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There are times when Windows becomes so damaged or so compromised by
hackers and trojan programs that the only thorough solution is essentially
to start all over. This is accomplished by formatting your hard
drive, which means erasing all programs and data on your
machine, and reinstalling Windows.
If you have questions about this process or are unsure how to proceed, contact the manufacturer of your PC for help.
Most of the major computer vendors (Dell, HP, Gateway, etc.) provide a
system restoration CD with their computers. This CD will do most of
the work for you: it will format the hard drive, reinstall Windows, and
then reinstall any of the programs that came with the computer. The only
thing this CD cannot do is back up any data files or programs that you installed independently on your hard drive that
you want to save, so therefore before you run your system restoration CD, make sure
that you save the data files (academic papers, resumes, contact
information, etc) onto floppy disk or CD. In addition, have available any CDs for application software that you installed independently.
If you no longer have the system restoration CD that came with your
computer (or you are unsure whether you received one or not), contact your computer vendor to see if they can provide you with a new
copy. Be ready to tell them the information that matches your computer, such as the model number and the serial
number so that you will receive the disk compatible with your computer.
If your computer was not built by a major computer vendor or you cannot
get another copy of the system restoration CD from your vendor, then you
will have to format manually your hard drive, reinstall Windows, and then
reinstall your programs. Again, before you start this process, you should
try and save any important files you need to a floppy disk or CD so you
don't lose them during the formatting process. OIT cannot provide you with a Windows CD.
The method you use to format and reinstall Windows can depend on what
version of Windows you have and your computer hardware. The one
item you must have is a Windows CD in order to
reinstall Windows. Make sure that your
Windows CD is NOT an upgrade CD (upgrade CDs should be
labeled as such on
the CD). An upgrade CD will only work if you have an older or
equivalent version of Windows already running on the computer, so it won't
work once windows has been erased from the hard drive as a result of formating.
If you have Windows 2000, or Windows XP: You
can format your hard drive as part of the Windows installation
process. If your computer is only a few years old and can boot from the
CD-Rom drive, simply turn off your computer, insert your Windows CD into the
CD-Rom drive, and restart your computer (if the Windows setup does not
begin, check your BIOS settings to make sure your computer is configured
to try and boot from a CD). If your computer is an older system or you
cannot figure out how to make it boot from the CD, you will need to
create setup disks (note: there are no setup disks for Windows
XP--you have to run the installation from the XP CD). To create the setup
disks, insert your CD into a working Windows computer and do the following:
- Windows 2000 (4 disks): Go into the bootdisk
directory on the
Windows 2000 CD and double-click on the makebt32.exe
file (you can also consult our earlier web page on making Windows 2000
boot disks).
- Windows XP: If you have a broadband connection that is always on, you must take counter measures to prevent your Windows XP machine from
being reinfected. Please view and print these cautions prior to proceeding.
If you have a Windows Vista CD: Select the Install link
then Custom (Advanced) installation method. Choose the partition on
the hard drive you want to install Windows Vista. Note:
For a completely 'clean' install (meaning hard drive contents
wiped out completely), choose the "Format"
command found after clicking the Drive Options (Advanced) link. Then click the Next
button and installation will proceed.
Once Windows is reinstalled, you will have to reinstall your other
programs individually from your original install disks.
If you need additional information on formatting your hard drive and
reinstalling Windows, you can search for that information with a search
engine such as (Google). Try search
terms such as "how to format your hard drive" and
"how to reinstall Windows". There is also one particular
website that is dedicated to the topic of reinstalling Windows called www.windowsreinstall.com that
may be helpful.
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