lol @ tech support at my uni.

Tute · 13 Feb 2008 at 18:32

stoofa said:
Nine times out of ten a wipe and reinstall is what we would do for a virus infected machine.
With this option you know that the whole process is going to take 1-2hrs at the most and the end result is a clean machine that is working.

Once you start getting involved with the cleaning process you can easily spend 1-2hrs trying various things, running full virus scans etc and at the end of those 1-2hrs still not actually have a clean, working machine.

Of course we wouldn't allow our machines to become infected with a virus in the first place - but if it happened that is the option we would take.
Sounds like the technical support people at your Uni are in fact extremely on the ball and are answering questions based on real world experience - starting a process with a guaranteed result in an amount of time (wipe & reinstall) is a better option than an unknown result in an unknown amount of time (attempting a clean-up operation).

Spot on.

jonshaw_uk said:
i try not to offer advice to users with personal pc probs as it usually ends up with them doing something wrong and saying i told them to do it

This post is also true.

Kristoph · 13 Feb 2008 at 18:48

So you'd say formatting would be quicker? Wouldn't making backups take longer, and the individual may end up copying the problem across?

Would it not be worth suggesting some sort of software solution, if it is just the browser hijacker thats the problem - why bother with formatting when you may be able to remove it using AdAware or Spybot?

I know I don't know it all, but for someone who needs to take their laptop to a helpdesk - wouldn't it be an easier task for them to just download a program and do a scan? What if they don't have all of the utilities, software, etc on CD?

Kristoph · 13 Feb 2008 at 18:49

badbob said:
What's funny is you're laughing because you know it all, yet you're in the wrong. If a machine is infected it's easier and quicker just to wipe it.

The jokes on you.

The fact is, it *might* not be quicker. How long does it take to download 2 programs and scan your system? 25mins max?

How long would it take for an individual to backup a 120GB hdd of music, films, coursework, software? What if they didn't have the CD's for their software?

My point was, he was suggesting wiping it before even considering a software approach.

badbob · 13 Feb 2008 at 18:51

why bother with formatting when you may be able to remove it using AdAware or Spybot

And it may not, could be infected with several virsues and trojans. You could spend a few hours cleaning it up, and still not be 100% sure it's free. But if you backup onto another drive, disconnect that drive, then do a fresh install with AV installed you know 100% it's virus free. THEN you can go through your files, running through scans before copying them back.

badbob · 13 Feb 2008 at 18:54

How long would it take for an individual to backup a 120GB hdd of music, films, coursework, software? What if they didn't have the CD's for their software?

It's there own fault if they don't have backups, you should be able to whack your HD with a hammer and lose no data at all.

Only a idiot goes to uni and has his years of work on the computer with no backup.

My point was, he was suggesting wiping it before even considering a software approach.

I'd have done the same. In fact on a corporate network the IT staff wouldn't touch the local HD as the user isn't supposed to save there, should save on the network drives. So wiping the "terminal" PC doesn't lose any work.

Employees got in serious trouble if files were stored on the local HD (I had to report to security if staff did this)

Richdog · 13 Feb 2008 at 18:59

On a personal PC/laptop I can remove 99.9% of spyware such as browser hijackers in 5 mins using Hijackthis. Lets face it guys a browser hijacker is not a major problem, and in general isn't a lengthy fix. I'd always at least have a quick, cursory look manually before suggesting the wipe.

Duke · 13 Feb 2008 at 19:01

Nickg said:
EWRR no because when he copies his files back onto the laptop he could have the same problem!!!

Jokes eh

I've never had that problem before (i.e. the virus/spyware has been attached to system files & processes, rather than documents etc).

Kristoph · 13 Feb 2008 at 19:03

So 90% of the people here would wipe their pc or laptop if they as much as noticed a virus / browser hijacker WITHOUT attempting to use a software approach? That suprises me a bit.

greeny_fastcar · 13 Feb 2008 at 19:13

Any laptop/workstation at my college gets wiped if anything is wrong with it. Users should not save anything locally they should save everthing the network and in a University environment then I would think thats the policy they go off.

