Virus infection on a T60 ==> how best to reinstall WindowsXP? Can I safely still use the special Windows installation partition?
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From: Daave on 20 Jan 2010 23:59 Elmo wrote: > ship wrote: >> Well I spoke to Lenovo and they want to sting me for GBP 40.00 for an >> installation disk. >> I refuse point blank to do this partly as a matter of principle and >> partly because it will >> proably take a while for the CD to arrive by post. >> >> I have dug out the number from Control Panel > System > General Tab >> which looks like this >> >> 99999-OEM-9999999-99999 >> >> (except with actual numbers instead of "9"s) >> >> I also spoke to Microsoft who were extremely insistent that using a >> different CD would >> definitely fail to work (I suspect that they are probably fibbing). >> >> Apparently I will to give them an "Installation ID" (9 groups of 6 >> digits), and they will then need to give me >> a "Confirmation ID" >> >> I've not followed any of the links above yet - will they be able to >> generate a "Product Key" or >> "Confirmation ID" ? >> >> I am slightly hazy about what all these "IDs" and "Keys" are and >> where and when they are >> required by Windows XP. The spare CD I have comes from my old PC. It >> is definitely a >> genuine Windows XP Professional CD, and I have the product key for >> *it* (but I presume >> that it wont work...) Wait a minute - *yes* on the back of the Lenovo >> Laptop is indeed >> a "product key", and with 5 groups of 5 characters. Looks promising >> :) >> >> Is there anything else that I need to do ? >> >> i.e. do I still need the likes of >> http://magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder/ >> or do I now have the information that I need? >> >> * * * >> >> But as some of you imply, MAYBE there is not need to format the >> Windows installation partition. >> But just how hard can it be for a virus to write to a hidden >> partition? NOT hard I would imagine. >> If I was writing a virus that is exactly the sort of thing I would >> get it to do to ensure that it >> survived a re-formatting of the C: drive... but what do I know? >> >> Ship (OP) > > Look at it like this.. if malware is written to the installation > partition, what would it matter unless there were a rootkit, or > Windows malware to address it. It could only be activated if you > installed from that partition. I'm pretty sure that that was Ship's point. A few people, including yours truly, suggested he simply use the hidden restore partition. I highly doubt that the malware writers targeted *his* particular PC model. I am sure the partition is just fine! Also, he made another post and I'm pretty sure there was no evidence his OS even had an infection; that is, his AV program found suspect files in the the temp directory and unopened e-mail attachments. I'm not convinced he has a problem at all. :-) |