Computer help - Calgary

[Snaz]

If you suspect you have virus and can't clean it confidently. Save your documents, bookmarks and wipe the machine.

Oh and upgrade the RAM if you have $100.00 you want to put into the machine. Minimum 1GB but 2GB would be better.

[wolf_bluejay]

Just a though from a linux geek:

Get a copy of kubuntu on cd, save everything important to the external drive, and install it instead. You can get the install CD free by downloading it, or having it shipped to your house for free as well (ubuntu.com)

The install is easy enough that my wife did her own laptop, just put the cd in the drive and boot the machine. You have to answer about 6 questions (your name, timezone, password, etc..) and it does the standard install with firefox, openoffice and a bunch of other stuff.

If you are planning on wiping the machine, there is not much to lose by trying. And linux doesn't require A/V software or anything like that (much like a mac). It is much quicker, and doesn't require the usual maintenance that windows does at all (spybot/AV/defrag/cleaners). Just use and enjoy.



Disclaimer: I'm a linux sysadmin, running 4,500 linux machines in a public school system. I think if a 6 year old can run it just fine, most people should be OK

[jasond]

Interesting, so you can still run all of the same programs with Linux? Word, Excel, etc? Sounds like I could handle the install, so worth a try. Thank-you, I will do some research but definately sounds appealing. What are the drawbacks?

I have definately heard that wiping the machine is a worthwhile try, so maybe I will give it a shot. One thing I dont understand, I thought if your PC had a virus, even reloading windows will not necessarily get rid of it?

[wolf_bluejay]

Originally Posted by jasond

Interesting, so you can still run all of the same programs with Linux? Word, Excel, etc? Sounds like I could handle the install, so worth a try. Thank-you, I will do some research but definately sounds appealing. What are the drawbacks?

I have definately heard that wiping the machine is a worthwhile try, so maybe I will give it a shot. One thing I dont understand, I thought if your PC had a virus, even reloading windows will not necessarily get rid of it?

Well, It's not Word and Excel, it's OpenOffice. But it does run the same way and can read/save all your existing stuff without a problem.

As for the viruses, linux (mac's as well) can't get viruses. And I mean CAN'T. So there is a noticable speed up from not having to have AV software running all the time.

The only downsides that I have come across, are if you need a very specific program that runs on windows. Some do run just fine, but most do not. There is always a comparable bit of software, IE : no photoshop, but there is "GIMP" that is very similar. And linux software is free and easy to install. There is about 170,000 software packages available for free.

It never ceases to amaze me how much windows users limit the email they read, or what web sites they go to for fear of viruses and the like. Mac users can agree with me on this one, do whatever you want and never worry..... Once you have it running it stays that way without the usual windows re-install.

[mark]

Though rare, still can have problems on a Linux platform with viruses, thinking the recent Samba Server problem. Little funny though considering Samba is to emulate a Windows file server.

[wolf_bluejay]

Originally Posted by mark

Though rare, still can have problems on a Linux platform with viruses, thinking the recent Samba Server problem. Little funny though considering Samba is to emulate a Windows file server.

Strange, considering the 65 samba servers I run, I've never heard of this. And I do keep up on the security notices a lot. I have heard of windows machines passing virus around by a samba share, but never the actual linux machine being affected.

[mark]

Issue we had was with Sality.ao. Guess technically Linex itself wasn't vulnerable but could host infected files.

[Floop70]

+1

You ask about Word and Excel though. While there are ways of getting it to work, Openoffice.org should work just fine (and it's included with the install of Ubuntu)

Originally Posted by wolf_bluejay

Just a though from a linux geek:

Get a copy of kubuntu on cd, save everything important to the external drive, and install it instead. You can get the install CD free by downloading it, or having it shipped to your house for free as well (ubuntu.com)

The install is easy enough that my wife did her own laptop, just put the cd in the drive and boot the machine. You have to answer about 6 questions (your name, timezone, password, etc..) and it does the standard install with firefox, openoffice and a bunch of other stuff.

If you are planning on wiping the machine, there is not much to lose by trying. And linux doesn't require A/V software or anything like that (much like a mac). It is much quicker, and doesn't require the usual maintenance that windows does at all (spybot/AV/defrag/cleaners). Just use and enjoy.



Disclaimer: I'm a linux sysadmin, running 4,500 linux machines in a public school system. I think if a 6 year old can run it just fine, most people should be OK

[lastlight]

openoffice is available for free for mac as well.

If you're not planning to buy a new computer I'd definately just format and start from scratch. When I ran windows I'd do that every six months or so.