Computer help needed

[ross93]

So my computer got a virus and needs to be completely redone. It's a dell 1545 Inspiron laptop. Im not worried about saving anything. I tried the f8 deal when it's turning on, select repair, asks for a password and doesn't accept it! The only disks I've have is operating systems, drivers, apps and office.
Is there some other way to wipe this without taking it somewhere?

[Chriser0]

If you can get in to the bios and change the boot order to cd drive first then put the is cd in (windows im assuming) you can format the hdd from there. To get in to the bios it should be f2 as soon as power on when it shows dell logo. Once you get the boot order changed let me know and I'll help you some more.


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[ross93]

Changed the boot sequence to cd first. What is the cd I put in?

[1979chevy.]

I think it's the cd that contains the operating system if I'm correct.

[Chriser0]

Yes it the windows cd. Once that's pulled up go to install and when it asks you what hard drive click the main one and format it.


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[ross93]

It wants me to select a driver to save stuff on. It scanned and didnt find any. I click browse and it finds under computer the vista DVD (d: ) so not that one. Then it shows the recovery (e: ) and the os (c: )
What do I choose/I feel like something is missing?

[CarGuy7a]

With a virus you need to completely wipe the OS hard drive to completely get rid of it. Just re installing windows will not fix the issue. What you need is an external hard drive enclosure that will accommodate a 2.5 inch SATA laptop drive. They usually run around $30 or less. Manually remove the hard drive from the laptop and put it into the enclosure. On a different computer download the program "partition wizard". This program will allow you to completely wipe the contents of the drive. Be very careful to select the correct drive to wipe. It should take around an hour or so to wipe it. After it gets finished, format the drive to NTFS file system. Re install the drive in the computer and boot up your restore CD's. You can skip the format drive section it asks you to do when you re install windows with this method because you have already formatted the entire drive to NTFS. Once you get windows re installed, you have to re download all the drivers for the devices your laptop has such as, processor drivers, audio card drivers, video card drivers etc... You get the drivers by going to your laptop manufacturers web site. Type in your computers model number and there should be a list of drivers and software that comes up.

I just had to do this to my old laptop about a month ago. As far as anti virus programs, I run microsoft security essentials, malwarebytes, and CC cleaner.

[ross93]

With a virus you need to completely wipe the OS hard drive to completely get rid of it. Just re installing windows will not fix the issue. What you need is an external hard drive enclosure that will accommodate a 2.5 inch SATA laptop drive. They usually run around $30 or less. Manually remove the hard drive from the laptop and put it into the enclosure. On a different computer download the program "partition wizard". This program will allow you to completely wipe the contents of the drive. Be very careful to select the correct drive to wipe. It should take around an hour or so to wipe it. After it gets finished, format the drive to NTFS file system. Re install the drive in the computer and boot up your restore CD's. You can skip the format drive section it asks you to do when you re install windows with this method because you have already formatted the entire drive to NTFS. Once you get windows re installed, you have to re download all the drivers for the devices your laptop has such as, processor drivers, audio card drivers, video card drivers etc... You get the drivers by going to your laptop manufacturers web site. Type in your computers model number and there should be a list of drivers and software that comes up.

I just had to do this to my old laptop about a month ago. As far as anti virus programs, I run microsoft security essentials, malwarebytes, and CC cleaner.

Sounds complicated. I can take the computer apart but I would have no idea what needs to be installed or deleted or where.
Is there a walk through online you followed?

[ross93]

Double post

[harry697]

Easy fix. Step one involves a decent sized hammer. Step two involves an automobile and Best Buy.



Sorry, I know nothing about computers aside from the power button, mouse and keyboard. I feel your pain though. Luckily I have a good friend and fellow racer who is a genius with these things.


Good luck!

[Nitronaught]

So my computer got a virus and needs to be completely redone. It's a dell 1545 Inspiron laptop. Im not worried about saving anything. I tried the f8 deal when it's turning on, select repair, asks for a password and doesn't accept it! The only disks I've have is operating systems, drivers, apps and office.
Is there some other way to wipe this without taking it somewhere?

