How do I format my hard drive, I'm trying to remove spyware and that's what someone had suggested, please help me!

What kind of computer do you have (mac, PC, something else) and what operating system is it running (Windows XP Home, Windows Vista, etc)?

-TS

As noted we need more info about your PC.

But a reformat is a last resort. Have you tried getting AdAware or Spybot (freeware spyware removers). What steps have you taken to clean out your PC?

I've removed most of the spyware and installed a firewall, anti spyware software, and an anitvirus program, but I'm still having some problems, when I try to sign onto the internet, it closes it out

When was the last time you did some serious system maintenance, as it sounds like you have been over looking it.

System maintenance includes:
Defrag
FULL patching
Virus scanning
Spyware scanning
Removal of rubish files

Defrag is an inbuilt function in XP.
Open My Computer > Right click C: > Tools Tab and it's there.

To make sure everything is running fine run both anti virus and anti spyware apps in normal AND safe modes. (make sure that they are updated first ! ;)) (AVG (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1) is good and free AV)
(A couple of good removal tools are Spybot (http://www.safer-networking.org/) and Adaware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/))

ALso an on line virus and spyware scanner is Trend Housecall (http://housecall.trendmicro.com/)

Just a note; actively running two AV's on one machine can cause problems.
So if you are thinking about it make sure your current one is disabled first.
Same thing applies to online scanners as well.

Removal of junk files is easy with CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com) a free app that does exactly what you neeed.

What kind of computer do you have (mac, PC, something else) and what operating system is it running (Windows XP Home, Windows Vista, etc)?

-TS

I've got a PC running ME


As noted we need more info about your PC.

But a reformat is a last resort. have you tried getting AdAware or Spybot (freeware spyware removers). What steps have you taken to clean out your PC?


I've removed most of the spyware and installed a firewall, anti spyware software, and an anitvirus program, but I'm still having some problems, when I try to sign onto the internet, it closes it out

I've done the defrag, virus scan, removed most of the spyware, and a cheep firewall form the internet, but I had some guy build my computer and the software that is in it is pirated, so I'm screwed to try patches or Microsoft programs

My advice would be to get a copy of Windows XP, Backup all your data files to CD or somewhere then do a fresh install of XP. Win ME is the worst version of Windows Microsoft ever released.

Also, before you do that, go to belarc.com and run their Advisor. This will give you a comprehensive list of all the hardware and software on your PC. You can then make sure you have all your drivers and install disks.