Need some help...infected computer

S

skippy24060

New Member
A friend of mine has a desktop computer that is running windows xp and he says the computer has a ton of viruses. He really doesn't know a lot about computers, but I was just wondering, is there anyway to completely delete everything off of the computer and just start over like it is brand new?

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Yes, you can format the drive and reinstall Windows. If he has his Windows CD, just insert it into the CD drive before Windows starts to load, and make sure that the CD drive is set as the first boot device in the BIOS. After the system POSTS, you will be asked to press any key to boot from CD. Do so and follow the prompts to format and reinstall Windows. This will delete any data on the system as well.

For a less extreme approach, have him post a HijackThis log. We can usually resolve these issues without resorting to that:

Please download the HijackThis installer from http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/threat_analytics/HJTInstall.exe.

Run the installer and choose Install, indicating that you accept the licence agreement. The installer will place a shortcut on your desktop and launch HijackThis.

Click Do a system scan and save a logfile

When the Notepad window opens choose Edit -> Select All to select the entire log, and copy and paste the log into a reply post.
Most of what it lists will be harmless or even essential, don't fix anything yet.
 
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