Cleanse my laptop

[Guest]

Hi
I have just bought a second hand laptop and want to make sure that it is
clean,ie no porn is on it or if it has been how do i find out and get rid of
it, as my kids will be using it for homework.
I am proberly just being over cautious, but i dont know the guy personally,
better being safe than sorry is my moto.
Best regards to you all
Look forward to hearing from you

 

[Richard Urban]

If it were me, and it is not, I would wipe the computer clean, purchase a
copy of Windows XP home for $100, and then install fresh.

You never know what may be on that computer, or what information you type
into it is being harvested by others in Russia.

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Alias~-]

If it were me, and it is not, I would wipe the computer clean, purchase a
copy of Windows XP home for $100, and then install fresh.

You never know what may be on that computer, or what information you type
into it is being harvested by others in Russia.

More likely Washington D.C. for government snoops and Orange County,
California for scam artists.

Alias

 

[Richard Urban]

How come you didn't say wipe it clean and put Linux on it?

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Alias~-]

How come you didn't say wipe it clean and put Linux on it?

Why would I do that? I like XP and all my computers have XP on them. I
was replying to your Russian comment.

Alias

-- Regards, Richard Urban Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User (For email,
remove the obvious from my address) Quote from George Ankner: If you
knew as much as you think you know, You would realize that you don't
know what you thought you knew!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I have just bought a second hand laptop and want to make sure that it
is clean,ie no porn is on it or if it has been how do i find out and
get rid of it, as my kids will be using it for homework.
I am proberly just being over cautious, but i dont know the guy
personally, better being safe than sorry is my moto.
Best regards to you all
Look forward to hearing from you

I don't think you're being overly cautious at all. In fact, I think you're
not being cautious enough.

If I bought a used computer, the first thing I would do with it would be to
reinstall the operating system cleanly. You have no idea how the computer
has been maintained, what has been installed incorrectly, what is missing,
what viruses and spyware there may be, etc. I wouldn't want to live with
somebody else's mistakes and problems, possibility of kiddie porn, etc., and
I wouldn't recommend that anyone else do either.

 

[Richard Urban]

Sorry. Too many people post under Alias I guess.

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi
I have just bought a second hand laptop and want to make sure that it is
clean,ie no porn is on it or if it has been how do i find out and get rid of
it, as my kids will be using it for homework.
I am proberly just being over cautious, but i dont know the guy personally,
better being safe than sorry is my moto.
Best regards to you all
Look forward to hearing from you

With second-hand computers, especially if acquired from strangers
but perhaps even if acquired from a family member or friend, your wisest
course of action would definitely be to format the hard drives and start
fresh. You don't want to get in trouble because the original owner may
have filled the hard drive with kiddie porn, or have problems because
the original owner downloaded/installed viruses or other malware.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. -Bertrand Russell

 

[Heather]

Maybe you better start posting under *AliasAdios* or something like that
to stand out. *Abrazos* would be good too, lol.

Sra....Figgs