Anti-Virus Programs Only Do Half the Job

AntiVirus, Automated PC Repair No Responses »
Aug 182010

Once your computer has been infected with a virus, it’s no longer your computer. After removing it with your trusty anti-virus software, you’re often left with lingering side-effects. The symptoms vary, but the bottom line is the same: Your computer doesn’t work the way it used to.  Your favorite programs crash frequently, your registry entries are a mess and even your “Cute Kittens of the Month” desktop wallpaper is mysteriously missing.

Why did this happen? You’ve already removed the virus. Shouldn’t the havoc it caused go away, along with it? What about the damage caused to your system? Isn’t it simply erased, along with the malware that caused it?

Technically, your computer might no longer be infected, but that doesn’t mean it’s error-free.

“…Simply removing a virus can actually harm your system.”

A Closer Look into Virus Removal

Anti-virus programs can only try to heal, quarantine or delete infected files. Anti-virus programs face a dilemma when dealing with a virus that infects your system files. Where normally they might delete or quarantine the infected file, since it’s a system file removing it might have adverse side effects on your operating system. Yet, sometimes that’s exactly what they do: delete or quarantine infected system files. This can result in your system becoming unstable! Yes, simply removing a virus can actually harm your system.

So what can you do? You’ll need to repair and replace those missing and damaged Windows files.

How to Repair Virus Damage

A clean reinstallation of Windows is often the recommended solution when your computer doesn’t work properly anymore. However, a proper reinstallation of your entire ‘however many gigabytes’ operating system is a time-consuming task that involves lengthy back-ups, long installations, and days to find and install all your favorite applications again.

So what’s the alternative to this long, unnecessary process?  You’re probably thinking about calling a tech-savvy friend or shelling out the big bucks for a professional. But what if your friend is busy and you’re too broke to pay for a technician? Or really need your computer fixed NOW, not in the weeks it’ll likely take them?

Is there a program that can do all this stuff for you, automatically? And what if this happens again?

You definitely need a program that’ll perform a fresh revival of your operating system for you, whenever you need or want it. A software that can automatically repair and reinstall your Windows operating system, without any loss of data or applications; your settings stay the same and automatic passwords still work.

A DIY back-up and reinstallation of your operating system can take at least 5 hours to a full day(!), so you should look for an automatic tool that’s very easy and very fast.

End result –A PC that is quickly revived, error-free and stable, safely and securely.


Posted by Dan Zimel at 3:34 pm Tagged with: , , , ,

Early Detection Can Prevent Major PC Damage

Automated PC Repair, PC Repair Experiences No Responses »
Jun 272010

Just like in the medical profession, all PC problems that are detected early will be sure to save time, money and major frustration issues.

Viruses and Early Detection

The first viruses were written for nothing more than pranks. Today, viruses are meant to cause major damage to the Operating System, your personal data, and to even steal your identity.  This makes it imperative to do early detection of viruses in order to minimize the extent of the damage and/or theft of identity factors.

A virus will download on to your computer without your authorization.  This virus can be Malware, Spyware, a Trojan, or many other types of malicious and unwanted software.  Since you did not authorize it to download, your probably don’t even know it is there, until it starts rearing its ugly head.  This would be in the form of pop ups, error messages, alerts, missing files, crashing, and freezing.

It is a rather easy process to detect viruses on your computer.  Most software programs on the market today have free scans that can actually detect the viruses you have on your computer.  If the scan detects a virus, I will decide whether to delete it with a repair key or not.  Don’t forget to fix the damage that was done to other files on the operating system, and not just delete the virus itself.

Any other favorite viruses scan software out there?  Please post a comment with the name so we can all benefit.

Stability and Early Detection

When you first get your computer, everything runs nice and smooth.  As you work and play on your computer, you begin to move things around, download different programs, quite an update in the middle, “Undo” programs, and maybe even deleted files you think are unnecessary.  On a Windows Operating System, this creates stability problems that you see as crashing and freezing.

Windows was originally created as a file sharing system. The shared library concept allows your Windows operating system to cooperate with other programs, share resources and allowing the same library to be used by multiple programs at the same time.  This makes your system very functional when all the pieces are in the right place.  Start changing the locations, and the system stops responding properly.

