Virus removals...how-to maximize

[alluseridsrejected]

I tell my customers it typically takes 2-3 days for a virus removal on most systems and that shops doing it in a day are in no possible way anywhere near as thorough as we are. I have my entire process almost completely automated so it is not that much labor.

How do you turn around a doggy running windows 8 laptop with a typical 5400 rpm hard drive like the Walmart specials most people are buying today when it takes hours just to run hard drive and memory diagnostics alone? Do you run a backup? That frequently takes 2-3 hours or more. And chkdsk, sfc, defrag and dism are not exactly speedy operations. And how many times have I seen a WIn 8 system sit there for an hour before it even tells you how many updates there are outstanding? Then you apply them, recheck and there are more available and I wish it were rare for a couple those updates to fail applying for whatever reason. Do you not reset file and registry permissions and other repairs like what are in tweaking.com windows AIO repair? Those can run hours too. And don't you just love when you get into a system hardly responsive and find it has 2 or 3 antivirus programs installed and fighting with each other. You just never know what you are getting into and I would rather give myself the extra time and not have the customer mad because it took me so long.

 

[Porthos]

I tell my customers it typically takes 2-3 days for a virus removal on most systems and that shops doing it in a day are in no possible way anywhere near as thorough as we are. I have my entire process almost completely automated so it is not that much labor.

How do you turn around a doggy running windows 8 laptop with a typical 5400 rpm hard drive like the Walmart specials most people are buying today when it takes hours just to run hard drive and memory diagnostics alone? Do you run a backup? That frequently takes 2-3 hours or more. And chkdsk, sfc, defrag and dism are not exactly speedy operations. And how many times have I seen a WIn 8 system sit there for an hour before it even tells you how many updates there are outstanding? Then you apply them, recheck and there are more available and I wish it were rare for a couple those updates to fail applying for whatever reason. Do you not reset file and registry permissions and other repairs like what are in tweaking.com windows AIO repair? Those can run hours too. And don't you just love when you get into a system hardly responsive and find it has 2 or 3 antivirus programs installed and fighting with each other. You just never know what you are getting into and I would rather give myself the extra time and not have the customer mad because it took me so long.

1000 times this.

I encounter all the above on a REGULAR basis.

 

[altrenda]

I tell my customers it typically takes 2-3 days for a virus removal on most systems and that shops doing it in a day are in no possible way anywhere near as thorough as we are. I have my entire process almost completely automated so it is not that much labor.

How do you turn around a doggy running windows 8 laptop with a typical 5400 rpm hard drive like the Walmart specials most people are buying today when it takes hours just to run hard drive and memory diagnostics alone? Do you run a backup? That frequently takes 2-3 hours or more. And chkdsk, sfc, defrag and dism are not exactly speedy operations. And how many times have I seen a WIn 8 system sit there for an hour before it even tells you how many updates there are outstanding? Then you apply them, recheck and there are more available and I wish it were rare for a couple those updates to fail applying for whatever reason. Do you not reset file and registry permissions and other repairs like what are in tweaking.com windows AIO repair? Those can run hours too. And don't you just love when you get into a system hardly responsive and find it has 2 or 3 antivirus programs installed and fighting with each other. You just never know what you are getting into and I would rather give myself the extra time and not have the customer mad because it took me so long.

None of this is technically "Malware Removal" , but more falls into the Tuneup category.

But I agree, doing a complete job to give the customer their computer back running the best it can takes time.

 

[alluseridsrejected]

None of this is technically "Malware Removal" , but more falls into the Tuneup category.

part of it does fall into tuneup. Most of it falls into either diagnostics (to prevent you wasting time down the road figuring out why this system I am doing virus removal on is still acting so hoaky) or virus damage repair. And backup would fall under CYA.

 

[HFultzjr]

I tell my customers it typically takes 2-3 days for a virus removal on most systems and that shops doing it in a day are in no possible way anywhere near as thorough as we are. I have my entire process almost completely automated so it is not that much labor.

