Screwed Laptop

LowEndFreq

Hey all,

I'm gonna get right to it.. my laptop has an uncountable amount of viruses, or maybe it's possessed... But anyway, i booted it with a linux off a disc so i could transfer all my important docs onto an external hard drive so i could format it and install windows again... but here's the problem : my computer wont actually let me into my computer to format my hard drive... any suggestions for how i can get around this?
Many thanks
LowEndFreq

Gavin "shels"

Not be easier just downloading an AV and some malware, etc... programs?

LowEndFreq

Gavin shels wrote: »

Not be easier just downloading an AV and some malware, etc... programs?

I don't think you understand how dead this laptop is...

Mmcd

Get a hard drive enclosure and remove yours from your laptop. Then find another computer to transfer your most important files to before you format it!

Amalgam

**WARNING** Total secure erase of Hard Drive.

Go in below the OS..

Download Dban Boot & Nuke to format and erase the Hard Drive.

http://www.dban.org/

Download the .iso, burn to a CD. Boot the laptop with the CD and erase the Hard Drive.

Select your Hard Drive. Choose PRNG as the method, 5 passes, Verify on. That should do it. There is also a default profile you can start Dban with. Use that if you wish.

Please make sure anything you need from the hard drive is securely backed up, there is no going back after this.

LowEndFreq

Amalgam wrote: »

**WARNING** Total secure erase of Hard Drive.

Go in below the OS..

Download Dban Boot & Nuke to format and erase the Hard Drive.

http://www.dban.org/

Download the .iso, burn to a CD. Boot the laptop with the CD and erase the Hard Drive.

Select your Hard Drive. Choose PRNG as the method, 5 passes, Verify on. That should do it. There is also a default profile you can start Dban with. Use that if you wish.

Please make sure anything you need from the hard drive is securely backed up, there is no going back after this.

And will the laptop be capable of supporting another OS? in short.. could i use the laptop again? Coz i've heard of Dban, and i've heard it is VERY thorough...

Zynks

1. Get a new HDD
2. Get an enclosure and plug it into another pc and format it
3. Go into DOS before Windows boots (press F8) and start the formatting from there
4. make sure you get some protection for it once it is up and running again

Amalgam

LowEndFreq wrote: »

And will the laptop be capable of supporting another OS? in short.. could i use the laptop again? Coz i've heard of Dban, and i've heard it is VERY thorough...

Use it again, in what sense, with the data on the drive before using Dban? No.

Dban erases the hard drive properly. It erases and formats. Not just a format. It doesn't take into account what is on the hard drive.

As far as starting again, just pop your XP/Vista install CD into the CD\DVD drive and it will start up, offering to format and create a partition on the hard drive.

It is very thorough, it comes into its own for returning the drive to a state that is safe to sell on, without worrying about personal information lying about.

I'm getting mixed signals, in your first post, you seem to want to erase the hard drive. If you're not sure what you're doing, get someone in that does, Dban is unforgiving and you will not be able to rescue data from the hard drive afterwards.

Amalgam

Zynks wrote: »

1. Get a new HDD
2. Get an enclosure and plug it into another pc and format it
3. Go into DOS before Windows boots (press F8) and start the formatting from there
4. make sure you get some protection for it once it is up and running again

That's totally unnecessary and a waste of money, LowEndFreq has a hard drive.. and problems related to what is on it, not the actual hard drive itself.

LowEndFreq

Amalgam wrote: »

Use it again, in what sense, with the data on the drive before using Dban? No.

Dban erases the hard drive properly. It erases and formats. Not just a format. It doesn't take into account what is on the hard drive.

As far as starting again, just pop your XP/Vista install CD into the CD\DVD drive and it will start up, offering to format and create a partition on the hard drive.

It is very thorough, it comes into its own for returning the drive to a state that is safe to sell on, without worrying about personal information lying about.

I'm getting mixed signals, in your first post, you seem to want to erase the hard drive. If you're not sure what you're doing, get someone in that does, Dban is unforgiving and you will not be able to rescue data from the hard drive afterwards.

No i know what you mean, and i know full well that nothing would survive by formatting with Dban, I was just making sure that it COULD be used as a hard drive again.

Your part about it being in a state to sell answered that question though.

I really appreciate your help man, and this looks like the road I'm going to go down..

Thanks again!

Zynks

Amalgam wrote: »

That's totally unnecessary and a waste of money, LowEndFreq has a hard drive.. and problems related to what is on it, not the actual hard drive itself.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I listed four different suggestions.

In any case, I've seen 2nd hand 80 GB HDDs in Adverts.ie for €25. It is only a waste of money if you have time to spare fixing the old drive...

LowEndFreq

Zynks wrote: »

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I listed four different suggestions.

In any case, I've seen 2nd hand 80 GB HDDs in Adverts.ie for €25. It is only a waste of money if you have time to spare fixing the old drive...

But there's nothing wrong with the hard drive...

Zynks

LowEndFreq wrote: »

But there's nothing wrong with the hard drive...

Then maybe I missundertood you when you said:

LowEndFreq wrote: »

... my computer wont actually let me into my computer to format my hard drive... any suggestions for how i can get around this?
LowEndFreq

My line of thought was that if you are having problems to access the drive for some reason, get a 2nd hand one for 20-30 yo-yos, install the OS, connect the troublesome one as an external drive, format it and then sell one of them.
I keep spare drives for troubleshooting purposes and they have saved many hours of pain.
But hey, never mind... I thought it would help.

LowEndFreq

Zynks wrote: »

Then maybe I missundertood you when you said:


My line of thought was that if you are having problems to access the drive for some reason, get a 2nd hand one for 20-30 yo-yos, install the OS, connect the troublesome one as an external drive, format it and then sell one of them.
I keep spare drives for troubleshooting purposes and they have saved many hours of pain.
But hey, never mind... I thought it would help.

Ah no sorry man, I didn't mean to sound ungrateful! thank's a lot for trying to help, but its whatever's in the hard drive is the problem, not the actual drive itself..
Thanks though!