In order to find unstable programs, you can also run a free scan.  Just make sure that the scan will detect application errors, and not just registry errors.  For instance, you should find out exactly which programs are causing the problems, and how often they crash.  Also useful would be a chart for crash history which details the frequency and severity of the crashes.  The more crashes, the severe your stability issues.  The more severe your stability issues, the more likely you are to lose data and your entire operating system if left untreated.  The sooner you detect and fix stability issues, the less likely you are to lose information on your computer (this includes photos, music, documents, games, passwords, favorites, and more).

Any other recommended scans for stability issues?  Please post them in comments.

It is all in the early detection of viruses and stability issues.  Once you know what’s there, you will know what to do with it.  So do some early detection, and avoid major PC damage in the future.

Posted by Amit Daliot at 9:29 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buy A New Computer - or Repair The One You Have?

Automated PC Repair No Responses »
Jun 062010

If you’re like most consumers, your computer is now more than a year old.  You have come to love it, as you spend most of your wakeful hours working and playing on this machine.  You have become comfortable with the organizations of your browser favorites, like the shortcuts on your desktop, and fully enjoy the applications you downloaded and use every day.  But yes, the performance has slowed down, and yes, there are pop-ups and error messages now and then, even crashing and freezing has started to become more frequent – and in the middle of a chat session.

Could that mean the end of the road for my computer? What do you do:  Buy a new computer?  Or fix the old one?

When Buying a New Computer

If you buy a new computer, there are many factors to consider.  Besides the direct out-of-pocket expense for a new computer, there are major inconveniences and time factors that should be considered as well.  First, you will have to get used to an entirely new system, without all the personal conveniences that it took you so long to set up.  This may take up to one month before all of the buttons, gadgets, widgets and data are in the same place you’ve grown familiar to find.  Also, you will have to make sure you that you’ve backed up all of your old computer programs and files.  A complete backup can take up to eight hours, so be sure to leave yourself enough time for this.  Most of your personal programs will need to be reinstalled.  Make sure you have all software disks and registration numbers handy to re-enter and activate your reinstalled application on the new computer.  Try to save your browser favorites in order to have them available on the new computer.  Your passwords for protected sites (banking, memberships, social media sites, etc.) will not transfer to the new computer so make sure you have those written down somewhere in order to enter them again.  You may find yourself needing to create all new user IDs again if you can’t remember the passwords.  Also remember that all of your personally located Email data won’t move to the new machine by itself, saving your PST file and exporting your entire address book is also recommended.

Finally when your new computer is up and running, it may still take you a few weeks to get used to it and love it again.

When Repairing a Computer

When considering a repair option, you can choose between a technician that will most probably re-install your entire operating system, and an online repair tool that you can do yourself without any loss of data.  There are major advantages to an online repair, such as not having to unplug all the cables from the back of your computer (and remembering exactly where you disconnected them from).  Also, you don’t have to lug the heavy thing into your car, drive it to a shop, and pick it up days later.  What will you do without a computer for all those days?  Online repair can be very easy and very fast, there is no data loss, nothing changes in your settings, personal conveniences stay the same and automatic passwords still work.  Online repair can also cost much less; On average, online repair is 150% less than a technician, and 500% less than buying a new computer.

What To Look For In An Online Repair Product

When using an online repair product, make sure that all changes can be easily “undone”.  In other words, if you don’t like the outcome of the repair, then you can simply revert back to the previous state, before those changes were applied.  A free scan is always nice to have in order to see what the utility will actually fix.  Make sure the utility will take care of the issues you are frustrated with such as a slow computer, crashing and freezing, virus damage, and error messages.    Don’t forget support, you may need some support if the repair utility starts doing strange and unfamiliar things to your computer.  And most importantly, make sure there is a 100% money back guarantee.  This is also a good indicator of the integrity of the repair company, and that they stand behind their product.

Posted by Elad Levin at 12:35 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

Is Windows XP Dead?

Automated PC Repair, Market Trends No Responses »
Apr 122009

Time has finally ran out for Windows XP owners with Microsoft replacing free support of the operating system with a paid one. Users with a dysfunctional XP system will have to pay per incident, per the hour. This makes this manual repair process an expensive ordeal, while up until now it has been merely a cumbersome one. 

