Just Start Over?

[johnwaitekus]

My desktop is almost completely hijacked, even when opening IE it immediately closes, as do most other programs. For some peculiiar reason I can get to IE through the Windows Security section. I have tried the many of the same things readers have tried and just wonder...........
Why not just START OVER? Will this work if I go to safe mode and save all my important data on CD then somehow re-format the hard drive?
How do I do this? I've got Norton Utilities. Do I need a boot disc once everything is gone?
Thanks for the help.
john

[peterg70]

Reformatting can be problematic.
You will need all the drivers for hardware that are not part of Windows XP. (new hardware etc)
Windows XP will install directly from the CD so no need for a boot disk. You can check this before you wipe your harddisk. If your CD-Rom doesn't boot you need to enter your BIOS and change the boot sequence from A: drive HDD: to CD-ROM
Then you will need to reinstall all the software again from scratch. This includes all other packages.
Then you will need to upgrade to the latest version of Windows XP 120MB+ download.
Even after all this you still need to reprotect your machine from getting reinfected.

It might be worthwhile posting a hijackthis logfile and seening if we can help you out.
Its alot less hassle and you will learn how to protect your machine from spyware.
Also if it fails you can always resort to wiping your harddisk.