I bought my mother a computer this past year so that she can keep up with the politics.
She is a staunch Republican and detests the current empty suit in the oval office.
Anyway, my brother, who still lives at home, seems to enjoy perusing sites that he shouldn't.
This is the third time the computer just magically got a virus that I couldn't get rid of.
The first two times Malwarebytes did the job.
I spoke to my IT guy Leo and he recommended a full re-install to clean it all up.
So here I am 4 hours into reinstalling XP , all the drivers, security and updates.
I've had 2 ice cold Becks and am ready to shut this thing off for the night.
I threatened my brother, who says he has no idea what happened, with bodily harm if
I have to come back again other than to visit wirh my parents.
I took a screen shot of the history before I wiped everything out and said :
"If I have to come back here, YOU (to my brother), will have to explain to MOM all the terms that are associted with the websites you peruse!"
good luck....on all of it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ruth :)
ReplyDeleteand Thanks for stopping by :)
Yeah, good luck with that! I have reinstalled a bunch of times for people. They are all innocent and stuff until I show them the history just like you did.
ReplyDeleteGet an Apple. No viruses, ever.
ReplyDeleteI am shocked~~~~Not Really :)
ReplyDeleteI checked my son's history and all I can say is there is somethings a mother just DON'T wanna know.
When you finish with your setup, get an external HD (or even another INTERNAL) and find a pirated copy of Ghost or some other "disk imaging program." There are a couple of "utility disk images" out there on the 'net which contain a suitable alternative...
ReplyDeleteAnyhow...
Download one of the utility disk images and write it to a blank CD.
Boot the CD and follow directions to create an image of the drive you just set up - then store said image and the boot-disk in a nice, safe place.
Next time the PC gets FUBAR, all you have to do is restore the image and add any new updates -- a matter of maybe an hour total!
Another alternative is to set up a "virtual PC" using the FREE version of VM Ware or a competitor. The "virtual PC" exists completely in a file on the hard-disk. Make yourself a good, safe backup copy, then teach Brother how to do his surfing in a "virtual machine." When he corrupts it, delete the VM and make a new one from the copy!
HTH...
Get him a cheap Linux box, run it off a boot CD. Every time he restarts, it's new again. Knoppix, google that. It boots from the CD, installs the the drivers, video, sound, everything.
ReplyDeleteWhat ASM said. I use KnoppixSTD for a lot of stuff.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the input from you all
ReplyDeleteDedicated Dad, aSM826 and Keads..I will look into your recommendations.
THANKS!
I think it sounds like your brother has too much time on his hands!
ReplyDeleteI found you through Aewl at Reluctant Rebel
Try making a copy of the hard drive using PING or Clonezilla. Both are free, you just download an .ISO and burn it to disc. Boot from the disk, have an external USB handy and you make a nice image of the clean computer. When you want to push it back on after your brother has his fun with russian porn, it'll take 20 minutes.
ReplyDeleteOf course you could also update Moms to Win7 and avoid a lot of the malware out there that hits XP.
I would also say that if you create user profiles on the computer and give Mom a good password, your brother will have to get his thrills elsewhere.
Happy New year and thanks for all the posts in 2011!