pre installed software

hi there

i recently had a pwsteal prog on my computer which i sorted with the help from symantec...but due to this experence i want to "clean" my computer so to speak and was wondering that.......
my pc comes with windows etc preinstalled (sort of "hidin" im lead to beleive)so i have the option of takin my computer back to its "factory seting" by using its recovery disk(literally wiping everything and taking it back to the "day it was first bought")if i have any trojans/virus on my computer will this eliminate them all ????

as i cannot format c: cos i havent got any software (other than games etc) to reinstall
damn prebuilt comet pcs

all help will be welcomed

waterboy

I once worked for Compaq providing technical support to customers who called 1-800-ok-compaq (or something close to that). Compaqs of the time came w/a quick restore disk that would format the HD and return it to out of the box condition. Prior to doing this I would recomend building a boot disk (or disks depending on OS) be sure to include CD support on the disk -incase you need to restart the restore.

If your system does not format the drive make the boot disk (described above) and do format c: /u
/u does an unconditional format (on w9* systems) not sure if it has an effect on w2k or XP.

Note -if you do not have an OS disk do not do the above -it will turn your system into a nice paper weight.

If you are concerned about a trojan or virus I would recommend updating the Virus files and doing several scans until everything comes back clean.

m$ OEM release use to create an ..\options\cabs directory in which the entire install file was kept along with setup -it was a place from which you could reinstall the OS.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
-D

thanks for the advice

i have updated my antivirus and ran it several times and it finds nothing...but just wanna start again but be alot more carefull were i download programs from next time....

again thanks for ur help

waterboy