Take the same Option but select "Last known, good settings" as the Boot Option.

I doubt this will work.. Sound like "Malware" to me.

I highly recommend doing a "Dsik Cleanup" and then delete all your temp files and cookies in your browser..

If you still have the bugger, install "Microsoft Security Essentials" and run that. Still no good? OK last shot "Malwarebytes"

Should handle it..

[deerhurst]

Id do it a little differently at work, i do a malwarebytes, then security essentials and use combofix as a last resort. Do NOT use combofix on a healthy machine.

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[CarGuy7a]

Sounds complicated. I can take the computer apart but I would have no idea what needs to be installed or deleted or where.
Is there a walk through online you followed?

The little enclosures you can get, the hard drive just plugs into it on the circuit board and it has two USB cables, a power and one that the info goes through. Whatever computer you plug it into should install the drivers automatically and it will read the hard drive as an external mass storage device (kind of like an SD card for a digital camera). Then you open up partition wizard and it will show all the hard drives on or connected to the computer. You select the external hard drive and wipe it. You can probably look up how to use partition wizard on youtube also. It's a pretty simple program but you just want to make sure you are wiping the correct drive. In partition wizard, default will be drive 1 (which will be the drive your computer is using) Drive 2 will be the external (the one you want to wipe). Unless the computer you are using has more than one drive. In that case, the external will usually be the very last drive in the list.

Here's a link of an enclosure with a video on how it goes together. He assembles it around 3:10.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817392032

What you want to wipe is the whole hard drive itself. All data on it. System files, Everything. Your restore CD's that re install windows will put all this stuff back on the drive. Pretty much doing it this way you are starting from scratch.

It's actually pretty easy. The longest part is waiting for the drive to wipe and installing windows.

I forgot to add. There are a couple different types of hard drives. SATA and the older IDE type drives. The SATA and IDE refer to the connectors on the hard drives themselves. IDE will have a bunch of pins sticking out while an SATA will have a plastic shroud type connector. He shows what an SATA looks like in the vid.

[Chriser0]

If you have new is disks not restore disk you can format the hdd from there. If all you need is Internet and basic word processing get Ubuntu. Google it. Shows you how to instal. Just format when doing it. If I'm not mistaking it for you. Best part it's free.


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[Nitronaught]

With a virus you need to completely wipe the OS hard drive to completely get rid of it. Just re installing windows will not fix the issue. What you need is an external hard drive enclosure that will accommodate a 2.5 inch SATA laptop drive. They usually run around $30 or less. Manually remove the hard drive from the laptop and put it into the enclosure. On a different computer download the program "partition wizard". This program will allow you to completely wipe the contents of the drive. Be very careful to select the correct drive to wipe. It should take around an hour or so to wipe it. After it gets finished, format the drive to NTFS file system. Re install the drive in the computer and boot up your restore CD's. You can skip the format drive section it asks you to do when you re install windows with this method because you have already formatted the entire drive to NTFS. Once you get windows re installed, you have to re download all the drivers for the devices your laptop has such as, processor drivers, audio card drivers, video card drivers etc... You get the drivers by going to your laptop manufacturers web site. Type in your computers model number and there should be a list of drivers and software that comes up.

I just had to do this to my old laptop about a month ago. As far as anti virus programs, I run microsoft security essentials, malwarebytes, and CC cleaner.

You are way overthinking it...

If he boots of the OS disk, he can select the partition and delete it. Then recreate a new partition and format it. If you do this then all you do is install windows and drivers...

Not many virus's hang in the boot partition but there are a few. By deleting the partition and re-creating the virus is truly gone.

