how to test laptop for suspicious program?

I bought a laptop from ebay
it looks like the seller already wiped the hd and reinstalled windows 7.

other than reinstalling windows 7 myself, how can I be sure that there are no viruses on this laptop that could steal my information? because reinstalling windows 7 takes a long time, I have to download all the right drivers and install those, it's going to be a huge pain.

I am not sure if what I am looking for is a anti-spyware or virus scanner. what i am looking for is a program that i could install and it would tell me if anything suspicious is going on? do you know of anything like that? how can I be sure the laptop doesn't have viruses or weird programs that will steal my info?

There's something called a Antivirus...

Flash the latest BIOS, delete all partitions then make and format new ones. Install new windows. This way you can be sure that nothing from previous owner is alive.

Go windows 10, win 7 is the new xp.

remove the hard disk from the computer. Connect the hard disk as a secondary disk to another computer, preferably with a USB connector like the one shown here at Staples [ http://www.staples.com/usb+to+sata+adapter/directory_usb+to+sata+adapter ]. Then scan the drive with at least two forms of antivirus and follow that with a scan with Malwarebytes.

Edit add: before removing drive, open an adminitrator command window and type in 'sfc /scannow' with out quotes to check the integrity of the system files and replace any that do not match.

Malcolm Max said:

Flash the latest BIOS, delete all partitions then make and format new ones. Install new windows. This way you can be sure that nothing from previous owner is alive.

Go windows 10, win 7 is the new xp.

Click to expand...

This is probably the easiest route to go.