LiveMusic Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 I have a friend who has a computer that when he would run IE, it will say "unable to run this program and will have to shut down" or something like that. Months ago, he had a virus, I forget the name but it had something to do with IE. It would lock up after 30 seconds or so of running IE. I was able to fix it through online virus-blasting instructions. Now, he says he "deleted Windows XP and reinstalled it." Still, the problem. > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djwayne Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 His browser may have been hacked, or there may be another virus messing it up. A couple of times I've had that happen, some of the symptoms include, when you are surfing, or doing a search, the virus will redirect you to a weird site, or your bookmarks may have been altered to porno sites, or it just doesn't work at all...my best solution ?? Reformat and re-install everything fresh, install a firewall and anti-virus protection. Living' in the shadow, of someone else's dream.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveMusic Posted March 12, 2004 Author Share Posted March 12, 2004 Originally posted by djwayne: His browser may have been hacked, or there may be another virus messing it up. A couple of times I've had that happen, some of the symptoms include, when you are surfing, or doing a search, the virus will redirect you to a weird site, or your bookmarks may have been altered to porno sites, or it just doesn't work at all...my best solution ?? Reformat and re-install everything fresh, install a firewall and anti-virus protection.I edited my original post before I saw yours. How do I reformat? Is that a Windows utility or DOS? How do I do this? Would this TOTALLY solve any virus problems? Just wipe out EVERYTHING with a reformat? > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djwayne Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 For re-formatting the disk, I use Maxtor's installation floppy disk, MAX Blast Plus II, that came with my hard drive, it wipes out everything and I can start fresh. I save all my programs to data disk and re-install them fairly quickly as needed. After you learn how to do this, you can re-format, re-install Windows and enough other programs to be up and running in a couple of hours, or you can mess around with utility programs for days or even weeks. I also keep a back-up hard drive installed in my computer, that I can toggle over to, in about a minute, by re-booting, going into the bios and disabling the infected drive. Living' in the shadow, of someone else's dream.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveMusic Posted March 12, 2004 Author Share Posted March 12, 2004 or you can mess around with utility programs for days or even weeks Yikes. I would think if I reformat his hard drive, that shouldn't take over an hour or so, right? Then, reinstall his programs, that could take hours, I guess. But seems I could do this in a day, no? > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djwayne Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 Reformatting a disk only takes a couple of minutes, and re-installing a couple of hours, depending on what you install, but make sure you back up everything you want to save before re-formatting, because once you do, it's gone. After you've done it a few times, it gets easier, but you have to learn your settings, and re-set everything. Living' in the shadow, of someone else's dream.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LiveMusic Posted March 12, 2004 Author Share Posted March 12, 2004 Is reformatting a cure for whatever ails you? Assuming it's not hardware related? I mean, I suspect the virus has crept back in somehow. > > > [ Live! ] < < < Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djwayne Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 For me it is because it's very effective, and I can be back up and running quickly, now that I know how to do it. Plus I get rid of tons on internet junk that builds up, and clogs up my drive. At one time I had a hard drive with 9.5 gigs worth of junk on it, after reformatting and doing a fresh install, now I only use between 2.5-3 gigs with all my programs, so what was all that other junk ?? My computer runs much better with a fresh install every so often, and it keeps my computer current with the programs that I'm using right now, not two years ago. Living' in the shadow, of someone else's dream.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Posted March 12, 2004 Share Posted March 12, 2004 The XP CD can do a quick format that should take less than a minute during the install process. A fresh XP install is what this guy needs. Don't fart around with a dirty "repair" install at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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