If you buy a used PC with an OS on it, how do you check for keylogger or other "phone home" software? Is there such a thing, where the guy selling it is a scammer that sends info from you to him, such as bank passwords?

 

simple: Wipe it clean and start from scratch.

 

Formatting the drive and re-installing is best. Is there a reason not to?

 

Of course... it could be a hardware item also... hidden within.....

 

For the paranoid: 96% accuracy by hearing your keyboard alone

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/r...9/14_key.shtml

 

Time, laziness, inconvenience.

BTW the laptop had freshly installed XP SP2 when I got it, and it has the Windows Genuine sticker under it. It was a corporate lease return Dell D610.

 

If you have any concerns, format and reinstall.

Otherwise you can create a new profile to log into, install new AV software like microsoft's home securty essentials, use the command netstat -an to see if any strange ports are open and cross your fingers.

Security is often inconvenient.

 

Just reinstall brah. If it's got a key and license underneath it won't give you any hassle and it only takes like an hour. Also, if you have a license, it's legal to download.