You gotta be kidding me....BB says reformatting/reinstalling XP doesn' t remove virii

C

computerpro3

LightningRod
Joined
Mar 29, 2003
Messages
8,702
Well to keep things short a family friend used the Best Buy Geek Squad to remove spyware/virii from their machine, and install windows xp. They did it without asking me first. Boy are they now regretting that :rolleyes: .

So the guy removes all spyware and virii from their windows ME installation of windows, reboots, reformats the drive, and then installs XP. He's now charging them $160 for virii removal plus $99 for windows installation (originally $229, they pricematched me :rolleyes: ).

So I call BB today and say how ridiculous it is to hit them for $160 for spywayre/virii removal and then promptly reformat the drive anyway. It wasted 5 hours and $160. The response the guy gives me is...are you ready for this....

"Reformatting the hard drive and installing windows, while removing some virii and spyware, does not remove all. Therefore both services had to be performed to meet your level of satisfaction that you expected".

Are you kidding me? How the hell did this guy get his job at the geek squad?

So fellow [H]'ers, please give me some evidence that reformatting the entire hard drive gets rid of spyware and virii. Please.
 
Some boot sector viruses have been known to withstand OS reinstalls.

they are still retards. No virus is known to survive the wrath of fdisk and thats what they should have done to begin with.
 
Well, while I myself will say that a format will almost without exception wipe the drive of viruses/spyware, etc., here's a link to a college website that states the sentence.

http://csde.washington.edu/computing/windows/virus.shtml

Reformatting your drive and reinstalling Windows will get rid of any viruses or spyware your PC might have, so as a last resort it's a great way (sometimes the only way) to really start over.
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Compusa > Bestbuy

There easier to bargin with My 2 cents if you cant fix it yourself.
 
If I'm cleaning a drive because of a virus then i........
Delete all partions.
Do a low level/ zero fill format.
Rebuild the partions .
Reformat and install Windozes.
Nothing survives that.

Luck........ :D
u=Tigerbiten.gif
 
LOL, I feell sorry that your friend got "taken for a ride" I hope he learned his lesson.
 
Sounds like a good way for BB to talk customers into paying $160. I have never heard of anything surviving a full disk format... The BB guy probably knew that as well, but why should they tell the customers that?
 
That is my competition! LOL!

With that kind of service they will be out of business again in no time.

(a long time ago they had on site pc service like this but no one went for it and the program was scrapped)

All I would have charged them is $65 for the OS install...
 
Something surviving an OS reinstall is rare but it can happen, however i have never heard of anything surviving a low level format has anyone here??
 
I guess the burden of proof would be on BB to identify the horrific virus that was on the computer and show you on Symantec's site where is specifically states that the virus can survive a re-install and must be removed prior to such an action. Only then would there actions, and price, be justified.

Simply claiming that some viruses can survive a format isn't enough to make virus removal prior to re-install the SOP.

Your friend got screwed and need to demand a partial refund.
 
What idiots. Thats a cheap way of making money. I don't think any virus coiuld survive a reformat; the data (1's and 0's) perhaps but the reformat would make it inactive.
I'd say that guy got his job because of his marketing ability and not his geekiness.
 
Places that call themselves "*Geek*" are usually f**king morons that can't fix sh*t. It's a nice catch phrase to get the computer-illiterate masses in though.
 
I use the data wipe program that we use at work. It's the next best thing besides wiping your drive with a 12-gauge.

you know security these days...
 
As far as spyware and *most* viruses goes, I haven't seen or heard of any that can survive a reformat.

However.......

There are a few companies out there who provide asset recovery services that *claim* their software can survive a format, fdisk, and repartioning.

Quote from Computrace FAQs:

"Q. Can ComputracePlus be detected?
A. On most PCs, the Computrace Agent, which powers ComputracePlus, is silent and invisible and will not be detected by looking at the disk directory or running a utility that examines RAM. On many PCs – depending on their operating system – the Agent cannot be erased off the hard drive by deleting files because it is not visible in file directories. The Agent can survive a hard drive re-format, F-disk command and hard drive re-partitioning. The Agent can be removed by an authorized user with the correct password and installation software."

Since I don't have any experience with the above maybe someone here who has dealt with these asset recovery services can chime in and let us know as a fact that there is a way software can survive through such attempts to remove it.

IMO, a zero wipe will eliminate anything and everything that was on a hard drive.
 
What BB did was "shady" to say the least...

Other than a true low level format I have used the data "Nuke Disk" by the freeware Eraser Application to blow away a volume or disk. This performs data erasure to the Gutman or Dept. of Defense standards. It actually works; we tested it at work using RunTime's GetDataBack app. With a standard fdisk we could still see old data but not after the Nuke Disk function... pretty cool
 
Lets get the order of events,
1.)Man brings in pc to remove spyware and viruses
2.)BestBuy removes spyware and viruses and suggest an OS upgrade
3.)Man accepts
4.)BestBuy installs XP

They did the work for step 2, and then step 4 so it sounds like everything is legit, everything needs to be paid for. But they should have just offered him the XP install/reformat first and said fuck #2, if the guy would have declined the #3 he would have ME and wouldn't have the virus.

