Doing a clean install, do I need drivers & utilities disc?

I only have one hard drive, I have a D: partition. So I click on all my partitions to reformat or delete? My main goal is to get rid of the malware lurking in them. Thanks for all the advice guys!

Okay, overlooked the answer in the thread by mrhiab. I have to reformat. Thanks for all the much needed help! It put my panic at ease. I will be using the tutorial.

Everything you need is here to Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

THe installer is driver-complete with newer arriving quickly via optional Windows Updates when you enable Automatically get recommended drivers and updates for your hardware.

After all updates are done if any drivers remain missing in Device Manager, import ONLY those from the Support Downloads webpage for your model computer or device. These will likely be later drivers than the disk.

Okay, thanks!

Don't delete your D partition.

Find something other than McAfee--it is the least recommended anti-virus program on this forum. Microsoft Security Essentials is a good replacement and is a free download from Microsoft.

"Don't delete D partition" can you explain why? I know my Dell datasafe backup is in there, but I don't need it, and it could have backed up infected stuff. Can I reformat it?
Also I unplugged my printer, do I have to unplug my modem/internet also.
Yes, McAfee is a bum AV and I wanted to change it from the beginning, unfortunately as this is a desktop PC I share it with some other people who whined when I wanted to change to Microsoft Essentials. I'll show them this advice.

Lize said:

"Don't delete D partition" can you explain why? I know my Dell datasafe backup is in there, but I don't need it, and it could have backed up infected stuff. Can I reformat it?
Also I unplugged my printer, do I have to unplug my modem/internet also.

I would unplug ALL external devices before beginning.

Regarding D partition---if you know for a fact you need nothing on it, you can delete it outright midway in the install. I was assuming it may have something you want on it. Windows will install only to C.

You can of course delete ALL partitions during the install if you want to. If I had a trojan, that is probably the route I would take, assuming you have backups of your data.

Post a screen shot of Windows Disk Management if possible to reduce the possibility of making an error. A picture of that will reveal a lot.

I am on my phone following this. I am in the process of unplugging everything, which is feeling like trial and error trying to not unplug my hard drive and moniter, since everything is all tangled up.
Thanks for the help!

Okay, I believe I unplugged everything except for keyboard, mouse, monitor, and hard drive. I loaded in the disc which takes me to my normal welcome screen. I know I have to change the settings in BIOS, but I looked in there, everything is so confusing. I googled and someone said a shortcut would be to press F12 when dell logo appears, select cd reader and press enter. Is this true? And is it applicable to me? Thanks.

F12 worked, I'm in the process of installing windows, hope it works!