A few years ago, I noticed some strange things with my computer. Google searches were being directed to the same web site. My computer made strange noises like it was running some serious program all the time. I ran the anti-virus program that I already had installed, and it found a handful of problems (some spyware, some viruses).
That was the mere beginning of my problem. No matter how hard I tried, and how many anti-virus programs I downloaded and attempted to use, I couldn’t get rid of the viruses. I would seemingly get rid of them with different anti-virus programs only to have the problems return. This happened several times, and I was nearly at my wit’s end.
Finally, I decided to perform what I considered was the last resort: I was going to kill my computer, and then bring it back to life (otherwise known as formatting the hard drive and re-installing the Windows operating program).
This is not something to be done lightly. While it did solve my computer issue, I carefully researched what needed to be done before I started. There are many things that could go wrong, but if you can follow directions you can do this.
I was fortunate enough to have made a current backup of all my important files before the viruses took over. These included important documents, photos, videos, and songs. If you do not regularly backup your data, you are leaving yourself open to losing everything in a virus attack.
You can backup your data using an external hard drive, or a zip drive. Another option is transferring your data to an online backup site. Mozy is one good place to safely keep your information and not have to rely on CDs/hard drives that could be corrupted or destroyed.
I would suggest visiting this web page, and this web page for step-by-step instructions on how to accomplish a hard drive format. These guides will give you a more more in-depth (including video) explanation of what needs to be done.
Before I started the formatting process, I printed out the directions from both of these sites and read them through several times before I felt confident enough to proceed. It took me several hours before everything was done, but in the end I had a functioning computer. The problems I had experienced with the viruses were gone, and I was able to reload all of my important data back onto my computer.