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dcogent1 · 11-18-2008, 06:15 PM

My situation is this...I have my parents old computer which I intend to salvage for parts..It has a seagate 80GB HD (which currently runs/ran on XP) that has been badly infected with viruses, malware, spyware of all types im sure...I want to save some money and convert this internal HD to a external HD, but I need to know two things:

1. If I find a way to totally reformat this HD, erasing everything, is it safe to use as only storage device..considering the virus issues (Also whats the best way to reformat and completly erase all info/data from the seagate HD to ensure no virus remnants are left over on it), or should I go through the steps that were used by the wise individuals who work this forum to clean and rid my current CPU of viruses, malware and spyware (DDS scan, GMER scan, Combo fix, hijack this, ect)

2. And if i can safely reformat this HD with no worries, does it need to have the XP OS reinstalled after reformatting to be used for the storage only purpose to be compatable(recognizeable) by my current computer, once put into a HD enclosure and connected via USb/firewire, ect?

Thanks for your time!!

11-18-2008, 06:15 PM	#1 (permalink)
dcogent1 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 10 OS: windows xp 2000	Question about hard drive conversion.... My situation is this...I have my parents old computer which I intend to salvage for parts..It has a seagate 80GB HD (which currently runs/ran on XP) that has been badly infected with viruses, malware, spyware of all types im sure...I want to save some money and convert this internal HD to a external HD, but I need to know two things: 1. If I find a way to totally reformat this HD, erasing everything, is it safe to use as only storage device..considering the virus issues (Also whats the best way to reformat and completly erase all info/data from the seagate HD to ensure no virus remnants are left over on it), or should I go through the steps that were used by the wise individuals who work this forum to clean and rid my current CPU of viruses, malware and spyware (DDS scan, GMER scan, Combo fix, hijack this, ect) 2. And if i can safely reformat this HD with no worries, does it need to have the XP OS reinstalled after reformatting to be used for the storage only purpose to be compatable(recognizeable) by my current computer, once put into a HD enclosure and connected via USb/firewire, ect? Thanks for your time!!