Thread: Want to throw my computer

I always wonder what it is that people do that they get all these virusses. I don't remember getting one in at least 5 years. And even then the virusscanner did it's job and picked it out before it could do harm.

First I'd have a look at what activities you do on your computer.

Do you play games a lot or run a lot of native windows programs for which you can't find any substitutes (if you've even looked. There is a VERY large open source community with LOADS of programs out there) then stick to windows....back up what you can, scan it very well and re-install the complete shebang.

Do you use wordprocessors, e-mail, internet, maybe some light photowork and/or audiowork.
Get a version of Linux, like Ubuntu, Linux Mint of one of the many other flavours. They're great, not at all difficult to come to grips with (the basics at least), work faster than most windows versions (at least on my PC no windows has ever run as fast as linux the time that I had it), are more secure and are completely free.

For your average PC user that doesn't do any hardcore work I highly recomment Linux over windows.

Usually I reinstall my OS once in a year, that's a good touch up for my comp. Plus I use a good antivirus. And everything goes smoothly.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Most Pros will advise you to do a complete reformat at least every couple of years. As time goes on all computers get slower and slower for a variety of reasons and there isn't much you can do about it. A reformat fixes everything.

Most people selling themselves as Pro.
An actual pro would tell you to not install crap in the first place, and regularly perform cleanup of old data, do a disk defragment, etc.
I never reinstall without a good reason. I also don't load a ton of crap on it either

Your suggestion is like demolishing a house after a couple of years because it's starting to need some light maintenance

I don't claim to be a pro but, I'm the only computer literate person in a house of 8 people and have 4 laptops to fix regularly mosty from crapware put onto them by my family who have no idea what they're doing - accompanied by useless toolbars with retarded search bars that couldn't find its own brain (because it doesn't have one) but they say it looks pretty so the computer dies and reformatting it saves some time and hassle going through and removing all the offending programs and registry entries.

But try Linux, Linux Mint runs pretty well and looks nice and sleek, if you are just doing basic tasks. You don't even need to install Linux you can run it straight from a CD; Here's the KNOPPIX download page mentioned earlier

Originally Posted by Bruno

Most people selling themselves as Pro.
An actual pro would tell you to not install crap in the first place, and regularly perform cleanup of old data, do a disk defragment, etc.
I never reinstall without a good reason. I also don't load a ton of crap on it either

Your suggestion is like demolishing a house after a couple of years because it's starting to need some light maintenance

One nice thing about windows 7 and vista is the automatic system state backups it does. I have saved people just buy walking them through restoring to a point before things blew up. Of course if they have some nasty malware, I usually prefer to just reload if possible. I am always paranoid I missed something cleaning it up.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Most Pros will advise you to do a complete reformat at least every couple of years. As time goes on all computers get slower and slower for a variety of reasons and there isn't much you can do about it. A reformat fixes everything.

Not quite everything: Every 3.5 years, it's a great idea to replace your HD. Over time, the low level formatting of a disk wears away. To my knowledge, reformatting your disk only replaces the high level formatting. The LLF outlines the sectors and such of a disk. Back in the day, when HDs cost several thousand dollars, they came with utilities to re-apply the LLF. These days, given the nearly disposable nature of a 500gb drive, you are just expected to replace them. There might be utilities out there you can download, but I have never bothered. 99% of the time, when someone's computer is running much more slowly then they remember, this is the case. With worn away sector lines, the hard drive finds things less efficiently.

Another HD suggestion: The absolute biggest performance boost I have ever seen was getting an Intel M-25 SSD. SSDs theoretically could last decades. there isn't anything mechanical in them. No low level formatting issues, no drive head issues. I was blown away when I first started installing them in various systems. I started buying WD VelociRaptors and was very unimpressed. I then replaced those with Intel SSDs and the boot time is like 13 seconds in Windows 7. Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator used to take a frustratingly long time starting up; Now it takes like 4 seconds!

There are two downsides to SSDs. One: The cost. The price per gigabyte is waaay more than a mechanical disk. I just purchased a 120gb for $280. You can probably find a mechanical 1TB disk for $60 somewhere. Two: in a one week time frame, I had two SSDs die on me. They were Crucial and OCZ brands. And when an SSD dies, goodbye data. I have been used to just popping a dying disk on my computer via a SATA to USB and patiently pulling the old needed data onto my computer (if it wasn't a big mechanical failure). No such luck with an SSD. They turn into a very expensive paperweight.

I kind of feel like I am rambling now. My brain hasn't warmed up quite yet. These opinions are based off of observations from being a computer nerd for like 15 years, and the office I work in has 15 workstations; 6 of which has been converted to Core i7, tri-channel DDR3, SSD beasts.

If you search the name of the virus there is almost always a forum describing how to remove it. My wife brings home a computer nearly once every month from different co workers. Sometimes you need a different computer to search but if you corrupt the virus it will let you work a bit. But it usually involves fixin the registry which can cause big problems if ya goof it up. Most virus reboot themselves if you dont get the reg entry.

Without knowing the root of the problem it is difficult to
give a good solution. There are some new viruses
but most of the old ones still cause problems.

Since the odds are that this problem is not "new"
tools like "stinger" can work wonders. Stinger
is free from McAfee.
How to Use Stinger | McAfee Free Tools
Download and run it and see if it helps. I keep a copy handy because it
is simple to use and cleans out many viruses that cripple virus protection tools.
It does get updated often so it pays to get a new copy from time to time.
A friend might burn a copy on a CDROM or DVD for you if your machine
is too messed up to help itself. Mostly do not use a USB memory stick if your
machine is 'infected'.

If you know the virus and and understand how to kill it by hand
having Ubuntu burned on a CDROM or DVD can be very effective.
Mixing the OS can let you clean up things that are very difficult
since some viruses lurk in a couple places and if you clean up
one place the other reinfects the place you just cleaned. Stinger
is good at cleaning these problems BTW.

Linux/Ubuntu makes it possible to back up important data when
a machine is messed up. A version of Linux called Knopix is used
by Maxtor backup recovery tools in their recovery CD.

Other anti-virus companies have tools that are equivalent to stinger
so if you own XYZ product call the folk at XYZ and ask for their equivalent
solution. A handfull of IT folk run different versions than their clients run.
A virus that gets by one vendor may not past another.

All systems can be hacked and infected so it pays
to stay current and vigilant.

For some issues it is getting very nasty out there. Some
folks are beginning to do their financials running
from read only media so financial information and pass words
do not get exposed to viruses and hackers.

I agree with going to Linux. It's the best anti-virus cure I've ever used; and better in other ways, too.

I agree with what the others have said. Mostly.
Linux is a great OS, and has many advantages.
Going with a Linux distro would also certainly take care of many security issues, including viruses.

I would, however, not recommend a Linux system for the novice computer user.
There is a learning curve on Linux, if it was all plug and play, this would have been the number one system out there.
After all, it is free and very stable/secure.

Now, I don't wanna see this turn in to a Flame war with the usual arguments thrown out from the different sides out there.
I just feel the OP should know that there are potential challenges in switching, very much depending on your level of computer skills.
Setting up repositories, handling TAR balls and all the other stuff you might run into is not terribly intuitive.

And this was said by someone raised on UNIX