Mal-ware vs. techs

[TwistedAdmin]

Just out of curiousity, from those of you who work in field-tech or shop environments (where hourly labor-charges apply), in your experience how many PCs have been saved from mal-ware (spyware/adware) vs. how many PCs have had to have been wiped clean and restored.


Regards,
TwistedAdmin

[ A+ Certified ]

"Old men are always young enough to learn."

~ Aeschylus

 

[erikhertzel]

In my experience, very few, maybe a couple out of a ton of machines.

Sometimes it may be cost effective and time efficient to just go ahead and wipe the system rather than fight a major problem. It just depends on the situation. Most of the time, I will always try to keep the system in tact without formatting, unless the customer wants otherwise (sometimes they do).

Just my two cents.

Erik

 

[Dollie]

I repair computers in my spare time, and only repair 15-20 computers a month. Out of the 10 I've done this month, only 1 had to be completely wiped clean and get a new install of Windows. Between Spybot, HJT, AdAware and some common sense (learned here), I've been able to completely repair their Windows installation and get them back up and running. My repair service usually comes with some very strong suggestions that they use the antivir and firewall software I've installed for them.

 

[iamnotageek]

I work in a PC repair shop in a small town (10,000) and clean at least 6 machines a week. I've been cleaning scumware off of them for the past 2 years or so and have never had to wipe a system to get rid of it.

Some of the variants are very persistant (e.g. VX2) but I've never had a situation where it took more than a couple hours. Typically it takes about an hour max for Win9x/Me (I can usually do it in 45 minutes) and 1-1/2 hr max for XP, mainly because you have to go in an clean our the crap from each user's Docs&Settings subfolders.

I do the initial cleanup manually and then followup with a scanner. We sell Spysweeper, and if they are buying it, I use that. If not, I use Spybot Search & Destroy.

I haven't polled customers on how they feel about how long it takes (they do get pretty cheesed when they get reinfected) but since wiping the drive and starting over requires reinstalling everything, they are getting off cheaper if I just clean the machine.

 

[jrbarnett]

o it when it needs to be done, whether its through work or personal contacts. On average its about 1 every 3 weeks or so at the moment.

I've never had to wipe a PC clean and start again purely for cleaning viruses, spyware or malware, but I did once where the Windows installation was a mess because the person wanted it done anyway.
Generally, I do have a problem in persuading such people that keeping antivirus/antispyware and Windows security updates current is necessary, especially if they spend lots of time on the internet.
At the moment, my biggest problem is persuading my flatmate to let me install XP SP2 on his machine and all current updates (currently not yet at SP1). He's lax about keeping his ad-aware and Norton AV up to date. I've helped a bit by putting SpywareBlaster on, but its still not a perfect solution. Normally it only gets updated if I do it.

John

 

[darnell1]

Hey Dollie,

You said you do this in your spare time. How much do you charge and where approx do you live? I have been helping friends but have not charged anything as of yet. I really need to start charging them something but don't know how much to charge. I live in the midwest

Thanks

 

[Dollie]

Hiya darnell1,

Making the decision to start charging came from a friend's insistence that the hours spent fixing her machine should be compensated. I agreed, and when that next big "uh-oh look what I did" computer came in, it turns out I had no problems with billing or receiving payment.

I live in the mid-section of the east coast, and I took my regular pay, added $10 and rounded it off to the nearest dollar amount. It's a reasonable amount that everyone's been more than willing to pay, especially when it usually takes me less than an hour to fix it. I also bill a minimum of 1 hour, regardless of whether it only took me 15 minutes or 59 minutes to complete. It's comparable to most repair shops, if not quite a bit less.

 

[Spirit]

In my work environment I just re-image the PC which takes about 10-15 minutes.

But for home (for home read friends', friends of friends!) the day I have to wipe a PC is the day I am beaten and I am far far far too stuborn to give in! Even if it takes me literally days to get it cleaned...... all for a pint down the pub! Should have stuck to my paper round


Iain

 

[aquias]

Beer for work, that's what I charge my friends for payment. The worse the problem, the more they owe me in alochol (or food, depending on if they can cook or not).

Wiping a machine, in most instances, shouldn't be necessary. I have, however, done so. This wasn't in reference to the spyware not being able to be removed, it was after all the malware had been removed. The connection to anything online was fine, but the system registry was so beat up and there were a lot of orphaned files (kept finding them as I did my last sweep) it seemed more prudent to do a complete system wipe. As a side note, she was infected with upwards of 18,000 reported entries of various spyware.

 

[Dollie]

Goodness, if I charged in alcohol I wouldn't be able to keep my day job! I've turned into a social drinker in the last few years and I have no social life, so.....

The extra $ I make gives me (at the least) one really nice weekend vacation every year.

 

[aquias]

Weeelllllllllll, in my "younger" days I did my fair share of partying, so my "fix'em up drink'em down" makes up most of my drinking...

The extra cash would be nice, but I'd rather work to do things I enjoy (spending a night in a bar with a group of friends and getting slapped by woman is more fun!) than make some more cash. Currently, I work in a nursing home and have seen just how rough the "You can't take it with you when you're gone" syndrom is...and they don't even wait till you've passed to begin pillaging everything you own.