How to reformat my HD?

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Guest

Hello,
i have a question concerning reformatting my hard drive. My pc has been
under the influence of alot of aware and spyware in the recent weeks. It made
sure that some software and internet applications have been working quite
slower. By defragmentating my HD and installing the Windows Anti-Spyware Beta
software my pc has been able to function like it used to be a couple of weeks
ago. Still i have noticed that the pc isnt able to function like i was used
to. To bring it back to its original standard, i think it would be better to
reformat my HD and install the different anti-virus, spyware and adware
programs. But first i need to reformat my HD, which isnt that simple at this
moment.
When i right-click on my HD icon and click on 'reformat...', the pc
eventually says that i'm not able to reformat, because there are other
programs running at the moment. I do a quick check if that's the case, which
in first notice is not correct. I do not have any other programs running, nor
is there any other screen open what so ever.

My question that you probably can guess by now is how can i solve this error
and what measures do i need to take for a succesfull reformat process?

Thx in advance.
 
Reformatting a hard disk drive should be considered an action of last resort
if, for instance, virus and spyware threats have caused irreparable damage.



Before reformatting a hard disk drive, sit back have a cup of tea and
consider your options and remember that EVERYTHING WILL BE LOST!



If you do not have a complete back-up of the whole of the hard disk AND / OR
you are not 100% sure you may recover ALL your data the best option would be
to install the Windows operating system and your software onto another hard
disk drive. In this way, for the cost of the hard disk drive, all your data
will be safe.



If this is the only option and before reformatting make sure you have copied
every file you may want onto, say, CD. This includes not only the obvious
My documents (or wherever you keep your personal files) but also backup
catalogues, emails, faxes and the Windows Address Book (often things that
are used everyday, taken for granted and forgotten - until it's lost for
good).



You also need to make sure that you have all the hardware driver etc. (e.g.
motherboard, monitor, printer, scanner) and all the software CDs Make a list
(running order) of all the actions things that you need to do (this will
ensure that the process is well thought out before starting and avoids the
"if only I'd thought of that" moments.



You also need to set aside several hours to do the job. Installing Windows,
antispyware, antivirus anti intrusion software and other software may take
several hours end to end but needs sporadic attention. Similarly, updating
all your software may take a long time - although sporadic attention. By
the way, it is recommended that, after installing Windows, you install and
update all your protection before doing anything else on the internet.



Only when everything is in place should you start the reformat, software
re-build (and hope that it'll be all OK)



But, in some respects, that is the easiest part of the process. You will
now have to remember how the heck all the software was configured and it may
be several weeks before everything is working really smoothly again.



Good luck!


Regards.

Bill Ridgeway
Computer Solutions
 
Reformatting a hard disk drive should be considered an action of last resort
if, for instance, virus and spyware threats have caused irreparable damage.

Before reformatting a hard disk drive, sit back have a cup of tea and
consider your options and remember that EVERYTHING WILL BE LOST!

If you do not have a complete back-up of the whole of the hard disk AND / OR
you are not 100% sure you may recover ALL your data the best option would be
to install the Windows operating system and your software onto another hard
disk drive. In this way, for the cost of the hard disk drive, all your data
will be safe.

If this is the only option and before reformatting make sure you have copied
every file you may want onto, say, CD. This includes not only the obvious
My documents (or wherever you keep your personal files) but also backup
catalogues, emails, faxes and the Windows Address Book (often things that
are used everyday, taken for granted and forgotten - until it's lost for
good).

You also need to make sure that you have all the hardware driver etc. (e.g.
motherboard, monitor, printer, scanner) and all the software CDs Make a list
(running order) of all the actions things that you need to do (this will
ensure that the process is well thought out before starting and avoids the
"if only I'd thought of that" moments.

