You have to boot from somewhere other than the hard drive if you're going to reformat that hard drive so you should boot from the Win 7 DVD.
But I don't understand your issue. If you want to go back the way it was 2 years ago, Dell's PC Restore will reset the hard drive to exactly the way it was when it left their factory. That's a whole lot easier and faster than a reformat/reinstall.
All personal files and software you installed will be lost if you use PC Restore so you must back up your data first, but you have to do that for a clean install too. And you also have to install the Win 7 Service Packs plus all Microsoft updates and hotfixes with either method.
Click this link to the Wikis and look for the one to reinstall Win 7 if you readly do want a clean install.
The Windows 7 DVD can format the drive but it is a pretty weak format.
Since it appears you want to do a full format for whatever reasons (privacy or because of virus/spyware) you should use a utility called DBAN to format the drive. DBAN will format the drive properly over a few hours.
Thanks Ron and Nat. My decision to format the drive and do a clean install is indeed because of lingering virus/spyware that my AVG can't seem to cope with, plus I have 3 missing and/or corrupted files. I just don't have confidence in Restore correcting these problems without getting re-infected.
I think you misunderstand the differences between PC Restore vs System Restore.
PC Restore wipes the hard drive so everything is removed, including malware, and then reinstalls Windows, drivers and any software Dell supplied. Malware won't survive PC Restore, with the possible exception of a boot sector virus. PC Restore takes ~10 min and then you're ready to install the Service Packs and updates.
On the other hand, System Restore is a Windows feature which just takes you back a few days (or weeks) and restores older system settings. If the Restore point file that's used is infected, you won't get rid of malware with a System Restore.
Unless you have good anti-malware protection, a firewall, and all the latest software patches (eg, for Flash, Adobe Reader, etc), no matter which way you reinstall Windows, you're going to get infected again, especially if this PC is on a (local) network and another system is also infected.
It's your system and you have to decide what's best. I was just trying to save you hours of work when all you need is ~10 min to get to a factory-state OS installation on the hard drive. :emotion-5:
However the PC Restore is almost the same as the Windows 7 format. While they can get rid of alot of Malware/Virus infections, we have seen a number of infections survive a Windows 7 format e.g. here. In fact I think even the Windows XP format is better than the Windows 7 format (it takes longer). The Windows 7 is done in a few minutes typically, it can't format thoroughly. Hence I recommend use of DBAN to be sure.
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
October 4th, 2012 12:00
You have to boot from somewhere other than the hard drive if you're going to reformat that hard drive so you should boot from the Win 7 DVD.
But I don't understand your issue. If you want to go back the way it was 2 years ago, Dell's PC Restore will reset the hard drive to exactly the way it was when it left their factory. That's a whole lot easier and faster than a reformat/reinstall.
All personal files and software you installed will be lost if you use PC Restore so you must back up your data first, but you have to do that for a clean install too. And you also have to install the Win 7 Service Packs plus all Microsoft updates and hotfixes with either method.
Click this link to the Wikis and look for the one to reinstall Win 7 if you readly do want a clean install.
Philip_Yip
9 Legend
•
16.1K Posts
0
October 4th, 2012 15:00
The Windows 7 DVD can format the drive but it is a pretty weak format.
Since it appears you want to do a full format for whatever reasons (privacy or because of virus/spyware) you should use a utility called DBAN to format the drive. DBAN will format the drive properly over a few hours.
See my wiki A Clean Install of Windows 7 for full details. It will take you through everything.
jumprun3
1 Rookie
•
44 Posts
0
October 4th, 2012 16:00
Thanks Ron and Nat. My decision to format the drive and do a clean install is indeed because of lingering virus/spyware that my AVG can't seem to cope with, plus I have 3 missing and/or corrupted files. I just don't have confidence in Restore correcting these problems without getting re-infected.
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
October 4th, 2012 18:00
I think you misunderstand the differences between PC Restore vs System Restore.
PC Restore wipes the hard drive so everything is removed, including malware, and then reinstalls Windows, drivers and any software Dell supplied. Malware won't survive PC Restore, with the possible exception of a boot sector virus. PC Restore takes ~10 min and then you're ready to install the Service Packs and updates.
On the other hand, System Restore is a Windows feature which just takes you back a few days (or weeks) and restores older system settings. If the Restore point file that's used is infected, you won't get rid of malware with a System Restore.
Unless you have good anti-malware protection, a firewall, and all the latest software patches (eg, for Flash, Adobe Reader, etc), no matter which way you reinstall Windows, you're going to get infected again, especially if this PC is on a (local) network and another system is also infected.
It's your system and you have to decide what's best. I was just trying to save you hours of work when all you need is ~10 min to get to a factory-state OS installation on the hard drive. :emotion-5:
Philip_Yip
9 Legend
•
16.1K Posts
0
October 5th, 2012 02:00
However the PC Restore is almost the same as the Windows 7 format. While they can get rid of alot of Malware/Virus infections, we have seen a number of infections survive a Windows 7 format e.g. here. In fact I think even the Windows XP format is better than the Windows 7 format (it takes longer). The Windows 7 is done in a few minutes typically, it can't format thoroughly. Hence I recommend use of DBAN to be sure.