That annoying "friend" who always needs computer help

A friend of mine (actually more of an acquaintance) just text messaged me saying he's got spyware or a virus on his computer again. The funny thing is that I believe this will be the 5th or 6th time I've cleaned his computer. The last time was just a couple of months ago.

I've put antivirus and antispyware software on his computer, but somehow (porn, torrents?) he still manages to get his computer totally screwed over within a short amount of time.

If I weren't such a nice guy I'd just tell him, "No, sorry I'm not helping you any more."

Just wondering if any of you have had similar experiences.

This person sounds like a candidate for one of the two options below:

1. An Acronis image to simlpy restore his computer when he messes it up.

2. A virtual machine setup for surfing his questionable sites and/or clicking on those e-mails for discount pharmaceuticals. Again, the VM can be wiped and restored when it gets messed up, and it won't affect the host OS.

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Just wondering if any of you have had similar experiences.

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Yup. I'd say nearly everyone who I've ever helped with a computer once has come back multiple times for more. Don't usually mind when it's family but otherwise it's an imposition. Worse is when someone you don't know calls or emails saying that a mutual friend suggested you could help. That's when I generally say no.. politely but no.

Bare minimum, I get a nice BBQ Rib dinner for helping anyone;) Or maybe a 12 pack/ case of my favorite cold beverage.

Have an ex-friend that used to leave gut renching/mad as heck voice mails telling me about how much he hates computers and that he needs me to fix his again. The messages were "almost" like he was cussing ME out...It took a while to convince him to stop doing that...Nuttin worse then coming home from work and listening to his rants.

I don't mind helping friends/family and am glad they think me skilled enough to help. What drives me crazy though is when people throw a generic problem at me as if I'm expected to do something:

"My computer doesn't work"

...and then don't take the most basic steps to even attempt to fix it. the answer to "did you search for the solution?" or "did you do a reboot?" is all too often "NO" ! :mad:

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Originally Posted by NickC

the answer to ... "did you do a reboot?" is all too often "NO" ! :mad:

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Right? Especially since a simple reboot often solves the problem. And, not only with computers but with routers, firewalls, copiers, modems, scanners, fax-machines, cellphones (remove/replace battery), etc., etc., etc.

One of my nicknames is "Bubba Reboot". :)

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jdc2000
1. An Acronis image to simlpy restore his computer when he messes it up.

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If I set up an image and have to restore it, wouldn't he lose anything on the computer after the point that the image was set up?

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jdc2000
2. A virtual machine setup for surfing his questionable sites and/or clicking on those e-mails for discount pharmaceuticals. Again, the VM can be wiped and restored when it gets messed up, and it won't affect the host OS.

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Never done that before, I'll look into it.

He claims he doesn't go to any nefarious sites or download p2p files, but I just don't see how he gets infected so often.

I managed to talk him through downloading and running Antimalware, which seems to have gotten rid of his most recent bug. I'm crossing my fingers that he can go for more than 6 months this time.

How many of you know of someone who bought a new computer and trashed their old one (sometimes only a few months old) because they got a virus or spyware and they assumed the computer was toast? It amazes me how many people don't understand the difference between hardware and software.

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It amazes me how many people don't understand the difference between hardware and software.

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And they all are part of my family. :D I have this same problem here within family that you and others have with fixing their computers. I, also, have a friend that lives in VA that anytime there is something goes wrong with his computer, he calls and wants me to fix it. Once he tried to get me to help him fix a friend of his' computer. I told him if I did that, I'd have to charge that person, that I wasn't into fixing unknown people's computers for free. He hasn't asked that question since that time.

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If I set up an image and have to restore it, wouldn't he lose anything on the computer after the point that the image was set up?

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Yes, you/he has to make regular backups.

As fink mentioned, and Acronis restore would would wipe out any unbacked up files. However, a regular backup routine seems unlikely to be followed by the person. The VM solution would be better. I assume he is running a firewall. If he is not using a router, he should be.

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How many of you know of someone who bought a new computer and trashed their old one (sometimes only a few months old) because they got a virus or spyware and they assumed the computer was toast? It amazes me how many people don't understand the difference between hardware and software.

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on the upside you can get alot of free hardware upgrades. I get 3-4 machines a year that are "junk" .

What about the 'fix it over the phone'.. click this...go here...etc.

Yeah, that's extremely difficult which is why it's very helpful to use programs like http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx or symantec's PCanywhere.

Thanks fink I will give it a go.

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Yes, you/he has to make regular backups.

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How good would you say the stock windows back-up function is?

System restore is better than nothing but it pales in comparison to programs like Trueimage that back up the entire drive instead of just system files. Windows 7 can make disk images but it doesn't allow you to extract individual or groups of files or folders and it's a bit of a pain to get it to keep more than one backup at a time... each one overwrites the previous by default.

Is there an open-source program that uses Windows' built-in Remote Desktop Connection, or something similar, that would allow you to easily connect to someone's computer and work on it over the net?

I've used Remote Desktop Connection before, but explaining to someone what to do over the phone to give me access is painful, especially if their computer is slow or has some really bad spyware.

http://www.teamviewer.com/download/index.aspx is good...The person on the other end downloads an EXE file to their desktop and double clicks on it....But if their pc is slow - there isn't much you do to speed that up escept to sit in front of it;)

I've never really liked using Remote Desktop under those circumstances because I've always found it helpful for the helpee to see what I'm doing to their computer so they can learn from the experience.