I have a laptop on the bar in my living room that's kind of the "house" computer for my roommate and guests to use for web browsing. As a result I have no control over what websites people visit and what sort BS gets downloaded. (It's a sh*tty old Gateway so who cares)

Long story short, I think it may have a virus (or several, or at least a healthy amount of spyware/malware) Google searches get redirected to spam sites, youtube doesn't want to work, etc... Malwarebytes and Housecall don't seem to be able to fix the problem.

I have all the original disks that came with the computer, including the (legit) windows XP disk. My problem is that I've never reformatted a drive/reinstalled windows. just wondering if anybody here can give me simple walk-through of the process or direct me to page that explains things in relatively simple terms. there's nothing to back up either since I don't have any important files on this computer.

What problems am I likely to run into? What is the hardest part? I have watched a friend go through the process before and I have a vague understanding of what it entails. Any help is appreciated.
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If you are not worried about backing anything up or saving anything it is a piece of cake.

1 - put the Window CD in the drive.
2 - restart the computer
3 - As soon as it comes back up go into the bios (should be F1, delete or something like that)
4 - Set the CD Drive as the first startup device
5 - exit bios
6 - when prompted press any key to start from CD
7 - follow the prompts in the Windows Setup.
8 - make sure you delete the partition and format it to a new partition (that is the step that wipes it).

More info from Microsoft:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341
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*edit* ADT720 beat me to it, follow his instructions and you are good to go.

If you have all the original discs you should have no issues, you will have to suffer through a few windows updates but that is no issue.

As for reformatting just switch the boot drive to the CD and toss in your xp disc and let it do the formatting.

Do you have the original drivers for the laptop? If you have the OEM drivers disc you are good to go, otherwise you will have to find them on the net which is relatively simple although a pain.

Sounds like a simple install to me.

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wow, easier than I thought. I think the difficulty my buddy had when we reset my old computer was that I didn't have any backup disks or drivers. I remember it involved finding the model number of my motherboard and tracking down drivers for everything. no thanks. not impossible, but a pain.

I will probably take care of this over the weekend and I'll keep my other computer close by in case I need to consult the internet.

thanks guys
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Its really easy if you have the original disks, just make sure you update windows with ALL the updates.

I reformat and start over about once a year. Its amazing how things slow down even when your careful in just a year.

Chas
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:-) However, I don't even though I know I should. I just have sooo much stuff- esp pix- that I'll live with the slow speed. A new computer is a different matter......
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The hardest part is always backing up anything important before you format...I have formatted my old computer several times and each time several days later I though of something I wished I would have kept..so think hard first!
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My other laptop is actually getting rather slow as well but my concern is that I don't the original windows XP disk that came with it. I do have some sort of dell recovery disk saved to the desktop but what about the operating system? Is my only option to go purchase a new copy of XP if I want to reformat?
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Yes & no. Yes, you must have a Windows CD to reformat. No you do not have to go purchase a new copy if you can just borrow one. :-)
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If you have to original XP disk that came with it, that will work.

In a nutshell....

1) Format C drive data by inserting the Windows disk and restarting

2) The computer should automatically boot from the CD

3) Simply follow the prompts to format the C drive and reinstall Windows

For a detailed guide:
http://www.ehow.com/how_6026_format-hard-drive.html
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well, I've done this in the past but as I understand it the Windows "genuine advantage" updates now make it difficult to "borrow" a copy
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Get a few cigars it could take a while for it all to load. Then when you update the software at Microsoft, it may take 5 or 6 downloads and reboots.
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Not true. The "genuine advantage" comes into play to get updates. :-)
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Download all of your drivers to a thumb drive before you start. Copy any files you want to save before you install new OS. Diskpart command works quicker than formatting.
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well, I would definitely want to be able to get all the windows updates so where does that leave me? I'd love to do this for free but if I have to pay the $85 for a new copy of Xp, that's still cheaper than a new computer.
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Well if you have the original XP disc that came with your PC as you say, you're golden. The Genuine Advantage Tool from MS looks at your hardware configuration to distinguish it from other PC's (which is why it will only load on your PC). If you made no major hardware changes, you should be able to use your disk to not only reformat, but to also reload a fresh OS.
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And if you get "turned down" for updates manually, just turn them on to "Automatic" and it will still download the updates after it refuses you manually.

Bug or feature, not sure but it works.

Chas
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yeah, sorry I started talking about 2 different computers. confusing. The one in the original post I do have a disk for but for my Dell I do not have the XP cd.
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If the above suggestions don't result in the desired manner, you may want to consider a new hard disk drive. There are some things you just can't get rid of any other way.
:-)
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A phone call to Microsoft will fix any Genuine Advantage tool errors. Tell them you swapped some hardware and you're using the same license you had before...
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