How do you turn around a doggy running windows 8 laptop with a typical 5400 rpm hard drive like the Walmart specials most people are buying today when it takes hours just to run hard drive and memory diagnostics alone? Do you run a backup? That frequently takes 2-3 hours or more. And chkdsk, sfc, defrag and dism are not exactly speedy operations. And how many times have I seen a WIn 8 system sit there for an hour before it even tells you how many updates there are outstanding? Then you apply them, recheck and there are more available and I wish it were rare for a couple those updates to fail applying for whatever reason. Do you not reset file and registry permissions and other repairs like what are in tweaking.com windows AIO repair? Those can run hours too. And don't you just love when you get into a system hardly responsive and find it has 2 or 3 antivirus programs installed and fighting with each other. You just never know what you are getting into and I would rather give myself the extra time and not have the customer mad because it took me so long.

I agree 100%!
That's why I like to do several at once in shop. Seems 1 of them is always "waiting" for something to complete. 2-3 days until returned to customer sounds reasonable. It doesn't mean that you spent 2-3 days on only that virus removal.

 

[axiomcrs2]

Anybody else willing to share their numbers that are located in a small town?

 

[OaksLabs]

Well, I'll speak to a few things. I'm in a town of 35k, and we have three other repair shops in our town. Two of our competing shops have some reputation issues, and our primary competitor is one notch up in pricing. We get about two or three infected systems in per day. Our process is a bit different from those previously mentioned though.

Our first step for ANY system is a hardware diagnostic (via PC Check, a bootable diagnostic software). This scan takes 4-6 hours (checks every sector on the HDD).

Then, we move into our infection removal. I write a custom script for my current employer to do this, and the process takes around two hours.

NOTE: If your scans are taking forever to run, make sure you are cleaning out your temp files. I write a custom program for my employer that zapps the temp files and incorporates functions similar to Rkill and Unhide, and you can download it from my website and use it if you'd like.

The tune-up process follows after, and we skip long running items (CHKDSK, SFC, etc) unless the computer in question is not running correctly as we try to work on it. If a PC is running slowly, we will (as needed) add RAM to it while we work on it to make the repairs go faster (and offer to sell them the RAM!)

As a speed and scripting freak, I can suggest things to speed up parts of the process, but I think that's a topic for a separate thread.

 

[cypress]

Well, I'll speak to a few things. I'm in a town of 35k, and we have three other repair shops in our town. Two of our competing shops have some reputation issues, and our primary competitor is one notch up in pricing. We get about two or three infected systems in per day. Our process is a bit different from those previously mentioned though.

Our first step for ANY system is a hardware diagnostic (via PC Check, a bootable diagnostic software). This scan takes 4-6 hours (checks every sector on the HDD).

Then, we move into our infection removal. I write a custom script for my current employer to do this, and the process takes around two hours.

NOTE: If your scans are taking forever to run, make sure you are cleaning out your temp files. I write a custom program for my employer that zapps the temp files and incorporates functions similar to Rkill and Unhide, and you can download it from my website and use it if you'd like.

The tune-up process follows after, and we skip long running items (CHKDSK, SFC, etc) unless the computer in question is not running correctly as we try to work on it. If a PC is running slowly, we will (as needed) add RAM to it while we work on it to make the repairs go faster (and offer to sell them the RAM!)

As a speed and scripting freak, I can suggest things to speed up parts of the process, but I think that's a topic for a separate thread.

I would be curious to take a look at that script. Do you have a link to it?

 

[OaksLabs]

Yes. It is the utility on the homepage of www.oakslabs.com. I compile it into an .exe file, because anti-malware is a cat and mouse game, and I don't want to give any ideas to malware writers -- but it is totally free and I'd really like to hear what people think of it and get ideas for features.

 

[ohio_grad_06]

Yes we have a shop in the town we compete with, the guy cuts my prices in half literally. Even posted on the chamber of commerce I think once about how virus removals should never be more than 40 bucks. If anyone asks me about that, my response is going to be like ok, 40 bucks for say half an hour? I charge what I charge because I know the amount of time and effort it takes to do right.

I don't have many people price shop, the ones that do, I let them walk if they want. Not lowering prices. I've got some folks, now my clients, who had previously taken systems to the other shop, and paid them, and then got the computer back and came to us and said I paid this much, they said it was done, and i have the exact same things going on. Fixed it.

