The household pc that the kids use has a virus.....if i were to buy a new hard drive (the existing one is too small anyway) can i replace the hard drive and buy a new copy of the operating system, install everything and be all set??

Sounds like an IT qustion asked by a phone guy!!

You should be good to go at that point. Then again, depending on the age of the kids PC, you might just want to consider buying a new PC.

Most don't recommend spending a lot of money on upgrading old PC's due to the low cost nowadays for new.

I’d check out the sales, Dell has a new machine with a 17” flat panel,160 gig HD, 1 gig ram, win XP, for about $350. The hard drive and OS would run close to that. I’m sure Best Buy or Walmart would have some deals.

What operating system is on this computer now? A 500 gig hard drive can be had for around 70 bucks. If the computer already has an OEM version of windows then it wouldnt be neccesary to buy another copy if your just replacing the hard drive. If you dont have the media then you can request it from the computer manufacturer. Most of the time theyll just charge you a small fee for shipping it out to you. Typically around 10 dollars. On customers computers we hardly ever upgrade since its more economical for the customer to replace the pc as opposed to upgrading or replacing parts.

Have you tried removing the virus?

There are many free software tools on-line for security related problems (virus, trojans, spyware, malware, etc.)

Here is one of my favorite sites to reference for downloads and explanations ~ click here

If the PC has the authenticity/key code sticker but you lack software then beg or borrow a copy! The key code will activate the software. If you put a mega size drive, your BIOS may restrict or "find" half! The other issue and it's a big one is drivers. If don't have the original driver CD, stand by for fun and games! When all is said and done, you may find it cheaper to buy that new or a refurb one!

Avast has a real good free antivirus. We recomend it to our users for their home pc's. I would try and remove it first. As long as you dont reuse that hardrive in another pc you dont need to buy another copy of the OS.

If you have the COA sticker affixed to the computer just get a copy of the proper media. M$ sells it for about 25 bucks but chances are somebody you know has a copy. The media is the same fr every version ie Home, Pro etc, it is the unique key you need. You can also extract the CD key if for some reason you do not have the COA sticker. Use a program called PRODUKEY. It is a free download. Just download it, run it and write down the CD key and you can use it to reinstall your OS. There is also a program called Aida32 that will display your CD key and it is also free. Might want to bump the RAM up at the same time as Windows XP with SP3 uses a lot more memory.

Did you get to tinker with it this weekend ~ any luck?