formatting a hard drive help plz too many spyware plz help

Hi Richarrd, if your not going to attempt to remove the spyware on your uncles PC then this guide is good for a clean install, with an XP CD.

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp

what I woudl do to completly remove all traces is to at the point where in section 5 it mentions deleting the XP partition or C: Drive, do that then create a new partition and re-format to NTFS and do a full format as it will pickup any drive errors, then once formatted the rest is pretty straight forward.

tips: Print the Guide or at least have another PC at hand to re-read any steps.

as well as drivers which you have already, do make sure if the malware will allow copy/backup any important files etc he has ( eg. IE Favorites, Important Documents, Emails, Pictures etc )

also read our guide HERE on protecting yourself from malware and download any anti-malware/firewall ( Service Pack 2 for XP if the version of XP he has doent come with SP2 integrated or you have a SP2 upgrade CD, you can DL from here http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=049c9dbe-3b8e-4f30-8245-9e368d3cdb5a 270mb DL but worth it ) software before you re-install, so that these can be installed before you go online.



I will also move your thread to the general software area as this section is specifically for removing Malware and as you have decided to start with a clean slate, it gives the very busy guys here a small break

 

Thats fair enough, sometimes a clean fresh start is whats needed, this time he will have to setup some limited user accounts for your cousin.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...oddocs/en-us/ua_c_account_types.mspx?mfr=true

 

depends on size of hard drive, but 30mins upwards.