Want to start fresh without Windows virus problems

It's hard to tell you if it's a good solution :) What are you doing with your Windows XP?
-video games ?
-some very specialized softwares maybe ? Like video editing, or pro softwares like Photoshop, Indesign, etc?

There are some tasks Ubuntu won't be very good at, and for others, it will be as good if not better than Windows. But it's not really like "Ubuntu is better than XP" or "XP is better than Ubuntu", it really depends of you and your use of the computer.

If your use is "compatible" with Ubuntu, you can try it on your computer without touching your current XP installation. Ubuntu will be installed next to XP, and you can choose which one to run when you start the computer. That's probably worth a try, unless you are doing very specific tasks that are not easily possible with Ubuntu

Please note that:
-you can leave your XP next to Ubuntu, the virus & malwares will never infect Ubuntu.
-you won't have all this maintenance on Ubuntu. No antivirus, no anti malware. The system is quite "maintenance free".
-however, you need to spend some time to adapt. Ubuntu is not Windows, just like Mac OSX is not Windows. You need to change your habits, otherwise, you may feel a bit "frustrated".

For 3D games, the single solution is dual boot.
For MS Office and lot of other MS application, you can use Wine which a rewriting of MS libraries directly on Ubuntu.
And third solution, for not 3D applications, you can use a Virtual Machine in which you install Windows.
About virus, today Ubuntu can be considered virus free.
You will retrieve some free software like Firefox (and Thunderbird) and OpenOffice.
Quite all software have an equivalent in Ubuntu.
In facts, you need firstly to define what are your needs, after I will be able to advise you.

Please install Ubuntu and at install step answer use entire disk to get rid of old infected Windows

---------------------------------------

Here some general note on install Ubuntu and howto to get a good ubuntu iso cd image (.iso) to burn on a cd:

- Here the steps to install Ubuntu 10.04.1 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GraphicalInstall

- Here install Ubuntu video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaqaDZZ_P0g&feature=fvw

Below there are some intructions to:
--- 1) Ubuntu prerequisites... and Ubuntu for pc with low power
--- 2) download the iso...
--- 3) check the md5sum of the iso image, please don't forget to check...
--- 4) burn the iso image to a cd ...
--- 5) install Ubuntu using the self made cd ...
--- 6) trouble screen at installation or at first boot after installation ...
--- 7) Ubuntu manual and online help...
--- 8) Relax and fun...

The main ubuntu site is this: www.ubuntu.com and the download location is this
http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download

--- 1) Ubuntu prerequisites: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements

Ubuntu 10.04.1 release notes: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LucidLynx/ReleaseNotes

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LucidLynx/ReleaseNotes/ChangeSummary/10.04.1

If your ram is less than the recommended amount, you won't be able to install with the graphical installer,
but you might be able to use the Alternative cd, where you can use a text based installer - that uses less memory.
If your machine does have plenty of ram, you might want to try running Memcheck (which is also an option from the live cd, see below)
to just make sure your ram isn't failing.

- if your pc doesn't meet the Ubuntu prerequisites, you can try:

xubuntu http://www.xubuntu.org/get
lubuntu http://lubuntu.net/blog/lubuntu-1004-now-available-download

here a list from distrowatch: http://distrowatch.com/search.php?category=Old%20computers

- if you pc is a very low resource pc you can try different Linux distribution something like:
 DSL http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
 Puppy Linux http://www.puppylinux.org/
 Slitaz http://www.slitaz.org/ : Slitaz 3.0 release note http://www.slitaz.org/en/doc/releases/3.0/relnotes.en.html

1.a) Please always prefer to download them using torrent if you can...

1.b) BE ABSOLUTELY SURE to verify the md5sum https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM
of the downloaded iso image BEFORE to burn it

1.c) burn it using infrarecorder if you are using Windows at lower speed you can do

1.d) boot your pc from cd and install...

--- 2) please download the 700 mb file http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download simply press on download button
To avoid download errors download the desired ubuntu iso install cd image using the torrent protocol.

- if you are using Windows please install a torrent client i suggest you http://deluge-torrent.org/
and download the iso using a .torrent link from here:
http://releases.ubuntu.com/10.04.1/ubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso.torrent

--- 3) PLEASE BE SURE TO CHECK the md5sum of downloaded file to be sure it have no error https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM
Only if the md5sum number match with this: http://releases.ubuntu.com/10.04.1/MD5SUMS go to the next steps.

--- 4) burn the iso image onto a cd, to do it install and use http://infrarecorder.org/?page_id=5 burn the cd at lower speed you can do and activate the data verify

--- 5) insert the self made install cd into your pc cdrom drive and reboot your pc. YOU MUST NOT SEE Windows starting and you can try Ubuntu from cdrom and then install it

--- 6) If you have trouble with installation (the system freeze or you can't complete it) be sure to read the above suggestions, then:

Please boot entirely (you must not see windows starting) from Ubuntu live install cd and when the system start to boot from cd you will see two bottom screen icons (keyboard and man inside circle ) please press space (choose your desired language) then a screen textual center menu will appear to you with this items in it:

Try Ubuntu without installing
Install Ubuntu
Check disc for defects
Test memory
Boot from first hard disk

Please select "Test Memory" to deeply test your ram healty, if your pc freeze at installation or installation doesn't start.

Please select "Check disc for defects" and press enter to test if your cd-driver can read in a good way the live install cd... or if the install cd have some defective file in it.
Then please also perform a Test memory to be sure your pc RAM memory have not any issue

If you get a blank screen at boot after install or booting from the Ubuntu install cd please read:

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-fix-ubuntu-10-04-lts-lucid-blank-screen-at-startup.html

If you have trouble with intel8xxx graphic cards:

please try this: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Bugs/Lucidi8xxFreezes

--- 7) Ubuntu Manual, it's very informative: http://ubuntu-manual.org/
Click on the "download Button" to download the latest PDF version.

The online help https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/index.html

--- 8) Relax and fun
http://planet.ubuntu.com/ and Full Circle Magazine http://fullcirclemagazine.org/