Major virus on mum's PC

molezak

okay will do but not even sure can get the thing to work at all yet! Will I be able to talk him through this over the phone as I can't get over there...?

molezak

Will make sure he doesn't use Norton then.

He has Dell E177ft drivers and user docs
Windows XP service pack 2
Microsoft works 8.5

With those will we be able to system restore?

DatabaseError

make sure before they start that they have the xp disk and correct key, ideally they should also have any disks to hand which came with the computer.
Looking back at the OP, it's a dell pc, so probably came with a recovery disk which should put it all back together as it was when new. I would not be particularly happy talking someone through a format/reinstall over the phone, and I think I know what i'm doing, far too much can go wrong (esp. driver issues). ensure they have a wired internet connection for any driver downloads/updates required, also download the drivers from the dell website and burn to disk.
Did you/he try any of the other, less invasive, suggestions? I am a fan of clean slates, but this one may be more trouble than it's worth, with the distance and potential for failure (and it will all be your fault)

molezak

ok, probably not a great idea to try then since you would be far more capable than I!

If he were to try starting his PC in safe mode would we be able to access the internet and download that way??

Kate x

DatabaseError

safe mode with networking support - probably, yes.
still think its better for you to d/load and burn recovery disks and post

molezak

Thanks, okay, we tried to sysytem restore (to the last safe point) but it failed. Will get the disks sorted. Thanks for taking the time to respond.