How to perform a properly 'complete' refresh?

[CrippsCorner]

Hi guys, been a while! Still loving my Surface but unfortunately ran into a problem this week, got bitten badly by a virus called Groovorio

Tried removing from add/remove... still there.
Tried deleting from browsers... still there.
Tried a refresh... still there.
Tried a complete reinstall... still there.

Eventually got rid of it, but now I have lag in my browsers, with both scrolling and typing. It's driving me insane! I reckon it's still in my system somewhere. Defender finds nothing...

So, how do I perform a properly 'complete' refresh. I'm aware the complete reinstall showed on the options on the Surface isn't equal to an old 'format c:\' because when I load back up it keeps all my wallpapers etc.

Something to do with booting from a USB? Would appreciate a hand thanks.

 

[GreyFox7]

That stuff kept is; settings synced back from OneDrive. You could go into Settings - Change PC settings - OneDrive and turn off the sync for this PC. IDK what actually happens after that with the settings.

If you use the Reset option that wipes all your files as well and there's an option to do a secure erase, that would just about do it I think.

 

[GreyFox7]

I suppose if you make the Recovery USB you could boot to that and use the Advanced Options to delete the partitions, then create new partitions and format also. If you don't trust your existing recovery partition for making the Recovery USB you can download a recovery image from MS to make your Recovery Drive.

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en...ervice-and-recovery/downloadablerecoveryimage

 

[CrippsCorner]

Thanks, I knew it was something like that. Will it actually wipe more than the 'Remove everything and reinstall Windows' though? Even doing that doesn't seem to delete your Internet Explorer homepage, which is a place the virus was attaching itself too... seems crazy to me! I even found when I logged into Chrome at work today, it had hijacked that too! Must have got into my accounts really quite worrying. I used to be a dab hand with reformats etc. but have been out the game so long it does seem daunting now lol.

Must say though after installing Chrome 39 (64 bit beta) and giving the Surface a reset, it does seem to be performing slightly better... it's just the confidence I've lost in it atm.