alright people with the right skills, explain to me step by step on how to redo a pc with windows 98 os. please help, some crap virus got in my pc and is overloading it with bogus programs. i'm dying here, my computer runs slower than a 486!

If you want to loose everything on your hard drive do this:
Checklist:
Have a blank floppy
Have backed up what is important on the system (make sure other users know that you are going to wipe the hard drive)
Have your windows 98 install CD, AND THE KEY!!!
-->If you don't know where your cd key is I can help you fetch it out of the registry.... If this is the case, DO NOT proceed with this untill you have the key.

Make a windows boot disk floppy.
-->How? Open control panel. Goto add/remove programs.
Goto the third tab in the window and it will say make a windows 98 boot disk. Slap in a fresh floppy and create the disk.

Once finished, put the floppy into the drive and restart the computer.
At boot it will ask you if you want to start the computer with or without cd rom support, it really doesn't matter, without will start faster, but if you want to reinstall windows, you're gonna need to have cdrom support. Anyway, once you see the A:\> prompt, type the magical string, 'format c:' Answer its questions and it will wipe your drive.

Once finished with format, put your install CD in the drive and then at the A:\> prompt, type D:\setup.exe (where D: is the drive letter of your cdrom)

This will reinstall windows...

Will this wipe everything including virus' and trojans?

Yes. This will clean absolutely EVERYTHING off your hard drive. Windows folder, viruses, programs, music, games, everything. And when you reinstall windows, it even kills the old MBR so that viruses that hang out in there are killed.

Reviving my RAM... I must consider this

There are alternatives you know, for example, goto start > run Type 'msconfig', select the option for 'selective startup', goto the tab on the farthest right and click the button that says disable all. Hit ok and restart and be amazed!

(you can turn individual startup programs back on by checking the box, this is useful if you have AntiVirus software or whatknot.)

Can you elaberate on that before I do it?

In windows, there is a group of programs in the registry which are makred to auto load. This is usually where people's computer performance goes down the tube. Thus you can shut these programs off, and load (run) them manually when you need them.

Are these essential?

DirectCD
Webrebates0
Qttask (Quicktime thing, is this the thing that adds the little quicktime button in the box with my clock?)
Winampa
realsched

then I have some Japanese, jibberish to me, files on there

Hmm, DirectCD is part of Roxio, you can disable that fine. Web Rebates is adware, so definently turn that off. QTTask is most likely the Quicktime taskbar icon, disable it if you don't care for it. Winampa is an agent for Winamp that appears to automatically keep files associated with Winamp, so keep if you want to make sure WMP or something else doesn't steal file types away from Winamp. Realsched is an automatic updater for Real products, so disable if you don't care for them.

Done.

Long time no see Zelos.

Meh, I just pop in once in a while. Despite having lost interest in Zoids (well, at least in what you can get in the US) I still find I can't stop poking my head back in here every so often.

Hey Hatch, My only computer problem is Trojan viruses.. right now I don't have Norten anymore like I preferred.. they keep getting to me, and my free antivirus just doesn't seem good enough, it tells me everyday I've been infected by a trojen virus, I keep saying delete or move to chest.. but it comes back.. now I don't want to redo anything or lose anything, just get rid or and/or stop the trojen viruses.. can you help me, or anyone else for that matter.

Well the only way to get help is to try and identify the virus name. Perhaps the w32.sosovirus.k type of name or an exe file name. Otherwise its impossible to isolate the problem and fix it.

I think I can get the exe name, the free antivirus I has says the name when it pops up, and it usually is the same, next time it comes up, I'll write it down.

*nods* I had to reformat my comp when it got infected with a virus a while back. That fixed the problem alright so yes.

To keep my computer running swell, I back up what I have every year and do a clean format. Then I just reinstall what I want and boom! ++ On performance.

I guess that's an option, but that must be a hefty procedure, picking all the right stuff to reinstall.

Not really, when you are obsessive like me, you tend to put everything thats important in a.) the same folders or b.) the root drive

I don't use the my docs folder and stuff that apps save are all generally in the same place.