reinstalling after adware/spyware/virus attack

[Guest]

Our Dell Inspiron 600M with XP Home was used by family without virus
protection. thus, the entire computer was overtaken by 100's of insurgents,
including trojans, rendering the computer unuseable. In good faith, someone
tried to manually remove all the virus/adware/spyware, but in the process
left the system non-functional. There are no files we need to save from the
hard drive; we'd like to blank the hard drive and start over by installing
the XP from scratch. How do we completely blank the hard drive and reinstall
the OS? Also, we have the OS disk, but aren't we supposed to have a
manufacturer-provided disk of drivers? we don't seem to have that anywhere.
thanks for your help!!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Our Dell Inspiron 600M with XP Home was used by family without virus
protection. thus, the entire computer was overtaken by 100's of
insurgents, including trojans, rendering the computer unuseable. In
good faith, someone tried to manually remove all the
virus/adware/spyware, but in the process left the system
non-functional. There are no files we need to save from the hard
drive; we'd like to blank the hard drive and start over by installing
the XP from scratch.

I'm normally against starting over like this, but in your case, if you
literally have hendreds of infections, it's probably the wisest course.

How do we completely blank the hard drive and
reinstall the OS?

Set the BIOS to boot from the CD drive, and boot from the Windows CD.

Also, we have the OS disk, but aren't we supposed
to have a manufacturer-provided disk of drivers? we don't seem to
have that anywhere. thanks for your help!!

Is yours a Windows installation CD or or a Dell restore CD? It's probably
best to contact Dell for instructions as to how to proceed, since they will
know better than any of us here exactly what they've sent you and how to use
it.

 

[Guest]

Ken, thanks for your advice. Our XP disk is a Dell reinstallation CD.

Randy

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Ken, thanks for your advice.

You're welcome. Glad to help.

Our XP disk is a Dell reinstallation CD.

In that case, it probably has the drivers you need, but it's still is a good
idea to contact Dell and get instructions from them.

 

[Guest]

Our Dell Inspiron 600M with XP Home was used by family without virus
protection. thus, the entire computer was overtaken by 100's of insurgents,
including trojans, rendering the computer unuseable. In good faith, someone
tried to manually remove all the virus/adware/spyware, but in the process
left the system non-functional. There are no files we need to save from the
hard drive; we'd like to blank the hard drive and start over by installing
the XP from scratch. How do we completely blank the hard drive and reinstall
the OS? Also, we have the OS disk, but aren't we supposed to have a
manufacturer-provided disk of drivers? we don't seem to have that anywhere.
thanks for your help!!

 

[Guest]

I booted from the CD, reinstalled XP home, but I'm left without the drivers
for Ethernet Controller, Multimedia Audio Controller, Metwork Controller,
O2Micro SmartCardBus_Reader, PCI Modem, Video Controller (VGA Compatible).
Are these drivers available somewhere on Microsoft's website? thanks!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I booted from the CD, reinstalled XP home, but I'm left without the
drivers for Ethernet Controller, Multimedia Audio Controller, Metwork
Controller, O2Micro SmartCardBus_Reader, PCI Modem, Video Controller
(VGA Compatible).

That's why I wanted you to ask Dell first.

Are these drivers available somewhere on
Microsoft's website? thanks!

Please, contact Dell and ask them where the best place to get them is. Even
if Microsoft has drivers, they are not necessarily as good as those the
manufacturer provides.