For a couple months I have been ridiculously paranoid about my computer being hacked and I can't even remember why anymore, but there have been signs in the past. 4 things came up on RootkitRevealer which just finished scanning a few minutes ago, I sometimes get something similar to "IRQL_Not_Equal" when trying to boot Windows, my computer has been running very slow compared to usual and sometimes freezes, and my internet randomly shuts off or slows down sometimes. I have Freedom, Spy Sweeper, Avast Anti-Virus, McAfee Firewall, McAfee Privacy Service, and McAfee Virus scan on this computer and none of them are warning me of anything. I am willing to do whatever it takes to just fix whatever is going on and make sure it doesn't happen again. If it is relevant, there is also another computer on my network. It is my mother's Windows XP Pro.

Soon I am going to format my hard drive and reinstall Windows. As far as I know, this should get rid of any rootkits or viruses or anything really causing me problems. So:

1) If I do format my HDD and reinstall Windows XP, would any possible hackers currently in my system still have any access to my system in any way after the format and reinstall?

2) If not, what are some things you guys would recommend doing to make my PC as secure as possible?
If the hacker would still have access to my system, what should I do?

Thank you so much to anyone who responds. I can't deal with these things anymore, and I am ready to do ANYTHING I have to do make and keep my computers secure. This is a wonderful site and I commend everyone here who helps.

Download the Sophos Anti Rootkit, this will detect and remove any rootkits it find's.

If you do reformat reinstall, make sure your intenet connection is disabled till you have your firewall and antivirus software installed. Once you have these installed reconnect to the web and download all Microsoft updates, and the latest av definiton updates.

Thanks a ton. I'll use that program and see if it helps anything. If my enormous paranoia still bothers me, I'll reformat and reinstall, and I'll keep your advice in mind.

Here are the results of my scan:

"Warning: Failed to flush drive \\.\C:. Registry scan may produce invalid results. The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process."

"Warning: Registry call timed out - it may be blocked by malware. Please try again after a clean up and restart."

"Area: Windows registry
Description: Hidden registry value
Location: \HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-846320298-2487099434-1340660822-1006\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Exp lorer\TrayNotify\PastIconsStream
Removable: No
Notes: (type 3, length 102400) "\x14 \x05 \x01 \x01 \xbe\x03 \x14 IL \x06\xbe\x03\xc1\x03\x04 \x10 \x10 \xff\xff\xff\xff! \xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xff\xffBM6 6 ( \x10 \x10<" ... "\xcb\xff\xcf\xa7s\xff\x06\x06""

I don't have the option to Clean Up Checked Items. What should I do?

Well, guys. I decided what I wanted to do. I'm going to format my external harddrive so there is no chance of a virus or rootkit on it, put all the information on it that I need, and then use system restore so it's like my system is brand new. I definatly appreciate the help you guys have given me anyway, though. Don't think I don't. I would consider being a mod or something here, just because you guys are so awesome and I feel that you guys deserve all the help you can get. Thanks.

Kind words indeed, we sure appreciate them

You might want to follow the prework link in Hengis`s signature, and let the security team help you get rid of any infections you have. If i understand what youre going to do, transfer your data to an external drive, then do a system restore on your boot drive??? System restore wont get rid of the infection(s) , and its possible to reinfect your boot drive if you transfer the data back to it after a clean install. Something may be hiding in some of those files. Just a suggestion because, ive been there , done that, and have the tshirt. LOL