Buying a used computer; nervous about viruses/malware?

T

TjLovesCoffee

New Member
So my desktop has finally died after it's long and horrible life. I am 16 and have been using my moms laptop for my school work and occasional gaming, but seeing as to how it is a dell inspiron 1440, I figured a decent desktop would be a great addition to the family :D Anyways, I originally had planned to build my own but finances came short, so I looked around. On craigslist there is a guy selling his old alienware computer (hold your rage, I understand). I normally don't like alienware, mainly because it is by dell and also because it costs an arm and a leg. This computer has a $200 motherboard, $220 video card (BFG GeForce GTX 285; 512-bit, 1GB, GDDR3 memory), and $150 processor (it's a intel 2 core 2.66GHz :/ but still....) He is selling the computer for $400, which, IMO, is a great offer considering. From what he has posted and told me, the computer doesn't have any real problems. That isn't what I am worried about, though... Recently one of the games I play was hacked, which is more common than you would think. I had malware on the computer, and a couple of trojans (mywebsearch had found it's way onto my drive, tsk tsk..) and I believe it was a keylogger. I cleaned it all up and haven't seen problems since, but with the mindset that hackers are out there, you can never be too sure. You never know when someone can, say, I don't know... sell you a computer for a low price and hack your bank account? Anyways this computer is coming with win7 ultimate one it, so I was wondering if there is any way I can pretty much wipe out everything except win7 and check the win7 files for viruses before I let it anywhere near my wifi. I just wanna scrub it down, if you know what I mean :)

Hope you enjoyed my life story guys.
-Tj


EDIT-
I do realize now that this forum has a security section :D I feel smart. Well now that I've posted in desktop computers, let me ask what you think of the build.

ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe AI Lifestyle Gaming Edition motherboard
BFG GeForce GTX 285 video card
(I can't remember the exact processor) LGA775 slot; intel duo 2.66GHz dual core processor
130GB SATA hard drive
260GB SATA hard drive
4GB PNY RAM DDR3 (1333)
Soundblaster audigy 4 audio card
gigabit ethernet card
I believe a 650w power supply

total asking price: $400
 
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Symbol said:
dude the sellers just messing with you.
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What? That computer, is okay. We need age of computer, and exact CPU. I don't think it's worth $400. Can you spen $500 and build a desktop that can play games, and is brand new and hi performance?
 
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Symbol said:
dude the sellers just messing with you.
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Well I mean he took pics of the inside of the computer and the full computer inside his apartment and told me where he lives...

byteninja2 said:
What? That computer, is okay. We need age of computer, and exact CPU. I don't think it's worth $400. Can you spen $500 and build a desktop that can play games, and is brand new and hi performance?
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I am trying really hard to think of the CPU. I am like 85% sure he said it was an intel 2 duo E6300

Anyways, I think the parts are legit and all but im concerned mainly about the hardware being well... NOT broken xD and making sure I don't get hacked because of any keyloggers or other malware >_>
 
byteninja2 said:
It sounds a couple years old. I truly don't recommend getting that pc. Can you spend $100 more?
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I really can't :/ It's ok if it is a couple of years old. My desktop had 1 gig of ram and onboard everything, and like a single core processor. It was horrible. HORRIBLE. It's gone now (thankfully). I'm not looking into like heavy hardcore gaming. I just need a good desktop that can handle what I throw at it (free online MMORPG's, programming, etc.) I mean the video card doesn't seem very bad at all, MUCH better than the onboard on this laptop and this laptop plays a few games I play on mid-high, so I bet the video card could handle it...
 
It should be just fine. I just upgraded off a very similar system and it would do most games, even BF3 at acceptable resolutions, medium, at 20+ frames per second. I had a G530 and HD 4870, which in terms to that is a E8400 and GTX 260. So your slightly behind with the processor and ahead in graphics. Should be able to do any game you throw at it though, and do it quite well.
 
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