Wiping the Hard Drive

[Nijyuuichi]

Hi, my little sister's computer has all sorts of virus that we can't remove, spyware that keeps coming back, and an application that keeps trying to hack her. I've decided to wipe her hard drive, but don't know how^^;; My dad doesn't want anything to do with this because the last time he wiped a hard drive, I guess he didn't format it right and the whole thing stopped working. Would anyone be kind enough to tell me what to do? Thankies^_~

 

[Cromewell]

what OS are you going to install?

 

[Nijyuuichi]

Windows Xp Home.

 

[Greg J.]

Set the BIOS to boot from the CD drive first. Next, back up any data that you need to keep. Put the Windows XP CD in the cd drive and restart the computer. Delete the partition and decide on a new partition (go with maximum size). FULL (long, not short) reformat the hard drive with the NTFS format. It should run automatically. It may take a couple of hours to complete. When prompted, enter the CD key serial number located on the Windows CD case.

When it is done and you are on the desktop, defragment the hard drive. Then you will need to re-install the following drivers and software programs:

1. Chipset drivers
2. Video Card Drivers.
3. NIC/Modem Drivers and ISP software
4. Windows Update, High Priority Updates
5. Windows Update, Optional hardware updates
6. Windows Update, Optional software updates (don't load unnecessary items)
7. Other Drivers (try to automatically update first)
8. Major applications. Fully update each application before installing the next.
9. The rest of your apps. (run disk cleanup)
10. Anti-Virus software and update it.
11. Configure email

Set Windows XP settings the way your sister wants them (the screen resolution and refresh rate, folders, icons, desktop picture, etc.)

Afterwards you may want to defragment the hard drive again and install any other programs you want to have like Windows XP Service Pack 2 from microsoft.com

If all goes well, enjoy your computer.

 

[joshj]

Well, then you just stick the XP cd in the drive, change the boot order to the cd drive, and do what it tells you to. If there's more than one hard drive, you'll want to make sure and put it on the right one (C drive)

Edit: Eh, beat me to it

 

[Greg J.]

By the way, to keep viruses and spyware off of your sister's computer, you can enable Windows Firewall and get a FREE anti-virus program (if you don't already have one) at
http://www.avast.com/eng/down_home.html Don't forget to update (I think you can set it to auto-update).

Oh, and if you don't already know, you can get Anti-Spyware programs like Spybot Search & Destroy, Ad-Aware, and Microsoft Anti-Spyware. Just be sure to update their definitions every month.

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

Ad-Aware:
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html?part=69274&subj=dlpage&tag=button

Official Microsoft Anti-Spyware:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...a2-6a57-4c57-a8bd-dbf62eda9671&displaylang=en

 

[newbie2005]

Will this work?

1. create a system "boot-up" disk (on a 3 1/2" diskette)
2. stick it into Drive A
3. reboot the computer
4. once computer gets rebooted, it takes you to Drive A
5. at the command prompt, type "format c:"

To prevent your computer from future attacks (virus/spyware/adware/hacking), instead of installing 1/2 dozen software (e.g., SpyBot Search&Destroy, Adware, VirusScan...), perhaps it's a good idea to get an all-in-one program, such as McAfee Internet Security Suite.

 

[Cromewell]

yes that would work but the XP install can format the drive as part of the install process

 

[pcmagic]

when the computer was baught a cd should have been givin with it to restore to factory settings as you got it out the box!!!!!!