Reformating a hard drive with Windows XP

[Guest]

I have an older computer (about 4 years old) that I installed Windows XP on.
Somehow it got a major virus that I have been unable in eliminate with my
Norton Antivirus. I am at the point of just starting over with the whole
thing. My question is: Could I just reinstall Windows XP and eliminate the
problems, or would/could I reformate the hard drive and start clean. And if
reformating the hard drive is possible, how would I do it.
Thanks,
Jerry

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I have an older computer (about 4 years old) that I installed
Windows
XP on. Somehow it got a major virus that I have been unable in
eliminate with my Norton Antivirus. I am at the point of just
starting over with the whole thing. My question is: Could I
just
reinstall Windows XP and eliminate the problems, or would/could
I
reformate the hard drive and start clean. And if reformating
the
hard drive is possible, how would I do it.

Before you do that, tell us what virus it is, and what happens
when you try to get rid of it with NAV, including the exact
verbatim text of any error message you receive.

 

[Harry Ohrn]

Yes you can reinstall and that might be the best option in the long run.
There are those who think that a reinstall is a last ditch solution. And it
certainly is for minor issues. But a serious virus attack might be better
served by starting over. A fresh install complete with Critical Updates
generally takes about 2 hours. You should ensure that you have downloaded
SP2 and saved it to CD as well as have drivers for your hardware available.
After you've reinstalled make certain you turn on the Windows Firewall,
install SP2 and install your Antivirus software before you go online. You
will also need to reinstall applications and restore your settings. This all
might take several hours but if you've already spent several hours trying to
get rid of the effects of the virus and you are still having trouble then
you can either bite the bullet and do the fresh install or spend additional
time and energy trying to fix what might be very difficult to fix.

You should ensure that you do not have a boot sector virus before you do the
reinstall. While these are not that common any longer it is still wise to do
a scan for them . Norton Antivirus can create a boot disk set and generally
the CD-Rom itself is bootable. So run it first to ensure the boot sector
isn't affected.

And remember to scan any backed up data for viruses before you restore it to
a clean system.

There are links here that you might find useful
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm
Drivers for your hardware can be found at www.driversguide.com
--

Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp


| I have an older computer (about 4 years old) that I installed Windows XP
on.
| Somehow it got a major virus that I have been unable in eliminate with my
| Norton Antivirus. I am at the point of just starting over with the whole
| thing. My question is: Could I just reinstall Windows XP and eliminate
the
| problems, or would/could I reformate the hard drive and start clean. And
if
| reformating the hard drive is possible, how would I do it.
| Thanks,
| Jerry

 

[Guest]

I wish it were as simple as that. There are many, many viruses that NAV
finds and says it cannot fix, delete or quarantine. All I know is that when
I try to do anything on the computer, like open a file, the computer locks
up. I've tried going to restore, but I can't even get into that. So there
is something major going on that I can't get a handle on.
Joejean

 

[Sharon F]

I wish it were as simple as that. There are many, many viruses that NAV
finds and says it cannot fix, delete or quarantine. All I know is that when
I try to do anything on the computer, like open a file, the computer locks
up. I've tried going to restore, but I can't even get into that. So there
is something major going on that I can't get a handle on.
Joejean

Have you tried cleaning in Safe Mode? If you're lucky the virus won't load
and Norton will be able to clean it. Also, if it is identified by name,
Symantec may have a special tool designed for cleaning that specific virus.
If available, check the download site for directions to use the tool.