Reformating/reinstalling windows

[Fish]

Well, I havent been taking really good care of my computer, and theres alot of junk on it, and useless programs running and all that crap, I wouldnt be suprised if there were quite a few viruses on it.

I heard reformating/reinstaling the OS might be soemthing good to do. Would this be ok? How exactly would you do this anyway? I know it involves booting from the windows CD, but anyone want to explain it a little more specificly?

So, if i did this, would everything be gone? I dont really have anything on here that I need to keep, but would i need to reinstall the internet stuff and all that? would it say it doesnt recongnize thinngs like the printer, would that have to be redone?

One more thing, can anyone list the security stuff i should be running. Well, nothing on here is too important, so i dont need maximum anti virus protection, but what should I at least have. In terms of anti virus stuff and a firewall. Is buying systemworks worth it?

this came with norton 2002, but i ran into some problems trying to updat it, i dont remember exactly what they were, because i cant try again because now every time I try to launch norton it comes up and dissappears....

thanks,

[)BIG"B"Affleck]

1st if you have XP after you download all the spyware removers and update them.(optional) Boot into SAFEMODE(F8 or one of those) its about the only way you can get every bit of your spyware,viruses,trojans,ect..... out of your system.
BIG"B's Linked Online Security FOR XP
********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
SOFTWARE
Top Four Security Downloads (you must have them) FIRE WALL DOWNLOAD HERE
AV DOWNLOAD HERE
SPY WARE REMOVER DOWNLOAD HERE
SPY WARE REMOVER DOWNLOAD HERE
ANTI-TROJAN DOWNLOAD HERE
Note: All downloads above are worthless without updates

Keep in mind after reinstalling windows you will have to get all the updates patches. Reinstall all software for printers,usb devices ect... (1 hour +)
Now back to you first question about reformatting.(xp)
STEP:1 Go into your BIOS and make sure it says boot from CD-ROM
STEP:2 Place the windows cd in the drive
STEP:3 Reboot the computer
STEP:4 Make sure you delete all the partions (Letter D)

[Fish]

ok thanks,

ok, to be clear, your saying reinstaling is a good idea to get every bit of bad stuff out right?

so you want me to instal the antivirus stuff before? i
reinstal/reformat it? wont everything get erased anyway?

and, im not to clear about reinstaling/reformating... is it 2 seperate things? what exactly is starting in safe mode? and what is BIOS.

[Fish]

and just a quick, related question,

i did recently run a free antivirus check thing, I think one of the viruses it found and deleted was a tape worm..

someone told me these eat at your memory? so now that its deleted will it go back to normal, or is there still damage to it?

[)BIG"B"Affleck]

I wouldnt suggest you reinstalling right now. Just download all of that stuff(start with the spyware removers) update it then run them. That will get a lot of crapp you dont need off of your computer and make it run smoothly .Reinstalling will take a while and can be a hassle to the average user .If you have still having serious problems after you install that stuff then you might want to consider that.

[)BIG"B"Affleck]

You sure it was called that I think Ive heard of that one but I didnt see it.

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html

http://slate.msn.com/id/2083292/
Give us some feed back when you run all of the spyware removers ok later dude

[Fish]

ok, I DLed all of that.

The firewal, when ui restart my computer it says a component from it was missing, please unistal prevoius versions and instal it again, i reinstalled it and it said the saem thing, if i try to run the it says the same thing.

ok what is with that anti-trojan, it said it was a trial version for 30 days... why exactly do i need this.

I am now running AVG, so do I have to keep this running when i have the computer on?

well i scanned with it, it said it cleaned about 200 viruses, i ran a scan last night with another, less up to date thing... it said it found another 200 viruses.

I ran the spy ware remover, it said it found and blocked 100 problems...
do i need to keep this running, or just scan with it once in a while?

so anyway thats 500 things... that doesnt sound good at all.... are there any viruses that do permanent dmg, because if there are, im sure i had them because i had 400... which i suppose made the computer all the more vulnable for more...

[)BIG"B"Affleck]

Wow, that news is frightening and good all at the same time. It's good that you now have these tools and have cleaned up some of the viruses, it's also bad because after 200 viruses found on you're computer I have to suggest a reformat and reinstall. IMHO, there is no good reason to press forward after that sort of damage. I assume there has been, at the very least, some damage done!

At any rate, always keep your AVG running and updated. That goes for Adaware and Spybot Search and Destory too.

You need a good Anti-Trojan program because it's pretty vital to know whether or not a kiddie/hacker has control of your machine.

Again, I recommend doing a reformat and reinstall in this particular case. And kid, please, for the sake of computers worldwide, set yourself up a limited account, as to avoid this sort of garbage in the future. In short, a limited account will not give viruses and trojans the permissions they need to execute themselves on your computer.

If your not up to doing a reinstall, just keep running your Virus/Trojan scans regularly. Remember, only download from trusted sites, ie downloads.com zdnet.com webattack.com etc...

Take care bro.. :)
BIG"B's Linked Online Security FOR XP This has been another big b production

[Fish]

And kid

i have to say, that hurts, please, for the sake of computers worldwide, set yourself up a limited account

what do you mean?