Note I recently sold that client a new laptop.

I do get knuckleheads who complain about time/price. I had one guy who called and was yelling at my wife. I had told him it would be at least 2-3 business days before I could touch it. She answered the phone and the guy unloads on her about how he runs 3 businesses off the computer, blah blah I mean she literally had to hang up on him. After I told him it would be at least that long before I could touch it. I literally did the quickest fix I could, charged him like 200 bucks, for 30 minutes of work--my knucklehead client rate, and called and left him a message his computer was done. He is fortunate I was not there when he picked it up, and that he did not answer the phone when I called. I probably am too because I might have gotten sued. You do NOT talk to my wife like that. PERIOD. I don't care what the circumstances are. The guy called back another time, she told him to take it to best buy. Never heard from that dude again

One other story. I recently had a guy bring a laptop in about 3-4 months ago. Failing hard drive. No problem. I clone the drive to a brand new working drive. Clean things up, back it goes. Guy seems happy but his email does not work. Ok, should not have been affected. Whatever. I go to his house for free to be nice. I find that his email he is remoting into a server at his company and launching outlook on the remote system to get his email!! I told him that is someone else's server, I'm not touching it. But this is why your email is slow. I even fixed a printer issue for him where he got a new printer, set that up for him. I get ready to leave, he didn't even offer me 10 bucks or anything for my time. Little annoyed, whatever, make the guy happy.

He calls the other day, my printer does not work again, blah blah. I had told him that last visit, after that he was getting cut off free support. He calls this time, printer issues again. My wife had taken the call, and tells him that it's been at least 3 months, so it would be 40 come out, and 75 per hour. My normal rates. He's like I just spent over 200 getting it fixed, keep in mind, 3 months prior, new hard drive, clone a failing drive to a new one and clean up, so that including parts and a one year warranty on said part. Then he balks at the rate for fixing a printer he purchased after the fact that I previously set up for free mind you.

My point is though, the person that said above it takes longer is right. Even if you get it done in a day, tell them it will take at least 2-3 business days. If you get it done in one, you are a tech hero that they love forever if it's right. But don't cut prices for people. So many guys do that. Me I'm like look, I'm a professional. My time is valuable to me, I feel like my time is worth more than 20 bucks to mess with a computer for an hour or more and then have people complain. I always find clients who are being cheap are usually complaining. One system I've got in, has a bad cpu or board and I recommended they get a new one. They heard my prices and said let me price shop. I promptly told them about newegg and that I'd be happy to transfer their data for a nominal fee of course. But that my prices include a 1 year warranty I put on my systems, and my setup time. Let them buy from newegg, because if their computer ever has a problem because they are being cheap, those people will be on the horn blowing up my phone about how ticked off they are. I don't have time to deal with people like that. Let them yell at someone else. I'll gladly fix the computer for my normal rate however.

 

[axiomcrs2]

Ok, you don't have to share your numbers if you're from a small town. How about just the fact that you are in a small town and succeeding? All the contributors to this thread as far as the ones that are listing their location, are from larger population centers.

I looked thru OaksLabs' tool's description of the website. It looks very good and I will try it out on the next computer that needs a virus removal.
Of which I will try to increase.

 

[ohio_grad_06]

I'm in a town of about 10,000, but there are some small communities around. Honestly, I could not get by on just virus cleanings. Sometimes you get inundated with them, sometimes you hear crickets for months. In a small town you probably should develop relationships with local businesses as a service provider to them. I work an IT job still so I do mine as a side gig for extra cash. But were I on my own, I'd have to get a part time job or something to make ends meet.

 

[Kitten Kong]

I'm in a local village, population of around 30k. circa 10k homes and businesses. I have around 3k clients I have built up over the years. The vast majority of them are from my immediate vicinity, however I also have clients from a lot further afield.

I would say, that although generic virus removals are not as common place as malware/spyware - tune ups. The vast majority of clients think that a virus is all encompassing.

I find that at least 95% of the machines which come into my workshop have some form of malware etc on them, and from this 95%, I can turn around at least 90% of them into a malware removal / tune up.

