The Question:
Why can't you get rid of a virus with your virus scanner? It is easy, I just clicked on delete and the file went away. Are you fear-mongering?
My Thoughts:
For easy viruses that your scanner caught, great, delete the file and restore from backup. If the computer is acting infected despite having a virus scanner, deleting the one file won't help you now. I respectfully disagree that getting rid of the nastier viruses has a simple solution. My writing was both responsive and hopefully, preventative. Sometimes people need a little bit of fear to get off their duffs and back up their data, spend the molah on a computer virus scanner (use recommendations here and from reputable computer support sites such as ZDNet and CNet, Tom's hardware, and a few thousand others, and if it is too good to be true, it probably is).
If it is a simple virus, sure, absolutely, a scanner can remove it. A good scanner would have prevented the infestation in the first place in most cases.
But. . . If there was an updated scanner installed and active and the system still got infected, it's most likely one of those viruses that has mutated (with the help of hackers of course) and now the end-user is going to spend a lot of time fighting it.
Have no virus scanner installed, and the viruses circulating now typically invite friends in, and those programs cause more damage and download even more friends and the cycle continues.
I'm not intending to insult anyone's intelligence here, as folks do not pay attention to things they don't think affect them, like computer viruses. This is normal. I dealt with another business owner today who had overheard portions of my dealing with the previous business. "Backup hard drive, virus scanner, what's that?"
One fellow, as his day job, wrote software. He had no clue or desire to know the details of keeping his home computer safe from his kid's exploration of the internet. He only wanted it to work. This too is normal and nothing to be ashamed of.
For the three folks I mentioned, I could not do their job nor would I want to. They can have it!I refuse to spend 3-6 days fighting with the machine to give up some data. But, I can get folks on the right track (backup data, scan, and block), and give them options for what could happen.
Option one is to spend 3-4 days fighting the software (or pay someone to do this), get the infestation cleaned, and end up with a compromised system that runs slow and things just didn't work quite right. A virus that has attacked the virus scanner, ad scanner, and so on, you could be pulling your hair out for days on end trying to get the thing fixed. Option one is where one gets to learn more about their computer than they ever wanted...
Option two is to reformat the hard disk, even cleaning out master boot record devices, or, if you don't feel like dealing with it, remove the hard drive and pop a new one in. Reinstall the operating system and, even with the hold times for MS and Adobe software activation, be up and running with a system in under four-five hours. And somehow, the system runs faster without the bloat of a year or two of a Windows Registry with lots of software installed and uninstalled, and for those that like the bittorret sites, a whole bunch of unneeded clutter missing. Add back the needed files and, in a considerably less amount of time than option one, be up and running.
Option three I didn't mention because those that know what they're doing already do it and those that don't aren't ready to try it. This option is where someone has a hard drive sitting in the wings ready to go, a Ghost image of the original drive.
Most of the folks I have dealt with in the last 22 years of computer support would rather be using the computer than fighting with it. That includes me now. If there are no backups and one wants their data saved, option one is one's only choice. If there are data backups, one can choose option one or two.
How valuable is your data? How valuable is your time?
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