Andre, if I were working in the environment your nephew is working in, I'd do it that way as well. But u & I both know that most residential & soho customers do not walk around w/recent images of their OS or even backups of their data on a thumb or even an external drive. & it's not possible for us to have clean installation discs of all windows versions, never mind trying to use Magic Jellybean or some such to retrieve the key, cuz half the folks lost their restore discs. & then there's data to back up, etc. Then there's always the rare but interesting forensics issues of some1 trying to sabotage a company & has a virus set to reformat the particular hard drive to try to destroy evidence or bring down a network when certain actions are performed. The best thing to do in cases like this is just to dismount the drive. The way u suggest is easiest but not always practical.
On 12/27/10, Betsy Whitney, Dolphin Press <braill...@hawaii.rr.com> wrote: > Hi Andre, > I suspect that Jackie may work for multiple clients who have their > individual networks and configurations. My brother-in-law does the > same kind of work that I think Jackie does, and he also cleans up > these things the way she does. He says it is because each of the > networks is different and he finds it faster. He also said that > everyone has their preferred way of doing things, and if he were > working on his own network, he might very well do it your way if he > didn't have an alternative. > > Recently Andre Williams wrote: >>Interesting. My nephew works for our city's power company and he says they >>don't bother with any of those procedures as they take too long. He says >> his >>tools consist of a bag full of operating system images and a thumb drive >>with hundreds of serial keys including a password override for terminated >>employees that "can't" remember their passwords. He said he carries a very >>durable but very slow 10-hour battery life laptop when he's out on the >>streets, but when it comes to monitoring computers at work he uses a laptop >>that breaks into 2 parts and becomes a type of mobile unit. >>Andre >> >>----- Original Message ----- >>From: "Jackie McBride" <able...@gmail.com> >>To: <blind-computing@jaws-users.com> >>Sent: Monday, December 27, 2010 7:02 PM >>Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] removing a virus >> >> >>Andre, I *routinely* fix these problems because that is what I do for >>a living. As I said, I don't connect my computer that I use to repair >>others' machines to a network & therefore the integrity of that >>network is not in question. I'm trained both in computer forensics as >>well as in malware removal. While I agree that there are times when >>reformatting the operating system is necessary, it often is not. It >>depends on the type of malware infection, how good the tools one has >>for doing such removal, the operator's proficiency w/those tools, & a >>variety of other factors. >> >>On 12/27/10, Andre Williams <andre.williams.1...@gmail.com> wrote: >> > While it might appear all is fine it might not be. You are the best >> > judge >> > of >> > the integrity of your network. I would be concerned about "routinely" >> > having >> > to fix these problems. I'll act on the advice of security experts and do >> > my >> > best to insure any virus whether seemingly harmless to very destructive >> > is >> > not an unknown factor in any of the often strange quirks in Windows >> > world. >> > After an infection a reformat or image recovery gives me this peace of >> > mind. >> > Andre >> > ----- Original Message ----- >> > From: "Jackie McBride" <able...@gmail.com> >> > To: <blind-computing@jaws-users.com> >> > Sent: Monday, December 27, 2010 6:16 PM >> > Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] removing a virus >> > >> > >> > I routinely fix these sorts of problems by taking the drive out of the >> > computer, hooking it up to an external device, & then putting it on >> > another computer & running malware scans. I very very seldom have to >> > reformat an OS. >> > >> > Sometimes I do it in Linux, sometimes in Windows. Generally I >> > disconnect the machine from the network. It's also a "fix it" drive >> > w/nothing important in the event it becomes infected, but I've never >> > had that happen, either. >> > >> > On 12/27/10, Andre Williams <andre.williams.1...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Yep, I'm right there with you 100%! >> >> Andre >> >> ----- Original Message ----- >> >> From: "Don Marang" <donald.mar...