Techsuite slowness

[xtra pc]

I tried using the new techsuite from repairtech yesterday on a client's laptop. I ran a malware removal procedure consisting of several tools including roguekiller, zemana and reason core. I had already been over this laptop manually and was quite sure it was clean but I was curious to see if the techsuite tools could find something I missed. Turns out I was right, not to brag, but the scans all came back with 0 hits (although that itself is kind of strange, not even a malware remnant or an orphaned registry entry? Though maybe zemana and reason core don't consider those files important). The problem was the time it took to run the procedure. I'm quite sure if I hadn't skipped running some of the less important tools, the procedure would still be running. During roguekiller I could literally read each file it was scanning. I'm not sure how long it actually took to run, but it was definitely several hours. Has anyone else experienced this? If this happens to be a common occurrence, I can't imagine techsuite being very useful to anyone. At least not the malware removal procedure anyway. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong?

 

[nlinecomputers]

Attn: @repairtechinc

How healthy is the PC? What are the specs? POS computer is not going to run fast. PC with bad sectors isn't going to run fast.

 

[xtra pc]

The laptop is an Asus with AMD E450, 4GB, 500GB, Win 8.1. You're right the E450 is not a speed demon, however the laptop appears to be clean, seems to run normally and is not super slow, as you would expect in an infected system or one with a failing hard drive (hitachi 500gb, crystaldiskinfo shows health as good). This was the condition the laptop was in when I began running techsuite. It has Panda Cloud Antivirus, which I disabled before running the procedure. Do you think this could have some adverse effect?

 

[nlinecomputers]

I think running a high-end scan on that POS system is going to take a LONG time. I can't see running Win 8 with 4GB of Ram and an AMD CPU is going to be called anything but slow doing anything other than basic web browsing.

 

[xtra pc]

That makes sense. Bu does this mean that to use Techsuite effectively, the machine should meet certain specifications? That doesn't sound very useful to me.

 

[repairtechinc]

Hey there - So there are some speed improvements that we will release in the next two versions. The condition of the PC certainly is a factor though, on my laptop it runs real fast However, if a tool is running for more than an hour, with the exception of McAfee Stinger (which takes multiple hours), it may be related to an existing bug which we're fixing in an upcoming release. You can use the "Skip" button if you suspect that is happening. It only effects certain Windows 10 computers, with certain apps (mostly cleanup tools).

Ian

 

[repairtechinc]

I should also mention that Reason Core Security is scanning the computer with 68 malware engines, so it can take a minute for larger hard drives.

I could literally read each file it was scanning. I'm not sure how long it actually took to run

So we only update the status at most once per second, so even it's probably scanning more files than that, but you only see 1 filename per second.

Ian

 

[repairtechinc]

I'd also want to set some expectations. If you want to run RogueKiller, Zemana, and Reason, it's going to take a while. These are full system scans, so I'd be curious to know why you'd think it would take less time than a couple hours.

Ian

 

[nlinecomputers]

That makes sense. Bu does this mean that to use Techsuite effectively, the machine should meet certain specifications? That doesn't sound very useful to me.

Neither does a computer that can't effectively run windows. You are driving a two door Spec and expecting it to have the horsepower to haul a yacht without issues. It isn't a fair test. Try this on a real computer.

 

[GTP]

Neither does a computer that can't effectively run windows. You are driving a two door Spec and expecting it to have the horsepower to haul a yacht without issues. It isn't a fair test. Try this on a real computer.

But, with respect, (sticking with your automotive analagies) not everyone can afford a "Porsche" some people can only afford a "Datsun" and they can become infected as well as any other.
For a tool to be truly "useful" it should run on the greatest range of hardware. if not then It then falls back on the software designer/creator to design it to run effectively on ALL hardware unless there is some disclaimer or it's made clear that it can't/doesn't/won't run on this or that - especially a "Tech Tool" that is targeted at "Repair Tech's" specifically. (And in this price range)

does this mean that to use Techsuite effectively, the machine should meet certain specifications? That doesn't sound very useful to me.

