help regarding windows 7 installation and mbr

[boki]

hi everyone, new to the forum.
i did a search on the topic but got too many results and nothing specific relating to my question which is:

a couple of days ago a tdss rootkit wormed its way into my computer (and apparently into my mbr). i managed to remove it with kaspersky antivirus and tdsskiller (from kaspersky also).

i was planning to do a fresh install of windows 7 anyway but with this pest i'll have to do it sooner than planned.

i have 1 hard drive with two partitions: system with win 7 and a secondary hidden recovery partition with vista provided by the laptop manufacturer.

so, i was wondering: can i format the system partition and install a fresh copy of windows, or do i have to delete partitions and do a full format of hard drive in order to overwrite/get a clean mbr?

bearing in mind that i might want to sell on this laptop, i would like to retain the recovery partition.

any help would be highly appreciated.
thanks

b.

 

[madtownidiot]

I would definitely format both partitions. and you can re-install windows without having to reallocate any partitions. Then after everything is working, before adding any music or installing any other third party software, replace the obsolete factory restore image with a system image future users can recover their system with, complete with all the necessary drivers installed, and then turn off backups or use an external HDD for any personal backups until you decide to sell it.

 

[gregrocker]

You'll need to wipe the HD with at least one set of zeroes (Diskpart "Clean All" command) to overwrite any infected code: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/91339-ssd-hdd-optimize-windows-reinstallation.html

You can make the Recovery Disks first but scan them fully with your AV solutions.

If you don't want to wipe the Recovery partition you can scan it thoroughly however I would actually run it in order to test whether it works, then scan the full Vista OS it produces. Once you confirm the Recov partition isn't infected, wipe all but the Recov partition using free Partition Wizard bootable CD "Disk" tab to Wipe with zeroes .

 

[boki]

thanks guys for all the help

 

[DeaconFrost]

Yeah, you definitely want something that will wipe the drive clean, including the MBR. On top of that, wince you are running Windows 7, you no longer need your Vista recovery partition anyway. It blows my mind why OEMs continue to ship systems with the recovery option on the same physical drive as your installed OS. The first thing anyone with an OEM system should do is burn recovery discs instead. Anyway, once you clear the drive completely, go ahead with your clean Windows 7 install.