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General discussion

Reformating Vista

Mar 7, 2007 12:59PM PST

I bought Vista Home Premium the day it was released and installed it that day. Now a few days ago I got a virus somehow that isn't even being found by any antivirus programs so I was thinking about reformatting my computer.

So I'm wondering: Can I reformat with Vista? Is there a certain amount of times I can do it? How many times can I reinstall Vista?

Thanks

Discussion is locked

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Yes...
Mar 8, 2007 3:21AM PST

Yes, you can reformat your hard drive and reinstall Vista. You can actually perform such an action an unlimited number of times, but after a certain number of reinstalls or if you reinstall several times within a certain time span you will be prompted to call Microsoft's toll-free number to complete the activation process. They don't request any personal information, just the edition, product ID, confirmation code, if it is the only computer you've installed it on, etc. It takes less than 5 minutes, after which the 'counter' is reset so you can reinstall another X times before calling again.

John


P.S. If no antivirus software can detect anything, how do you know it's a virus? There may be a simpler solution than a complete reformat, which erases all of your files and settings.

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That's the answer I was hoping for :D
Mar 8, 2007 5:12AM PST

Thanks. I was afraid I'd only have like 3 reformats or something before I can't use Vista anymore.

As for how do I know it's a virus. I don't, but I honestly don't think there's any simple fix for this. I get pop-ups frequently, Media players are really choppy, usually ending in freezing and it takes about 5 minutes to open a folder. As I'm typing this, I don't know what I'm typing. I'll have to wait a few minutes to see what I've said. Thanks again, though, I think I'm going to reformat now. Fortunately I don't have too many important files on my computer right now.