Windows XP Support(ed)!

Happily, Reimage is still here to help with our state of the art automated PC repair technology and PC booster.

Reimage.com automatically reinstalls an operating system and does not touch user data or applications, the repair takes an average of 22 minutes. You will never have to reinstall your XP again.

Reimage’s PC Repair Resources

Additional resources exist for those looking to repair their PCs, such as:

Posted by Nicholas Black at 11:44 am Tagged with: , , ,

December: Slowdown trend in PC upgrades continues

Automated PC Repair, Hardware, Market Trends 4 Responses »
Jan 012009

Reimage repairs show a continued increase in low RAM. Reimage low RAM alerts (less than 512 MB) during the repair process have continuously grown over the past months (reflected by the trend line in the chart below).  The general public, having repaired 94,753 PCs during this time period, is putting off new PC purchases and\or upgrades.

Posted by Amit Daliot at 7:11 pm Tagged with:

Survey Proves, Reimage Reduces Time And Effort Spent On Malware

Automated PC Repair, Comparisons No Responses »
Dec 172008

“Eighty percent of respondents reported that it takes at least half a day to a day to clean, re-image, and restore PCs affected by malware“, this claim by GreenBorder Technologies has been released today and is, indeed, in keeping with Reimage research.  Their main claim is that if only a business is prepared for such disasters much time would be saved.

Reimage’s premise is much simpler: We don’t need preparation. The Reimage technology is initiated on an ad hoc basis. For future reference, if you haven’t invested in a system allowing to rollback the old system image, you should try using Reimage and cut down that annoying process to a 22 minute, one click solution.

Another type of rollback. Reimage does it diffrently.

Another type of rollback. Reimage does it differently.

Here’s the link to the article, it’s well worth a read.

Posted by Nicholas Black at 2:58 pm Tagged with: ,

November: Slowdown in PC upgrades

Automated PC Repair, Hardware, Market Trends 2 Responses »
Dec 012008

Reimage repairs show an increase in low RAM. Reimage low RAM alerts (less than 512 MB) during the repair process have soared to 11% during November from 8% during August. A statistical analysis shows a 72% increase in lower RAM indicating the general public, having repaired 54,463 PCs during this time period, is putting off new PC purchases and\or upgrades.

Posted by Amit Daliot at 2:49 pm Tagged with:

New Reimage.com Technology Beats AntiViruses and More...

AntiVirus, Automated PC Repair, Bloatware, Comparisons, Computer Problems, PC Repair Experiences, Registry, Trojans, Viruses 4 Responses »
Nov 042008

We had a lot of fun with this experiment. We went to all the nastiest sites and engaged in the most dubious on-line activities. A few days on, the PC ground to halt with so many nasty viruses, trojans, malware and corruption that we thought the time was right to initiate the experiment. Pitching Reimage against multiple anti viruses, registry cleaners and spyware removal programs, here are the results:

Advice on PC repair

Save yourself the hassle of buying software that will fall short in repairing your PC. The products reviewed below have been tested, trying to repair the same operating system (VMware) using different solutions. This example of a dysfunctional computer offers a clunky user experience, slower than usual boot and user will find surfing the Internet difficult.

Here are the symptoms of the dysfunctional PC we tested:

The malicious process in the PC

The malicious process in the PC

  • Missing control panel
  • Can’t open the task manager
  • Can’t open the registry
  • Homepage can’t be changed

We generally found that the reviewed tools fall into three main categories: junk, nice-to-have and even superb. If there’s a tool you want to see reviewed, please let us know and we’ll buy it and add it to the reviews here.

We used a two month old image and ran the anti viruses too see if they are updated and can fix the problem.

The PC problems in detail

  • Difficulties in repairing an Operating System due to system maintenance tools being disabled, such as task manager.
  • Viruses distract user from reaching his target in browsing through promoting other websites that he did not want to reach via Google search or pretending to be an Internet security software that causes user to install more malicious content.
  • Malware running in the background hogs CPU Process time, slowing down the entire computer.
    Invisible programs running in taskbar (stealth IRC program that logs into chat rooms in IRC environment and try to steal information out of other users).
  • A hacker deleted the CPL (control panel list) files which control the control panel list such as display properties and language settings.
  • Hacker removed program files entries in the Registry that destroy a user’s ability to access programs via the start menu.

