Re: Product Validation After Reformat/Reinstall

Ken Blake, MVP wrote:

That's a draconian solution to a virus problem that is very seldom
necessary. Anti-virus software usually works very well

I keep reading replies like this, but us mere mortals don't have the ability to read some obscure hexadecimal numbers in an error message and instantly realize which of the hundreds of files necessary for Windows to start is corrupt or missing and needs replacing. Even then there are some files that are built or modified during installation or the boot process that simply aren't available on the installation media or hidden installation partition on the hard drive.

Sometimes the anti-virus isn't clever enough to always be able to clean a file, especially if the infection replaced or deleted part or all of the infected file(s).

It doesn't help that Microsoft and the computer manufacturers didn't add a few pages telling people how to run the recovery utilities that come with Windows to that thin "Getting Started..." guide.
.

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