Format/Reinstall

[inflames988]

I think im gunna hafta do a format/reinstall of my whole HDD. Today when i tried to turn on my comp it randomly would boot up, restart, and get stuck at the welcome screen. Also my iTunes has been full of problems and no matter how much i reinstall, etc, it still does this. http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=117569

ive only been running the comp for about 4 months as of now but this seems like the only real option....im just wondering what exactly i shoud back up to do this. so far all i can think of is all my iTunes music files and the itunes library files as well as my entire my documents folder....the itunes music is in my music but since all i have is a couple 6gb and a 4gb hdd to back stuff up on, im gunna have to split it up. i may also just write down all the programs i use as well.
If i have a reinstall disk, do i just put that in and it will format reinstall for me??

[j4ck]

The rebooting trouble sounds like you could possibly have virus problems. Unless you have your heart set on reformatting then you might want to try an online virus scan to see if it turns anything up (assuming you can still boot into windows at all).

As far as reformatting goes, yes, you should be able to do that from your windows CD. Just set BIOS to boot from the CD ROM, then boot from the CD. You should have the option to format the drive you will be installing to as long as you choose to perform a "Fresh Install".

Another option that could possibly avoid reformatting might be to boot from the CD and attempt a "Repair Install".

[inflames988]

yea the comp has been acting weird in a few ways...i did get it to reboot, im using AVG antivirus though and scanned-nothing. what do recomend?

[rjfvillarosa]

If you can get the machine online, even in safe mode with networking, try running an online scan using http://housecall.trendmicro.com

[inflames988]

i ran housecall, as well as pc-cillin that i had on my mobo disk, and AVG too. no virus were found in any of them. is there any other free software or online scan that works well

[WhatsThisBoxFor?]

Online ones: http://www.google.com/search?q=onlin...en-US:official Take your pick.

Free programs: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&c...online&spell=1
Take your pick of those as well, if you like.

More than two online scans I don't think is necessary though, and not more than one, or two programs.

[inflames988]

yea i guess there arent any viruses, my AVG is fully updated and everything...my only real concern is the iTunes problem which i have yet to find a solution for.

[RayH]

http://www.mts.net/~kbateman/tiny_nasties.htm

Nothing finds them all. Good virus writers know how to fool popular anti-virus programs. You've got to go for some of the smaller programs. AVG 6 free used to get fooled a lot. I don't know about AVG 7 Free. I use it as my installed.

But go to the above link. RAV and Panda are excellent at smoking out some odd ball stuff. Also, uninstall AVG and try AVAST. Then uninstall AVAST and try Kaspersky Trial edition.

If none of those find anything, you got someth other kind of problem.

[inflames988]

Originally Posted by RayH http://www.mts.net/~kbateman/tiny_nasties.htm Nothing finds them all. Good virus writers know how to fool popular anti-virus programs. You've got to go for some of the smaller programs. AVG 6 free used to get fooled a lot. I don't know about AVG 7 Free. I use it as my installed. But go to the above link. RAV and Panda are excellent at smoking out some odd ball stuff. Also, uninstall AVG and try AVAST. Then uninstall AVAST and try Kaspersky Trial edition. If none of those find anything, you got someth other kind of problem.

just wonderin...whats all the uninstalling for??