Wipe a hard drive?

Hey,

I am very new here... in fact this is my first post thingy so yeah I don't have a clue if i'm posting this in the right place or not but basically...

I have mucked up my computer quite badly by letting virsus attack one way or another and becuase of the infection its had on my system files I have had to delete quite a lot of them. therefore my computer in now unbareably slow and i wish to wipe the hard drive clean and start from scratch.

I went to pc world in search of tips and help they told me to use the 'reinstallation disk' so after like an hour of searching for this disk, i found it and followed the instructions in the manual. i put the disk in and restarted the computer, pressed the button it told me to press and yet and option for the computer to 'boot from the cd' did not appear, i tried this repeated for another hour before getting very angry and giving up , so basically i was wondering if there is another way of wiping the whole computer without using the disk which doesn't seem to like me :S (keeping in mind i struggle with these things quite bad)

if anyone has any suggestions at all i would cry with thanks seriously

xx

 

Yeh, your in the right place! What did PC World tell you to do? Normally once you've put the recovery disk in, it should sort its self out, and take you step by step through the process.

Also what brand and model number is the laptop? (normally written on the underside)

 

they told me to run the disk .. which didnt work

and its a dell computer liek the non laptop type? :S

xx

 

Right, when you first turn the computer on, it will bring up a screen that flashes up DELL. Written either along the top, or across the bottom of that screen will be F2 SETUP (its not always F2, look out for any number with SETUP written next to it)

Are you using the computer in question to post on MajorGeeks? Or do you have access to a laptop or other PC so I can go step by step through this and you can follow the instructions?

 

no its this computer, sorry abotu slow replies they take agess

thanks i'll try the f2 thingy ill do it friday after college :S might be back after if it doesn't work thanks for the help i just get so confused with these things somethimes

xx

 

awww thanks but i just want to start over cause i have way too much rubbish on this machine that its not right but thansk anyway

xx

 

Around any school, that is above 8th grade, you'll find a dozen or more guys that really GET this stuff, that would probably be glad to help you.
Just ask around.

Wiping a hard drive is way more complicated than just fixing yours to boot to the re-install CD.

I fix computers for a living and I only reinstall the OS about once a year.
Most computers can be FIXED, with the right knowledge and a few programs.

If I were there, I'd just fix it for you.

Good Luck,
Shadow :cool

 

lol thanks shadow... if only you lived over here i'd pay you to come round and fix it

xx

 

Pinkpandabear64,

I take it you're not in the US. Right?

Well, just send me a plane ticket and I'll be right there.
Have Software Will Travel!

Actually I stand by my previous statement..... you should be able to find someone in your area with the expertise to reset your bios so your PC will boot from the Windows CD.

I'd not be Wiping your hard drive, just yet.
I've cleaned up some really bad systems, without ever reformatting or reinstalling Windows. It's completely doable.

For general information for those reading this forum, I've recently started using a very old "Low Level Formatter" to fix HD's that seem to be going south. So far, I've reclaimed five HD's that had lots of surface errors, including one with a bad "Sector Zero".

Like many utilities, the Formatter needs to be run from a DOS boot disk.
Ideally, that should be a Boot Floppy, but it could also be a Boot Cd or Bootable Flash Drive.

I had a Seagate 160 gig SATA2 hard drive with a bad sector Zero.
The tech-tool "Spinrite 6" could not fix it. I ran the Low Level Formatter on it, then FDISK and Format and the drive came back to 100% good.

I have all those programs on a single Floppy Disk, (My Windows ME Utilities disk) which I use to set up every new hard drive that I get.
For anyone wanting a copy of that disk, and having the technical expertise to use it, I've put a file on an internet server that will create this Floppy Disk for you. (one floppy disk drive and one blank 1.44m floppy disk required)

Here's a link to that FD builder file:
http://www.box.net/shared/hd19xooxvh

That disk includes, FDISK, Format, Scandisk, and the Low Level Format program, all in a Ansi-Color DOS menu.

Cheers Mates! :wave
Shadow :cool

 

Yes, it may be doable but, as you know, that can be a very complicated and lengthy process. If you are personally doing the work on the computer, that's one thing. Advising someone else, with much less computer knowledge, to follow your approach, is another thing. And, by suggesting she seek the help of someone among her acquaintances, you're implying she needs to make a judgement of the person's knowledge and ability to do the task well. That scenario doesn't always turn out for the better; for example, my mother (over 80 years old) may think someone is knowledgeable enough about computers when, in fact, that someone really isn't very knowledgeable and may actually give bad advise; to my mother, anyone with just a little computer knowledge is a knowledeage person, even though that person actually knows very little (but may think they know more than they really know). And, based on pinkpandabear64's description of her computer's status in her original post, I think TimW is suggesting the better approach here.

 

not in the usa sorry, btu if i dont destry the computer after this weekend ill be sure to let everyone know howits gone :S

if i do muck it up at least i have the college computers i guess .. for now

but i would liek to say thank you everyone for being sooo helpful means a lot

xx

 

If you're in UK, anywhere near newcastle?

 

i dont think i am... im right down in the south :S

xx

 

Hey, umm

well thought i would up date people... i reinstalled windows using the disk... however when i tried to get back on to the internet, it would not connect :S

sooo i rang up my internet people and he says that i have no internet connection and that i need to install another LAN connection?

so i was wondering if there were any quick ways of doing this?

thanks

xx

 

I am surprised your ISP did not help you to install your modem.
what the problem is that your modem does not recognise the PC so you will have to re-set it.
here is a guide to help.

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/homenetworking/ht/routerconfigure.htm

 

thanks ill check that link out

xx