I have rebooted my system - Compaq from five years ago with increased ram (to 1.5 gb), 160gb memory(now have an external hard drive, too) - many times. Each time the compaq-owners documents are stored (under computer "documents and settings"). This is fine for retrieving old files, etc. I mess around a lot trying to get the most from this old thing. Anyway, I just got eaten alive by a virus and had to start over again. No problem - I have saved all my important stuff externally. The problem is I cannot get into the saved folder marked compaq_owner (my computer number) 003. It says it is empty. I cannot delete it - it says it's being used by another program. I have scanned it with Avast - results: 15 viruses but it is unable to locate them to delete them. Tried AVG anti-virus - it doesn't even find anything - no results. The folder has 60 GB in it and a bunch of viruses. I need to delete it. How?

... I just got eaten alive by a virus and had to start over again.

Does the above mean a fresh install of the OS onto a newly formatted/clean partition?

The problem is I cannot get into the saved folder marked compaq_owner (my computer number) 003. It says it is empty. I cannot delete it - it says it's being used by another program. I have scanned it with Avast - results: 15 viruses but it is unable to locate them to delete them. Tried AVG anti-virus - it doesn't even find anything - no results. The folder has 60 GB in it and a bunch of viruses. I need to delete it. How?

I run Avast! (4 - 5 years now), and I have never seen it unable to handle something.

Do you have another OS on CD (Ubuntu is good) that you can boot/run to check/retreive your files?

I'm not sure what a formatted/clean partition is. What happens is the pc recovery feature reboots the computer with all the original programs - from 2005. The stuff left behind I found - while clicking around - is stored in compaq_owners "documents and settings" files under computer C drive. I have the original backup discs - would these erase whatever I have in the computer and reformat it before they download? I don't need to save anything - all I need is on an external - movies and such. My available GB is only around 50 because of this folder - which claims to be either write-protected or in use. Avast has been very helpful and did recognize the viruses - all came from Java - an upgrade that paralyzed my system with ads telling me I needed to buy something to protect my computer. But Avast has not been able to locate the files to move them to a chest or delete them. Odd, huh? Thank you for your help. It's a weird little problem. I'll try to reply more quickly.

A formatted/clean partition is a blank, ready to accept data, drive (C:, D:, E: etc). So is your Windows installation a "new" installation?

No, it's five years old. Windows XP. It came with the Compaq HP computer. There are only about 50 GB of hard drive that's currently usable - out of 142 or so. 60 GB seem to be trapped in this folder. I had movies and programs and a bunch of stuff in it when it got infected.

You can use Ubuntu that Dan mentioned or a bootable CD like UBCD to access the hard drive and delete files and folders. That's one way to free up drive space and get rid of the old stuff you no longer want.

You may be able to format the boot partition using UBCD as well, but I'm not sure about that as I've not used it in a long time.

Well, I downloaded UBCD and now I have a multitude of files I can't even open. I have no idea what to do with it. Can I reformat the C drive - that option is given with a right click - and will that erase all the former stuff?

Yes. Formatting your O/S (Operating System) drive clears the drive of all data. You'll need an O/S CD/DVD to reinstall the O/S. (Unless there's a (usually hidden) partition with O/S recovery.)

I've been fooling around with the UBCD but it is beyond me. When I go to format C I do have the discs with the os on them. Thanks for your help in all this.

From what I can find, Parted Magic is what you can use to format the partition/drive and it is included in UBCD, but again, I have no experience with that one either.

You said when you right click on the drive (C:?) you see a Format option, right? If so, what happens if you select it?

This is not something I can test on my system at home as I don't want to wipe it out, but I'll try to remember to try it (latest UBCD) on a machine at work tomorrow. I'll post my results and directions if I figure out how to get it to format.