And copying over backup files are going to re-infect a laptop? :rolleyes:

Usually people get viruses when they download dodgy applications and run them. :rolleyes:

barnettgs said:
So, all of this can be done with an drive imaging software like Norton Ghost?

I use Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.0 (well thats the name of it last time I checked they keep changing the name of the damn thing!)

Duke · 13 Feb 2008 at 19:19

mp3kla said:
So 90% of the people here would wipe their pc or laptop if they as much as noticed a virus / browser hijacker WITHOUT attempting to use a software approach? That suprises me a bit.

Depends on how bad it was. I would always scan a system with a decent AV like NOD32 first, but if anything existed after, I would generally reload the system. I know others who have spent hour and hour scanning and fiddling with a system and still can't shift some spyware/virus, when a reload would take 1-2hours at most.

Sm1ffy · 13 Feb 2008 at 19:42

Id also go with the format, anyone with 1/2 a brain will have backups of all their documents. Acronis ***

40 mins to restor a 60Gb vista image including most of the games I play preinstalled

barnettgs · 13 Feb 2008 at 19:49

Sm1ffy said:
Id also go with the format, anyone with 1/2 a brain will have backups of all their documents. Acronis *** 40 mins to restor a 60Gb vista image including most of the games I play preinstalled

40 mins? Thats impressive considering the amount of time it takes AV and AS scanners combined to scan 60 GB of data.

InvaderGIR · 13 Feb 2008 at 20:08

Bournemouth Uni 'IT services' are a joke. I know the guys that maintain all the Unix systems and they know what they are on about, and thanks to knowing them, know some scary stuff about the uni network. It is quite amusing having conversations with the real tech guys.

As for the laptop, that can often be an easy option, although the student is likely to also backup the virus, and not install antivirus once the system is reinstalled, so will still be screwed.

InvG

spicypixel · 14 Feb 2008 at 13:31

On the upside, the format would probably speed up the machine somewhat as its bogged down with crap, which makes the student happier.

neil_g · 14 Feb 2008 at 13:43

id format it too.

reinstalling from an image could take an hour or so. doing a full system scan and then trying to remove the problem from that could take double that if not more.

Richdog · 14 Feb 2008 at 14:47

It was a browser hijacker not a doomsday virus... they don't take 2 hours to remove if you know what you're doing. More like 10 mins.

Browser. Hijacker.

neil_g · 14 Feb 2008 at 14:48

Richdog said:
It was a browser hijacker not a doomsday virus... they don't take 2 hours to remove if you know what you're doing. More like 10 mins.

Browser. Hijacker.

without doing a full scan theres no way of know what files its dumped on there. especially those buggers with the random file names.

badbob · 14 Feb 2008 at 14:52

Richdog said:
It was a browser hijacker not a doomsday virus... they don't take 2 hours to remove if you know what you're doing. More like 10 mins.

Browser. Hijacker.

My laptop was infected once, it put more than one trojan on it, and every time I attempted a clean it re-installed. Must have spent a couple hours trying to clean it up, and I still wasen't sure 100% free, perhaps another undetected virus/trojan hidden away.

Just rebooted and did a fresh format.

Energize · 14 Feb 2008 at 15:37

barnettgs said:
40 mins? Thats impressive considering the amount of time it takes AV and AS scanners combined to scan 60 GB of data.

Just copying files to the hdd using a ghost program is much faster than scanning 60gb of files.

Richdog · 14 Feb 2008 at 15:47

badbob said:
My laptop was infected once, it put more than one trojan on it, and every time I attempted a clean it re-installed. Must have spent a couple hours trying to clean it up, and I still wasen't sure 100% free, perhaps another undetected virus/trojan hidden away.

Just rebooted and did a fresh format.

Did you use hijackthis? Disable system restore? Empty temp files? Delete files from safe mode?