Nasty Virus; Reinstall OS

[thom]

I have a computer with a nasty virus. It's OS is XP Media. My tech guy says he cannot remove the virus and recommends reinstalling the OS. I cannot find the OS and I do not remember for sure if the computer came with a hard copy of the OS. However, I do have XP Pro. Can I wipe the HD and install XP Pro or put in a new HD and install XP Pro?

[rjfvillarosa]

As long as the COA key is not in use on any other machine yes.
Can you give us some information on what the virus might be and what steps you have taken to remove it.

[thom]

I suppose the COA key is the long number one must enter to install the OS? I need to check with my tech guy on the virus. He is pretty sharp and has always been able to clean up a virus but this one has him stumped.

[rjfvillarosa]

Originally Posted by thom

I suppose the COA key is the long number one must enter to install the OS? .

Yes.

Have a read of this thread and talk to your tech guy about buying one of the adapters and then slaving the infected harddrive to a good machine with good antivirus software installed.

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=204049

[kilgoretrout]

The usual advice around here is to install malwarebytes:

http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Update to the most recent malware definitions. Then turn off system restore, reboot into safe mode and run a thorough scan with malwarebytes.