Format: tips

I was thinking to format my old PC.

It has a very poor performance and it seems like it is infected (unfortunately I have AVG in that PC) though the AV doesn’t detect anything. I keep that PC clean and I even downloaded a boost-performance program (trial 30 days version) to make it a bit faster. But even with all these cares, it is a sloppy and clunky PC. It behaves just like a zombie-PC (full of virus and worms maybe? Who knows). I read about the symptoms of win32: malware-gen and it seems like that it’s been infected by that. Moreover I read that AVG cannot detect that virus (well not sure if that’s true). My question is: to format or not to format?

Thank you for helping me taking the best decision.

How old is your machine?
What is the present OS?
What size is the HDD?
Which performance enhancer did you download?

If you want to get rid of any viruses and/or worms follow the directions from here.
And start thread here.

The machine should be around 3 years old. It’s a Vista system. I don’t know if it is actually infected (well AVG says all right) but I suspect it since it had and still have the typical infection symptoms. Unfortunately I cannot answer your other two questions (sorry I’m a PC newbie).

Thank you for the answer.

It is up to you if you want to format your system, if you think it’s bugged and you have the free time and a windows disc then do it.

What will happen when I format the thing? I alredy brought the important files in a safe place. Though I’m not sure if I have the windows disc.

Everything will be wiped.

You need to either restore the factory recovery partition if it has one :-\ or get yourself a windows disc/download windows vista iso from net and burn to disc.

Could I get something else instead of Vista? If so, could you recommend me a safe site for the download?
Thank you.

Do you have a license for something else ???

If your computer runs vista then you should be able to install Windows 7 but you’ll have to purchase a license http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5842

What if I would like to get XP instead? Could I get it for free?

No, it is (and will not) not free.
Try Ubuntu :slight_smile:

Is ubuntu free? And then how about office? If ubuntu is simpler than vista it would be useful (because I don’t use that PC).

Yes Ubuntu is free and Libre Office is preinstalled http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/features

You could also use linux mint which has codecs Java and Flash preinstalled.

And its more like Windows with a start menu and based on Ubuntu: http://www.linuxmint.com/

Besides Linux Mint similarity with Windows, you can try other Ubuntu flavor called Kubuntu. The K is for KDE environment. You will think you’re on Windows :slight_smile:

Or you could just use Zorin OS, which is really really like Windows.

http://www.kubuntu.org/
http://zorin-os.com/#

Could you make a list of things to do when formatting? e.g.finding a new operator system (sorry if it may seem a kind of paranoia)
Thank you for the help and your patience.

May I suggest that you start to use Google or another search function to do a little research on your own.
The best way to learn is to do something on your own. It’s only when you get stuck, that you should be looking for help. :slight_smile:

I couldn’t find what I was looking for. :-[

See if this helps:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=free+operating+systems