Topic: R.I.P. Beta 1115?

[VANGUARD]

How can I wipe it when my CD-ROM drive is broken? It's Windows XP, if that makes any difference.

EDIT: Foil you just gave me an awesome idea... SURVEILLANCE CAMERA... with REMOTE VIEWING ACCESS ON CELLPHONE!!! hehehehehehehehehehehe

I don't know your budget, but an external CD\DVD drive?

that and/or try IHateHackers suggestion.

[Matthew]

That was what I meant by a USB CD drive, an external one. I don't think there is any other form of external CD/DVD drive that you're likely to find.

If you really feel adventurous (and cheap ) you could see if your motherboard supports LAN booting. Set up an FTP server somewhere with a windows install CD copied to it and I *think* you can install that way, if the computer supports it.

[Foil]

A lot of motherboards have boot-from-usb-thumb-drive functionality.  If you have one, that's probably the easiest way; try here for some suggestions.

[Matthew]

Assuming you have a thumb drive big enough to fit an operating system on.

[TechPro]

Assuming you have a thumb drive big enough to fit an operating system on.

1gb size is more than enough.

[VANGUARD]

That was what I meant by a USB CD drive, an external one. I don't think there is any other form of external CD/DVD drive that you're likely to find.

If you really feel adventurous (and cheap ) you could see if your motherboard supports LAN booting. Set up an FTP server somewhere with a windows install CD copied to it and I *think* you can install that way, if the computer supports it.

opps    I was thinking of what Linux has, a USB thumb drive that has the OS on it. I apologize.

[Matthew]

Assuming you have a thumb drive big enough to fit an operating system on.

1gb size is more than enough.

For windows? What? The Windows 7 installation files require almost the entirety of a DVD to fit, at least for Ultimate. You can find linux and bare-bones OSes, but I'm guessing he probably wants the same OS he had before.

[Pumo]

...but I'm guessing he probably wants the same OS he had before.

Exactly, and he had Windows XP, so it indeed fits on a 1GB stick without a problem.

[TechPro]

He only needs something to boot with long enough to fix his system, not to be his main system.

[Alieo]

I found this tool on Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools called "System Restore." (This is for XP by the way.) I've heard from people online that it has worked for them. Anyways, computer got infected on 4/17, so I'm setting it back to it's last savepoint a few days before that on 4/14. Hopefully this will solve it. It LOOKS like it got eradicated when I installed the "Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware" program.

Also, I was able to transfer over my external hard drive over to Gamma1216 (my Windows 7 laptop) and I did that AFTER installing a resubscription of Norton Anti-Virus AND Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware on Gamma1216. It found 2 problems on the external, but was able to delete them. They were the original unopened downloaded install files for the "Internet Protection" virus. They got deleted and now my external lives on on my newer laptop, Gamma1216. Beta1115 seems to function properly, but I'm unsure if this thing I'm doing to it will undo the Malwarebytes' program I installed on it, or the virus, or both, but I'll update on that shortly.

WAIT... it's finished... okay, it said, "System Restore cannot restore to the date 4/14/2011 because no changes have been made to the system. Please run System Restore again and choose another date to restore to." Not an EXACT quote, but it's along the lines. Oh well... I haven't had any problems with the computer anymore.

[Matthew]

Don't waste money on Norton, Norton is worthless. Though I've never personally used it, I've heard Kaspersky is the one of the best.

[Alieo]

Oh, I know. I hate Norton. This laptop used to be my dad's but he gave it to me because he was using it as a bridge between his crashed Windows Vista computer and Apple. When he was done with it, he gave it to me. He had put Norton on here and it expired. Well, I guess he got an email asking him to pay for a resubscription, and I guess he thought it was for his Apple, but he went ahead and renewed it and turns out it was for my computer.

[Matthew]

Still, I wouldn't use Norton even for free. Too much of a hog.

[-<WillyP>-]

I've been using Microsoft Security Essentials.

* ...WillyP... ducks

oh, and system restore won't remove viruses.  Just sets some system settings back.

[Pumo]

I use Avast! free version as my anti-virus and it has saved me already a lot of times. I really recommend it. 

Although I must say I also have Microsoft Security Essentials along with my Avast! antivirus on my Win 7 partition and it keeps my computer protected.

I've heard AVG has also a free version, and regarding paid ones Kaspersky and NOD32 are the best antivirus programs AFAIK, but keep away from Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro and stuff.

I've had some very bad experiences with those (specially Norton and McAfee) on the past, that's why I'm using Avast! (and because it's free ).