Wiping HD with virus and reinstalling

[Marc]

Sorry this is a bit redundant. But I too want to do a reinstall of my OS
(WinXP). The virus symptoms are a stranges display in the add/remove programs
window when you scroll down, and I can not get more 6 -7 GB of free space on
my hard drive. Even after removing some of the biggest programs.

Also Windows tells me my original vesion OS is too different from my current
OS, thus it won't let me proceed with the reinstall. Any ideas? Thank you.

 

[R. McCarty]

Did you Empty the Bin after deleting ? Space is not added back to the
Unused/Free category until the Bin is emptied.

A re-install or fresh install should not give you the message you describe.
You do realize you have to format the existing partition to remove all
the data before starting an install. From the sound of things you may
not clearly understand what you're trying to do and may end up with
a larger mess than what you've currently got.

Virus and Malware removal can be done - it takes time and patience.
Doing a complete re-install of the OS/Apps and Data is a much bigger
job than simply cleaning & tuning your existing setup.The problem with
a fresh install is unless you add proper protections it won't be long until
the PC is back in a contaminated state and you have to start over.

Either way you choose to proceed you should backup/image before
formatting the drive - Good Luck with it.

 

[Malke]

Sorry this is a bit redundant. But I too want to do a reinstall of my OS
(WinXP). The virus symptoms are a stranges display in the add/remove
programs window when you scroll down, and I can not get more 6 -7 GB of
free space on my hard drive. Even after removing some of the biggest
programs.

Also Windows tells me my original vesion OS is too different from my
current OS, thus it won't let me proceed with the reinstall. Any ideas?
Thank you.

You may wish to try and remove the malware:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

If you are set on doing a clean install:

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows - What
you will need on-hand

You are getting the error message during installation because your XP
install CD is at a lower Service Pack level than the version of XP
installed. However, during a clean install this doesn't matter. You are
apparently trying to do a Repair Install or install from within Windows
itself. The Repair Install will do nothing about removing a virus and you
can't do a clean install from within the very operating system you want to
wipe. Read Michael Stevens' instructions at the link above.

To save updating time later (after the clean install is finished) you might
want to slipstream XP Service Pack 3 into your current install CD but this
will not change what you need to do; i.e., the clean install and not the
Repair Install.

How to slipstream SP2/SP3 into XP
http://www.nliteos.com/ - nLite
http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp2_cd.htm
http://theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp3_cd.htm

Malke

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Sorry this is a bit redundant. But I too want to do a reinstall of
my OS (WinXP). The virus symptoms are a stranges display in the
add/remove programs window when you scroll down, and I can not get
more 6 -7 GB of free space on my hard drive. Even after removing
some of the biggest programs.

Also Windows tells me my original vesion OS is too different from
my current OS, thus it won't let me proceed with the reinstall. Any
ideas? Thank you.

Of course you cannot put in your Windows XP installation media and just
format the system and start fresh. Try something like that in the physical
world. Stand on a rug in the middle of the room and without getting off the
rug (this includes jumping/hopping) - pick up the by bending down and
grabbing it at one nd and jerking it straight up. ;-)

You need to change you BIOS to boot from the CD and then put in your CD and
pfllow the prompts to delete the partition(s) and install Windows XP. That
is *if* you really feel you need to do this.

Perhaps these instructions will help you - if you determine you have no
other recourse:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

 

[Randem]

You are being hoodwinked by deceptive software about the re-install. Now if
you are attempting a repair that may be the case but not on a re-install.
Take a look at these solutions http://www.randem.com/virusproblems.html


--
Randem Systems
Your Installation Specialist
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