Fixing a screwed up, virus-filled laptop
Jan. 1st, 2014 01:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icarusMy aunt is giving me her virus-infected laptop.
Or rather, she tried to give me her laptop and I'm insisting on paying for it, and she's saying that it wasn't worth anything to her because it got screwed up and I'm telling her that it is, with effort, fixable, and worth something in sales (it's relatively new) and she's then insisting no more than $75 for it, and I'm saying that's ridiculously low and--
--but anyways, I have a laptop.
Said virus was a nasty virus. It was caught in a repeating loop of opening many, many, many windows, so I just reinstalled the operating system over the top of the mess. Did a total wipe.
Virus gone.
But now it won't connect to the internet or ... anything.
It's, uh, definitely wiped.
ETA: Yay! I think-- I think I have all the drivers properly updated from here and in this order. Now on to the Windows updates. Cross your fingers.
Or rather, she tried to give me her laptop and I'm insisting on paying for it, and she's saying that it wasn't worth anything to her because it got screwed up and I'm telling her that it is, with effort, fixable, and worth something in sales (it's relatively new) and she's then insisting no more than $75 for it, and I'm saying that's ridiculously low and--
--but anyways, I have a laptop.
Said virus was a nasty virus. It was caught in a repeating loop of opening many, many, many windows, so I just reinstalled the operating system over the top of the mess. Did a total wipe.
Virus gone.
But now it won't connect to the internet or ... anything.
It's, uh, definitely wiped.
ETA: Yay! I think-- I think I have all the drivers properly updated from here and in this order. Now on to the Windows updates. Cross your fingers.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-03 08:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-03 01:06 pm (UTC)No, actually, it was just a matter of reinstalling the operating system and then, one by one, in order, reinstalling the drivers from Dell's website, the laptop on my lap and a flashdrive going back and forth. To make sure I was careful and didn't screw up the order, I did it the slow way: one set of drivers at a time.
"Download video card drivers to desktop computer. Copy to flash drive. Eject flash drive. Plug in flash drive to laptop. Copy over video card drivers. Run installation program. Delete video card drivers. Eject flash drive. Plug in flash drive to desktop. "Download chipset drivers to desktop computer. Copy to flash drive. Eject flash drive. Plug in flash drive to laptop...."
Tedious. But so far it seems to have worked. It helps that the laptop is a 2011.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-03 11:11 pm (UTC)