I bought an ex-display laptop

[bilateralrope]

Problem is that it is my first Windows 8 computer. But, as it was the one in the display stand, I have no idea how many settings have been changed from a reasonable default to something stupid (one idiot did crank the screen resolution all the way down) by passing customers. Even worse, a USB port was was accessible while the laptop was in the display stand. So I don't trust anything on the hard drive to be free from malicious software.

Normally my solution would be simple: Wipe the hard drive, reinstall windows from disk. But the only copy of Windows 8 that I have is the recovery partition. Which means I don't trust it.

Does anyone have any suggestions about how I can proceed ?

[Napoleon the Clown]

Wipe it, put a Linux distro on it, if you're really worried. Linux is free and actually pretty good these days. It's the most effective way to get rid of any nasties without having to buy a Windows 8 disc.

Alternately, remove any programs you don't know exactly what are then virus scan the hell out of it. You may be able to get a computer repair store to check things out for you too, but I don't know. There are services for getting rid of particularly nasty programs.

[bilateralrope]

Linux is one option.

Would extracting my Windows 8 key, then borrowing a Windows 8 install disk be another ?
I don't know how to extract my Windows 8 key.

[Forgothrax]

Is the key on the bottom of the laptop, or included in the paperwork? If not, you may be able to extract it with one of the utilities mentioned here.

[Vendetta]

Normally my solution would be simple: Wipe the hard drive, reinstall windows from disk. But the only copy of Windows 8 that I have is the recovery partition. Which means I don't trust it

I wouldn't worry about that. Data on the recovery partition of a computer isn't accessable from within the operating system barring serious, and seriously obvious, fucking around.

The only problem with recovery partitions is that they tend to do a quick format so any rootkits you've managed to install from the internet won't be killed by the recovery.

If you want to restore the PC, run the reset windows option. Pretending that some leet haxor has compromised your recovery partition using five seconds* and a usb pen drive impresses no-one. (After all, why the fuck would they bother when people download malware from the internet by the second).



* Look at any piece of display kit for any longer than this and salesvultures will descend and try and sell you an extended warranty on it.

[bilateralrope]

Normally my solution would be simple: Wipe the hard drive, reinstall windows from disk. But the only copy of Windows 8 that I have is the recovery partition. Which means I don't trust it

I wouldn't worry about that. Data on the recovery partition of a computer isn't accessable from within the operating system barring serious, and seriously obvious, fucking around.

The only problem with recovery partitions is that they tend to do a quick format so any rootkits you've managed to install from the internet won't be killed by the recovery.

So I should still worry, but about rootkits that the recovery partition won't clear, not a compromised partition. Good to know, though it changes nothing.

* Look at any piece of display kit for any longer than this and salesvultures will descend and try and sell you an extended warranty on it.

Not in this store. If you want any help from the staff, you need to ask for it.

It took them half an hour to find someone who knew how to unlock the display stand. And that's after I went to the electronics counter, I told them which one I wanted to buy and they told me the display stand had the last one in stock.

[phred]

Why so paranoid? Seriously, I've had 4 computers, all of them former display models. I've never had a problem with them coming home with malware.

Nuke and pave from the partition, get your AV program(s) of choice and do a thorough check. The only reason some hacker would bother infecting a store display machine would be to watch it go off in some spectacular fashion right then.

[Vendetta]

Because it makes nerds feel clever to think that someone could be doing leet haxor things with their display model computer to give them viruses and steal their bank accounts, even though that's basically the stuff of pre-internet cyberpunk SF, because going out and physically interacting with machines is way to low volume to be worth a shit.

Seriously, if it's an ex display model just do the windows reset and wipe it down with an antiseptic wipe because you're more likely to get people viruses off something that hundreds of sweaty herberts have fondled than computer ones.

[bilateralrope]

I'm not going to pretend that my paranoia is rational.

