Toshiba Laptop - Time to start over

[Flatland Shooter]

I'm at wits end. The antivirus software has failed again and now I'm screwed. Scans indicate 11 problems that cannot be deleted. I'm locked out of the "Restore" function and everything has slowed down to a crawl. Often I have to reboot several times just to get Internet Explorer to start up.

I've decided to take the next, and most drastic step. Format the hard drive and reload the operating system. The laptop came with a "Recovery and Applications" disk for this laptop. The instructions for the disk indicate that this media will reformat my hard disk and all information currently on the hard disk will be removed. I also have the Product Key (located on the bottom of the laptop).

The operating system is Windows XP Home edition. Vintage is early 2006.

Programs used on this computer are limited to Internet Explorer, Outlook Express and Microsoft Office. I will also pick up a "better" anti-virus program. All of the data files I need are backed up on an external hard drive.

My question, will formatting the hard drive and reloading the operating system solve my problems? If best to start with a new hard drive, I can go that route. Anything else I need to take into consideration?

Many, many thanks for any assistance.

Bill

[The_Vigilante]

Yes, a reformat of your hard drive should take care of the problem. Which anti-virus program have you been using? Do your kids use your laptop? Can't imagine what you are doing to get infected so bad?

[Flatland Shooter]

Yes, a reformat of your hard drive should take care of the problem. Which anti-virus program have you been using? Do your kids use your laptop? Can't imagine what you are doing to get infected so bad?

No kids or spouse on the machine. I make it a point to NOT go to websites that may be considered dangerous. Other than checking bank and brokerage accounts and a few investing websites and shooting websites, the laptop gets little use.

While traveling in November I did check e-mails at a few free WIFI sites (Starbucks, McDonalds and a Hampton Inn).

The anti-virus + firewall program I am using is "Bit Defender". This program has been the hardest virus software I've ever used to keep it up and running. Several times it has switched itself off. When contacted, their customer service just sends back a "canned reply" that more often than not has no bearing on my questions.

Planning on switching to Kapersky or McAfee in the future. Used Norton but found it adds too much junk and slows down my pc's.

If I get the free time this weekend, I'm going to pull the trigger.

And thank you for your reply.

Bill

[GrumpyOne]

Reformatting the hard drive will wipe everything, and I mean everything, off of the drive, including any viruses. Best way to go, IMO.

[Classic_jon]

Make sure you have everything saved off of it you want to keep and then format it. If the install is from 2006 it probably has more than a few "issues" just from age and use....and that is totally normal.

If you want a good free Anti virus program google the exact words "AVG Free" and make sure you download that FREE one and *not* the TRIAL version. AVG tries really hard to get you to buy their product but I suggest using it first and then if you like it, buy it to support them. If you want to buy a good Anti Virus I would suggest F-secure. It comes with antivirus, anti-rootkit, and anti-spyware all built in and a license for 3 computers for the price most companies charge for one computer.

As far as good anti-spyware software out there that will help to backstop your antivirus software there are several I use. Malwarebytes catches a good chunk of the really nasty ones and is fast and user friendly. The others I use are AdAware and spybot. They are not as user friendly but do a good job.

No matter what you do, good luck!

[jmurch]

Malwarebutes and AVG (free.grisoft.com)

Jeff

[Flatland Shooter]

Thank you gentlemen.

Can I have two different anti-virus programs running at the same time?

I'm thinking Kapersky and AVG Free.

BitDefender comes with a firewall and anti-spyware so with it gone, I will need to add Malwarebytes to my "must install" list.

I may just use the firewall Microsoft has on the operating system.

Bill

[Classic_jon]

Thank you gentlemen.

Can I have two different anti-virus programs running at the same time?

I'm thinking Kapersky and AVG Free.

BitDefender comes with a firewall and anti-spyware so with it gone, I will need to add Malwarebytes to my "must install" list.

I may just use the firewall Microsoft has on the operating system.

Bill

I would not recommend running two AV programs on the same box since they will probably start "fighting" one another in attempts to get priority to stop any threats. I have even seen some AV programs compete enough to lock up a system if it gets extreme enough.

On the firewalls, if you are behind a standard NAT firewall that most Routers set up and you are using the built in firewall that comes with windows, you should be well protected against most standard threats out there. That being said, a firewall is not going to stop some of the exploits and "drive by" trojans that are out there...but that is where having a good antivirus and andtispyware program comes in.

Ona related note:

As a suggestion, any time you are on the internet and an "error message" pops up, **read it carefully!!!** The reason I say this is that the current generation of Trojans and spyware downloaders will normally pop up something that LOOKS like a windows error message to get you to click ok and then ALLOW it to download and install because by clicking ok, you have "given it permission" to install on your PC. By doing it that way they get around most firewalls and many antivirus programs because it is now "installed" as a program that you allowed.

[Graham Smith]

Wiping the hard drive is like starting over. If you have a restore disk that does not have all the cr@pw@re the computer came with, so much the better.

If you have Vista or XP SP3, you might want to try Microsoft Security Essentials, it's gotten surprisingly good reviews in the tech community lately.

Otherwise, try AVG. I know that there is a free version, but I think that it's worth the money to pay for the full edition. Despite not getting the top rating, a very large group of people in the tech community use AVG.

[Classic_jon]

Wiping the hard drive is like starting over. If you have a restore disk that does not have all the cr@pw@re the computer came with, so much the better.

If you have Vista or XP SP3, you might want to try Microsoft Security Essentials, it's gotten surprisingly good reviews in the tech community lately.

Otherwise, try AVG. I know that there is a free version, but I think that it's worth the money to pay for the full edition. Despite not getting the top rating, a very large group of people in the tech community use AVG.

If he does end up re-installing from a recovery disk with all the "crud-ware" on it there is a program called "PC decrapifier" that does a good job of finding and automatically removing it without you having to un-install it all manually. http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/

[Derek45]

A good friend of mine has a PC repair business.

He says AVAST is better than AVG and it's also free.

Also get malewarebytes

He also says getting away from MS outlook, and Internet explorer are the best best.

Use FIREFOX to browse and THUNDERBIRD as an email program. Both free from Mozilla

He says 99% of his business is removing spyware/malware and he hardly every replaces hardware anymore.

I got tired of MS and have been using LINUX for a few years.

My wife runs a MAC

Life is good.

Edited December 25, 2010 by Derek45

[Flatland Shooter]

UPDATE

With Christmas behind us and some spare time before New Year's celebrations begin, the work began.

Used the original Toshiba supplied restore disk to completely wipe the hard drive. It said it may take a few hours. In my case, 8 hrs and 32 min.

Used the same disk to reload Windows XP and partitions back to original loading. Took less than an hour.

Then the fun began. Spent the remainder of the day blowing away junk programs and loading needed software. I've decided to give AVG anti-virus a try.

The improvement is impressive. I will not wait nearly so long to repeat this in the future.

Thanks to everyone for their help.

Happy New Year to all.

Bill