What should I do????

[Ryder401]

I have just recently build myself a new computer, so I'm giving my old one to my 7 year old brother. I think the computer I'm giving to my brother consists of:

AMD K6-2 running at 500MHz
127MB of RAM
ATI Rage128 VR RL (GPU Clock Speed = 80MHz)
20GB Hard Drive

The computer seems to have lots of errors and virus. He will be wanting to play games such as Age of Empires II and go on the internet. What should I do to make this computer the best I can for him(Without having to spend any money because I can't afford it)????

 

[Buck Naked]

Reformat/Reinstall windows?

 

[GamerExpress]

If you have a copy of win98SE that you can put on there I would suggest doing a clean install of that, I think the PC will be great for your Bro to start off with.

 

[mechBgon]

7-year-olds should have supervision when using the Internet, to start with. Also, if you can get a Win2000 license and another 128MB of RAM, then reformat, reinstall, patch it up with Service Pack 4 and all subsequent updates, get it some antivirus and firewall software, and set him up with a Restricted-User account.

 

[Ryder401]

I tried setting it back to factory setting around Christmas time, but it still didn't work to good after, Can you please tell me how to clean install of windows incase I was doing it wrong??

Thanks for the help.

 

[mechBgon]

What version of Windows will you be using?

 

[Ryder401]

Windows 98 SE, The main thing he wants to go on the internet for is to play games of Empire Earth online with me and my dad would probably be playing with him.

 

[mechBgon]

Ok, then boot from the Win98SE CD-ROM and have it start the computer with CD-ROM support, then it will come to a DOS prompt.

Let's see if I can remember the rest...

E:\ to switch to the CD-ROM
cd win98 to switch to the E:\Win98 directory
format C: /s to format the C: drive
*snack break while it formats*
setup.exe to begin Windows98 Setup from the CD-ROM drive

Now install Windows98SE, then download and install these:

Internet Explorer 6 with Service Pack 1
DirectX 9.0C
Sun Java
Windows Media Player 9 for Win98
Unofficial Win98 Service Pack
ZoneAlarm Free firewall
AntiVir Personal free antivirus
Spybot Search & Destroy 1.4
Spywareblaster
and then run it through Windows Update for a final wrap on security updates.

In this situation, with a novice user on an indefensible platform like Win98, it's probably best to use an alternate browser, I'd use Mozilla proper. Also, make sure you go through the AntiVir configuration panels and enable maximum Heuristics, enable the auxiliary detections like adware/spyware/dialers/etc. In ZoneAlarm, set the Trusted Zone security to High.

Hope that helps and do try to score another 128-256MB of PC100 RAM for that thing when you guys can afford it.

edit: one other thing... AntiVir needs to be updated manually. Update it every day.

 

[Ryder401]

Is this ok??? And how much difference will it make???

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: Ryder401
Is this ok??? And how much difference will it make???

That looks good, and it should make a significant difference once you have the firewall and antivirus installed and then try to launch a browser and a game. The computer will have to do less shuffling of "overflow" data back and forth to the hard drive, since it'll have 256MB of RAM to use first.

 

[Ryder401]

Should I download:

Internet Explorer 6 with Service Pack 1
DirectX 9.0C
Sun Java
Windows Media Player 9 for Win98
Unofficial Win98 Service Pack
ZoneAlarm Free firewall
AntiVir Personal free antivirus
Spybot Search & Destroy 1.4
Spywareblaster

Now and save it to a disc or should I download it after???

Thanks for all the help!

 

[mechBgon]

Yeah, might as well have it all on disc in advance

 

[mechBgon]

Also, you may want to look in Device Manager in advance and note the brand & models of the network card, the modem, and any other distinctive hardware, and have the drivers for the hardware items downloaded in advance too. It's very frustrating when you get done with your installation and can't go anywhere because you don't have drivers for your networking items

 

[nick1985]

boot into safe mode

run Ccleaner
ad-aware
sypbot s&d
spy sweeper
microsoft anti-spyware beta


boot into normal mode

run hijack-this and delete all unecessary/harmful logs
run a free online virus scan (trend micro)



if spyware and viruses persist, then its a lost cause (reformat)

 

[Ryder401]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Also, you may want to look in Device Manager in advance and note the brand & models of the network card, the modem, and any other distinctive hardware, and have the drivers for the hardware items downloaded in advance too. It's very frustrating when you get done with your installation and can't go anywhere because you don't have drivers for your networking items

How do I do that???

 

[Ryder401]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Also, you may want to look in Device Manager in advance and note the brand & models of the network card, the modem, and any other distinctive hardware, and have the drivers for the hardware items downloaded in advance too. It's very frustrating when you get done with your installation and can't go anywhere because you don't have drivers for your networking items

How do I do that????

 

[mechBgon]

Go to Control Panel > System and then the Device Manager. Expand the listings for Modem and for Network Adapters and write down what they are, maybe a 3Com 3C905B or whatever. Go to the company's site and get the drivers for Win98.

 

[Ryder401]

The Network Adapters are Microsoft and I can't find them on the website.

 

[dbailey]

note the names in device manager before you format the computer of the modem, network card, graphics card, and the sound card. Then go to google and type them in as they read and find a website that you can download the device drivers for each piece of hardware. It may take some trial and error.

 

[mechBgon]

Then worst-case scenario is you may need to buy a cheap network card for £5 or so. Cross that bridge when you come to it, I guess