Reformat?

[So Much Fire]

I've just gotten rid of the "SecurityTool" malware after spending a couple of hours backing up files preparing for a reformat since I was losing the battle for a good bit of time. Is it a good idea to reformat my laptop after getting rid of it or is that really not needed? There's a program I'd like to save on C drive but otherwise reformatting will just speed up boot up time really. The laptop didn't come with backup CDs so I need to find instructions on how to do it without said CDs (Gateway laptop).

[Capt. Fozdike]

You should have a program on your laptop called "Recovery Disc Burner" or something of that sort. Burn your recovery discs and use them. They will take your laptop back to how it was out of the factory.

[So Much Fire]

Thanks But is it worth reformatting because of pop ups I wasn't getting before in web browsers starting? AVG blocked 2 threats last night and NoScript in Firefox killed one of the ads, I've just gotten 1 or 2 in Opera.

[Capt. Fozdike]

Thanks But is it worth reformatting because of pop ups I wasn't getting before in web browsers starting? AVG blocked 2 threats last night and NoScript in Firefox killed one of the ads, I've just gotten 1 or 2 in Opera.

Is it overly slow or freezes a lot? I would still do a reformat though, just to be sure.

[So Much Fire]

Nah it's not slow or crashing. I've had browsers (Firefox and Opera) both have links redirect to random websites but I've got security software that blocked anything from happening. I've found .ISO files and I'll see if they're for the backup drive or not. Is there any specific place I should be looking for the recovery disc burner?

Thanks for all the help guys

edit : I've tried to access the reformat drive but it says that it's protected and I'm not quite sure how to access the files on that drive. It's 4.64GB occupied and there might be a way to use what's on that drive. It's D drive and the OS is on C.

[mukali]

I would recommend a reformat, just to be sure that you have gotten rid of all malware.

[Taiji]

It's an OEM machine, and unless someone here has one and knows what to do with it theres a good chance you'll waste a lot of time.

http://uk.gateway.com/contact.html

Try phoning them.

[So Much Fire]

Yikes I'll chat with one of their techs then (I need the US version but it's the same thing so it's all good)

[So Much Fire]

Well an update..... I think the computer's either about to die if the reformat doesn't work. I finally got around to reformating, but before I could start the reformat, not 1, nor 2 not even 3 but 4 instances of "XP Anti-virus" popped up and basically took over the screen completely. I just turned it off via the power button and booted into system restore, it's formatting C drive as NTFS so hopefully it'll get moving and complete this stage soon and there should be a complete install on the machine maybe before and everything going my way, before tonight.

Update 2 : Reformat complete, issue resolved.

[Taiji]

Well done Railfan, glad to see you got it sorted

[Capt. Fozdike]

Good job mate.

[So Much Fire]

Well done Railfan, glad to see you got it sorted

Good job mate.

Thank you