Wiping my computer.. Did I do this right?

catsalive6

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My computer had a nasty virus, so I got a new windows 7 CD and I looked online for what to do. I went to the BIOS, chose boot from CD & now I'm installing windows 7 again. It gave me 2 options when installing - save files or not. I clicked the not one, and it said it will save these files in a file called "windows old" where I ca view the old files, but not access them.
Is the virus gone? (or will it be? I'm at "expanding Windows files (23%)

Thank youuuu :D
 

My Computer My Computer

OS
windows 7 home premium 7
A clean install shouldn't give you a windows .old file if you reformatted your disk.
Fabe
 
Last edited:

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Self Built
OS
Windows 7 ultimate 64 bit / XP Home sp3
CPU
intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0ghz
Motherboard
Asus P5ND bios 1401
Memory
8 gigs 1066 OCZ Fata1ty
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA GTX 580 Call of Duty Black Ops Edition
Sound Card
Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2zs
Monitor(s) Displays
Asus 24in LCD's 2MS X2
Screen Resolution
1920x1080p @60Hz
Hard Drives
WD Caviar 500 Black/ WD Caviar 200 Blue
PSU
OCZ 700W GameXtreme
Case
NZXT Apollo
Cooling
Corsair H50 CPU/120mm x3 /60mm x2 /Corsair Dominator Ram
Keyboard
Logitech Bluetooth Wireless MX5000
Mouse
Logitech Bluetooth Wireless MX1000
Internet Speed
Download 19.83 Upload 0.97
Other Info
Logitech Z2300 Speakers/ Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones/Avermedia PCI-e Hybrid TV Bravo/Epson NX415 all in one/ 4 Port Powered USB Hub/ LG 10x Bluray Burner /TSST Corp DVDRW External
I agree as the windows.old still has the virus within and as you access the files you get the virus back
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Dell XPS 730
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
CPU
Intel Core 2 quad Extreme Q9770 @ 3.2 GHz
Memory
4x2 GB Muskin 1600 MHz ram
Graphics Card(s)
NVidia GTX 250
Sound Card
Soundblaster X-Fi Fatality Champion
Monitor(s) Displays
2 Dell 2007WFP Ultrascans
Screen Resolution
3360 x 1050
Hard Drives
WD Black 1TB sata, 2-WD Black 500 sata, 2-Seagate 500 Go external
PSU
1000 Watt
Cooling
air
Keyboard
MS Natrual Keyboard Pro
Mouse
Logitech Wireless Trackball
Internet Speed
DSL Elite
If you install the old files you most likely will install the old virus. Have you tried to remove the virus with a anti virus program or the like?
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Home made Desktop
OS
Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
CPU
Intel i7-6800K @ 4.3
Motherboard
ASUS X-99 Deluxe II
Memory
Corsair Platinum 16 gig @2400
Graphics Card(s)
EVGA GTX 1070 OC
Monitor(s) Displays
Asus 27" LED LCD/VE278Q
Screen Resolution
1920-1080 or 1280-720 HDMI
Hard Drives
INTEL SSD 730-240 Gb Sata 3.0/
PSU
EVGA Platium 1200W
Case
Phanteks Luxe Tempered Glass 8 fans/ one radiator
Cooling
XSPC/ Water Cooled CPU
Keyboard
Das 4 Professional
Mouse
Logitech M705/MX Anywhere 2-S
Internet Speed
100 mbits
Antivirus
Microsoft Security Essentials/ Malwarebytes Premium 3.0/ SAS
Browser
I.E. 11 default/Firefox/ ISP Time Warner Cable/Spectrum
Other Info
LG BluRay Burner/
Sound system-KLipsch-THX/
Icy Dock ssd Hot Swap bays.

I concur with all the previous posts! The simple point was "the formatting was not properly done". 1) Formatting erases all the data on the HD! 2) But there is a caveat! ROOTKITS!They are persistent pests and "HD erasure" is the surest method of getting rid of them! So, when in doubt, scrub!;)

Since you were infected with Viruses, it would have been an option to check for their presence! A problem with "ANTI-ROOTKIT SOFTWARE is the incidence of "false positives"! A week back, my desktop had a severe bout of Rootkit infection and a simple formatting was useless! yesterday, i used the free version of "Active Kill Disk" to erase the one TB (partitions) HD! Now i have run GMER, SOPHOS and McAffe anti-rootkit and all three have turned out negative for Rootkits! As they say,"Thank God for small mercies!:)