[joe831]

With a virus you need to completely wipe the OS hard drive to completely get rid of it. Just re installing windows will not fix the issue. What you need is an external hard drive enclosure that will accommodate a 2.5 inch SATA laptop drive. They usually run around $30 or less. Manually remove the hard drive from the laptop and put it into the enclosure. On a different computer download the program "partition wizard". This program will allow you to completely wipe the contents of the drive. Be very careful to select the correct drive to wipe. It should take around an hour or so to wipe it. After it gets finished, format the drive to NTFS file system. Re install the drive in the computer and boot up your restore CD's. You can skip the format drive section it asks you to do when you re install windows with this method because you have already formatted the entire drive to NTFS. Once you get windows re installed, you have to re download all the drivers for the devices your laptop has such as, processor drivers, audio card drivers, video card drivers etc... You get the drivers by going to your laptop manufacturers web site. Type in your computers model number and there should be a list of drivers and software that comes up.

I just had to do this to my old laptop about a month ago. As far as anti virus programs, I run microsoft security essentials, malwarebytes, and CC cleaner.

I just got this one, works well and USB 3.0

http://www.ebay.com/itm/200776528311...84.m1439.l2648

Sounds complicated. I can take the computer apart but I would have no idea what needs to be installed or deleted or where.
Is there a walk through online you followed?

Go on dell.com and under support enter in your service tag and it will give you a step by step guide. Removing the hard drive should be easy

[Petertje60]

If you boot from a (bootable) CD, which comes with every Dell, and format your disk during the Windows install procedure, you will have no virus anymore.

I had a virus/malware infection 3 times and was able to get rid of it every time without formatting the HD or reinstalling Windows. That doesn't say it is possible in your case, just that there is a possibility.

[vroom_skies]

Man, this thread is a mess. How about we start off simple and go from there, assuming you still need help.

First boot into safe mode with networking and download these - ccleaner, tdsskiller, malwarebytes anti-malware, superantispyware & Microsoft security essentials.
Run/ install them in this order:
1- ccleaner (run the cleaner portion)
2- tdsskiller (run)
3- malwarebytes anti-malware (update then run a full scan)
4- superantispyware (update then run a full scan)
5- Microsoft security essentials (uninstall any other anti virus software before hand) (update then run a full scan)

If you're still having issues after this give combofix a go, but my guess is you wont need it.
After all is said and done make sure to update Windows and create a new system restore point. I'd recommend deleting all previous restore points as well.

[Cipher_Jones]

Wow, I wish I would have seen this before you ordered parts.

There is a free program called "boot n nuke". If you can burn an ISO you can use it. It is a program for destroying data. It writes random data to the hard drive 7 or 35 times, but there is a 'quick mode'.

I use it to completely wipe a hard drive when I prepare a computer to be sold for a customer. That way, the next person can't retrieve their data.

Its not that you need all of that in your scenario, but this little program is the least complicated way I know to completely erase a hard drive.

If you have the recovery disks (which you do) there is absolutely no reason why you should leave the recovery partition intact. Many many viruses utilize the any drive they can find. Any flash drive you have ever put into the computer has to be wiped. ANY external hard drive. Ubuntu is OK if you already know how to use it, but downloading an entire CD to get gparted is a waste of time. You can get gparted for free, or hirens boot cd for free, but if you don't know how to use them it will take a while to learn, and if you do it incorrectly windows will not recognize your hard drive when you are done.

There is no "fix all" antispyware/anti-Malware/antivirus. The best thing to do is a clean start with the proper protection, and proper internet habits.

Once a computer is cleaned, I install clamwinav because it is open source. There are no ads. AVG and Avast are both good free protection, but with adware built in. Then I install Firefox (or Chrome) and install the following add ons. Ghostery and add block plus. When you see how much stuff ghostery blocks, you will be amazed. If you have windows XP, you will need a firewall also. One that alerts you when new software is accessing your internet. Vista and 7 seem to be fine in this aspect, but it won't hurt. Its a real pain getting a new PC set up with that, because a nag screen pops up for every program that accesses the internet, but well worth knowing what you are connecting to.

