When you repair your friend's or family's comps, what weapons are on your CD?

I'm called on frequently to repair friends/family's computers that
have either broken or, more often, been infected. I'm the comp guy at
work, not because I'm a comp genius, only because I know a bit more
than anyone else here. I find many of these problems are because the
initial free anti-virus program has expired (sometimes over a year
ago) and the comp is nastily infected to the point that I just try to
backup any important files, reload the OS and upgrade to newest level
I can. After that I usually install AVG free version with Spybot, MS
or some similar free anti-spyware progs and Belarc Advisor.

What are your favorite progs for getting things back to operational
status. I'd like to be more able to resurrect these infected beasts
rather than reinstall the whole OS, what utilities, software,
techniques do you guys use most often?

JohnF

 

install vnc on all the comptuers so you can repair them from a distance...
or destroy them at will.

 

If they are badly infected, sometimes the only and quickest option is to
reinstall the O/S. Anti virus, adware and spyware doesn't always find
everything. After deleting everything you can, sometimes running a repair
installation in XP helps but you should also reinstall all the patches.

Do you give them a nice new firewall like Zonealarm as well?

 

|>I'm called on frequently to repair friends/family's computers that
|>have either broken or, more often, been infected. I'm the comp guy at
|>work, not because I'm a comp genius, only because I know a bit more
|>than anyone else here. I find many of these problems are because the
|>initial free anti-virus program has expired (sometimes over a year
|>ago) and the comp is nastily infected to the point that I just try to
|>backup any important files, reload the OS and upgrade to newest level
|>I can. After that I usually install AVG free version with Spybot, MS
|>or some similar free anti-spyware progs and Belarc Advisor.
|>
|>What are your favorite progs for getting things back to operational
|>status. I'd like to be more able to resurrect these infected beasts
|>rather than reinstall the whole OS, what utilities, software,
|>techniques do you guys use most often?

Process Explorer
http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html
or many other utilities that site has to offer; Being self contain'd
you can carry all the programs with you (USB thumb drive).

As for CD's, others have already put great utility disk together.

Hiren's BootCD
http://www.9down.com/story.php?sid=2979

Ultimate CD
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

Or build your own
http://www.bootcd.us/Build_CECD.php

 

Now one nice thing is a knoppix or even knoppicillin (linux with internet-
or stick-updateable virus scanners which can delete/truncate infected files
even on ntfs drives), together with a winPE ("live windows cd") with a lot
of nice tools like regmon, filemon, partition managers and more.
Together with a usb harddrive for temporary backups, of course, because
most of the times it's faster to backup, wipe, reinstall, get virusscanner,
update virusscanner, play back backup, then to get rid of all viruses,
rootkits and spyware reliably.
As a bonus a linux cd (live or install with partition resize) to give them a
2nd immune OS when windows once more will end up trashed.
Oh God, it's really hard to convince them to actually *buy* a good scanner
like kaspersky.

 

John

Over the last 5 years of doing the same type of 'cleanup' service I've
found the following:

Best software/utilities:
AVG, Stinger: antivirus / scan tools
Startup Control Panel applet : for managing startup entries.
Hijackthis: for deeper startup entries (geek warning though, can be
dangerous)
Ad-Aware, Spybot Search & Destroy, SpyWareBlaster, MS AntiSpyware Beta,
SpySweeper: Anti Spyware.
Bootable OS: Any of the bootable Linux distro's (Ubuntu, Knoppix....) or
Bart's PE.
Bootable Diagnostic's: Ultimate Boot CD.

Best practice:
Put up to an hour into the job, if not fixed don't continue.
Backup their data if possible.
Zero the disk (UBCD)
Reinstall OS, Drivers, AV/AS utilities, Windows updates, other software, in
that order.

Best advice:
Charge them for it, that way they learn to be more carefull.
After all most people know you don't run a car with flat tyres or no oil in
the motor.

Cheers
Paul.

 

In PC spewed forth:

Not my ex-wife. After she left, she burned out BOTH of our cars by not
checking the oil.

 

OoooKay!
So in fact they were her cars by then as her half of the separation?
P.

 

In PC spewed forth:

Actually, no. They were in fact mine, loaned to her because she hadn't the
ability to get her act together <g>

But they were cheap - an old VW Rabbit and and even older AMC Gremlin

 

I always have a knoppix cd/DvD as part of a "toolkit", very handy!

Good grief, have they got to do all that?

And it very likely will be, at some point.

From a friend who is a windows sysadmin, I understand that is a /very/
good AV.

 

In Top spewed forth:

Karma, man, karma! <g>