what info to provide for help with reformatting infected laptop

dear friend(s),

i have a laptop which was virus infested, and i had posted - for help - in the malware section.
the result of that exercise was: advice to re-format and re-install, and to ask for help here.

but i am at a loss. what information do i provide to help you, to help me?


regards
biren

 

sorry...
forgot to mention...
need help because i don't have the disk.
though, i have an original WinXP home and Pro disc out of these 2, one i have used to install windows on my desktop (i think it is the XP pro that i hv used)

thanks.
and sorry again.

regards
biren

 

According to your logs you have Toshiba Satellite A100. If the system restore partition is intact, you can reset to a factory state. All programs and data will be lost, but you had a file infector virus so backing up any files may be problematic.

In order to access the recovery partition press zero while holding down the power button on boot.

http://www.ehow.com/how_6140934_recover-satellite-a100-recovery-discs.html

 

i found certain installations find on the laptop - copied and saved as zip folders.
is it safe to use these? or even they would be infected?

thank you.

 

How did you copy them from the computer. If it was a USB flash drive, I am not sure if the virus you had would infect have infected it. I would check the zipped file by uploading to a site like virustotal.com. I would be very afraid that those files are also infected. According you your Malware Removal thread, you were had a file infector.

 

i got this computer from a friend, who was done using it.
i haven't added anything except a bit of my data, few games, and some songs.


so this installation files i found, were there from the beginning.
and i am almost certain... that the laptop didnot have virus when it was given to me.
it seems to hv been infected as my son used to install games and songs - from his friends.

does this info help?

or do i simply get the files checked by uploading onto virustotal? (any other sites?)

thank you.

 

If the restore partition is intact and you can recover using the instructions I posted (pressing the zero key at power on) , it will take it back to the day it came from the factory. You will have to install and service packs and security updates once the factory restore is finished.