Comments on: Fixing Laptops

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 09 May 2011 20:21:24 +0000

McAfee has a great tool called “stinger”, a stand alone scanner. There are two versions, one that is directed at the “fake alert” trojan which is common right now. I run that with malwarebytes, trojan remover (simplysup.org 30 day free trial after which I just remove it) and Avira (free-av.com).

That’s typically all I ever need to remove infections these days.

By: Pat Loisel

Pat Loisel — Mon, 09 May 2011 12:38:24 +0000

Mom was happy to leave Vista behind! And since I’m retired almost no files on my computer are very important. My pictures are another story, so I keep them in several places to begin with. And I’m extremely lucky to have a smart son who takes pity on me!!

By: Eduard

Eduard — Sun, 08 May 2011 08:22:51 +0000

So far the only way I know not to get viruses is called UNIX. It can be Linux, or Unix as such, or Mac OSx, or BSD, or… virtually any variant of UNIX. Anything else is a waste of time: Windows equals viruses. Short and simple.

By: ComputerNerdie

ComputerNerdie — Sun, 08 May 2011 02:03:08 +0000

I have a great policy when it comes to PC’s that are infected. BEFORE I ever touch a machine, it gets a windows image updated to image file on my storage closet. So if I ever have to restore such a machine to a previous state, at least the operating system is the LAST place I need to start rebuilding from scratch..

Now I noticed That Windows Vista and 7 both have DVD options to write the OS to DVD? That might be another option than having to do a total wipe. If you have it on DVD, you just tell them to use that to write out the DVDs before they get into trouble and if they ever run into a problem to have offsite backup of their personal data. (of course at a very MINIMUM these with heavy key encryption.)

By: Steelrat405

Steelrat405 — Sat, 07 May 2011 20:05:00 +0000

So I have this laptop and it’s slow and now I get a bsod oh by the way every picture I own is on it ……one last thing I leave town tomorrow at 4:30 tomorrow so when can I drop it off and how long will this take : ) ……..jk but heather actually broke people for me she tells them he will be happy to look at it but it will be a month by the time he looks at it and gets it back to you

By: AArdvark

AArdvark — Sat, 07 May 2011 16:35:35 +0000

My solution is to offer a total flush ultimatum. Want files and photos? Take it to a store. Want a total wipe? Fine, drop it off at your leisure. So done fighting malware. Just not doing it any more. Oh, and my spare monitor died so you need to bring yours…..

THE
COMPUTER
HEALTH CARE REFORMED
AARDVARK

By: Earl Green

Earl Green — Sat, 07 May 2011 15:26:41 +0000

Sounds like… well… every computer where I work right now. It’s like somebody’s idea of data security was to borrow a copy of Edgarware from Strongbad.

By: Zeno

Zeno — Sat, 07 May 2011 15:18:12 +0000

I know I’m not telling you anything that you don’t already know, but trying to remove malware from a laptop is like trying to do surgery on a patient who hasn’t been anesthetized. The best thing to do is to remove the hard drive and slave it into a clean machine to run anti-malware and anti-virus tools. Granted this isn’t always an easy option, depending on the type of HDD the laptop uses, but it’s usually effective enough without requiring a rebuild.

On the other hand, the choice to get your mom off Vista and onto Win 7 was a no-brainer.