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[Facekillz058]

... that's writhing with viruses (Virusi?) and stuff, and it's really just unusable at this point.

I was wondering if there is some way to just totally wipe the hard drive and anything that really stores data, and reinstall Windows onto it after.

Is this possible? if so, in simple terms, how would it be done?

[Karlito]

If you boot from a Windows install disk you should be able to format the drive and reinstall.

[Facekillz058]

Alright, i'll try that if i ever find the disc i think i have. Thanks!

[Blargityblarg]

Back up everything you need off it first.

[Facekillz058]

By things i need, do you mean things that are needed for the computer to work, or things i might need, like, documents and stuff?

[Blargityblarg]

Documents and things. the reinstall will put everything the computer needs to work on there; but documents and other important things to you (photos etc) will need to be backed up before they're wiped with everything else.

[Heron TSG]

(Virusi?)

'Viruses' is common, virii is also used.

A clean windows install should format the disc, which means you'll lose everything. Settings, user preferences, hilarious video clips, et cetera.

[Tellemurius]

(Virusi?)

'Viruses' is common, virii is also used.

A clean windows install should format the disc, which means you'll lose everything. Settings, user preferences, hilarious video clips, et cetera.

Depending on the version though, with windows vista and 7, doing a custom install will shove the old files to a Windows.old folder. Then using profile magic you can merge your old profile to the new one.

[G-Flex]

(Virusi?)

'Viruses' is common, virii is also used.

"Virii" is one of the most wrong plurals that people ever say. Please don't encourage that.

It's "viruses".

[Blizzlord]

If you want to preserve a file on the computer that hasn't been infected you could try booting it on a USB drive with Ubuntu on it. It can safely open the hard drive without activating the viruses. Just be careful to not take a copy of the virus with you when you backup your precious files!

[G-Flex]

Documents and things. the reinstall will put everything the computer needs to work on there; but documents and other important things to you (photos etc) will need to be backed up before they're wiped with everything else.

I should note that this is not necessarily true. If you install Windows from scratch, you may very well lose plenty of drivers your hardware uses/needs, and finding them again can be a hassle. Just keep that in mind.

[DrKillPatient]

I do not know the exact process for a Windows install aside from a total wipe (you may not want to do this in order to preserve certain files), or how familiar you are with the necessary tools. Regardless, as mentioned earlier, it may be helpful to create a Linux LiveCD, which will allow you to retrieve your files in a fairly friendly graphical environment. What I'd do is run the LiveCD, plug in a USB drive, and copy any files that I want from the hard drive to the USB from within the live environment. (Note that it may be a bit slow due to running from the CD as opposed to the hard drive.) If you're particularly afraid of carrying over a virus, you can even run a virus scanner, such as ClamAV, in the Linux environment before you place any of your old files onto your new Windows install.

(Also, from your description it seems that this computer might be fairly old. If, as a result, you cannot find/use the recovery disk and do not wish to re-purchase Windows, you might consider using something like Linux Mint, which is free, laid out similarly to Windows, and generally works out of the box.)

If you're willing to go through either of these routes and require assistance, I can certainly help out.

[G-Flex]

If you don't have the recovery discs, you can still burn a copy of the right version of Windows and use it. Yes, I know that's technically pirating, but it's something you actually have a license for, so I don't care much about that, and it's not like Windows install discs are hard to come by anyhow.

[Fenrir]

It depends upon the licensing agreement. I do not have Microsoft’s EULAs memorized for every version of Windows, of course, but, for the copy of XP I received from a tenent in my grandmother’s apartment building, it stipulated that a particular copy was licensed only for a particular set of hardware.

They did not mention what you were allowed to do if you needed to replace any of that hardware, so one is left to presume that they expect you to buy a new copy of Windows whenever any of your components fail.

[G-Flex]

What I'm saying is that, strictly speaking, it's not like you actually benefit by using a retail install CD instead of, say, the OEM one that came with a computer; it's the exact same thing in the end, and is actually more work on your part. More importantly, sometimes doing that is the only way to avoid the godawful bloatware most big-brand computers come with.