need computer help

[Bionic Joe]

Long story short my desktop picked up a virus so i'm wondering if there is a way to dump evertything so i can reinstall the factory backup discs?

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

You can reformat the hard drive, but you'll lose everything on it.

Don C.

[MegoSteve]

Anyone using Avast Anti-Virus?

Just for your information, they released an update early today that was faulty. If you are using it and are running into a lot of problems browsing the web (lots of phony claims that the site you are visiting is trying to load a trojan), update your virus definitions... they've released an update that fixes the problem.

[Bionic Joe]

Hmmmm....

You can reformat the hard drive, but you'll lose everything on it.

Don C.

That will be no problem as there's nothing on it that can't be put back on
so how do i go about refornating the hard drive?

[ctc]

>how do i go about refornating the hard drive?

Okay.... I'm no expert so you might want to get a second opinion, but if you're SURE you've gopt everything on disk you'll need, bring up the DOS prompt. Type in:

format c: (Assuming C is your hard drive.) Enter. It'll ask if you're sure. It might ask twice. If you say yes it wipes out your entire hard drive. Put in your windows disk and take it from there. If it asks if you want to do a virus scan beforehand, say yes. Do one after reinstalling your programs too; some viruses hide during a reformat. I've also heard that upgrading to Windows 7 erases everything on your hard drive.

That's how it used to work.... I'm not so sure about newer stuff (I havenh't reformatted my new computer yet) so maybe someone else here can back me up?

Don C.

[z3zep]

Long story short my desktop picked up a virus so i'm wondering if there is a way to dump evertything so i can reinstall the factory backup discs?

I would try cleaning the virus first, before going to that extreme.

Try google to find out what virus you have (by the symptoms) someone will have posted what software can rid it.