[robertgraham]

I have an old dell dimension 2400- and to my knowledge is riddled with viruses- which sits unused as it takes too long to do anything,turning on alone is atleast 11 hour. My knowledge of computers is limited but, correct me if im wrong, i was going to replace the hard drive to remove the viruses. It would also be great if you could recommend other new hardware to improve it so it is useable. It would be perfect if I could upgrade it to be more powerful than my laptop so the laptop could be used for mainly portable purposes and the Dell for games etc. As i said my knowledge is limited so if someone could explain how i would go about these upgrades/send me a link to a video explaining it i would be extremely grateful. Money isnt a huge issue but obviously the cheaper the better.
Thanks in advance for any help you can supply.

[SAMF2000]

If you have the Dell dimension install disk I Would simply reformat and reinstall - problem soved. of course backup before you do that. :-)
no need to buy a new drive or computer.

[robertgraham]

Thanks but unfortunately the computer is many years old and i have no idea where the disk is. Is it possible to reformat any other way. Also i have already moved the files onto my laptop.

[getsugatenso]

it would simply be best to install a fresh copy of windows XP, its pretty much light weight, you really would not think about upgrading for games for a desktop i imagine is more than 4-5 years old, im guessing an agp port on there, aint gonna be much help with games. although for applications and web browsing i think you might need a better cpu, internet has become a media rich environment taking it's toll on the cpu, get some RAM while your at it

xp 32 bit will only detect 3.25GB of it
XP 64 bit will detect 8GB i think, although 2GB should be fine

there really is not much you will be able to do...

[SAMF2000]

you could download the files to reformat and save them on disk and then boot grom cd but you will still need windows anyway

[robertgraham]

Thanks for the advice getsugatenso would any cpu fit or will a specific type be needed.

[getsugatenso]

like i said, if it is a 775 socket then it only goes with a 775 processor
or if it's an AM2 socket then only an AM2 processor would fit, a cheap celeron at 2.8ghz [ i think] i bought for £10 *edited[cant spell ]*

but if you need to remove virus's then download and install prevx edge, very lightweight and will be no where near as bothersome as norton

[robertgraham]

thanks for the advice i'll post again once ive done that and tell you how i get on.

[calvin-c]

Originally Posted by getsugatenso

it would simply be best to install a fresh copy of windows XP, its pretty much light weight, you really would not think about upgrading for games for a desktop i imagine is more than 4-5 years old, im guessing an agp port on there, aint gonna be much help with games. although for applications and web browsing i think you might need a better cpu, internet has become a media rich environment taking it's toll on the cpu, get some RAM while your at it

Not sure why you think the only games anybody plays are hardware intensive? I long ago gave up action games in favor of thinking games. I find it much more enjoyable to out-think somebody than to blow them away. (Of course when they out-think me I still sometimes get the urge...but I control it. If you can't be a good sport then you shouldn't play games.)

Anyway, most of the games I play will run fine on my 1.7GHz Celeron PC-but I agree with you about the Internet. I'm finding it harder & harder to do anything else on that, even with 764MB of RAM.

[win2kpro]

You really can't make a gaming machine out of a 2400.

The fastest processor you could get for the machine is a socket 478 Pentium 4 3.06GHz. with a FSB on 533MHz. The motherboard only will support 2GB of PC2100 or PC2700 DDR/SDRAM.

The machine doesn't have an AGP or PCIe slot so the only video card you could use would be limited to a PCI card.

[getsugatenso]

as bad as it may be, i've seen someone playing trackmania on very low settings, with a 1ghz processor, it was almost nintendo DS quality but still playable.
anywhoo... im not so fond of shooting games, tend to be shot to bits by the end of it, more of a racer, and a respectable one who tries to not knock into other people

p.s. the author of this thread wanted to make a useable computer, not nessasarily a hardcore gaming machine, just wants a home machine up and running so that it can be used at home instead of the laptop at times. me, im just drooling over a nzxt khaos computer case because i would like it

by the way, robert, prevx it might want to reboot/restart a few times to get rid of the malware/viral files, but while you have it, you will be protected in realtime, it will not allow files known in the prevx database to be on your computer, it will flag it as soon as it can

[Hughv]

I just re-installed a Dim 2350 using a generic Dimension OS disk. Dimensions are everywhere, so if you have a friend who has one, try using his disk. The driver disk should also work in most cases, but all the drivers are available at the Dell site.
I've also done this in the past with an OEM disk.
You're a good candidate for Ubuntu, also. It's free, has lots of games and should run quickly on that machine. Many Dimensions of the era came with 256 MB RAM, and an upgrade to 512/1 GB would be a big help.
Have you tried booting to Safe Mode and running a malware removal app like Malawarebyte?