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A Virus - Spyware Removal Tale

Sometimes you just run across a hell of a job. That happened in a recent virus removal that has led to this descriptive tale. This is what happened….. A customer brought by their PC for me to remove viruses and spyware. It was running very slow. They had no Windows installation CD so it was imperative that I fix Windows without reinstalling Windows and that I save all their data. So I began the restore process.

Windows works using a file cabinet. The file cabinet contains lists of instructions that cover everything we do in life (as a PC). There are lists of steps in the file drawers for driving to work, making dinner, brushing our teeth (if PCs were to brush teeth). Everything we do as a PC is covered by instruction lists (DLL files, EXE files, and so on) in the file cabinet (the hard disk drive). Viruses and spyware are lists of instructions that creep into our file cabinet. They are removed by scanning the hard disk drive with virus and spyware removal programs. This is half the job of removing viruses and spyware. On this PC I scanned and scanned the file cabinet removing over 2,000 bad lists. After a full 24 hours of scanning, I thought most all the bad lists were removed from the file cabinet. Remember this is not the complete the job.

The Registry in Windows is a person that tells us where to go in the file cabinet to find the correct list we as a PC need to do the next task assigned. It says for driving the car tasks use drawer 3 in the rear, breakfast tasks are in drawer 1 near the front and so on. Without this Registry fellow, we as a PC would be totally lost.

In this case what happened is that the Registry connected up with this Irishman on St Paddy's day and went out to the local pubs and got drunk. So when I asked him where to go to start the PC he was so drunk that he slurred his words and caused the PC to crash. Finally, I gave him enough black coffee to start the PC, but when it came to running programs this drunken Registry fellow just wanted to sleep. He would not tell me where the correct lists of instructions were in the file cabinet. I tried cold showers, fresh clothes (fixing damaged Registry entries), but no matter what I did nothing sobered up this Registry fellow enough to get Windows to run properly. Even though all the bad lists of instructions were removed from the file cabinet, Windows would not run because this drunken Registry fellow directed me to the car driving drawer and not the breakfast drawer and other drawers for everything I tried to do. So the PC was messed big time because this Registry went out on St Paddy's day and got drunk!

Fortunately for me, I found a time machine. It would send the Registry back in time. So I sent him back a month. Well no luck there because it seems that my Registry had been partying with a bunch of Irishman for the last several months. He was as drunk then as he was when I first ran into him. It almost seemed hopeless. There was one last chance. I could send the Registry back in time to 2006. Sure enough it worked!! He sobered right up. Behaved well just as I needed, but with one caveat - he forgot everything he had learned the last 3 years. He forgot the user accounts, the programs installed, and everything. All the lists of instructions (programs) installed over the last several years were right there in the file cabinet (the hard disk drive) at his finger tips, but the Registry could just not remember where they were unless they were reinstalled. However, the PC did run very fast and very well.

The bottom line of my drunken Registry tale is that when a PC behaves poorly, it can be the files in the file cabinet or the Registry. You must repair both to make the PC run as it should. In spite of removing all the bad virus and spyware files, my customer's PC would not work because the Registry was drunk. There was no need to reinstall Windows to fix the PC, I just needed to restore a 2006 version of the Registry to make it work properly again. But I did save all my customers data and all the programs. Once they were reinstalled everything would run fine. Maybe the moral is: Do not let your Registry go out with an Irishman unless he can really hold his liquor.


Link to eHow: "Spyware & Virus Removal Programs"

P. D. Moulton and Dial A Nerd, a local Columbia, Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland(MD) PC repair, computer repair, laptop computer repair, Wi-Fi network and wired LAN network configuration & repair, Windows XP repair, Windows Vista repair, Windows 7 repair, network server computer support, and virus & spyware removal. Dial-A-Nerd repairs PC (s), computers, networks, removes viruses & spyware and upgrades slow computers 24 hours a day 7 days a week. DialANerd provides immediate remote access as well as fixed price computer repair, network repair, virus & spyware removal services at its local Columbia, Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland(MD) repair shop. Repair completion is typically 24-hours to 48-hours. Dial A Nerd recovers hard disk data and saves your data. Each hard disk is tested for errors for free. Dial A Nerd makes a fixed disk image, recovers and saves your data for about a 90% of the desktop computer, laptop computer, and netbook PC (s) serviced. Dial A Nerd, a local Columbia, Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland(MD) repair business provides fast PC repair, computer repair, desktop computer repair, laptop computer repair, Wi-Fi network and wired LAN network configuration & repair, Windows XP repair, Windows Vista repair, Windows 7 repair, network server support, and virus & spyware removal services with a warranty. Dial A Nerd works on many PCs including Sony computers, Gateway computers, Hewlett Packard computers, Compaq computers, Toshiba computers, Emachines computers, Clone PCs, and Dell computers in the local Columbia, Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland(MD). The Dial A Nerd mission is delivering the best quality, affordable cost effective PC repair, computer repair, laptop computer repair, desktop computer repair, Wi-Fi network and wired LAN network configuration & repair, Windows XP repair, Windows Vista repair, Windows 7 repair, network server support, virus & spyware removal, home PC repair, printer configuration, PC - desktop computer - laptop computer - netbook computer performance optimization & speed up service. Homes and small businesses with limited IT service and IT support budgets in the local Columbia, Ellicott City, Howard County, Maryland(MD) hire Dial A Nerd.


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DialANerd
7146 Rivers Edge Road Columbia, MD 21044 US
Phone: 410-531-5890 Website: dialanerd.com