I agree. Many of my clients own very low specced devices. No-one's fault - just the way it is.
Does this mean I should just dump them because their computer is slow?
Do I just say to them "I can't scan your device because it's too slow?"
Knowing this fact now would alter my descision to go with the tool, as I could only use it on about 20~30% of my clients computers.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Ever been in a good auto repair shop? They have multiple diagnostic computers to service many brands of cars from the Chevys to the BMWs. It's the cost of doing business and if you don't have enough people that bring in BMWs then you don't buy that diagnostic computer and they go elsewhere.

For Windows, your diagnostic tool has to run on the hardware they supply. Just like any other program does. Photoshop is not gonna run well on that rig either. So does that mean that Photoshop is a bad program?

Now you know why I often just nuke and pave. The time it would take to try and run a stand alone scanner let alone an all in one tool often isn't practical on the hardware provided.

 

[GTP]

Sure, I see your point, but Photoshop - is by design - for/needs more powerful hardware and says so on the packaging.
Its also targeted at people who want a more powerful editor.
The "tech tool" here is targeted at people who will use it on a very large array of hardware and want a more powerful diagnostic tool.
If this were not the case then it instantly precludes a huge part of it's intended audience and would not be a viable tool for purchase.
TCO would then come into play.

Now you know why I often just nuke and pave. The time it would take to try and run a stand alone scanner let alone an all in one tool often isn't practical on the hardware provided.

Agreed. The times I've run tools on slow devices while I think to myself I could just N & P and move on.
But, unfortunately, not all clients are so amiable to a complete wipe!

 

[Porthos]

Agreed. The times I've run tools on slow devices while I think to myself I could just N & P and move on.
But, unfortunately, not all clients are so amiable to a complete wipe!

For me its how you approach them. If I get a computer (Win 10) that has never had a clean install N&P is my first option. My price reflects a savings. I look at any job and gauge my flat rate (in shop) on the time it looks like it will take to complete. Those of you who keep updated system images of 10 will understand.

 

[xtra pc]

so I'd be curious to know why you'd think it would take less time than a couple hours

To answer your question, I think the saying "time is money" applies here. The faster I can run scans on a machine (and get good results), the more jobs I can complete over a period of time, the more money I can make. So for a tool to be considered useful and something I would use on a daily basis, it has to be as fast as possible and provide the best results possible, that's the challenge. I understand that Reason Core, Zemana and RogueKiller are performing full scans and those take time, but frankly that is one of the reasons why many of us likely won't end up using Techsuite as one of our go-to tools, unless of course you find a way to remedy this. I should also mention that I recall trying Zemana some years ago, but ended up dumping it because it was way too slow. It's appears now that speed was never a part of their development plan. By the way, thanks to everyone who is commenting on this thread. Your comments have been very helpful and interesting.

 

[allanc]

I tried using the new techsuite from repairtech yesterday on a client's laptop. I ran a malware removal procedure consisting of several tools including roguekiller, zemana and reason core. I had already been over this laptop manually and was quite sure it was clean but I was curious to see if the techsuite tools could find something I missed. Turns out I was right, not to brag, but the scans all came back with 0 hits (although that itself is kind of strange, not even a malware remnant or an orphaned registry entry? Though maybe zemana and reason core don't consider those files important). The problem was the time it took to run the procedure. I'm quite sure if I hadn't skipped running some of the less important tools, the procedure would still be running. During roguekiller I could literally read each file it was scanning. I'm not sure how long it actually took to run, but it was definitely several hours. Has anyone else experienced this? If this happens to be a common occurrence, I can't imagine techsuite being very useful to anyone. At least not the malware removal procedure anyway. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong?

Just curious as to how much of the 'long time' is actually due to TechSuite?
For example, have you tried comparing the time that a standalone version of RogueKiller required versus RogueKiller (and no other apps configured) running from within TechSuite?

 

[Your PCMD]

I think running a high-end scan on that POS system

Care to elaborate on the POS part?

 

[Porthos]

Care to elaborate on the POS part?

He is not referring to point of sale.

 

[Your PCMD]

He is not referring to point of sale.

Thats what I thought.

 

[nlinecomputers]

No comment.

 

[repairtechinc]

Hey all! Late last night we made a pretty big breakthrough on speed for TechSuite. Hoping to release an update today for that. Probably going to have a couple customers test first, and then releases. @xtra pc do you want to try it out, before we release it?

Ian