I know I am able to boot from the hard disk but will it put the drivers back on with it ?

Question

This is my moms computer its an e-machines desktop with windows xp the computer came with out a disk. Her computer is running slugish and has a couple virus's so I really just need to redo her computer but need a liitle help thanks

Answer 1

There is probably a "D" partiton on your Mom's hard drive that contains all the data that is required to "Restore" the computer to factory specs. This partition should be burned to a CD. It can then be used to restore the computer.



But before you restore and loose all data just try cleaning it up. Run a good anti virus and a couple of good anti spyware programs. Before you run this software, be sure to turn off "System Restore" because viruses can hide it Restore Pints.



You may also want to edit the "msconfig" utility to turn off some of the programs that are loading with Windows. This can make a computer not only boot faster, but it can also make it run faster.



Here is a list of free security software that you can use to clean the system. Only load one anti virus, but run both of the suggested anti spyware programs.



All of the following are free, and work very well.







Virus Removal



AVG



http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5#avg-anti-virus-free



Avast



http://www.avast.com/eng/free_virus_protectio.html



Avria



http://www.download.com/Avira-AntiVir-Personal-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10322935.html





Sypware/Malware Removal



Adaware



http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5



Spybot S&D



http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022-10122137.html?part=dl-spybot&subj=dl&tag=but

Answer 2

Careful

If you do a Restore you will erase all of her documents data and programs.



Do you know what you are doing?

Does the computer have a restore partition on the hard drive?



Free Anti-Virus for home use



AVG Free

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/win/20601



Avast! 4 Home

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html



Mcafee Free tools

http://us.mcafee.com/root/catalog.asp?catid=free



Clam (open source)

Mac http://www.clamxav.com/

Win http://www.clamwin.com/

Unix http://www.clamav.net/



Anti-Spyware



Ad-Aware 2008

http://lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php



SpyBot Search & Destroy

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/



CCleaner (cleans out caches) http://www.ccleaner.com



Consider using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer

http://www.getfirefox.com



If you already have a virus, try running the cleaner programs in Safe Mode (hit the F8 function key as the machine boots up, and choose Safe mode)

Answer 3

I wouldn't redo her computer. I would run a virus scan in safe mode and delete all temp files,unwanted programs,defrag the hard drive,etc.

Your computer always boots from your hard drive-unless you boot with a CD.