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Should I Attempt to Repair the Operating System? Or Just Format?
One of our Technibble readers sent us an email and asked us at what point while repairing a computer do you decide it is time for a format? How do you determine whether you should keep spending more time trying to repair the system or just give up and wipe it clean? Here’s our answer.
Scott Bates writes:
I am not sure if your interested in writing about this topic in a future article but I thought I would ask anyways. Here is the topic I had in mind.
1) Customer brings you a machine that is completely trashed with viruses, trojans, spyware etc..
2) I run AVG on the computer with a Ultimate Boot CD and it finds over 1400 infected files and then deletes, cleans, or quarantines them.
3) After the viruses are cleaned off I reboot the system back into windows and everything is fine, except for windows dll error messages, control panel will be missing, can’t access the system time, etc..
4) My question is how much time do you work on this machine before you just do a rebuild on it. My rule has been to never spend too much time because eventually you have to give it back to the customer to keep them happy. With all the virus stuff it just seems like most of the time when its that bad you just do a rebuild.
5) I wanted to know what kind of procedure you use for determining whether you try and fix the damage, or just reinstall from scratch and call it a day.
6) Also, I try and research and get removal tools etc.. but it seems like once enough windows system files are damaged, trashed, and your registry is screwed what else can you do but a rebuild?
Thanks!
Scott Bates
Well, Scott. You sound like you know what you are doing when attempting to repair a system. Thats probably what I would have done in the same situation. I usually try and attempt a repair before I consider a format because sometimes a format is just overkill.
Now, at what point do I go from trying to repair the system, to a format? I usually ask myself this question after working on the system for one hour. If I haven’t gotten anywhere after that hour I’ll usually decide to do a format. If I am getting somewhere or it looks promising that I will be able to fix it after that hour, I’ll press on with the repair. If that repair doesnt succeed, I format.
Sometimes I can only spend a few minutes on a clients computer and decide it is time for a format. I will usually do this when multiple core Microsoft Windows files are damaged (the ones that come with Windows). There are times when there is only a small amount of the core-but-not-so-criticalk Windows files are damaged and they can easily be fixed by the sfc /scannow command.
I find the best way to decide whether to fix the core system files or to format is to ask yourself “Whats the chances of this issue being completely fixed? and will these errors cause a problem further down the track”. If the answer is that it may not be completely fixed and/or there may be problems down the track, time for a format.
You should do what is best for your customer, whichever is the most likely have the best result that is the most cost effective. For example, If I am having trouble repairing a operating system error and I am not sure whether I will be able to fix the problem – I would rather format the system instead of spending another two hours on the system and charging for it when may still have to perform a format anyway.
If you cant decide one way or the other, give the customer the choice of what to go with. I usually say something along the lines of:
“I can attempt a repair of the system which is cheaper. However, there is the possiblily of the problem coming back. A repair is like patching the holes in a boat hull as the problems appear Or; I can do a format which is like totally replacing the boat hull with a new one. A format is usually the better choice long term, but its a little more expensive. Also, its possible that I can spend an hour or two trying to repair the system only to determine that I will have still to format it anyway”
In most cases the client will choose the format and be happy with paying the little extra now for a guaranteed fix. This way it is also better for you because there is less of it coming back which will make you look bad, plus you make a little extra money.
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I tend to use a format as a last resort. It’s an ego thing with me I guess. Sometimes I spend more time on a machine to win over the virus (I write some of that time off), but even then, sometimes I have to give up and format…But like Bryce said, Give the customer the choice, takes the monkey of your back ;)
a few years back a client decided that he could not afford the update cost for his Anti-virus for his 4 computers a few months later his ISP shut him down until he cured the problem. He call me in and at 975 virus on a single computer and god knows how much spy-ware ad-ware
I informed him that it was not a good thing and that a complete loss of all data was necessary
format city for all drives and reinstall of all operating systems
But the big thing is education if you the IT guru don’t tech the client all your going to get is mad client saying that they must come back to you every few months for a fix and they don’t understand why.
The 50 or 60 home clients I have I rarely see mostly once a year for 5 to 10 minutes mostly to give advice on new stuff for them. my corporate clients well thats different I see them every six months even then I am usually gone in two hours for a company between 5 and 10 comupter’s plus a server or two.
I do pretty much the same thing. If a fix is going to take much more than a hour I’ll format. Also spyware and virus infections are different. I have removed over 1000 spyware programs from a system with no problems but if a system has more than 1-2 viruses I will format most times simply because its been my experience that that these systems will have problems later on if I don’t. With my rates being what they are the customer gets off cheaper with a format in most cases and its the only %100 sure way to rid the computer of all spyware/adware/malware/viruses.
Remember to offer backups before the format and make mention of possible problems with recovery of data and loss of data.
