[TastyWheat]

My girlfriend has an old Dell PC (way past warranty) that got hit hard with malware and it's just not working correctly even though all of the malware appears to be gone. I'm thinking of trying a repair install before a clean install, but I don't have any of the original software. What kind of disc do I need to do a repair or a clean install [and not get a new license]?

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Firstly,

even though all of the malware appears to be gone

Perhaps the malware forum to be sure?

Please go to the Malware Forum and read the stickies located at the top, especially this one.
The guides will give you several steps that will help you clean up 70 percent of all problems by yourself. Then you can post a OTL log in THAT forum. Be patient, the Malware Forum is a very busy place and a two or three day wait is not unusual. Only after a three day wait may you move to The Waiting Room where you will be on the top of the list to be helped. A three day wait is 72 hours.. Make sure it has been over that amount of time, or your Waiting Room topic will be closed.

If you are still having problems after getting a clean bill of health from the malware expert, please return to this thread.

If your going to do a clean install - the above is pointless... You'll need a new XP disk, a new key will come with it. If you don't have the old one, you won't have the same key anyway.

What about restore to factory settings? http://www.ehow.com/...y-settings.html

-Jason

[OpenOutcome]

Firstly,

even though all of the malware appears to be gone

Perhaps the malware forum to be sure?

Please go to the Malware Forum and read the stickies located at the top, especially this one.
The guides will give you several steps that will help you clean up 70 percent of all problems by yourself. Then you can post a OTL log in THAT forum. Be patient, the Malware Forum is a very busy place and a two or three day wait is not unusual. Only after a three day wait may you move to The Waiting Room where you will be on the top of the list to be helped. A three day wait is 72 hours.. Make sure it has been over that amount of time, or your Waiting Room topic will be closed.

If you are still having problems after getting a clean bill of health from the malware expert, please return to this thread.

If your going to do a clean install - the above is pointless... You'll need a new XP disk, a new key will come with it. If you don't have the old one, you won't have the same key anyway.

What about restore to factory settings? http://www.ehow.com/...y-settings.html

-Jason

[TastyWheat]

I'll make sure there's no malware left first, but system restore isn't an option. It's been turned off since I don't know when.

[OpenOutcome]

This might be helpful.

If you don't have Windows CD...
Download Windows Recovery Console: http://www.thecomput...om/files/rc.iso
Download, and install free Imgburn: http://www.imgburn.c...hp?act=downloadhttp://www.imgburn.c...hp?act=download
Using Imgburn, burn rc.iso to a CD.
Boot to the CD...let it finish loading.
When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
Then, follow the steps from here: http://icrontic.com/...pair_windows_xp, starting below this picture on page 1:



Thanks to Broni for this canned.

[rshaffer61]

Before attempting any repair installation please make sure your system is checked by a malware tech.
If they have decalred your system healthy then we can continue.
Anything we try to do now may make things worse or not work at all.

[OpenOutcome]

Sorry - I meant for that after he checked with malware staff..

I'll make sure there's no malware left first

[TastyWheat]

The system was infected with Virut. So, back to my original question.

I'm guessing a repair install is out of the question now, but if I was going to do a clean reinstall what would I need in order to do that? Again, it's an old Dell system without the original software and I'd like to keep the current license if possible (i.e. not installing an unused/transferable copy of XP).

[rshaffer61]

Virut???
Well I hate to say it but speaking from personal experience.
The only way to rid yourself of virut completely is to backup your data files
Blow away the partition and repartition.
Format and the do a fresh install of your OS.

There is no other way that I know of. To make sure I am contacting a malware tech to look at this topic.

[RatHat]

TastyWheat,

Firstly, if you do have Virut, what rshaffer61 has told you is completely true. There is no means of ensuring that it is removed other than to Reformat and Reinstall.

If you would like us to confirm that you do indeed have Virut, please follow the instructions laid out here, then post the resultant logs in the Malware forum.

Regards,
RatHat

[rshaffer61]

Thank you Rathat for the verification and Tastywheat I suggest you follow Rathat's suggestion and verify with the Malware Techs that this is indeed Virut before you do anything else.
They can then instruct you on what to and what not to backup as some file types will carry the virus back to your system.

[TastyWheat]

As much time as I've spent on this thing I couldn't care less if it was infected with Gator. The ethernet card won't function properly anymore, so every thing I'm supposed to do takes twice as long (using a different computer to download the files, using a flash drive to transfer them, and breaking a sweat almost everytime I plug the drive into a healthy machine).

I just want to get the PC working again. I'll inquire on the Malware Forum as to what files I should be wary of copying.

[rshaffer61]

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.
Good luck and I hope you get it all straightened out.
We will continue to monitor this topic in case you get a clean bill of health and need to pursue this issue.

[TastyWheat]

Sorry, don't mean to be rude, but no one has answered my original question.

Is it possible for me to cleanly reinstall Windows XP Pro on a Dell machine without the original software and maintain the same license?

[RatHat]

I doubt it, but I will let one of the Techs confirm that or show me to be wrong.

[rshaffer61]

Possible... Maybe
Legal... probably not considering the system was preloaded
This usually means what is known as a OEM licences. This means the only way to legally reload it is with a OEM version of the same type. (Home or Pro)
A retail copy will not activate with the code your system originally has.
The other issue is that all the drivers will need to be downloaded and installed manually before anything will work...
Video
Sound
Internet
MOBO chipset

I hope this is what you wanted to know