reinstallation of windows.

[#1]

Hi,
I Need to do a fresh installation of windows following a motherboard failure,however my problem is this.......once I log on to the internet to download AVG anti virus & Comodo firewall my computer will be vulnerable to attack during this period. I was thinking of downloading these programs to a friends computer, copying them to disk and then installing them on my own computer prior to going on the internet, can someone reassure me that this would work.
Yes I did make a complete back up copy of everything using Acronis and stored this on an external drive but having a new motherboard installed and the opportunity to start from scratch I figured a fresh installation was the best way to go.
Any comments, advice would be appreciated but please keep it jargon free as I know little about computers.
Thank you
NB Motherboard is a ASUS P5N-E  SLI

[#2]

Quote from: gleneagles

I was thinking of downloading these programs to a friends computer, copying them to disk and then installing them on my own computer prior to going on the internet, can someone reassure me that this would work.

Yes that would work fine. If you have one you could use a USB pen drive to copy the programmes from your friends computer to yours.
Install the programmes then connect to the internet and download definitions updates.

[#3]

yes.  it will work.  i've done it successfully for someone recently.  you can also get spybot, adaware and a firewall.  i made a 1gb fat partition to hold them that the install wouldn't wipe.  they were then available to install after windows was installed.
having them on a usb key is even better as they can't be compromised during the install.  you will need to update them as soon as you go online and then run your first scans.

[#4]

@gleneagles
Why not just make sure that the Windows firewall is enabled on your own PC and then connect using that to download AVG directly to your own PC?
If you connect using a router, then that will have a hardware firewall as well.
If you want to be sure of avoiding viruses then you should be careful of moving USB sticks between PCs, if autorun is enabled, as that is one of the virus infection routes.

[#5]

Thanks for the info, I do not have a USB stick (I know they are cheap but I would be unlikely to use it again)  My intention would be to download the programs mentioned earlier on a friends computer and copy them to disk OR drag them across to an external drive which I could then plug in to my own computer.
I wanted to be reassured about the copying of such programs because they are copyright (even though they are free) and was worried that some sort of disablement feature was in the program to stop them being copied. Your comments have reassured me on this point.

[#6]

good luck with your reinstall.  with the programs to hand, you should be good to go online.

[#7]

I have had the same problem in the past. I have to say not with Plus Net. I am happy enough to reinstall THEN download AVG and ZoneAlarm with Plus Net. With BT Broadband it is a different story. I learned this some time ago by getting viruses before even opening IE to download AVG. If I am reinstalling on another persons computer I always compile a CDRW or memory stick with the latest AVG and ZoneAlarm along with every driver I can find releating to the specific computer. I then have this ready to go and are the first things to be installed after Windows and before I connect the computer to the net.
I have now refined this procedure by having my laptop onsite which I connect to the persons internet connection and download all drivers/AVG/ZoneAlarm and put them on a CDRW while I am waiting for their machine to install windows.
4 most important things to have when reinstalling Windows:
Antivirus and Firewall on disk or memory stick
Network Card or modem drivers (All other drivers can be sourced once you are online).
Some patience (Very Important!)
Cup of tea/coffee and some nice biscuits!

[#8]

Don't forget with the likes of AVG you can download the application AND the latest definitions for local updating before going online.

[#9]

Due to HDD failures and recent upgrades all at dfferent times I have had to re-nstall Windows maybe9/10 times over the last 8 months.
I always have AVG/Zonealarm on a second drive and never set up networking until I have them installed. Didn't realise I could download the updates to AVG before installing then cdonnecting to the network. I usually download the latest version just before making the hardware changes but, of course, this is usually way out of date.
I have now got re-installation to a fine art and usually takes around 3 hours to be back as I had it before with all apps, etc.
Now I am thinking of cloning the boot drive so that I can just do a swap if necessary

[#10]

by gum, but you're quick.  i thought i had it down pat at six hours all apps installed, but that makes me look like a laggard.  'course, these days i'm reinstalled and all configured in about an hour, but that's linux.

[#11]

Quote from: artificer

by gum, but you're quick.

The worse part is the 25 mins or so for windows installation then adding SP3 and all other updates. Have thought aboit slip-streaming - but not yet.

[#12]

i slipstreamed sp2 and ended up with a disk that wouldn't boot.  i was more successful with my second attempt.  i maintain one window box for a chinese friend, but it causes me serious brain-strain.  if i could do what she needs in linux, i'd switch her in a trice.

[#13]

Quote from: artificer

by gum, but you're quick.  i thought i had it down pat at six hours all apps installed, but that makes me look like a laggard.  'course, these days i'm reinstalled and all configured in about an hour, but that's linux.

Was that on a Pentium 1??
Last time I reinstalled my main machine I clocked the whole process at an hour and a three quarters. That included Windows XP (obviously), Office, Ulead Video Studio 8, Macromedia Studio 8, Paint Shop pro 7, Cyberlink Power Producer, Service Packs, Changing drive letters, Formatting partitions, Remapping network drives, Nero, Installing drivers, setting up second monitor and countless other small settings and apps like AVG, Zone Alarm, Bluezone FTP client, VNC Viewer (for my servers) etc, etc.
After doing this several hundred times (on lots of machines) since 2003 I have learned a few things. You CAN install several different software packages at one time despite what the software may be telling you although there are some exceptions. I know which updates and software require a restart so they can be grouped together and one restart will do for all.
I find the Windows installation to be the easist and quickest part of the whole thing although I am very very bored of it at this stage!
Out of interest my computer is not that fast. It is an AMD Athlon XP running at 2.3Ghz with 1Gb RAM and 7200rpm IDE HDD's.

[#14]

it was a pentiumIII, 600mhz, 96mb ram and 18gb hd.  at the time it was the only machine i had and i was always in a hurry to get it done.  i did do some of the shortcuts you mention, so that one restart covered several installs.
now i have shuttles and linux exclusively and my computing life is infinitely more peaceful and pleasant.

[#15]

Yeah a Pentium III would be a long one. I have an old Celeron 700 running XP in another room and I hate installing anything on it, even AVG updates!
I also have a dual 1Ghz PIII as my Linux Webserver in my attic (as mentioned in my signature). I run Fedora and find it to be slow to install. I have found the same with Debian. I did try PCLinuxOS and it was very quick to install and very nice but a few niggly things have prevented me from switching over completely to Linux. I definitely want to sometime.