laptop issues!

[s13girl]

so i have a dell inspiron 1200 and i keep getting the little information bubbles at the bottom of the screen telling me i have a trojan or a worm or something..i dont really understand. Every time i get online it tries to stop me from gonig to the pages i want and sending me to virus scan/ popup blocker web sites...it started doing all of this last night

But for the past year the computer has giving me problems: going really slow and not connecting to the wireless, every time i started it, it opens up install wizard and tries to install something that never ends up installing so i have to stop it.

I was thinking about just starting fresh and go back to intal settings or download vista through a website i use but i wasnt sure on how to do it the right way.

i just want it to work before i break it in half..

if you can help id appreciate it

<33Morgan

[xekushnr]

try going here and running their free virus scan:http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

if that wont fix it, you may have to format the hard drive. you will lose everything off the computer, so be sure to transfer your important files off of it first. i can guarantee this method will make your computer run faster again, because there wont be any extra **** on there.

i noticed in your profile you are in to metal my new band is finishing up a couple songs now and then we will be playing venues. what kind of metal are you in to?

[s13girl]

thanks for the imput. How does one erase the hard drive?

I like all types of metal, as long as the band has good instrumentation.I like bands who scream

[xekushnr]

thanks for the imput. How does one erase the hard drive?

I like all types of metal, as long as the band has good instrumentation.I like bands who scream

same here. you should check out The Human Abstract and Protest the Hero if you have not. they are great bands that we are developing a relationship with.

in order to format the HDD, you can do it by opening the MS-DOS prompt and typing "format C:" without the quotations, substituting C for whatever drive it may be (if you only have one it will be C)

i think you may also be able to just go into My Computer and right click on the drive...there might be an option on there to format, i dont recall.

make sure you have the install disk for your operating system or your computer will be useless.

[s13girl]

well its only like 2 years old so it didnt come with a reboot disk but i use this website that i can download vista from so i was thinking about doing that...but i wasnt sure on how to do that..

[xekushnr]

im not quite sure on how to do that. you wont be able to get online at first if you dont have the OS installed. you will need a disk of some sort.

[JKD]

If you have any of the Windows Operating Systems on CD, you can just boot from the CD and install the OS fresh. It will format the hard drive for you during the installation process. Just make sure you back everything up before you do, because everything will be gone.

[s13girl]

ok sounds good. i have a desktop computer and a external hard drive that everything is kept on.

ill try it.

thanks

<33Morgan

[240Knightrider]

OMG you do not have to format your HD. You have a virus. Its a virus that tells you that you have a virus only to download their program and cause your computer more trouble. Do you have aim or anything??

[s13girl]

yes i did have aim but when it was acting up i tried to delete every program that i didnt use, so i beleive i deleted it.

[xekushnr]

OMG you do not have to format your HD. You have a virus. Its a virus that tells you that you have a virus only to download their program and cause your computer more trouble. Do you have aim or anything??

i told her it was probably a virus. the thing is, it could (and probably is) infected with multiple viruses. anti-virus programs are very fickle, and usually wont clear out all the infected files, leaving it to be overrun again. plus, a lot of anti-virus programs take up a good amount of system memory, like the viruses. so they either take a long time to work, or wont even finish. thats why i also gave the option of formatting. since she obviously doesnt seem to mind, this is probably the easiest route to go. and you know there will be no virus when you boot it up.

how can you even accurately name a virus from a vague description? from what she described, it doesnt sound like one of the popup viruses. windows is finding a virus (probably in the system files) and the info bubble is popping up, like it does when you download updates, or need to clear the quick launch bar, or whatever. nothing is telling her to go to a website and download anything.