Possibly won't be on till november =(

[Hellow]

What exactly can your infected computer do? Can it access the internet at all? If so i may be able to fix it. If not, there is always Ubuntu .

[Catty1]

Reggie - she said it wouldn't let her on the Internet.

Alyssa - just because the scan said it would cost you money, doesn't mean it will cost you lots. Do you or your friends know someone that is known as a real computer geek? He or she might help you for very little.

You can try borrowing a Norton CD, but I'm not sure what that would do.

I'm sure you don't need another computer. You just gotta get that one cleaned out.

Too bad Reggie lives far away - he'd do it in no time. Maybe he knows someone in your area? You could try a PM to him (a pain on an iPod, I know)

[DJFyrewolf36]

Worst case scinario is it needs an operating system reload. If there is nothing you really care about on it just take the restore disc that came with it or the operating system disc (whatever one you have) stick it in and re-boot. Let it do its thing and wipe the hard drive.

Simple, and its free! Then load a virus scanning program on your computer! (I reccomend AVG as a free option myself)

Make sure you scan the computer before it goes online to do anything but download AVG, as the virus can still be resident on the hard drive after a re-load if its one of the nastier varieties.

Hopefully it didn't destroy your hard drive. If it did though, smaller used hard drives at computer shops only run about 50 cents a gig so you can get one that works decently for about $20-$40, maybe less if your town has a computer recycling center.

[Hellow]

Reggie - she said it wouldn't let her on the Internet.

Alyssa - just because the scan said it would cost you money, doesn't mean it will cost you lots. Do you or your friends know someone that is known as a real computer geek? He or she might help you for very little.

You can try borrowing a Norton CD, but I'm not sure what that would do.

I'm sure you don't need another computer. You just gotta get that one cleaned out.

Too bad Reggie lives far away - he'd do it in no time. Maybe he knows someone in your area? You could try a PM to him (a pain on an iPod, I know)

I could do it from here, but what i would need to do to get into the computer to nuke the virus is illegal in the US, unless i have permission from the owner of the computer to do it (sort of a long definition of hacking, but in a good way this way). Another option would be to get a Ubuntu cd and run a virus scan from that.

[Lady's Human]

Viruses on a PC are a PITA, but are no reason to think you need a new PC.

OS reload, the install AVG. If there's already an Anti virus program on the comp, there can be problems with loading a new A/V program.

Load the OS from scratch, download and install windows updates, then install an A/V program. (AVG, as it is free is a good option).

Then download and install spybot S+D, and immunize the system. This blocks most adware and spyware.

Unless its a root sector virus, there's normally no need to trash a physical component of the system.

[Alysser]

I do know a computer geek, my dad. He told me he could just re-load windows or else we could go to a computer place. I guess the reason I thought it needed to be trashed was because when my laptop was infected it needed to be junked even after my dad tried to fix it. Thanks for all the help! Hopefully he will get to fix it this weekend.

[DJFyrewolf36]

I could do it from here, but what i would need to do to get into the computer to nuke the virus is illegal in the US...

I had to at this lol.

[Alysser]

I didn't get my computer fixed, but remember my old laptop? It used to not connect to the internet but today it did? So whatever, I'm not complaining. I liked my desktop but laptops are better even if I can't take it off my desk. So I'm back after maybe a 3-day absence. I browsed mostly and didn't post much on my Ipod because I HATE typing on it.

[chocolatepuppy]

We knew you'd get something hooked up to stay on Pet Talk!