HI guys. Lately a lot of people have been asking me to help them with their PC problems. Some have viruses, some are slow, you know the usual. What steps should i take to help these people. Should i run a diagnostic check, which ones do you recommend? if there is a virus, how do i remove it? Will AVG remove a virus. Can you guys give me some tips. Thanks

Hehehe....The one and only step you should take is ti give back their computers. If you have no idea of what your doing then don't do it at all. You don't want to ruin someones computrer because you have too much pride to say "No, I don't know how to fix your problem". If you want to get into fixing things start on your own computer and maybe dummy computers so you don't have to pay for a busted PC.

If the infected PCs truly have an issue with a virus, and only a virus, then by all means go about using a cleaner. No, AVG will not get everything you might want to look into getting a few programs to clear EVERYTHING that may be there. But, if I was you, AVG and spybot would be my best friend for what needs to be done.

from what i have been told by other people here, you have to run several different spyware removal programs and a good antivirus. And even them sometime it is still beyond repair. To fix the last one i had i did a windows repair using my windows disc. It fixed the problem and left all of my programs in tact.

But i agree 100% with the above. If you do not have a good grasp on what your doing then you could really FUBAR someone's system. Doing these to your own is one thing, messing with other people's is another.

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Yeah, good words of advice. Even if you are PC-knowledgeable, a lot can go wrong. If someone's system is seriously jacked up, and they insist on not reformatting, it's a pain in the arse to be honest. Then it's muddling through with anti-spyware and anti-virus apps in hopes they flush out whatever is causing the issue. Even then, there is still the potential for driver and software conflicts.

The easiest way to go about it is to tell the person to backup all their key files and reformat/reinstall XP. If they insist on not doing that, then download and install Spybot S&D, AVG Anti-spyware, AdAware SE, and Spyware Doctor. Update all those apps and run scans with each. Then install a good Anti-Virus like Nod32, BitDefender, or Kaperskey and run a full scan. AVG Free is decent, but it isn't as comprehensive as some of the pay programs.

In the end, just don't bite off more than you can chew. Otherwise the situation could end up worse than it was originally.

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