Malware infection question

[+Warwagon MVC]

I would still format even with today's infections. As Steve says, you can never trust the machine again once it gets infected. And giving that back to a client that does their banking and taxes is just being risky.

All of these people who say they would be ****ed if someone formatted their machine. So these "Computer Experts" would feel comfortable doing online banking on a machine that had previous been infected, regardless if the infection was removed? That just boggles my mind. Security aware much?

[Shane Nokes]

So....it is a lie to say formatting gives more of a guarantee? Shane himself even said if there are rootkits or if it is severe, formatting is a better way to go.....I just tell them the truth, I do not say "Oh I am the best malware removal expert EVER and can make sure your computer is NOT infected when it leaves here". Nobody is perfect at their jobs, and if you are having an off day, you can really mess up a client if you miss something. It not just because "you cannot do your job", some people just have off days.

A format eliminates that, so please stop getting on my butt about choosing to do a format, geez.

Just to clarify...what I said was that if someone is working on a machine and they are not 100% confident in their removal skills, then a complete wipe and reinstall would be best.

I had that rootkit scenario actually come up on this machine earlier this year. A friend was checking their e-mail, and clicked a link they shouldn't have. :(

I managed to completely clean the machine and didn't reinstall anything on it until Win8 came out...so I ran it for a few months after cleaning it out.

All of these people who say they would be ****ed if someone formatted their machine. So these "Computer Experts" would feel comfortable doing online banking on a machine that had previous been infected, regardless if the infection was removed? That just boggles my mind. Security aware much?

It's a practice I follow with my own machines. Like I said...I have a machine that is setup purely to be infected...so I can keep my skills up to par on the new stuff that comes out...and I haven't had to do a format on that machine in a long time.

[Matt Plant]

I agree use CCleaner and Malwarebytes :woot: always works fine for me