hard drives

[Guest]

How can I clear my hard drive and load all up again .As I have spywear on it
that I cannot remove

 

[Patrick Keenan]

How can I clear my hard drive and load all up again .As I have spywear on
it
that I cannot remove

Do you have an XP Install CD, or a "restore partition" on the hard disk?
The answer affects how you will proceed. If you have a CD, you boot from
the CD and run through the install, but you choose to format the install
partition. Just pay attention to the screens.

However, this means that you will lose any and all data that you did not
back up. If you have any data you want to keep, back it up first.

HTH
-pk

 

[Bruce Chambers]

How can I clear my hard drive and load all up again .As I have spywear on
it
that I cannot remove

Formatting the hard drive to solve a virus or spyware problem is rather
like using an axe to trim one's fingernails. Sure, it'll probably get the
job done, but it's rather messy...., and almost always unnecessary.

However, if that's what you want to do:

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

Seriously, you should first try to clean up your current installation;
it's a lot less work.

To find and/or deal with issues caused by any sort of "adware" and/or
"spyware," such as Gator, Comet Cursors, Xupiter, Bonzai Buddy, or KaZaA,
and their remnants, that you've deliberately (but without understanding the
consequences) installed, two products that are quite effective (at finding
and removing this type of scumware) are Ad-Aware from www.lavasoft.de and
SpyBot Search & Destroy from www.safer-networking.org/. Both have free
versions. It's even possible to use SpyBot Search & Destroy to "immunize"
your system against most future intrusions.

Additionally, manual removal instructions for the most common varieties
of scumware are available here:

PC Hell Spyware and Adware Removal Help
http://www.pchell.com/support/spyware.shtml

More information and assistance is available at these sites:

Blocking Ads, Parasites, and Hijackers with a Hosts File
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

The Parasite Fight
http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm


--
Bruce Chambers

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