ok, so I got this friend... acquaintance , he thinks he knows computers well but from what I can see he really doesn't.

Anyways,... he leaves his PC on 24/7 with no firewalls and no antivirus. If he unplugs his cable modem, his computer will continuously reboot until he plugs it back in.

ok, this is where I get involved. I want to help his sister get Internet access in her room. I would like to run a simple crossover cable from his room to hers but he has his cable modem tying up his ethernet. My idea was to use the usb port instead of his NIC but if you unplug the cable modem (even for a sec) from the ethernet, it reboots.

I'm sure his computer holds the world record for worms, trojans, and malware. I'm afraid if I installed a antivirus, on his PC, it would quarantine every single file and then he would blame me for his PC not running anymore. Also, I'm sure all that malware has changed his system so much that even after everthing has been dis-infected, it would still reboot.

Problem is, he thinks he knows everything about computers and I get the vibe he doesn't really want the help but I'm not trying to necessarily help him, just his sister. he he lol

If it were me, I'd just blow away the OS and start from scratch since I keep my important files and OS on separate partitions. Of course then again I don't run around the Internet with my PC's backdoor wide open.

My idea was to offer him one of my old 250gb hdd's to replace his 40gb. That way I'd have an excuse to redo his OS.

or, another option would be to try and make his PC virus free.

or, maybe use a router or hub?

I dunno, this guy kind of drives me nuts, he thinks he needs to buy an expensive piece of equipment from his ISP to get Internet in his sis's room. We both live in the same town and both have the same high speed cable service yet I am able to share my Internet with my xbox, PC, and laptop.

It's just frustrating, If I could just free up that LAN, I'd be home free. ok, here comes a dumb question, I'm sure I have an extra PCI NIC card laying around somewhere, Can I add an extra one to his PC? Networking is definitely not my stongest area.

How would you go about it? I'm trying to get his sister internet while phuck!ng with his PC as little as possible.

Hi Keypel.

The way to go is to get a router with wireless capability (has an antenna). If the sister gets the right antivirus and anti-malware programs his PC cant' affect hers in any way.

I'm afraid I can't be much help in selecting a particular model of router, but Linksys and D-Link are the most popular brands. The better rated models, in general, seem to have have 108 or 125 Megabits/sec (Mbs) max transfer rate, sometimes known "Super-G".

As for the right anti-malware apps, this is everything she/you will need:

Essential XP Virus & Malware Protection

If he is online with an unprotected Windows PC-- then he is almost surely heavily infected.
He is also a danger to everyone he emails or IM's or plays online games with. Many Viruses reproduce themselves by automatically emailing themselves to EVERYone in his address book.

You should really work hard on him to get cleaned up.
It is irresponsible to be online in such a state.

His computer could be being used as a Zombie by child pornographers to distribute their evil wares.

It could be being used remotely to break into secured computers (like banks)

There are hundreds of ways such Zombied PC's can be used.

It is estimated by security experts that an unprotected PC-- running Windows-- WILL BE (not might be --will be) infected withing 12 minutes from the time it is connected to the web. He's been online longer than 12 minutes I assume...

Guys like him are the reason you and I have to heavily protect ourselves when online.

For his sake-- and the rest of our safety... show him this post.
If he needs to see some articles on the subject-- I'll be happy to find some and show him so he can read for himself.