There are quite a few pizza techs in my immediate area, who obviously charge a lot less than I do, but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

It's targeting the right kind of client, who is willing to pay your prices, and not baulk at them which is the common denominator I find.

 

[alluseridsrejected]

How about just the fact that you are in a small town and succeeding?

My town is <1000. I would not succeed on virus removals alone. Managed services pays the bills. Then virus removals, computer & laptop repair, phone repair and selling systems we refurbish. It takes all of them. It was slow at first, but business steadily picked up until I had to hire my first employee in April of this year and it keeps getting busier.

 

[Krynn72]

I'm in a local village, population of around 30k. circa 10k homes and businesses. I have around 3k clients I have built up over the years. The vast majority of them are from my immediate vicinity, however I also have clients from a lot further afield.

I would say, that although generic virus removals are not as common place as malware/spyware - tune ups. The vast majority of clients think that a virus is all encompassing.

I find that at least 95% of the machines which come into my workshop have some form of malware etc on them, and from this 95%, I can turn around at least 90% of them into a malware removal / tune up.

There are quite a few pizza techs in my immediate area, who obviously charge a lot less than I do, but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

It's targeting the right kind of client, who is willing to pay your prices, and not baulk at them which is the common denominator I find.

This is very true also, and another reason we don't offer same-day or next day service on seemingly small issues like malware removal. Almost every system that comes in our shop needs a tune up, in addition to whatever specific issues spurred the customer through our doors. This fact is both built into our pricing, and our time estimates.

We used to have such headaches with customers when we'd fix just their specific issue and give it back same day. That's because, while we fixed the cause of their initial complaint, we'd then have them call back complaining it was "still slow" (which they didn't complain about at check-in), or still having other issues that were never mentioned on the original ticket. Despite getting it back same day, they were less happy with us than they are now that they wait 2-3 times longer but get a computer back that has more pep to it than they've ever seen, in addition to their original issues being fixed.

People want their computer back when its kicking ass and taking names, not when its sputtering about wheezing as it manages to eventually accomplish its task. If you're a business client who needs it done 5 minutes ago, or a really, really impatient residential customer, then you'll need to find someone who charges a lot more money than we do.

 

[pcpete]

We average 3 to 4 business days unless the client requests premium express service. If a client brings it in on Tuesday, it could be as late as Monday.

This post got me thinking, if we handled virus removals differently(currently they sit on the bench for 2 days before we start on them) since we do not do full hardware testing like other jobs, no reason we could not do them in 2 to 3 days.

 

[CheddarPCsKP]

I'd echo what Nige said - we're in a large village with a good mix of residential and commercial clients. I handle all the residential work in the shop, and at least 50% of it is tune ups and malware removal.

We give an estimated completion time of 2-3 days; 99% of customers are very happy with that (The 1% go to Geoff who's cheaper than us too - quite a few of the 1% are then back in the shop within a few days looking sheepish, muttering about Office not working and no Internet access ). We've got a very good reputation locally; customers know that while we're not the cheapest or quickest the job they pay for is done properly.

Most jobs are completed inside 24 hours and customers are very happy with the turnaround time. The extra 2 days gives us leeway for the unexpected problems, and busy periods - I've got 4 machines on the bench right now to be completed this morning and 3 more lined up, plus a (hopefully!) busy Saturday in the shop which should see a few more booked in.

One thing the 2-3 day leadtime allows us is to do a HDD test on every PC that comes in - at least 1 in 10 laptop HDDs tested are showing signs of failure, so we advise the customers of this and advise on backing up. No sales pressure, most customers are happy to have this highlighted and we get quite a bit of extra business out of it.

 

[Porthos]

One thing the 2-3 day leadtime allows us is to do a HDD test on every PC that comes in - at least 1 in 10 laptop HDDs tested are showing signs of failure, so we advise the customers of this and advise on backing up. No sales pressure, most customers are happy to have this highlighted and we get quite a bit of extra business out of it.

Very true I also run gsmart in front of the customer while they are filling out paperwork. I gives transparency and it shows I am not trying to up sell them something they don't need.