Summary of Testing

In essence, we have seen that all Anti Virus programs completely failed to install, the registry cleaning applications had no effect what-so-ever on a severely infected PC and that SpyBot made some, limited, progress at removing spyware yet falling short in a PC repair.

Category: Autonomic Fix

Reimage: Near Perfection!

Time to use – 19 minutes (22:00 – 22:19)

Software Usage

  • Instant repair starts via going to www.reimage.com and initiating a free scan. A small file is downloaded into the browser and the repair process begins (22:01). The repair is charted through the web browser and describes the process taking place in easy to understand terms, while providing detailed technical information below.
  • First the software analyzes (22:08) and then it moves in to make a repair based on its findings. The “fix” part was concluded two minutes later (22:10). At this point you are asked to reboot the system and it is up and running, after a small post startup screen update in the form of a blue screen. A web page is brought up at this point saying “finalizing repair, please wait” and a list of applications that you many not want to erase is presented. It allows you to UNDO the repair if your not happy with the result.

Result

  • The old wallpaper is present, which I can change
  • I can change the homepage of the web browser
  • All the icons are visible in the control panel
  • There are no malicious processes running in the background
  • There are still viruses in the system, but isolated and inactive (they recommend running an anti-virus as a garbage collector).
  • The machine is as good as new!

Category: Anti Spyware

SpyBot: Superficial Success

Time to use – 57 minutes (20:33 – 21:30)

Software Usage

  • Spybot immediately cleans out about 1,000 temp files.
  • Ask me for a registry backup and prompts a question regarding which server to use for downloading updates. I select ifwd.org (USA) I click ok at 20:36. Then I am prompted to download multiple updates that I can choose and I am requested to re-apply immunization after the update.
  • I click exit and am admitted to the main menu for the first time. (20:38), I click check for problems and the system starts a scan.
  • A 36 minute scan is completed (21:26).
  • The system says that some errors couldn’t be fixed entirely and it will require a reboot to finalize the repair. It reports that 40 problems were fixed and that 2 could not.
  • System is rebooted. Asks to delete 239 temp files (21:30) and software launches again.

Result
• All viruses are gone.
• Cant’ change the wallpaper, task manager or see most of the control panel.
• A few viruses still present.
• MIRC still active.
• Original wallpaper is restored but can’t be changed.

Category: Registry Cleaner

CCleanup: Or CCmuckup?

Time to use – 8 minutes (19:04 – 19:12)

Software Usage

  • 4.68MB of cleaning required.
  • 24 Registry issues, clicking scan immediately after revealed 12 more problems, another time 2 more.
  • Computer rebooted in normal mode at 19:09 , booted up at 19:10.

ResultCrashing Web Browser

  • Task manger still disabled.
  • Multiple viruses still present (system doctor, virusseigyo, advanced registry optimizer, winspyware protect).
  • Can’t change wallpaper.
  • Control panel has missing functions.
  • New: Internet explorer won’t load now.

Registry Booster: Busted!

Time to use – 15 minutes (19:53 – 20:08)

Software Usage

  • Program says it must restart the machine out of safe mode to finish install at 19:57.
  • Install is completed and Uniblue “auto launches” .

    Problematic install and no results

    Problematic install and no results

  • Starts repair at 20:00, reports finding 143 “invalid registry entries”.
  • I finally see the user interface and its gorgeous.
  • Repair is completed and system is foes through a reboot 20:04.
  • Process completed at 20:08.
  • Installs Microsoft windows installer 3.1 as pre-requisite, takes 2 minutes.

Result

  • Task manger still disabled.
  • Multiple viruses still present (system doctor, virusseigyo, advanced registry optimizer, winspyware protect).
  • Can’t change wallpaper.
  • Control panel has missing functions.

Registry Mechanic: Fail!

