No...any viruses and spyware and other assorted malware will remain and have to be dealt with. Please post again with system information, what kind of security products or programs you have installed, the setting that were changed and the symptoms and error messages that you are getting.
One of the experts here can take at look at what is happening and give you some advice about how to deal with it.
Just to set the record straight for the casual forum readers who may be interested in this thread, I thought I should pipe in here to clarify the previously posted responses:
First, mikecd04 wrote:
Quote: Ive had to reset my computer to factory setting because of viruses, does the factory settings get rid of the virus
dalem29 wrote:
Quote: No...any viruses and spyware and other assorted malware will remain and have to be dealt with.
trailrated1 wrote:
Quote: If you are refering to the dell system restore (Ctrl - F11) then yes you should have a clean fresh system.
The two responses seem to be in conflict and the reason is because of the way mikecd04 phrased the question. "Factory settings" and "Factory condition" are two separate things and have different meaning for many users.
Factory Settings most commonly refers to "Default" settings and Factory Condition most commonly refers to a brand new installation.
The differences are usually referring to "System Restore" and "System Recovery" (an option that is NOT available with all versions of Windows XP pre-installed systems).
If the user in this thread is referring to "System Restore" then the malware issue is not resolved. In fact, by restoring the system to a previous time, you may also be restoring other malware that was previously removed.
If the user in this thread is referring to "System Recovery" then the disk has been effectively wiped clean with the reinstallation of windows. This feature is certain to remove malware from the disk...however, once reinstalled, the user needs to also re-visit the Windows Update Site to reinstall all previously installed patches.
My computer picked up a back-door trojan Security Toolbar 7.1. It was installed on the toolbar, and after a few half-hearted attempts at removal, I decided to reformat. My son had installed all kinds of file-sharing junk so I wanted a clean slate. For some reason, couldn't get ctrl-F11 to restore at boot-even got Dell on the phone, tried on many restarts, nothing. I finally just reinstalled XP with my cds, reinstalled drivers, etc. Anyone have any idea why pressing ctrl-F11 on restart didn't work for me? Dell XPS 710
500 gb hdd
2MM
dual 512mb Radeon ATI X1950X cards
Message Edited by sublime11 on 06-27-2007 08:49 PM
dalem29
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2.2K Posts
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June 22nd, 2007 14:00
Message Edited by dalem29 on 06-22-2007 09:46 AM
Message Edited by dalem29 on 06-22-2007 09:48 AM
trailrated1
86 Posts
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June 22nd, 2007 15:00
1972vet
3.3K Posts
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June 22nd, 2007 16:00
First, mikecd04 wrote:
Quote: Ive had to reset my computer to factory setting because of viruses, does the factory settings get rid of the virus
dalem29 wrote:
Quote:
No...any viruses and spyware and other assorted malware will remain and have to be dealt with.
trailrated1 wrote:
Quote:
If you are refering to the dell system restore (Ctrl - F11) then yes you should have a clean fresh system.
The two responses seem to be in conflict and the reason is because of the way mikecd04 phrased the question. "Factory settings" and "Factory condition" are two separate things and have different meaning for many users.
Factory Settings most commonly refers to "Default" settings and Factory Condition most commonly refers to a brand new installation.
The differences are usually referring to "System Restore" and "System Recovery" (an option that is NOT available with all versions of Windows XP pre-installed systems).
If the user in this thread is referring to "System Restore" then the malware issue is not resolved. In fact, by restoring the system to a previous time, you may also be restoring other malware that was previously removed.
If the user in this thread is referring to "System Recovery" then the disk has been effectively wiped clean with the reinstallation of windows. This feature is certain to remove malware from the disk...however, once reinstalled, the user needs to also re-visit the Windows Update Site to reinstall all previously installed patches.
sublime11
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27 Posts
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June 28th, 2007 00:00
Message Edited by sublime11 on 06-27-2007 08:49 PM
1972vet
3.3K Posts
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June 28th, 2007 01:00