reformatting hard drive

[franks]

I have some virus problems that i need to get rid of. Should I reformat the hard drive?
The computer is a dell that came installed with windows me, and I later installed xp. I only have a me reinstallation disk.

Can anyone offer any advise to bring my comp back? How do you reformat the hard drive?

[LadyGrey]

Hi Franks and Welcome to the PC Guide!
As to your problem, have you run your anti-virus scan? Is it up to date?
What virus (s) does the scan say that you have? If you do indeed have virus have you told the program to fix them?
With it being a Dell I should think there would be some kind of Hard Drive utilities on the Dell site to help you format your HDD if that becomes necessary. Most manufacturers have these utilities to download. Maxtor and Western Digital do.
Now, without an XP disk there is no way to get XP back so you'll just have to use ME. I suppose if you paid for and downloaded XP from a site then you could go back there to download it again with proper receipts and such.
There are other programs that you can run such as Adaware and Spybot, both are free and those will help you clean up your computer too.
Adaware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/)

Spybot (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html)

Those two programs are worth their weight in gold! They will help you clean up your computer for sure.
The guru's will need more specs on your computer to further help you so if you could post those it would be a big help to them
Take Care,
LG ;)

[Sylvander]

Perhaps you should start a new thread in "Applications & Security" titled "Help, my PC's infected" or something similar. That will attract those who know the most about cleaning out infection. :)

It's too early to concede defeat and wipe the drive clean and begin anew.

[jlreich]

Perhaps you should start a new thread in "Applications & Security" titled "Help, my PC's infected" or something similar. That will attract those who know the most about cleaning out infection. :)

It's too early to concede defeat and wipe the drive clean and begin anew.
I agree with Sylvander. Wiping the drive is the last resort. Besides you are much better off with XP than ME.

Start a new thread as Sylvander suggested, or maybe the mods will move it for you. And post a HiJackThis log, with a description of your problems.

By Budfred

To run HJT, extract it to a permanent folder such as one
you create like C:\HJT. Close all open windows and
browsers and make sure that all programs are enabled if
you use msconfig. Run it and Scan, then Save the log.
When the log window appears, Right click to Copy it, open
your browser and come here to Paste the entire log. Do
not make any changes until it is checked since most items
are either benign or essential to the computer.

http://www.subratam.org/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=19&Itemid=41

[comgeek]

Hiya,
Wiping the drive is the last resort. Howevr, if you really need to do so, you should install all your absolutely necessary software and NOT connect to the Internet before bacing your system up. You should also regularly back up your data after that. This will minimize the time and the frustration.