Reformatting Windows Vista on a Dell M1530

Hi guys, I recently had a major problem with my machine that was caused by malware. After seeking the help of your technicians, we were able to rid the malware from my computer, which was great, however, the damage that was done to my machine was irreversible. I was advised by CatByte to reformat my machine and was directed to seek help in this forum. For some more details, I am running Windows Vista (32 bit) on a Dell M1530 with an Intel Core Duo T9500@ 2.6 GHz, 4 GB of RAM, a 220 GB HD, 256 MB Geforce video card, and apparently there is a 10 GB recovery partition, which CatByte said might be useful. However, CatByte also mentioned a program called dBan might or might not be useful in my situation. You guys have been incredibly helpful so far, and I appreciate any help you can offer.

Thanks

Reason for edit: Add link to malware thread: http://forums.whatthetech.com/index.php?sh…=121335&hl=

I don't think DBAN is necessary but you can use it if you want, just be very careful you wipe only the boot partition and not the Recovery partition.

Darik's Boot And Nuke

DBAN is a .iso file (CD image) that you use as input to a CD burning program like Roxio, Nero or a free one like ImgBurn (my recommendation). You Point ImgBurn to the downloaded .iso file and write it to a blank, unused CRD. Once done, you boot the CD you just created then wipe the boot partition only.

Again, I don't think this is necessary as restoring to Factory new state should be okay.

To restore, see here: Restoring the Computer to the Default Factory Configuration

The Dell Factory Image Restore option allows you to restore your hard drive back to its original factory configuration as when you first ordered it from Dell. This option appears on Dell computers that were originally pre-installed with Windows Vista® and does not include computers purchased through the Express Upgrade promotion or computers that were upgraded to Windows Vista from a previous version of the Windows® operating systems.
NOTICE: When you restore the computer to the default factory configuration, all data on the hard drive is deleted. Before performing this procedure, back up personal files. If you do not back up personal files, the data is lost.

Restart the computer. To do this, click Start ® ® Restart.

As the computer restarts, press until the Advanced Boot Options menu appears on the screen.

NOTE: You must press the key before the Windows logo appears on the screen. If you press after the Windows logo appears on the screen, the Advanced Boot Options menu will not appear on the screen. If you do not see the Advanced Boot Options menu, restart the computer, and then repeat this step until you see the menu on the screen.

Press to select Repair Your Computer on the Advanced Boot Options menu, and then press .

Specify the language settings that you want, and then click Next.

Log in as a user who has administrative credentials, and then click OK.

Click Dell Factory Image Restore.

In the Dell Factory Image Restore window, click Next.

Select the Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition checkbox.

Click Next. The computer is restored to the default factory configuration.

When the restore operation is completed, click Finish to restart the computer.

I'm a little confused…should I just being using the Factory Image Restore method, or do I need the Windows Vista Installation Disk and Drivers and Media Disk?

No, you do not need any disks. Just follow the instructions in the quote window by Ztrucker

Thanks, for everything, I took care of it. Now I just have to spend days updating windows and reinstalling everything, which means a lot of computer restarts lol.

Hi ..Yes that can be a bit time consuming….. however when you have it all up and running again..all applications installed, junk files removed and running fast and sweet, with your newly installed operating system….then its a wise person who takes a disc image using Acronis, Paragon, Symantec or similar paid for products or one of the many free disc imaging applications…. With an extra copy of your first (and any incremental disc images) kept safe on removable media offsite and with a bootable CD capable of accessing your disc image (made using the wizard in your disc imagng appplication) then in the event that trouble should ever strike again in the future that cannot be resolved in a timely or cost effective way by the usual means…then you could just reimage and be up and running again, in less time than it takes to walk the dog…. Its well worth thinking about. Regards paws