Just my 2¢
 
NutSack said:
Lets get the order of events,
1.)Man brings in pc to remove spyware and viruses
2.)BestBuy removes spyware and viruses and suggest an OS upgrade
3.)Man accepts
4.)BestBuy installs XP

They did the work for step 2, and then step 4 so it sounds like everything is legit, everything needs to be paid for. But they should have just offered him the XP install/reformat first and said fuck #2, if the guy would have declined the #3 he would have ME and wouldn't have the virus.

Just my 2¢
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The way I read it was that the install of XP was part of the original agreement not suggested after ME was cleaned up and ready for pickup?

If the man showed up after everything was done and conversations regarding his computer led to the fresh XP install then BB is probably off the hook.

If the man showed up and said install XP and BB had to perform 5 hours of prep work prior to the install of XP then things aren't quite on the level.

hmmm? :)
 
It costs 160$ to run spybot and an anti-virus? You can run spybot and avg at home for free.
 
ZooCow said:
It costs 160$ to run spybot and an anti-virus? You can run spybot and avg at home for free.
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Many people simply do not wish to fix their own computers and pay someone else to do it. Then there are times where the antivirus or adware programs *cannot* remove some instances of malware and require more advanced knowledge or skill to take care of it.

More often I am running into malware that changes NTFS permissions as to deny access to all user and admin accounts only leaving the system with full control. I have also found malware that modifies the ACLs on registry entries thus requireing someone to manually edit the registry, take ownership and delete the offending entries.

As much as the programs help, they are not always able to fix everything.

(definitely not defending BB in any way, but I do bill according to the complexity and time it takes to clean a system.)
 
k1pp3r said:
Something surviving an OS reinstall is rare but it can happen, however i have never heard of anything surviving a low level format has anyone here??
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i had one pesky one that survived one but it didnt survive the hardware one i did after i found the software zero fill didnt remove the virus :D and yes i had access to a hardware low level machine :cool:
 
j4zzee said:
The way I read it was that the install of XP was part of the original agreement not suggested after ME was cleaned up and ready for pickup?
If the man showed up and said install XP and BB had to perform 5 hours of prep work prior to the install of XP then things aren't quite on the level.

hmmm? :)
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bingo. it was part of original agreement. the guy knew full well that he was going to install xp while he was removing spywyare/virii
 
Friends don't let friends have their PCs fixed by BB. Your paying a ridiculous amount of money for those idiots to mangle the PC.
 
djnes said:
Friends don't let friends have their PCs fixed by BB. Your paying a ridiculous amount of money for those idiots to mangle the PC.
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AMEN.
 
geekLG.jpg

a pic from their website..
"You can readily identify our Geek Squad Agents by their ID badges, clip-on ties and black-and-white Beetles."

Greetings Miss, I am Agent X here to supress your spyware infestation... stand back 'cause this could get ugly :eek:
 
i know of an instance where reformatting, reflashing, and removing the hard drive altogether didnt do nuffin.

I was given a dell optiplex G1, 400mhz PII with a 4.3GB hard drive. It would restart constantly and screw up the hard drive left and right after fdisk and reformatting. I put the hard drive in a different computer and am still using it without a problem to this day.

I flashed the bios with a floppy from dell.com, and that seemed to work for awhile. I booted dos off a floppy disk, and it would still restart and gay things up, And i know for sure there were not any hardware flaws (other than a fubar'ed bios)
 
bob said:
i know of an instance where reformatting, reflashing, and removing the hard drive altogether didnt do nuffin.

I was given a dell optiplex G1, 400mhz PII with a 4.3GB hard drive. It would restart constantly and screw up the hard drive left and right after fdisk and reformatting. I put the hard drive in a different computer and am still using it without a problem to this day.

I flashed the bios with a floppy from dell.com, and that seemed to work for awhile. I booted dos off a floppy disk, and it would still restart and gay things up, And i know for sure there were not any hardware flaws (other than a fubar'ed bios)
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What does that have to do with "claimed" unremovable spyware or virii from a format?
 
bob said:
i know of an instance where reformatting, reflashing, and removing the hard drive altogether didnt do nuffin.

I was given a dell optiplex G1, 400mhz PII with a 4.3GB hard drive. It would restart constantly and screw up the hard drive left and right after fdisk and reformatting. I put the hard drive in a different computer and am still using it without a problem to this day.

I flashed the bios with a floppy from dell.com, and that seemed to work for awhile. I booted dos off a floppy disk, and it would still restart and gay things up, And i know for sure there were not any hardware flaws (other than a fubar'ed bios)
Click to expand...

And how do you know there were not any hardware flaws? Sounds to me like there are some major hardware flaws. If you removed the hard disk, there's not really anywhere for a virus to hide. I know there are viri that can screw with the BIOS, but I don't know if it's bossible for a virus to acutally live in the BIOS. There was probably a flaky chip or power supply on the unit.
 
Doesn't anyone remember the right way to Fdisk a drive?

0. Boot with a DOS system floppy you know to be 100% clean.
1. Remove all hard drive partitions including all non-DOS partitions in Fdisk.
2. Reboot.
3. Fdisk /MBR <--- you need to do this to kill boot sector viruses. It kills all of them, no exceptions, including stuff like the CompuTrace program mentioned above.
4. Reboot.
5. Fdisk to create new partitions.

Once you kill the Master Boot Record in step 3, there are no viruses capable of activating left on your machine.

- Qualm
 
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