Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Reinstalling Windows XP (Service Pack 3)

Extreme spyware infestations require extreme measures. Repartioning /wiping the hard drive and reinstalling Windows is the safest solution. If you reinstall Windows XP from the original system CD, it will usually install either Service Pack One, which has only limited firewalling capabilities, or Service Pack Two, if you are lucky. However, Microsoft is making the Service Pack 3 update available for download at:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=5B33B5A8-5E76-401F-BE08-1E1555D4F3D4&displaylang=en

Burn the installer to a CD, and you are good to go. You do not need to boot from the CD to run the Service Pack 3 installer.

In lieu of the SP3 update, you will need to install a third-party firewall (I would suggest the light-weight Filseclab personal firewall) BEFORE connecting to the Internet. After restarting with the firewall active, you can proceed to the Windows Update site to activate automatic updates, and download Service Pack Two and Three. It is a time-consuming process, and when you have a clean system you might wish to ghost it to CD or DVD for future reinstalls.

P.S. The answer to my Windows USB device problems was simple: My old computer was not supporting USB 2.0. So I can't really blame Winrot, can I?