My Windows Vista on a Gateway gt5404 seems to have a virus that is causing
multiple problems. A friend told me that in my case, i should probably save
all my files and reinstall the entire operating system. I am feeling this is
a bit risky, so does anyone have any tips for making this smooth?

Hi,

What's risky is continuing to run an infected system. Not only is there
potential damage to your files, but the virus is likely replicating and
sending out copies of itself to other unsuspecting users.

Without knowing what virus it is, it's tough to make a decision on trying to
clean it versus a format/clean install. Personally, I prefer to avoid the
latter, but sometimes it's just quicker that way. As Gateway likely provided
a system-specific recovery method for your machine, your best bet on making
this smooth is to follow their instructions.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"qiang" wrote in message
...
My Windows Vista on a Gateway gt5404 seems to have a virus that is causing
multiple problems. A friend told me that in my case, i should probably
save
all my files and reinstall the entire operating system. I am feeling this
is
a bit risky, so does anyone have any tips for making this smooth?