Best wishes,
DR.Sreedhav
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Sony Vaio C series VPCCB35FN laptop
OS
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
IntelCore [email protected]; Sandy Bridge 32nm Tech.
Motherboard
Sony Vaio Version:C609NJYJ
Memory
4096Mb RAM; Single ChannelDDR3@665MHz; DRAM Freq:662MHz
Graphics Card(s)
AMD Radeon HD 6630M; GPU:Whistler;BIOS Core&mem Clock:123.36
Sound Card
REALTEK High Definition Audio Device; INTEL Display Card
Monitor(s) Displays
Generic PnP Intel HD;Resolution:1920*1040 Pixels; BPP:32bits
Screen Resolution
Current Resolution:1920*1080 Pixels; Monitor Frequency:60Hz
Hard Drives
Internal HD:TOSHIBA MK5061GSY; Real Size:488 GB;NTFS; 3 Partitions; SATA; HEADS:16

External HDD: WD Elements 1023 PORTABLE; Estimated Size: 1TB; NTFS; 3 Partitions
Cooling
Lateral Exhaust with a Cooling Pad Placed Beneath.
Keyboard
Logitech Bluetooth+ Generic Integrated K-B
Mouse
Logitech Bluetooth
Internet Speed
2MBPS
Other Info
1)Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security Suite Version:3
2)SAS-PRO

3)MBAM--PRO


4)WATERFOX+IE9 +WOT+LINKEXTEND+ DRWEBCUREIT LINK CHECKER

5)SPYWAREBLASTER

6) WINPATROL PLUS

7) SANDBOXIE and
8) A BIT OF COMMON SENSE.

I concur with all the previous posts! The simple point was "the formatting was not properly done". 1) Formatting erases all the data on the HD! 2) But there is a caveat! ROOTKITS!They are persistent pests and "HD erasure" is the surest method of getting rid of them! So, when in doubt, scrub!;)

Since you were infected with Viruses, it would have been an option to check for their presence! A problem with "ANTI-ROOTKIT SOFTWARE is the incidence of "false positives"! A week back, my desktop had a severe bout of Rootkit infection and a simple formatting was useless! yesterday, i used the free version of "Active Kill Disk" to erase the one TB (partitions) HD! Now i have run GMER, SOPHOS and McAffe anti-rootkit and all three have turned out negative for Rootkits! As they say,"Thank God for small mercies!:)

Best wishes,
DR.Sreedhav

No need to use "Active Kill Disk", you can use Clean All.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/52129-disk-clean-clean-all-diskpart-command.html
 

My Computer My Computer

OS
ME/XP/Vista/Win7
I make it a point to start every new installation with blank, unformatted disks. There are plenty of tools to do this, including ones built-in to the Windows 7 installer that can accomplish this. I used to use gdisk on a bootable Flash Drive, but considering how fast the install goes from a Flash Drive, I now just use diskpart from the beginning of the setup routine.
 

My Computer My Computer

OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
CPU
Intel Core i7-2600
Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3P-B3
Memory
12 GB Patriot Extreme DDR3-1333
Graphics Card(s)
Nvidia GTX 470
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell UltraSharp 2209WA
Hard Drives
OCZ Agility3 240 GB, WD5001AALS, WD7501AALS
PSU
OCZ ModStream 700W
Case
CoolerMaster HAF 912 Advanced
Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus
I make it a point to start every new installation with blank, unformatted disks. There are plenty of tools to do this, including ones built-in to the Windows 7 installer that can accomplish this. I used to use gdisk on a bootable Flash Drive, but considering how fast the install goes from a Flash Drive, I now just use diskpart from the beginning of the setup routine.

Same here, but, i only do the normal diskpart clean, not the "clean all" that takes ages.
 

My Computer My Computer

Computer type
PC/Desktop
OS
Microsoft Windows 10 Professional / Windows 7 Professional
CPU
Intel i5-3570
Motherboard
Lenovo Mahobay
Memory
16GB DDR3
Graphics Card(s)
AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB
Sound Card
(1) Realtek HD Audio (2) AMD HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
LG LS192WS
Screen Resolution
1440 x 900 @ 32bit color
Hard Drives
(1) SUV300S37A/120G (2) ST3500413AS SATA Disk Device AHCI mode enabled.
PSU
Corsair HX620
Case
Thermaltake V4 Black Edition
Cooling
Cooler Master Hyper 212 + Artic Silver 5 on CPU/GPU
Keyboard
Dell SK-8115
Mouse
Razer Copperhead with MAPED mat (awesome!)
Internet Speed
100 Mbps up/down
Browser
Chrome
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