[Napoleon the Clown]

Speaking as someone who's never used Windows 8, I'm going to just claim that Ubuntu or Mint will be a better OS for your purposes, whatever they may be. I've heard 8 is utter shit, and my experiences with Ubuntu and Mint indicate that they're pretty user friendly and functional once you know what you're doing.*

*I'm not being entirely serious about the whole "Ubuntu will work better for you" comment, this is largely me being a smartass and going "take that" at Windows 8.

[Zaune]

In your position I'd be less worried about viruses than about getting rid of all the useless crap it's probably come bundled with, but either way the solution is the same. Don't use the recovery position, odds are it'll insist on reinstalling the aforementioned useless crap; go completely ground-zero on it. You can torrent a Windows 8 ISO and use your existing license key -it's technically legal, I think- if you want to keep it, but if not I recommend Lubuntu; I've never used Mint myself and I didn't think much of the Unity desktop.

EDIT: On the other hand, I tested Ubuntu out on a clapped-out Pentium 4 with only 2GB of RAM. That might've biased me a bit.

[Enigma]

Before you do anything suggested here, go to Settings and then Change PC Settings. You'll have an option to either "Refresh your PC" (practically resets Win8 without loss of personal data, and it'll leave a file on desktop listing all programs removed) or you can reset it to its original factory setting, basically a reinstall without the need to use the disc (AFAIK).

[Vendetta]

In your position I'd be less worried about viruses than about getting rid of all the useless crap it's probably come bundled with, but either way the solution is the same. Don't use the recovery position, odds are it'll insist on reinstalling the aforementioned useless crap; go completely ground-zero on it.

The capability of modern PCs means that the OEM preload will be almost unnoticable in terms of performance and storage load. If there are any particularly annoying bits like trial antivirus software there's this concept called "uninstalling" that makes them go away.

You can torrent a Windows 8 ISO and use your existing license key -it's technically legal, I think- if you want to keep it, but if not I recommend Lubuntu; I've never used Mint myself and I didn't think much of the Unity desktop.

1. It's not legal, OEM licenses and retail licenses are not transferrable.

2. You don't get a product key with OEM windows 8, it's stored in the UEFI and the OS accesses it from there.


(Windows 8 is fine, it's basically windows 7 but better optimised)

[Sharp-kun]

Yeah. Stick Classic Shell on it and you basically have Windows 7.

[AMX]

You can torrent a Windows 8 ISO and use your existing license key -it's technically legal, I think- if you want to keep it, but if not I recommend Lubuntu; I've never used Mint myself and I didn't think much of the Unity desktop.

1. It's not legal, OEM licenses and retail licenses are not transferrable.

He's not actually transferring the key, just using a different install medium on the same computer...

[Tolya]

If you plan to use it for games, stay away from Linux, no matter what people are telling you. Trust me, you don't want to be in that kind of hell, no matter what the open source proponents are preaching.

If its for casual browsing only, I guess you can install Ubuntu or Mint and be done with it.

Getting a Windows 8 disk from torrent seems to be the best way to go though.

[Zaune]

Depends what games, actually, the indie scene's big on multi-platform these days and a decent chunk of GOG.com's catalogue will work fine if you don't mind an even more authentic DOS gaming experience than usual.

[Napoleon the Clown]

WINE is a viable way to game, though you need to check to be sure the game you want is supported. It can be pretty hit and miss. If gaming is gonna be a big component I'd actually avoid Linux simply because you have to use a lot of commands to get things working.

[Tolya]

I do second that. And I work with WINE and Mac games on a daily basis at GOG.com. Trust me, stick to gaming on Windows. Linux gaming is for hobbyists who take more pleasure in setting up the games than playing them.

Indie gaming is big on OS X mostly due to the wondrous Unity engine, which is multiplatform and can compile for both Win/Linux/Mac very easily. The performance of the more cpu/gpu heavy games can be abysmal though, and truth is, most devs dont care for properly setting their ports or optimizing them.