@gmail.com> >> >> To: <blind-computing@jaws-users.com> >> >> Sent: Monday, December 27, 2010 4:28 PM >> >> Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] removing a virus >> >> >> >> >> >> I agree with Andre completely! Reformatting the hard disk and >> >> reinstalling >> >> the Operating System or recovering from a known good disk image is the >> >> only >> >> way to be sure the malware is removed. Anything short of that will >> >> likely >> >> have a small remnant left over that will infect the whole computer >> >> again >> >> or >> >> will damage necessary system files in the process. >> >> >> >> Most likely, your computer will run faster anyway, since Windows really >> >> needs to be reinstalled about once a year just to clean out the clutter >> >> and >> >> the registry. >> >> >> >> Don Marang >> >> >> >> There is just so much stuff in the world that, to me, is devoid of any >> >> real >> >> substance, value, and content that I just try to make sure that I am >> >> working >> >> on things that matter. >> >> Dean Kamen >> >> >> >> >> >> -------------------------------------------------- >> >> From: "Andre Williams" <andre.williams.1...@gmail.com> >> >> Sent: Monday, December 27, 2010 6:34 PM >> >> To: <blind-computing@jaws-users.com> >> >> Subject: Re: [Blind-Computing] removing a virus >> >> >> >>> Tell him to reformat and reinstall the operating system. With viruses >> >>> now >> >>> a >> >>> days you can never be sure if they're cleaned off completely In the >> >>> hours >> >>> and possibly days he's going to spend trying to figure this out and >> >>> trying >> >>> to clean his computer he can save himself the time and trouble and >> >>> reformat >> >>> and reload windows in about 2 hours. This happened to me sometime back >> >>> and >> >>> from the time I realized I had a virus placing 300 items on my system >> >>> tray >> >>> until the time I reinstalled and image of my hard drive it must have >> >>> been >> >>> an >> >>> hour. Image for Windows to the rescue! He also poses a danger to other >> >>> computers on the network at his job. >> >>> Andre >> >>> ----- Original Message ----- >> >>> From: "Lenny McHugh" <lmch...@verizon.net> >> >>> To: "blind computing" <blind-computing@jaws-users.com> >> >>> Sent: Monday, December 27, 2010 3:23 PM >> >>> Subject: [Blind-Computing] removing a virus >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> I am trying to help a friend remove a virus from his work computer. >> >>> Avg >> >>> did >> >>> identify it and reported that it could not be removed because it was >> >>> in >> >>> memory. He did not write the name down but it is in win32. The >> >>> computer >> >>> can >> >>> only be started in safe mode and if he lets it run it gives a message >> >>> that >> >>> chkdsk should be run with the f switch. That also will not run when >> >>> the >> >>> machine is restarted. He turn system restore off and ran avg and it >> >>> did >> >>> not >> >>> help. >> >>> He is using xp professional. He also ran kapersky and it did not help. >> >>> Any >> >>> quick suggestions? >> >>> Thanks >> >>> --- >> >>> Please visit my home page, it is motivational, educational, >> >>> inspirational >> >>> with a touch of humor. There is also a very extensive resource list >> >>> for >> >>> the >> >>> blind. >> >>> http://www.LennyMcHugh.com >> >>> For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >> >>> http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >> >>> http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ >> >>> >> >> >> >> For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >> >> http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ >> >> >> >> >> >> For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >> >> http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ >> >> >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Change the world--1 deed at a time >> > Jackie McBride >> > Scripting Classes: http://jawsscripting.lonsdalemedia.org >> > homePage: www.abletec.serverheaven.net >> > For technophobes: www.technophoeb.com >> > >> > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >> > http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ >> > >> > >> > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >> > http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ >> > >> >> >>-- >>Change the world--1 deed at a time >>Jackie McBride >>Scripting Classes: http://jawsscripting.lonsdalemedia.org >>homePage: www.abletec.serverheaven.net >>For technophobes: www.technophoeb.com >> >>For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >>http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ >> >> >>For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >>http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ > > > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: > http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ > -- Change the world--1 deed at a time Jackie McBride Scripting Classes: http://jawsscripting.lonsdalemedia.org homePage: www.abletec.serverheaven.net For technophobes: www.technophoeb.com For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
