I am new to the site. I have noticed that, in excess of other similar sites, new posts mainly consists of threads in the Hi-Jack forum.
When I had a look through these, it could be seen that the minimum for solving a problem was about 5 days, many went on for weeks!
It makes one wonder if the problem is being dealt with in the most efficient way.
I keep a regular image of my OS. When I install or experiment with new programs, I first back up with another image.
If I ever have a rare malfunction, or suspect spyware or virus infiltration, I put my best image back on. With Acronis, for example, this takes 20 minutes.
It makes me wonder why posters have the patience to exchange those questions and answers to get rid of a virus.
Do any readers, who may have been through the experience, have any explanation to enlighten me?

Because some people can't see the froest for the trees?

Well, firstly I wouldn't complain about that.

The HJT Team are extremely busy people and are trying to help as many people as possible as quick as they can. Malware is becoming more common and more HijackThis logs are being posted here. BC at the moment have a giant backlog of logs so it may take some time before replies are made.

Secondly, the HJT Team DO NOT get payed for this job. They are everyday citizens giving up their time to help people with their malware issues. It is volunteer work.

Be glad and grateful and appreciate these people who give up their time to help you

David

Hey davehc

It is very important for you to know that the majority of people who visit this website are after help with malware issues. BC is very well known to have one of the best HJT teams but they have lives away from their pc.
I am currently studying malware removal at geeks to go. Because I have other commitments (like school and work) i am yet to finish lower class and i've been there for 5 months..

I do value and respect your opinion. But like I said, these people have lives. They do not get paid to do this

Before I ever discovered this site, I only had one way to deal with possible or real infections. I would study the problem, learn about the problem, and then fix the problem. Perhaps that is an option some people may want to consider. A lot of the time the problem turned out to be Micro$ofts fine operating system.

AN explanation maybe.....

each of us runs our computers in our own way...with our own chosen protection programs...or NONE as the case may be

you may assume that others have the same perspective on computering as you do?

I am afraid they dont

many think it the 'done thing' TO post an HJT log ....this only clogs up the forum; far better to post a 'normal' thread and give the symptoms then let folks suggest specific scans to be run to flag up the infection and give an idea of what is needed to cure it ...many a time a problem does NOT need an HJT log ..BUT

if members post one straight away they 'miss' the opprotunity to have their problem looked at in a simpler way as their thread HAS to be transfered to the HJT section to preserve the integrity OF responses TO the HJT threads


and as teenage Zombie points out... ALL help on ANY section of the forum is voluntary

I won't name names, I will just give you an example.
Back up images are nice...even great - Especially in a data center
where servers need to be brought online very quickly.

Now imagine if you will a 'tainted' image that slipped by. Thought to
be clean by everyone who looked at it. Follow along now...this is where it gets good.

Use the 'tainted' image to reload somewhere in the area of 20-30 Thousand servers.

When someone requests help it's after the infection has already happened.
A lot of users don't know about imaging software. Some users do not know how
to perform a backup and restore. The majority check email, surf the web and play games.

That is why we volunteer our time and knowledge to help. We also work full time jobs so
sometimes the help is slow coming, but we try to get to everyone.

Maybe you could do a write up on disk imaging and backups and submit it to the 'Tips and Tricks' thread.

Hmm. Seems my post was read as a complaint. It was just a straightforward observation, for which I felt there was possibly a very simple explanation.
I didn't seem to get one. In fact, I felt under attack! "So, instead of complaining and being picky and ungrateful, be glad and grateful and appreciate these people who give up their time to help you "
However, I respect the views of the older members. Because of the direction of the site, it offers little of interest to me so I guess I will take the alternative of quitting again.

Your post said that you'd never need to use the services offered, so I have to question your motivation for commenting on them in the first place. Seems like no more than an attempt to stir up trouble, to me.

Hi davehc,

I'm not sure that I understand the purpose of your question.
Hopefully a member will post a reply to your topic, who have not backed up their OS before becoming infected.
Most users only set a out a good back up plan after it's too late.

Our members rely on the abilities of BCs Malware Removal Team to clean their system, and so far as I can see, are very gracious.
No matter how long the process takes.

Insulting comments are not tolerated on this forum and some advise could have given in a less condescending manner.

More advanced users image, some don't, yes the disinfection process online takes forever, many people save their data who otherwise would lose everything even after paying a hundred or two hundred dollars to get their computer reloaded.

Many learn a lesson when they are here about security and safe computing

Imaging and clean install is easy but not near as much fun as beating a bad infection.

I got a very bad one recently from a clients computer and a usb drive, it only took a couple of hours to kill it and that was fixing another computer at the same time

Images are fine when they work, when they don't, it's a disaster

Well wouldn't you rather have a professional that you can actually see what they have done (By looking at the amount of logs they have solved and their ability to do so), than paying a computer store $200+ for virus removal?

Also, if someones computer is clean and they think they are infected, it only takes one reply to say your computer is clean instead of unplugging your PC taking it in paying a load of money replugging your PC back in.

It all adds up.

Quite true.

It's all a matter of personal preference.
I've got friends who will fight a virus/OS issue for the rest of their lives,
and I've got other friends who won't even try to repair - they just re-image whenever they suspect a problem.

For me, I just reinstall or re-image - but I do most of my testing in a Virtual Machine, sparing the main system from the issues that would otherwise plague me.

I like the business clients that send their bookkeeper over with her computer and she wants me to remove the infection while she waits so she can write checks, image? sure thing

not an option

patch it back together and get it back on line in a day and give a stern lecture about backing up their quickbooks/whatever

I can't even get them to run disk cleanup and defrag

It's true that replying to logs take a while, but that's because the logs themselves take quite a while to analyze if there's a lot of entries, or if there's vague information supplied. You must also understand that there is a sheer outnumber of posted logs and number of helpers. And a handful of the people who post never even bother to reply, causing the HJT Team members to waste time.

We are all volunteers, and while we do enjoy helping others, I don't find it necessary to just sit in front of the computer all day churning out replies to help them. I'm 14, and I actually have somewhat of a life outside of school.

Perhaps if you feel that the HJT Team is not efficient enough, you might want to consider joining along in helping everyone?

and...if you beleive you have skills and knowledge ON computer issues , why not hve a look around the forum and see where you can offer any support/encouragement/guidance TO members on THEIR specific problems

As long as you're getting paid, what's the difference?

Don't complain - repeat customers.

The reality is that many of the users here have no idea what an image is or have the technical knowledge to create and restore them. Due to this, other methods are needed to clean their computers. For those who image their computers regularly, then yes it is an adequate solution in cleaning many computers. Unfortunately, this is not a common practice.

I think that is an adequate enough answer and no need to continue grinding this thread into the ground.