85 replies to this topic 1 votes

[Tyler R.]

McKay, on 20 November 2012 - 18:18, said:

Can you fix mine? It's been running a little slow.

Can't see it. Upload it to neowin's servers. I'm a on a campus iMac that's buckled down to the core.

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[Shane Nokes]

McKay, on 20 November 2012 - 18:18, said:

Can you fix mine? It's been running a little slow.

Bonzai Buddy.....must kill....

[spacer]

Shane Nokes, on 20 November 2012 - 17:46, said:

This isn't a corporate machine with a nice image of everything, it's a home PC. That's a last resort.

As I've said before in other places...do the job right, don't just wipe and install. That's a waste of your time, and their time.

I agree with cat and some others. Just scan the files worth keeping, back them up, re-install.

You said "do the job right, don't just wipe and install", but re-install is the only way to ensure that a system is clean and safe. I'd call that the "right" way.

[Eddie7]

Tyler R., on 20 November 2012 - 18:23, said:

Can't see it. Upload it to neowin's servers. I'm a on a campus iMac that's buckled down to the core.

Uploaded to my image hosting site

[+Brando212]

McKay, on 20 November 2012 - 18:18, said:

Can you fix mine? It's been running a little slow.

Oh dear god, KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!

[Shane Nokes]

Astra.Xtreme, on 20 November 2012 - 18:21, said:

I disagree. I don't see any trouble with a simple backup and reinstall. The only hurdle is actually getting all the files backed up.
If you put the HDD in another PC, the backup will take no time at all. Much quicker than attempting a million types of scans and "fixes".

I'd rather wipe it clean and guarantee it will be fixed rather than mask the problem. It's extremely difficult to completely remedy an infected PC. Then when it starts getting slow or infected again, the person will be knocking on your door for "warranty" work.

Again, for a corporate machine I agree. Flatten and reinstall. There shouldn't be anything personal on there to being with.

For a home user there is no reason why this needs to be done. It's not extremely difficult to completely remedy an infected machine.

I also keep a log of all infections. If (and it's rare) I get someone in soon after a repair I show them the log of what was found on the machine, and what is now on the machine. I check the date on the infected files found for when they were first put on the machine and compare it to the date of service.

If the date is after the service I performed I fix the machine, and charge the customer again.

If you think cleaning an infected machine is extremely difficult, then another field would probably be best. I'm not saying that as an insult, but as a statement of fact.

Infected machines are one of the most common tasks for a repair shop...and if you haven't figured out how to fully clean a machine and have been doing the job for a while? It usually means it's not what you're meant to do.

[Tyler R.]

Eddie7, on 20 November 2012 - 18:27, said:

Uploaded to my image hosting site

Still can't. Go to "more Reply options" and upload it from there. Thanks eddie.

[Shane Nokes]

Wow...yeah another thread I'm going to have to back out of...

I can't believe there are this many folks on the site that don't know how to properly clean a machine...I'm absolutely shocked right now...several folks that I thought were highly knowledgable just surprising me with this...

I mean that's like telling me that's it's easier to just buy a new engine rather than repair the existing engine in my car.

I've grown up around family that are computer engineers that have worked for places like NASA, and mechanical engineers that work in the Aerospace industry...

To me what everyone here is saying is such a foreign concept...the idea that you can't take the time to do it right...just baffles me.

[+Brando212]

Shane Nokes, on 20 November 2012 - 18:27, said:

I also keep a log of all infections. If (and it's rare) I get someone in soon after a repair I show them the log of what was found on the machine, and what is now on the machine. I check the date on the infected files found for when they were first put on the machine and compare it to the date of service.

If the date is after the service I performed I fix the machine, and charge the customer again.

that's actually a really good idea

[+remixedcat]

Shane Nokes, on 20 November 2012 - 18:22, said:

Indeed. That's why I asked. I've been doing this for a long time...and if it's taking 10 hours...there is either something wrong with the hardware...or there's a lot of extra work being done that doesn't need to be done...or both.

it's bad when you have tricky clients.... that will not budge... that's why I gave up on support for regular people in my area... I've gotten treated pretty badly... this area I live in has some real *******s. I only will support corp. clients here that have to treat me nice.

