Help needed with Windows holes

Hey ppl ive got a problem with my computer, if anyone could help i would appreciate a lot... Well, my computer started to behave in a strange way, slow down, my exe files being modified all of a sudden (even my antivirus) so i suspect that I got an unknown .exe virus which beat my Kaspersky antivirus.. I decided to reformat my computer but the problem is: I got Windows XP SP2 CD (I slipstreamed SP2 onto a bootable CD along with Win XP) but as I guess that this CD may be infected I would like to install the OS from my Windows XP Original CD. As I know that I cant go on the Internet using Win XP unpatched (lots of bugs which would make my PC gets infected in a matter of seconds) I wonder if I could install Windows 98 SE then go to the NET, download SP2, burn it on a CD and then install Windows XP? Or Win 98 SE unpatched has bugs like the XP version that would also make my PC gets infected if I go to the NET and download SP2?
P.S: I dont have a firewall on CD .. I was thinking about as soon as my computer logs on the internet I download a light firewall like Look'n'stop that, in a DSL connection, would take only some seconds to be downloaded.. but I fear that some seconds would be enough to get infected in an unpatched Windows .. I know that Microsoft could send me a SP2 CD for free, but Im afraid that it would take a long time...

Thanks in advance !!!

 

Why do you feel this CD is infected?

You could enable ICF prior to connecting to the network/Internet.

Regards,

CrazyM

 

Hey ya buddies thanks for the quick replies !!

As far as I know only the SP2 version has the XP firewall, so how could I turn it on in a original Windows XP ?

Because I slipstreamed SP2 onto a bootable CD after my computer acts in a strange way - .exe files being modified -. So I fear these files got infected b4 being burned on a CD.

Sorry, but what does ICF mean ? Im a newbie .. How do I enable it ?

 

Hmm .. Thank you, Ronjor

 

Ronjor's link answers your question. ICF (Internet Connection Firewall) is what was available in XP prior to the Windows Firewall being introduced in SP2.

Regards,

CrazyM

 

make sure you install your modem before turning on the firewall, with the modem unplugged from the wall. i don't think you can turn on the FW without a modem

 

Although I found (when I got a new modem/router/firewall at the same time that I reformatted my computer) that you must disable the firewall to enable the modem (because it used web based management tools)...not that there was any harm in doing that for my all-in-one.

 

Although you have a pretty good solution already, I want to respond to this question. Win 98 SE would be fairly safe unpatched as long as you close the open ports first by properly configuring networking and disabling NetBIOS as per the instructions at grc.com. Don't visit any "bad neighborhoods" on the Web, though, especially with IE. If you then installed Kerio 2.1.5 and set it up with BlitzenZeus's standard default replacement ruleset, you'd be in pretty good shape. And just so no one misunderstands me, I am not recommending this as a permanent solution.


Phil

 

A routers NAT would offer firewall protection till all the installs are done. Also routers can be had, almost anywhere cheap, wired or wireless