So, do you know anything about the firewall problem?

"200"

actualy it was 400 wich makes it all the more worse

so, again, you suggest reinstalling and reformating.

Now, im sure ive come off sounding kind of dumb, having 400 viruses on my computer and all, but really, im not totally computer illiterate, I knew i probably had some amount of viruses, but i just never got around to taking the precations i should, and Ive only recently started to try to learn more about it all....

So Im confident I can do it, with a little explanation of the process...

[)BIG"B"Affleck]

No bra it wasn't meant like that. I'm not making fun of you. It's good that you took back control of your computer. Ok, when I say limited account I mean an account that does not have adminastrative privileges.

If a bunch of computers happen to be taken over by trojans/and or hackers, they could be used in what is known as a DOS (denial of service) or DDOS(distributed DOS) attack. Otherwise known as zombies. It's were a bunch of infected computers are used by hackers to send pings/oversized packets (just depends on the type of attack fraggle, smurf, etc...) to shut down servers or take users off line. The less computers taken over by trojans and other backdoors, the better the internet will be as a whole.

Again, I didn't mean for it to come across that way. Today was a good day for you! Now you know, and knowing is half the battle! :D

[Fish]

i wasnt mad or anything, it meant to be more of a joke.. haha? hehe? nevermind..

anyway... any suggestion to what I do now?, because as you said, im sure there was some damage done

[)BIG"B"Affleck]

Ok, first off, do you have the latest windows updates? If not, go get them.

Second, you could always do a repair. All you need to do to perform a repair is insert your xp installation cd in and reboot. Boot from the cd and then press f8 to accept the eula etc etc.. Then when it says install xp hit yes. After that you will be presented like three choices. Choose the one that says "hit R" to perform a repair on this installation. Warning though: this will wipe out your updates if you had any, and you will need to reinstall them from the windows update site.

You can run scan disk also if you'd like before that? I, at the very least, would choose to do the repair though. It's up to you. Good luck, and I accept the joke. :D :D

Edit:

Ok, here is a formal explanation of what I just said, perhaps it will be of even greater use to you. Just incase I missed something:

XP Repair install 1. Boot the computer using the XP CD. You may need to change the boot order in the system BIOS so the CD boots before the hard drive. Check your system documentation for steps to access the BIOS and change the boot order. 2. When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below
This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
Windows XP to run on your computer:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

3. Press Enter to start the Windows Setup. do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R", (you do not want to load Recovery Console).I repeat, do not choose "To repair a Windows XP installation using the Recovery Console, press R". 4. Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows installations. 5. Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press Rto start the repair. If Repair is not one of the options, read this Warning !! [img]http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/images/button7F.jpg[/img] 6. Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will remain intact. Blaster worm warning: Do not immediately activate over the internet when asked, enable the XP firewall before connecting to the internet. You can activate after the firewall is enabled. Control Panel - Network Connections. Right click the connection you use, Properties, and there is a check box on the Advanced page.
7. Reapply updates or service packs applied since initial Windows XP installation. Please note that a Repair Install from the Original install XP CD will remove SP1 and SP1 will need to be reapplied. When to reapply SP1 Printable Repair Install step by step. repair.txt

Obviously, this was taken off the web. ;)

[)BIG"B"Affleck]

Fish print these instructions out before you get going so you will beable to read them step by step!!!!!

[Fish]

ok, I looked in a manual that came with the computer... there is a chapter saying reinstalling winXP.. now it says too boot from that CD, and then I apparently have two options, to hit a repair option, which i think is what you were saying, or to hit esc to select the fresh copy option...

so the second option has these other steps, like making new administrative accounts and all that, but the repair says to go to step 15, which starts off at winxp begins to reinstall its components and restarts..... and eventualy it says reinstall appropiate drivers and reinstall virus protection software...

you clearly said to do the repair option, but my question is why would i then need to "install virus software and then appropiate drivers"... does repair delete everything...

[)BIG"B"Affleck]

No repair will only delete windows drivers/patches which can be obtained from youe (IE) internet explorer browser at the top in the tool bar. Click where it says TOOLS then got to WINDOWS UPDATE then scan for windows up dates then download them (about 36 min).

[Fish]

a already use windows update =p......

so i should just do the repair thing you suggested?

[)BIG"B"Affleck]

I would its up to you man................

[Fish]

ok i did that.

now there was one thing... during thhe 2nd part of it... it said

The file ctlface.sys on creative wdmedia drivers is needed,

then there was one of those places where i can browse the computer for a file... i clicked cancel, and the instalation continued.

any idea what this was?

So, the firewall is still doing that thing, any idea how to fix this, or could you suggest some other thing?

[Fish]

ok... I have a problem, which i think my have been related to the problem i had instaling,

I have no sound, none at all, i cant play midi, mp3, websites i know have sound, nothing...

any idea of what this is all about?

[Fish]

control panal - audio device it says i have no audio device..

i press the little music note on my keyboard "no mixer device is located, mixer will now exit"