And finally, change your surfing habbits. Any "free" software is not free. "Stolen" software is even worse. Torrents are in fact the devil. Lyrics sites are another culprit. Stay away from warez and the like.

[iamsuperbleeder]

You are way overthinking it...

If he boots of the OS disk, he can select the partition and delete it. Then recreate a new partition and format it. If you do this then all you do is install windows and drivers...

Not many virus's hang in the boot partition but there are a few. By deleting the partition and re-creating the virus is truly gone.

^

this

Another option, don't bother with the original Vista OS CD and go get yourself a Windows 7 Home Premium license. Vista has problems without viruses


a lot of you are making this WAY too overcomplicated... if he already doesn't care about loosing data, then forget messing with all the malwarebytes, external hard drives, and all that other mess... just low-level format and start over

[Cipher_Jones]

^

this

Another option, don't bother with the original Vista OS CD and go get yourself a Windows 7 Home Premium license. Vista has problems without viruses


a lot of you are making this WAY too overcomplicated... if he already doesn't care about loosing data, then forget messing with all the malwarebytes, external hard drives, and all that other mess... just low-level format and start over

If you don't wipe *everything* it will come back more often than not. If you can low level format everything the virus drive ever communicated with you should be OK. Following what I posted will ensure success. Especially the follow up.

Purchasing a new OS when you don't need to is silly. Anything that can be hacked on vista can be hacked on 7.

[DiggerPede]

I hate all the bloatware that comes on all these branded PC's anyways. If it was me I'd clean slate it and start over. Go down and buy Win-7. When you boot from CD/ DVD ROM it will load all the temp install files, delete your current partitions, create new ones. Then format and install. I like to have at least 2. One you can save all your goodies on. The install is basically self explanatory, just deleting, creating, formatting, then installing is the first critical part you need to pay attention to.

I purchased an ASUS laptop late last year for my wife, it was one of the best with the least amount of installed garbage. These ar totally the reasons I like building my own. I have on another SATA drive Win-8. Its not bad, everything is just all over the place, at first was a little buggy, the next update they fixed a lot of stuff. I dont think i've fired it up in 5 months. Heck the builder liscense might not be any good anymore. LOL

EDIT: I find if the owner doesnt want to save anything. Instead of wasting tons of time just clean slate it for a new install. At least I know for sure that all the bugs are out...

Oh and when I cleaned out PC's I know where you've been... #1 don't open emails you dont know who they are from, watch where you browse, and don't go to sites you dont need to go to. I'm not going to tell you which one of those is the most COMMON!!!

[iamsuperbleeder]

Purchasing a new OS when you don't need to is silly. Anything that can be hacked on vista can be hacked on 7.

Using Vista is just silly, that's why I mentioned it, lol. It's a HORRIBLE OS... It's been a buggy resource hog since its release and hasn't gotten much better...

[1979chevy.]

Yeah I agree 7 is much better than Vista.

[DiggerPede]

I totally agree. I never had the problems that a lot of people did. The notifications are what drove me up the wall.

Everyone is going to have their way to deal with this issue. I like loading OS's, so it's never a trouble for mine.

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[1979chevy.]

Yeah, although I like Vista's interface, it doesn't measure up to 7.

[Cipher_Jones]

Just throwing this out there to those that don't know much about OS's, 7 is Vista reconfigured. Look it up.

[1979chevy.]

Just throwing this out there to those that don't know much about OS's, 7 is Vista reconfigured. Look it up.

Haha that's definitely me, I'm still trying to learn.
That's interesting.

[iamsuperbleeder]

Just throwing this out there to those that don't know much about OS's, 7 is Vista reconfigured. Look it up.

That's because Vista was basically just a pre-release of 7. Microsoft got antsy and wanted to make more money by releasing two OS's

The way I see it, they used Vista as a world wide beta test. They found all the issues with Vista when they started putting it out on preconfigured PC's (like this Dell for instance), and fixed everything, made it look more pretty using Aero and added some touch screen capability, and released another OS and called it 7