Cut a long story short, i was given a pc by a workmate. He said it "wouldnt work" so i decided to give it a go and try to clear it out of unwanted junk files. Managed do do a defrag and disc clean up and now works alot quicker. Downloaded a virus scanner and done a scan to find many types of win virus's. Not knowing much about pc, what do i do next?

Is it a case of sod it and throw it away or do i have to re program it all? Didnt come with and discs.

Was going to use it for the garage but if its going to cost the earth to put right i wont bother.

Any help you could give me?

Cheers

Matt

I have acquired several old pcs and I put Ubuntu operating system on them all. Its very forgiving of older hardware, replaces windows, very safe from most viruses.
You don't need to be a techy nerd to run Ubuntu. I have not found any barriers or problems to using it.
And its free, so no cost at all.
Worth a try.

Im guessing its a case of re installing stuff then? How do you get rid of the xp and all of the other stuff so it turns it back to a healthy pc again?

if you wanted to try ubuntu then google it, download the file, burn it to a CD.
Then run the CD, you will have two options, 'try Ubuntu' or 'install Ubuntu'.
You can leave windows on the PC and everytime you boot the PC it will ask if you want to run Windows or Ubuntu.
I tried it about 4 or 5 years ago, had very limited knowledge.
But as you have a free spare PC to play with, its worth giving it a go.

Once its installed you can then download whatever programs you want, all from one place and all (well almost all) are free. So if you want a word processor program, click on it and install. A music player, click and install. Games, search, click and install.

ok thank you. I will do some googling

Before you scrap the windows I would get a key reader programme and recover the installion key (it may even be on a Windows sticker on the PC case). Then you can reinstall a fresh copy of windows at a later date if you dont like Ubuntu.

I agree ubuntu is pretty good, its stable, and like most forms of Linux it just works.
Its a different way of thinking, and you need to find a friend who is using it so you have someone to help you when you get really stuck.

Ubuntu would certainly get my vote.

If you are keeping windows, go to www.malwarebytes.com and get the free copy of Malwarebytes and run that as well on your windows machine. Make sure you do a chek for updates after installing it. This prog will get rid of annoying programmes that Virus software will not touch as they are not viruses. Namely just malicious crap that will slow your PC down, Advertising trackers, and stuff like that.
Well worth getting it.
Just my 2d's worth.

+1 for Malwarebytes.

Neil

Most "free virus scans" on the internet are scams designed to extract money.
Only use reputable free virus software such as Avira or Malwarebytes.

I read on here a while back about Linux mint, which I finally tried out a couple of weeks ago..

I am very impressed out how easy it was to install (As simple as windows 7) all the bits and bobs like sound cards, Networking and USB worked straight off..

Im now using it for work and added a couple of extra's with almost no effort (VNC client, Cisco VPN and TS Client)

if you can still run software on the PC then try Malwarebytes, CCleaner and Deraggler (Windows defragging is OK at best) to help maintain it. Several good free Virus checkers around but Avast or MS Security Essentials are well proven.

All good advice, and +1 for Ubuntu. AVG Free is also pretty decent.

However, until you decide what to do with this, keep it off your network (we call it an air-gap). If this thing is riddled with the pox, it's bound to be reaching out and trying to infect other windows based machines. If you have rootkits on it you could have major problems cleaning it down.

The safest option is to scrap the OS and start again. Let Ubuntu do a full format for you on the way.

You'll also be surprised just how much snappier it seems compared to windows.

I think Ripley has the best advice

Thanks for the advise guys.

I have now completed a full system virus scan with avast and it found 50 viruses and has put them all in a chest. What is a chest and what do i do with it?

Now i redone a full scan and it says its clean.

If all else fails i will try installing the whole system. Never tried this so might go badly wrong.

A re-install is no great task - just follow the on-screen instructions and you should be fine. You will lose any data and programs you had originally, leaving you with a bare but working operating system. If you do this then I recommend that the first program you load is the free version of Avast, the well-known anti-virus program.

This is a great time to try out Linux Mint - it's easy to install and may surprise you. It also comes with a heap of good programs that will save you a fortune. If it turns out that you don't like Linux then you can re-install Windows as originally planned, and the only thing you'll have lost is a bit of time.

David is right. I would also council that having cleared out 50 viruses your machine will be extremely unstable and probably still has some trace of the pox. Our corporate policy is to rebuild if a machine is infected.

Ok then it looks like it will be a re install then. Can anyone give me a start? I will try that lynx.

Sorry if i sound stupid but this is my first install and dont really know the basics.

The process is usually - put the CD/DVD in the drive, and start the PC. Normally the machine will boot from the CD/DVD drive first, and start the installation process. From then on, just respond to the prompts on-screen.

If it insists on starting from the hard drive - ignoring the CD/DVD drive - you'll have to interrupt the boot up (usually by hitting F2. F8 or F12 - look for clues as it starts up) then instruct the PC's BIOS (the start-up firmware) to look at the CD/DVD drive before the hard drive. This isn't as hard as it sounds!

Thanks again for the advise.

My Own main PC decided to die tonight so i will have to get help with that one before i try fixing the other one.