[Shane Nokes]

Brando212, on 20 November 2012 - 18:30, said:

that's actually a really good idea

Indeed. I've only had to use it a few times, but I'm very thorough...hence why I just made my above post stating that I'm just aghast right now.

Maybe I'm just overly meticulous.

[xWhiplash]

Shane Nokes, on 20 November 2012 - 18:27, said:

Again, for a corporate machine I agree. Flatten and reinstall. There shouldn't be anything personal on there to being with.

For a home user there is no reason why this needs to be done. It's not extremely difficult to completely remedy an infected machine.

I also keep a log of all infections. If (and it's rare) I get someone in soon after a repair I show them the log of what was found on the machine, and what is now on the machine. I check the date on the infected files found for when they were first put on the machine and compare it to the date of service.

If the date is after the service I performed I fix the machine, and charge the customer again.

If you think cleaning an infected machine is extremely difficult, then another field would probably be best. I'm not saying that as an insult, but as a statement of fact.

Infected machines are one of the most common tasks for a repair shop...and if you haven't figured out how to fully clean a machine and have been doing the job for a while? It usually means it's not what you're meant to do.

You do realize that most work and businesses block the really bad stuff right? Home users seem to get way more nasty stuff than people at work do.

How is formatting not doing things right? Please explain that one to me. If it takes the same amount of time to do a reinstall as it does to clean the existing install, how is it "the wrong thing to do"? If a client does serious banking and taxes, a format would be much much safer and "the right thing". You can spend 10 days making sure the system is clean, but if for SOME reason you missed something and the client comes back because their credit card information was stolen (or something horrible happened), who will they yell at? Format...is a guarantee as long as their data is secure when you restore it.

[Spartan Erik]

To save time I find it to be much faster to boot with a Linux Live CD on the infected machine, transfer all the important personal data to an external drive, then wipe the infected drive and do a re-install. Of course this only works if the important data are pictures/music/docs and not programs, but generally I find most people still have their CD-based install media or the content can be downloaded online anyway.

Avoids the headache of having your anti-malware software hang because of all the junk running in the background, and potential data loss if you get a bug that likes to delete files on a whim.

[Shane Nokes]

remixedcat, on 20 November 2012 - 18:31, said:

it's bad when you have tricky clients.... that will not budge... that's why I gave up on support for regular people in my area... I've gotten treated pretty badly... this area I live in has some real *******s. I only will support corp. clients here that have to treat me nice.

Huh. I might have been lucky living here in Washington. I've had some difficult clients...but those folks I just tell them to take a hike. I do it politely, but I do it.

When I was running my business I could afford to do so since I had enough clients who trusted me and liked my work. Heck I was doing well enough that I was often bartering with some of my business clients for services instead of payment.

I didn't pay for doctor or chiropractic visits for years due to bartering my services at a rate of 1 visit per hour for the chiropractor, and just a simple exchange with the doc.


Getting way OT here though with this post.

[Tyler R.]

Shane Nokes, on 20 November 2012 - 18:36, said:

Huh. I might have been lucky living here in Washington. I've had some difficult clients...but those folks I just tell them to take a hike. I do it politely, but I do it.

When I was running my business I could afford to do so since I had enough clients who trusted me and liked my work. Heck I was doing well enough that I was often bartering with some of my business clients for services instead of payment.

I didn't pay for doctor or chiropractic visits for years due to bartering my services at a rate of 1 visit per hour for the chiropractor, and just a simple exchange with the doc.


Getting way OT here though with this post.

I'm probably going to try cleaning it (like my original plan), but if I can't get it to perform the way it should or it's taking too long, then I'm going with the fresh install.