KimmyS said:
First of all I have to say I am totally blonde (really) and stupid when
it comes to computer terms, so please do explain to me as if I was 3
years old...
I have XP and my pc is totally riddled with Trojans and viruses (don't
ask..the boyfriend is even more computer illiterate than me.....)
So, I want to crash the whole thing and format my C drive.
I did the start up disc (right click on a - format - create DOS start
up disc....
But when I reboot the computer with the floppy still in the slot - it
does not get to the a:/ prompt but boots as normal.....I am close to
tears as I have no idea how else to get to the DOS mode (tried the BIOS
and Safe Mode screen but I really don't know what I am doing there....
Any suggestions??? Thanks so much
Hello Kimmy
First things first, the disc you created was not a startup disk. The
good news is that you don't need it in your situation. Since you said
your computer is full of trojans and viruses, try scanning your system
first with a good utility like Norton or McAfee. If you have trojans
and viruses like you said, its probably filled with spywares and
malware also. I will post couple of links to popular spyware removal
tools that you can download for free to scan your system for those
nasty stuffs.
http://tinyurl.com/bcknm
http://tinyurl.com/6fuq4
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
http://tinyurl.com/5lyxe
(NEW!!)
If you still insist on reformatting your hard drive, I will try and
explain the best I can to make it as simple as possible for you.
First of all, if you want to reformat your hard drive, this means
that everything will be gone and you will have a clean start, hence the
name clean installation. However, I do recommend that you backup all
your IMPORTANT files to an external hard drive or burn them to a CD
because once you format the drive, everything will be GONE. Your
computer will be like the first day you bought it (after some
adjustments of course). To perform a clean installation, you do not
need to go to the DOS prompt. All you need is your original CD copy of
XP, either Home edition or Professional.
After backing up all your files, and you are ready for the CLEAN
installation, pop the CD in your drive and reboot. Go to the BIOS and
look for a setting something like boot sequence. Manually change it so
that the CD ROM gets booted first, not the hard drive. (The reason why
you couldn't boot from the floppy was because you didn't tell the
computer to boot from the floppy first). Save the changes and exit out
of the BIOS. If you did everything correctly, the setup of Windows XP
will begin (usually blue screens). When you come to the partitioning
section, make sure you delete your current partition Windows is on,
which is the C drive. Then, create a NEW partition and then install
Windows under that. The rest of the installation if pretty much self
explanatory.
If you have any questions whatsoever about the procedures, you can
email me at (e-mail address removed). Or if not, post your problems back
here and the other techies will help you out. Good luck!
