Completely wiping the hard drive

[Julie]

I use an IBM Thinkpad and Windows XP and I've been in
virus hell...several weeks ago my screen start going black
at odd times. I had the Blaster Worm several months ago,
downloaded the patch, then everything worked fine. Screen
blacks at various times....online, while booting and
loading software. Get a sceen that gives messages like
this one: Checking file system on C: Type is FAT 32. One
of your disks needs to be checked for consistency. Seriel
is 2920-15 EB. Verifying files and folders. The size of
\Docs and Settings\Julie Johns. NT user. data log. Entry
is not valid. Doc and Ret\all users\application Data.
Size of win/winserv.log entry is not valid and on and on.I
did my best to delete everything on the hard drive, but
when I reinstalled Earthlink a message said, "some files
already on hard drive".BlasterWorm 32 appeared and I
downloaded the Symantec virus remover and it said it
removed it. Ran it again and it said my system was clean.
I'm still having blacking out at various times and trouble
connecting to the internet to register software. Note: My
trouble really amped up when I downloaded a free McAfee
Virus Scanner. If I got a curser within clicking distance
my system blacked out. Any advice on how to completely
wipe my hard drive or about what is happening to my system
will be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!! Thanks.....Julie

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

The Windows XP CD is bootable and contains all the tools necessary
to partition and format your drive. Follow this procedure and allow
Windows XP to partition and format your drive:

1. It would be best to physically disconnect all your peripheral hardware
devices, except for you mouse and keyboard, before installing XP.

2. Open your BIOS and set your CD Drive as the first bootable device.

===> Accessing Motherboard BIOS
===> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

3. Insert your Windows XP CD in the CD Drive and reboot your computer.
4. You'll see a message to boot to the CD....follow the instructions.
5. The setup menu will appear and you should elect to delete the existing
Windows partitions, then create a new partition, then format the primary
partition (preferably NTFS) and proceed to install Windows XP.

6. Clean Install Windows XP
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

[Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP]

7. After Windows XP is installed, visit the Windows Update website
and download the available "Critical Updates".

8. After installing the critical updates, be sure and visit the support website
of the manufacturer of the computer to download and install any
available Windows XP compatible drivers, such as video adapter
and audio drivers.


--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP Shell/User

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


| I use an IBM Thinkpad and Windows XP and I've been in
| virus hell...several weeks ago my screen start going black
| at odd times. I had the Blaster Worm several months ago,
| downloaded the patch, then everything worked fine. Screen
| blacks at various times....online, while booting and
| loading software. Get a sceen that gives messages like
| this one: Checking file system on C: Type is FAT 32. One
| of your disks needs to be checked for consistency. Seriel
| is 2920-15 EB. Verifying files and folders. The size of
| \Docs and Settings\Julie Johns. NT user. data log. Entry
| is not valid. Doc and Ret\all users\application Data.
| Size of win/winserv.log entry is not valid and on and on.I
| did my best to delete everything on the hard drive, but
| when I reinstalled Earthlink a message said, "some files
| already on hard drive".BlasterWorm 32 appeared and I
| downloaded the Symantec virus remover and it said it
| removed it. Ran it again and it said my system was clean.
| I'm still having blacking out at various times and trouble
| connecting to the internet to register software. Note: My
| trouble really amped up when I downloaded a free McAfee
| Virus Scanner. If I got a curser within clicking distance
| my system blacked out. Any advice on how to completely
| wipe my hard drive or about what is happening to my system
| will be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!! Thanks.....Julie

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Can you back up your data and restart from scratch? That's what I'd do -
your WinXP cd should be bootable and will let you delete the old partition &
reinstall.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered
the opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of
the installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of
boot devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm


Bruce Chambers

--
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