You also need to set aside several hours to do the job. Installing Windows,
antispyware, antivirus anti intrusion software and other software may take
several hours end to end but needs sporadic attention. Similarly, updating
all your software may take a long time - although sporadic attention. By
the way, it is recommended that, after installing Windows, you install and
update all your protection before doing anything else on the internet.

Only when everything is in place should you start the reformat, software
re-build (and hope that it'll be all OK)

But, in some respects, that is the easiest part of the process. You will
now have to remember how the heck all the software was configured and it may
be several weeks before everything is working really smoothly again.

Good luck!

Regards.

Bill Ridgeway
Computer Solutions
 
In
CanonB said:
i have a question concerning reformatting my hard drive. My pc
has
been under the influence of alot of aware and spyware in the
recent
weeks. It made sure that some software and internet
applications have
been working quite slower. By defragmentating my HD and
installing
the Windows Anti-Spyware Beta software my pc has been able to
function like it used to be a couple of weeks ago. Still i have
noticed that the pc isnt able to function like i was used to.
To
bring it back to its original standard, i think it would be
better to
reformat my HD and install the different anti-virus, spyware
and
adware programs. But first i need to reformat my HD, which isnt
that
simple at this moment.
When i right-click on my HD icon and click on 'reformat...',
the pc
eventually says that i'm not able to reformat, because there
are other
programs running at the moment. I do a quick check if that's
the
case, which in first notice is not correct. I do not have any
other
programs running, nor is there any other screen open what so
ever.
Click to expand...

You can't format the Windows drive from within Windows, since
that would leave Windows without a leg to stand on.

Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if
necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean
installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
prompted, then create a new one).

You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

However I don't recommend doing this. In my view, it's usually a
mistake. With a modicum of care, it should never be necessary to
reinstall Windows (XP or any other version). I've run Windows
3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, and
Windows XP, each for the period of time before the next version
came out, and each on two machines here. I never reinstalled any
of them, and I have never had anything more than an occasional
minor problem.

It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical
support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to
almost any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is
"reformat and reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them.
It gets you off the phone quickly, it almost always works, and it
doesn't require them to do any real troubleshooting (a skill that
most of them obviously don't possess in any great degree).

But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You
have to restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all
your programs, you have to reinstall all the Windows and
application updates,you have to locate and install all the needed
drivers for your system, you have to recustomize Windows and all
your apps to work the way you're comfortable with.

Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome,
you may have trouble with some of them: can you find all your
application CDs? Can you find all the needed installation codes?
Do you have data backups to restore? Do you even remember all the
customizations and tweaks you may have installed to make
everything work the way you like?

Occasionally there are problems that are so difficult to solve
that Windows should be reinstalled cleanly. But they are few and
far between; reinstallation should not be a substitute for
troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only
after all other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person
have failed.

If you have problems, post them here; it's likely that someone
can help you and a reinstallation won't be required.
 
In
CanonB said:
Hello,
i have a question concerning reformatting my hard drive. My pc has
been under the influence of alot of aware and spyware in the recent
weeks. It made sure that some software and internet applications have
been working quite slower. By defragmentating my HD and installing
the Windows Anti-Spyware Beta software my pc has been able to
function like it used to be a couple of weeks ago. Still i have
noticed that the pc isnt able to function like i was used to. To
bring it back to its original standard, i think it would be better to
reformat my HD and install the different anti-virus, spyware and
adware programs. But first i need to reformat my HD, which isnt that
simple at this moment.
When i right-click on my HD icon and click on 'reformat...', the pc
eventually says that i'm not able to reformat, because there are other
programs running at the moment. I do a quick check if that's the
case, which in first notice is not correct. I do not have any other
programs running, nor is there any other screen open what so ever.

My question that you probably can guess by now is how can i solve
this error and what measures do i need to take for a succesfull
reformat process?

Thx in advance.
Click to expand...

You can't format the drive when it is in use.
Click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into the address box
if using the web based newsgroup.
Format XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/format_XP.htm
--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm
 
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