Time to use – 15 minutes (20:22 – 20:28)

Software Usage

  • Initiating an easy install for RegMechanic, during the setup process you will be asked if you want to install Google toolbar as well.
    Bells and whistles to no effect
  • Setup takes a minute. RegMechanic checks for updates. The scan in completed in a few seconds and instantly recognizes 102 faults with the registry.
  • I also choose the optimize option on the system and defrag it, this launches the standard windows defrag utility. I give it a miss as it is simply a quick launch option for a Windows utility and unrelated to RegMechanic.
  • I go for the “analyze and compact” option, the process is completed in a few seconds and reports that the registry has been compressed by 13% saving 1.59MB from a total 12MB.
  • Additionally, before starting, my system health was reported as LOW.
  • I now restart the system, after playing around with the various functions (20:28).

Result

  • Task manger still disabled.
  • Multiple viruses still present (system doctor, virusseigyo, advanced registry optimizer, winspyware protect).
  • Can’t change wallpaper.
  • Control panel has missing functions.

Category: AntiViruses

AVG: Installation blocked

19:00 – 19:02

NOD32: Installation fail

19:31 – 19:34

Norton: Setup hassle & fail

19:35 – 19:42

  • Norton started up by installing updates that took about 2 minutes, after which saying that it can’t install on safe mode and required a reboot.
  • Once in normal mode Norton did not manage to install.
Posted by Nicholas Black at 4:37 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , ,

Technophobia: From King Ludd to Hal the IT Admin

Automated PC Repair, Market Trends, PC Repair Experiences, Technophobia 2 Responses »
Nov 022008

Last Monday it suddenly struck me: Technology (really) creates antagonism. New technologies that emerge and sweep aside old practices are initially resisted and eventually, unavoidably, adopted. In business theory it’s called the product life cycle, where 2.5% of the potential market are deemed “early adopters” and love the new tech. Eventually the rest of the market follows (defined in biz theory as Laggards).

King Ludd
Ned Ludd in Action

The most interesting case of this is, of course, “King” Ludd the fictitious leader of the Luddite movement that  objected to the

“new wide-framed automated looms that could be operated by cheap, relatively unskilled labour, resulting in the loss of jobs for many skilled textile workers“.

The Luddite movement resorted to sabotage and grew so strong during the 19th century that it even clashed with, but was eventually routed by, the British Army. Progress won, tears were shed, and humanity marched on.

This is a major issue for any new technology – how do we reel in the “early adopters” and route the Luddites? It’s a challenge, no doubt. The key, of course, to avoid massive resistance, is by not antagonizing anyone but by directly improving people’s lives.

Let’s meet Hal the IT administrator, I came across this amusing YouTube video from Symantec a while ago. The video makes a great point of a real professional who suffers the pain of having to go through a manual repair process of a server.

Hal illustrates a real pain, he hates this part of his job and would love to have it automated. Sure he does, right? Wrong! Over the past months (and particularly since Reimage’s version 1182) I have heard from countless PC repair professionals that Reimage: (a) makes their PC software repair process so much easier (b) saves them time (c) gets the job done, while in the past they would have reinstalled the OS, erasing all data and applications. “Oh” I keep asking, “when can we expect you guys to to subscribe then?”, “don’t know” is not an uncommon reply. Amazingly, many won’t subscribe, despite admitting to Reimage’s benefits. One technician said: “The better you guys get, the more inclined my boss will be to fire me“.

So that’s what it boils down to: exposing inefficiency in the system. It’s true, Reimage does not have a 100% run rate (nor does it plan to), but this runs deeper. It is, in essence, a conflict between the modern and the pre-modern (a concept odd to apply to Software repair, but valid none-the-less). It actually deals with the PC repair industry’s (in) ability to look boldly ahead and realize that from now on it is the job of machines to repair their kin and that humans, in this occasion, are irrelevant.

Rise of The Machines. Not.

This, however, does not in anyway mark the end of the PC repair profession. Far from it.  Indeed, PC repair professionals will always have the important challange of setting up networks, troubleshooting, repairing hardware and most importantly providing the priceless human interaction we all cannot live without. Customers will always pay more for a professional to help them with descisions, dillemas, problems and queries. Reimage fits this vision perfectly. We repair the software while you, the PC repair professional, do so with your own logo keeping your customer unaware of any third party application. Everyone wins.

Posted by Nicholas Black at 8:14 pm Tagged with: , ,
© 2010 The Reimage Blog Suffusion WordPress theme by Sayontan Sinha