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my comp is acting weird lately and now i cant play halo i think i have a virus so is thier a way to format everything except windows xp

2007-02-04 14:27:06 · 9 answers · asked by kevinglapid 1 in Computers & Internet Hardware Other - Hardware

9 answers

no ... if u have a virus it has infected xp .... you can use disk imaging software to make an image of ur operating system while its in good shape ..THEN u could format ur harddrive and use ur image to restore ... but it does u no good to image a system thats already infected ...

2007-02-04 14:30:49 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

To Format you "Have" to erase everything.
First look at the top of your browser; Tools > Internet Options > Delete Files (Check the Off Line content if it pop up).
This get rid of tracking cookies from when you browse.
Then go here;
http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan.htm
This Panda Virus Scan. Scroll down and in center of page click free scan.
Fill out the stuff and it download the Virus signatures to do the scan.
If, it find something the green bar will turn red. WAIT until the scan is finished.
Then click see report and save this where you know how to find (My Documents).
The report show you where everything is, this why I tell you to delete Files because that keep a big list of Tracking Cookies out.
Then you can just go into Windows Explorer and find and right click and delete.
Re-Boot after you delete the files Panda find, then run the Panda scan again. Remeber to re-boot.
If everything gone, except cookies, then you good to go to Control Panel and find ADD/DELETE Programs and Delete Panda!

2007-02-04 22:44:06 · answer #2 · answered by Snaglefritz 7 · 0 0

Unless you have a partitioned hard drive, no. If your hard drive is partitioned you can format the partitions other than the one XP is on, but that may not help as the virus probably lives pretty close to your operating system.

Try AVG on a free download. It is awesome antivirus software, free and it seems to have cleaned up my computer pretty well. A tech told me a lot of people like it better than Norton, McAfee or any of the expensive commercial antivirus software.

You should be able to Google "AVG" and get to their website for a free download.

Good luck.

2007-02-04 22:33:24 · answer #3 · answered by Warren D 7 · 0 0

If you format, you will wipe out the contents of the partition you format. You can try http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ and do the online scan. Did you have antivirus software installed and if so, were you updating the definitions often (daily if possible)? If you end up deciding to format and install fresh, backup your files and if possible, wipe the drive http://www.pcinspector.de/ pick english and then pick emaxx, its free and you are better off to start it before you go to bed (you have to burn it to CD I think).

Last thing to do before formatting is to do a system restore and go as far back as you can. This often doesn't work, but if it does, its better than potentially losing files you could forget to backup.

2007-02-05 00:51:05 · answer #4 · answered by Wire Tapped 6 · 0 0

whenever formatting a drive, you erase everything on that drive, no choice. also, the virus may be affecting your operating system, and so excusing that part does no good.

Try getting an anti-virus program or anti spyware, such as spydoctor, adaware, prevx1, or other.

prevx 1 offers a 30 day trial, it's really good for tough problems.

2007-02-04 22:30:53 · answer #5 · answered by Richard C 3 · 0 1

OK-First thing is, formatting your hard drive is a last resort. There are a number of things to try first. Whenever a computer starts acting funny, everyone assumes that it's a virus. Oftentimes, it can be adware or spyware that is causing your problems; so , let's not cut off your hand to remove a hangnail.

Follow these links, download the files, run the apps and accept all defaults.

AdAware-(free anti-spyware)---
http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10399602.html?tag=lst-0-1

Spybot Search and Destroy:(another free anti-spyware)
http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10401314.html?tag=lst-0-1

AVG FREE Edition Anti-virus:
http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10596553.html?tag=lst-0-1

Download each one, save to your desktop, and run each in turn. Be sure to allow each to update it's definition files in order to have the most up to date protection and detection profile available. THIS IS GOING TO TAKE A WHILE, so be patient. You are going to run a complete scan of your hard drive 3 times, so as you can imagine, it's a rather lengthy process. After you are done, I imagine that you will have removed HUNDREDS of known adware and spyware files. Some will be tracking cookies, which won't necessarily HURT you, but I detest them on general principles. After you are done with all of these steps, finally go to

Zonealarm firewall: (free)
http://www.download.com/ZoneAlarm/3000-10435_4-10550364.html?tag=lst-0-2

and download and install that. For a short while, it will annoy you
by asking if programs can access the internet. You will generally be able to tell if you want to allow a program access; for instance, your Halo will want to access the internet for updates. Just remember to check the "Remember" box-if you are not sure, don't click "Remember", and click "Deny"-pretty soon you will be able to associate something like "Win32Updater" with the game that you just started.

If all else fails-write your documents files to a CD or DVD disk, AFTER scanning them for viruses. You may also want to include things like save game files for Halo (or whatever), which are generally located in the C/Program Files/Halo(or whatever)/saved games file, or something like it-you can access a website like Gamespot to ask where a specific game's save file is located. Don't forget pictures and music, as well.

Good luck!

2007-02-12 17:32:43 · answer #6 · answered by Douglas D 4 · 0 0

Nope, you will have to reinstall the Windows XP along with everything else.

2007-02-04 22:40:45 · answer #7 · answered by Ash E 1 · 0 0

Impossible!

2007-02-12 22:01:35 · answer #8 · answered by PC HACKER 1 · 0 0

It can not be done when you format you loose everything.

2007-02-04 22:31:23 · answer #9 · answered by hitechsleuth 5 · 0 0

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