I have never seen a more infected computer in my life

[f0rk_b0mb]

Ah. I hadn't realized she was 13. Not say that being a girl makes a difference (it doesn't), but at 13 oftentimes you haven't had the time to figure out how to work on these things as effectively.

That's just a matter of practice. :)

Yeah her dad said she was into facebook, downloading music from shady sources (some of the sites he listed I never heard of and I'm not about to go on them) , sharing things with her friends and she's probably getting curious around this time. All of these things throw a huge red flag in my head and are a recipe for infection. I'm actually surprised she doesn't have anything worse.

[remixedcat]

10 hours? What in the world are you doing with these systems?

I recently had a system that I worked on for a client. It had 6 drives with a total of around 4TB worth of storage that was mostly used. Someone had been doing some naughty things on that system.

It had a rootkit, and several other infections. I had the system clean and back in the clients hands within 3 hours...

What would you be doing that takes 10 hours? I've never had a single system clean take me more than about 4 hours...the one above was one of the longest clean jobs I've ever had.

several things....

[McKay]

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

[Astra.Xtreme]

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 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.

[Shane Nokes]

several things....

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.

[f0rk_b0mb]

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. :(

[Shane Nokes]

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

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

[spacer]

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.

[Royalty]

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

[Brandon H Supervisor]

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

Oh dear god, KILL IT WITH FIRE!!! :laugh: :laugh:

[Shane Nokes]

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.

[f0rk_b0mb]

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.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[f0rk_b0mb]

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.

[Shane Nokes]

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.

Ok I'll break it down in bullet points...but don't get mad at me for doing so...most people go off on me for being a jerk when I do this

1. Yes, and most of my clients were home or home office folks. I know what my job was and what work I did...

2. Formatting is one way of doing it...but it's destructive in its very nature. The best route is to not destroy data when it can be prevented.

3. It doesn't take the same amount of time. To do a full back up of their system, zeroing the drive (things can survive a standard format), reinstalling the OS, reinstalling all their programs, restoring their outlook files (yes sometimes home users have this), putting all their savegames back, making sure customizations are back in place, etc. all usually takes longer than just doing the proper offline scan & clean.

4. If you're doing your job correctly you're not going to miss something. That's my point. If you're so worried that you're going to miss something, then you're not as confident in your abilities as you should be.

So to break it down into a TL;DR...if you're doing it right it doesn't take hours and hours, and is usually faster than having to put their system back exactly as it was.

I knew I shoud have left the thread earlier like I said...all I'm doing is repeating myself...which I think some folks are getting a kick out of...

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.

If you need any help let me know. I'm usually around and can try to answer quickly. :)

[f0rk_b0mb]

If you need any help let me know. I'm usually around and can try to answer quickly. :)

Thanks. I'll probably take some pics and screenshots and throw them here just for kicks and giggles.

[xWhiplash]

Ok I'll break it down in bullet points...but don't get mad at me for doing so...most people go off on me for being a jerk when I do this

1. Yes, and most of my clients were home or home office folks. I know what my job was and what work I did...

2. Formatting is one way of doing it...but it's destructive in its very nature. The best route is to not destroy data when it can be prevented.

3. It doesn't take the same amount of time. To do a full back up of their system, zeroing the drive (things can survive a standard format), reinstalling the OS, reinstalling all their programs, restoring their outlook files (yes sometimes home users have this), putting all their savegames back, making sure customizations are back in place, etc. all usually takes longer than just doing the proper offline scan & clean.

4. If you're doing your job correctly you're not going to miss something. That's my point. If you're so worried that you're going to miss something, then you're not as confident in your abilities as you should be.

So to break it down into a TL;DR...if you're doing it right it doesn't take hours and hours, and is usually faster than having to put their system back exactly as it was.

I knew I shoud have left the thread earlier like I said...all I'm doing is repeating myself...which I think some folks are getting a kick out of...

If you need any help let me know. I'm usually around and can try to answer quickly. :)

I really do not understand why you think formatting means we cannot do our jobs. Again, if somebody does serious banking, buys A LOT of stuff online, does their taxes. A format, as you said, is destructive. So it is better since it is more secure....

[Astra.Xtreme]

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.

Settle down... There's no reason to flip out just because people don't agree with you.

Perhaps for starters, you have to understand the context of the OP's situation. He's saying this is a severely infected machine, so that probably means it's not going to be an easy fix via a virus scan or combo fix. If the infection regenerates, then you'll just be wasting your time trying to get rid of every trace of it.

I still stand by my belief that a backup and reinstall is much quicker. I do it all the time for my client, and it makes both of us feel better knowing that it's a clean slate. Backing up files takes a few minutes to an hour or two, unless they have multiple GBs in media. Then reinstalling Windows takes maybe 30 min via USB. Copy back the files, and you're done in a couple hours and will have full performance and no band-aids.

I'm not saying you're lying, but if it only takes you 3 hours tops to fix any sort of infected machine, then you must not have seen anything severe. Running a full virus scan alone takes an hour or more depending on how fast the PC is. Then anything additional just tacks on more time. Getting rid of the infection is one thing, but restoring the destruction it's done is a completely different beast. The biggest problem I see on PCs is that it's either not fully updated or there's too much crapware installed. A fresh install solves every single one of these problems in minimal time. But again, look at the context of this thread. If the PC is not clearly crippled, then yeah a reinstall probably isn't the best answer.

[Shane Nokes]

/Facepalm...

LIke I said...we're going in circles. You want to spend your time not learning how to properly clean an infection...cool.

Make sure the next time you hear a knock in your engine, just drop the whole thing out and replace it then...after all...proper diagnosis and repair is worthless.