My girlfriend's computer (dell inspirion 5150) was pretty much completely infested with spyware, viruses, trojans, etc... I used lavasoft adaware, spybot, and AVG while in safe mode to try to get rid of them, but it didn't even make a small difference. Really bad popups, and there were a ton of fake windows security messages in the toolbar. The internet was almost unusable and i tired to download hijack this and run it so i could get help on this forum in that section, but i was never able to without the computer messing up in some way.
I entered her original windows cd that came with purchase to try and erase the current stuff and reinstall windows. I did the same thing to my old computer because of non-virus problems and it uninstalled and erased the current things and reset things up easily. Her's however, installed a new windows xp operating system and left the old one there. Now when i start it up, there is a choice between two windows operating sytstems but when i try to choose the old one, it says there are problems with it and won't let me access it. And the new one didn't install everything completely and, while virus free, is more blank than it was when she first received it. It seems like the cd didn't install enough to get it to normal and i can't even set up the internet. She already had backed up the only thing on the computer she wanted to keep and doesn't care about saving anything.
As for the questions i wanted to have answer in cliff notes (move me to a different sub forum if necessary):
1- How can I completely erase everything on the harddrive (both operating systems) to the point where the entire harddrive is completely blank and i can try and start over?
2- Will that eliminate the really bad spyware/virus problems she had? The new operating system hasn't had any problems yet, but to be sure i wanted to wipe everything clean.
3- Is there a sub forum that could help me get everything running properly after completely erasing and reinstalling windows?
Thank you and i'm sorry if this is a typical beginner question and possibly in the wrong forum. I browsed a bit the other day but couldn't tell where to put it and how to ask it. Thank's again.
I entered her original windows cd that came with purchase to try and erase the current stuff and reinstall windows. I did the same thing to my old computer because of non-virus problems and it uninstalled and erased the current things and reset things up easily. Her's however, installed a new windows xp operating system and left the old one there. Now when i start it up, there is a choice between two windows operating sytstems but when i try to choose the old one, it says there are problems with it and won't let me access it. And the new one didn't install everything completely and, while virus free, is more blank than it was when she first received it. It seems like the cd didn't install enough to get it to normal and i can't even set up the internet. She already had backed up the only thing on the computer she wanted to keep and doesn't care about saving anything.
As for the questions i wanted to have answer in cliff notes (move me to a different sub forum if necessary):
1- How can I completely erase everything on the harddrive (both operating systems) to the point where the entire harddrive is completely blank and i can try and start over?
2- Will that eliminate the really bad spyware/virus problems she had? The new operating system hasn't had any problems yet, but to be sure i wanted to wipe everything clean.
3- Is there a sub forum that could help me get everything running properly after completely erasing and reinstalling windows?
Thank you and i'm sorry if this is a typical beginner question and possibly in the wrong forum. I browsed a bit the other day but couldn't tell where to put it and how to ask it. Thank's again.
