damages.When I turn it on, all my
shortcuts,taskbar... appear for just 1 sec then disappear again.all
I can see on the screen is my wallpaper.I can't access my files
(photos,music..) I have the XP cd. My question is ,if i reinstall
XP will I loose all my files? When I boot from the cd are there
options i can choose from? Will the pc ask if i want to just repair
XP?and if this is the case will i loose any of my files?

First off - I'd probably back up the files and email and contacts you
created and wipe it all clean and reinstall afresh. Better 100% sure than
thinking you cleaned it up (just because your AV says it is clean doesn't
mean it is - after all - it was present when you got infected, right?)

In any case - you could perform a repair installation - which would leave
your stuff intact (in theory). However - you should have a backup ready
just in case (should *always* have a backup ready just in case.)

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

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341

 

[DL]

http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
As in any such process a backup of data is allways wise