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Fixing an older Compaq desktop.

post #1 of 5
5/9/07 at 8:12pm
Thread Starter 
I have a Compaq desktop that I've had since 2002, I think.

I rarely use it anymore since I have a notebook but my father uses it daily. Except my dad is an idiot when using anything technical. He feels he knows best and does whatever the hell he wants.

So, as you can imagine, the computer is terribly messed up. I'm not even sure I can fix it.

I always made sure there was a firewall, virus, and spyware protection set up on the PC, but my dad found that annoying and shut everything off. Now, there is all kinds of trojans and possibly worms, I'm not sure.

Will wiping out the partition with a fresh installation of Windows XP work? Will it clean and fix the problems on the computer?

And also, since we don't have a broadband network setup, (I have a DSL line in my room. The computer downstairs is hooked up to dial-up.) is it safe to bring down my DSL box and hook it up to the PC just to have a faster connection if I have to try and manually clean out the viruses? Will it mess up my notebook when I re-connect the box, will the viruses carry over?
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post #2 of 5
5/9/07 at 9:49pm
Just wipe the drive and do a fresh install of Windows. It will save you the time of manually repairing the OS, which at this point will probably be a long and tedious process. Formatting the drive gets rid of all software, including trojans.

As long as you have DSL carried throughout your house's phone lines, moving the DSL modem should work okay. The modem will not store or transfer viruses. You might want to do so anyway (or bring the tower up to your room) even if you do format, because Windows Update on dial-up is the suck.
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post #3 of 5
6/9/07 at 5:41pm
This sounds a lot like my dad... I normally have to wipe his computer every 3-4 months... good luck!
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post #4 of 5
3/26/08 at 4:27pm
yup yup my best-buddies dad is the same damn way also.....always porn and pop-ups
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post #5 of 5
3/29/08 at 1:08am
While your at it, setup your Dad as a "user" account and hide/password the admin account. That'll teach him.
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