Formatting computer

[SPL_Lancer]

Hello all, noob here.

at the moment, my computer is running very slow and laggy. Now i have been toled by several people to back up all my documents and such and formatt my main HDD. But my problem is that i dont have all the driver discs for my hardware etc. so i was wondering if there is anyway to just 'refresh' the operating system, without deleting all my hardware drivewrs and such. Adn if this would actualy fix my problem thanx.

PS i am using win xp pro.

[Budfred]

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif

It would help to know what you have done already... Have you run any malware scans?? If not, that is the place to start... I would run some basic spyware scans like those found in my signature and run Ewido:

Please download, install, and update Ewido anti-spyware (http://www.ewido.net/en/download/)


Load Ewido and then click the Update tab at the top. Under Manual Update click Start update.

After the update finishes (the status bar at the bottom will display "Update successful")

Close ewido. Do not run it yet.


Please reboot your computer into Safe Mode. To boot into Safe Mode, please restart your computer. Tap F8 before Windows loads. Select Safe Mode on the screen that appears.


In Safe Mode, load Ewido and click on the Scanner tab at the top. Click the "Settings" tab and then change the recommended action to Quarantine and click Automatically generate report after every scan. Click back to the "Scan" tab and then click on Complete System Scan. This scan can take quite a while to run, so be prepared.

Ewido will list any infections found on the left hand side. When the scan has finished, it will automatically set the recommended action. Click the Apply all actions button. Ewido will display "All actions have been applied" on the right hand side.

Click on "Save Report", then "Save Report As". This will create a text file. Make sure you know where to find this file again (like on the Desktop).

Restart back into Normal Mode.


Please perform another scan with Hijack This, and then post back with a copy of the Ewido log and the new HijackThis log.

Then post the HijackThis log noted above:

To run HJT, extract it to a permanent folder such as one
you create like C:\HJT or the Desktop. 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

Also, if you have the WinXP disk, you should have all you need to do a wipe and reinstall....

[kpmwrestler]

You might add more ram. That can help.

[BartusCompater]

I think adding RAM would be sidestepping the problem, going through with what Budfred has suggested would probably be a better idea for now.

[mjc]

Make sure the machine is clean before adding more RAM, as all the RAM in the world won't cure or help an infected machine.