Re: I want to smash my PC
you can do a clean install of your choice of operating systems!
Re: I want to smash my PC
If you've tried out every anti spyware program out there and your system is still a mess, reformat would definitely be the way to go. I've been in these binds before and for some spywares, even if you've diffused them, they would still be hiding dormant inside your system impossible to get rid of.
One thing I did after i did a reinstall; setup a profile, a limited one, apart from the admin profile. Make this limited profile your default profile for your daily browsing etc,. This way it'll be harder for spywares to install themselves in your system w/o your consent.
Re: I want to smash my PC
I have cleaned up a bunch of my buddies cpu's before and the following usually helps the most, because sometimes when you think you have deleted a virus your really havent.
If running a windows operating system...
1) Click start then run:
2) Type regedit(Be sure you dont do anything out of whats said unless you really know what your doing)
3) Go to the following directory -- [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
4) This is where everything starts up and usually the directory for most viruses
5) I have found that unless you particularly want anything starting when the cpu starts(ex.. virus protection :) then you only need one key here which says default and its under the name column.
6) Just delete everything else
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Hope this helped
Re: I want to smash my PC
also, insert your windows xp disk, go to run and type "sfc /scannow" (W/O QUOTES). This will only wonk if the drive you are using for your xp cd is the same drive letter that you installed with. So if you are using an image of an xp disk (recommended, it will go faster) you will need to change the letter of the virtual drive to whatever letter you real drive was when you installed.
Re: I want to smash my PC
i've never had to format a computer with malware.
Hijack this finds everything in hklm..run hkcu...run plus a lot of other things.
Spybot shows some other things that start with your computer plus it gives you the full path of all the processes.
free online virus scanners like trendmicro's , panda's and nortons can sometimes find viruses that other scanners miss.
Re: I want to smash my PC
If you wanna absolute solution, wipe the whole disk.
Re: I want to smash my PC
As Chame1eon said, run hijackthis and post the log.
Re: I want to smash my PC
Ok guys, thanks for the replies.
I'm going to go ahead a wipe the whole disk.
So how can I find the serial number thing you need when you reboot Windows? I tried to reboot it before and I had to phone Mircosoft to get a new serial number thingy.
Is that stored somewhere on my PC? I want to write it down before I delete everything.
Re: I want to smash my PC
http://majorgeeks.com/Keyfinder_Thing_Lite_d5253.html download this and use it to view your cd key.
If you are using xp home or pro (non-corporate) you will need to activate after installing.