We tend to be very reluctant to rebuild. The reason being the hassles that inevitably arise with people not being able to use/negotiate their way around because things are different afterwards. Where’s my this? I used to be able to do so & so? How come that’s different?
From a technical angle rebuilding would be better often, but not considering the frustration that often follows (box often dropped back in to change this and that to make it the way it was!)
I do not like to rebuild. To many people don’t have their discs, don’t have their application discs or keys/serials, and have a LOT of data to save. All of those things make it difficult or time consuming in some situations. Fixing, for me, is still usually the best option.
Between the files and settings wizard and the driver max program, we’re able to get the look and feel back for the client after a format.
If the customer complains that the computer is slow, then I will probably do a cleaning. If Windows is having problems I will usually push for a format as long as the customer has disks to reinstall all of the programs that are important to them and they don’t mind starting from scratch. it’s much quicker and when it’s done you know it’s cleaned.
I’ve also fought over viruses for a few days either when the customer didn’t want to reinstall or I just wanted to learn how to beat a particular virus. This usually involves much pain and suffering.
Another excellent post Bryce.
Totally agree with what’s been said. Although often it boils down to the user having all the correct software.
Jamie
I always ghost the hard drive first before I format. If anything’s wrong such as missing drivers, I can always restore the hard drive to its original state.
Good Stuff!
After reading all the responses to this situation, I am wandering why no one mentions simply using the recovery portion on the OS cd for the operating system.
I have done this many times, and it has always replaced the missing dll’s and such. Am I wrong or am I missing something here?
Virgil, In most cases, running the recovery partition will format the drive.
fixing is always better than the format option, why erase everything?
it only takes a few hours to fix it.
you will spend that just searching for drivers again.
To David:
fixing is not always better than formatting. The time it takes to fix a system depends on what’s wrong with. While I search for drivers when you can bet that the original drivers in the first place. I use a program called driver magician. I can backup a customer’s data, reformat the drive, reinstall Windows, replace the customer’s data, and tweak the system for maximum speed in maybe 1 1/2 to two hours. Whereas with some viruses I have spent up to three hours trying to rid the system of the virus without success only to end up having to format anyway. Also as I said before reformatting is the only 100% sure fire way to completely read the system of viruses.
In my opinion if a Format its necesary, we should partition hard drives having at least on partiton for fresh OS Install, and another one for User Data and try to teach customer to install program in that same partiton. So if in the future this problem happens again , well at least we know that User’s Data its safe.
And I agree with most of the Tech , one hour of trying and then Customer have to be happy.
regards,
I have just completed, well, didn’t complete a job where I would clean all malware from the machine and yet lurking somewhere in the registry were things that, upon re-boot, reinstalled the nasty programs. The client did NOT have disks for the operating system nor his applications so re-format was an option. Sometimes you have to grind through. In fact, the only other case I had like this, I ended up with Symantec on the phone, at a cost of 99.99, walking through 20 minutes of “delete this, delete that” until the problem was solved. I couldn’t find the same solution anywhere on the internet so it was my only option. I ended up eating the cost of the call, and some of the cost of the entire session because keeping the customer and her references was important to me. She could have bought a monster new system with the money if I had billed her for the total time I spent on this mess.
I would be quicker to re-format in the future.
Here’s the problem I’ve found w/ a reformat. The client has an older computer before companies provided a separate partition in their hard drive to restore the computer. Instead the computer came w/ the cds, but the client either threw them away (yes, threw them away!) or lost them. These computers usually came with Windows XP Home OEM. The problem is that a lot of times neither the Product Code used to install the OS nor the one provided as a sticker outside of the computer will work with a retail version of Windows XP Home. So you can’t use your copy, now you have to find a copy of XP Home for the particular model of the computer.
Use a usb drive to capture My Documents then Format
Then install Windows 7 rtm let them see what a OS can do.
Don’t make the decision yourself- let the customer make it on your advice. If you are going to the persons home and even business chances are the reload os is what to do- almost always. Unless they have special configuration stuff like biz VPN.
I suppose I am quicker to reformat/reinstall than most technicians in my area. It depends on a lot of things. What programs does the customer have installed? Does he have the disks or product keys for them? How much data am I going to have to recover and restore? Is the computer having other issues as well as the one that brought the customer to me in the first place? How badly infected or damaged is the OS? What is the current performance like?
These are some of the questions I ask in determining if a certain computer is a good candidate for a reformat/reinstall or factory restore.
i just got a new pc with an operating system windows 7. i am on a network and i decided to name the computer with the same name with the one i previously had. it worked fine, but about 5 hours after wards i tried logging in it says password and user name does not correspond and that their is an error in the sql server. now i can’t log on on the computer their is nothing more i can do well that is what i think. should i reformat the systems or do a repair? does anyone have the answers?