Person at work brought me this

[NETWizz]

She has a personal laptop that she brought in. After explaining we don't work on personal computers, she begged the guys to take a look, which they refused. <== Good, they are learning!

Next she begged me because I set the policy that we don't work on any personal computers at work or during working hours...

I basically said, "Yes, it's Ad-ware/spyware/malware... and no, we won't fix it, but whatever you do don't pay for the software because it is a scam."


Here was the why she brought it to us:


Thinks to self...

Windows registries don't have:
HKEY_CLASSES (they have HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT)
HKEY_ROOT (again no such thing)
HKEY_SYS_CORE (Wow, this is really original)
HD_SYSTEM (This isn't even an HKEY, lol)


I told her it is fake. She was like... "how do you know for sure?" I said, "those don't exist." She was like, "are you sure?"

I opened regedit and handed it to her... asked her if she sees any of them.

[Cambridge PC Support]

"oh I'll get the guys at work to take a look, it'll only take them a few minutes to fix it"

[NETWizz]

Originally Posted by Cambridge PC Support

"oh I'll get the guys at work to take a look, it'll only take them a few minutes to fix it"

I am sure if she was a little bit younger and cuter, it might have worked for her, too.

[bertie40]

I'm either dense or missing something, (probably both), but I don't "get" this thread ?
Regards


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ..... Whist proclaiming the machine fixed, grabbing the cash and running like hell.

[dbdawn]

Originally Posted by bertie40

I'm either dense or missing something, (probably both), but I don't "get" this thread ?

From the first post.

Originally Posted by NETWizz

Thinks to self...

Windows registries don't have:
HKEY_CLASSES (they have HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT)
HKEY_ROOT (again no such thing)
HKEY_SYS_CORE (Wow, this is really original)
HD_SYSTEM (This isn't even an HKEY, lol)


I told her it is fake. She was like... "how do you know for sure?" I said, "those don't exist." She was like, "are you sure?"

I opened regedit and handed it to her... asked her if she sees any of them.
Attached Thumbnails

[iisjman07]

Originally Posted by bertie40

I'm either dense or missing something, (probably both), but I don't "get" this thread ?
Regards

The rouge doesn't make sense; it refers to registry hives that don't exist, which is how this technician knew it was a fake antivirus/rouge when the client didn't.

[jogold]

Originally Posted by Cambridge PC Support

"oh I'll get the guys at work to take a look, it'll only take them a few minutes to fix it"

Argue with a USER?
I think that it's faster to load Autoruns kill the generator and show her to an online cleanup site.

[Mr.Mike]

Originally Posted by bertie40

I'm either dense or missing something, (probably both), but I don't "get" this thread ?
Regards

The reason you don't "get" this thread is probably because it doesn't ask any questions and should have been placed outside of "Tech-to-Tech" Computer Help.

[parker.casey]

Originally Posted by NETWizz

She has a personal laptop that she brought in. After explaining we don't work on personal computers, she begged the guys to take a look, which they refused. <== Good, they are learning!

Next she begged me because I set the policy that we don't work on any personal computers at work or during working hours...

I basically said, "Yes, it's Ad-ware/spyware/malware... and no, we won't fix it, but whatever you do don't pay for the software because it is a scam."


Here was the why she brought it to us:


Thinks to self...

Windows registries don't have:
HKEY_CLASSES (they have HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT)
HKEY_ROOT (again no such thing)
HKEY_SYS_CORE (Wow, this is really original)
HD_SYSTEM (This isn't even an HKEY, lol)


I told her it is fake. She was like... "how do you know for sure?" I said, "those don't exist." She was like, "are you sure?"

I opened regedit and handed it to her... asked her if she sees any of them.

I'm curious ... isn't it shooting yourself in the foot to turn away customers like that?

[NETWizz]

Originally Posted by parker.casey

I'm curious ... isn't it shooting yourself in the foot to turn away customers like that?

No. I am not paid by my work to work on people's personal computers. I don't even really like doing that kind of work to be honest because it is time consuming and troublesome for the pay. I generally only take consulting jobs when I do work on the side and charge around $1,000 to $3,000 a day (depending on if it is me or me and a friend) or $3,000 to $8,000 flat rate for a small project that takes a couple days.

Either way a computer like this it is considerably more time consuming than working on a computer at work, and it pays less per unit time. What are they really going to offer to pay $60? It is a small drop in the bucket for the things that can go wrong while I am working on it. I.e. What if the system has problems AFTER I remove it? I get to fix it on MY time. If it takes half a day, that's lost time I could have made $500 to $1,000 doing something else, so there is a high implicit cost of taking a job like fixing a computer for me. Not to mention the whole, "We're friends/co-workers I want a discount" fluff on me! Forget it; I don't want to take a job like that at the terms they are going to want to pay. The work is easier and less stressful than the consulting work I do, but it can be equally time-consuming.

There ARE some people I will work for and do FAVOR for them. There are TWO types of people. Those I know who WILL respect my conditions (i.e. You only EVER get ONE FAVOR is this the one you want?). If I know they are the type that will bug me over and over for more favors, I will charged $60 flat (regardless of how much work the favor is) simply because it is just enough to stop them from approaching me for more and more favors. I then throw the money in a drawer in my nightstand and forget about it.