Helping my son earn cash repairing computers (1 Viewer)

[Mad Cow]

So my 14 year old wants to be able to earn money, and one thing I know fairly well is computers. I can do all hardware and most software, so my plan is to train him and help him to get him going.

The basics would be hardware replacements, upgrades, diagnostics and well as virus scans and removal.

Here is my question - what are your go-to virus cleaning programs? I keep MS Security Essentials on all of my systems, and use Spybot Search and Destroy in Safe Mode when needed. What else should I be having him learn to be sure he is rounded out on that?

 

[Mad Cow]

Ad-Aware would also be on the list, of course.

 

[captain_amazing]

MS Security Essentials is terrible. And I can't remember the last time I've seen Spybot.

Go MalwareBytes. Remember too that most folks can get a full fledged suite through their ISP. Many people aren't aware of that.

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Malwarebytes for scanning. Security Essentials for realtime.

I'd also recommend him learning how to take and restore an image of a computer. Fixing peoples computers might be the worst job in the world. Being able to restore it to the exact state before he "broke it"... Cause anything that goes wrong with the computer for about a year after he touches it is his fault.

 

[StrikeS2k]

I use Avast. It's free and IMO the least bloatware filled antivirus out there. Nice if you're working on someone's computer to be able to give them a good antivirus for free.

 

[Ignoramus]

MS Security Essentials is terrible

What is so bad about it?

 

[Fennis]

I use MSE.

He should know HijackThis.

I bought and installed hitman pro for my Mom. Best $19 I have ever spent. I have her use in combination with MSE.

 

[captain_amazing]

MS Security Essentials is terrible

What is so bad about it?

It's the baseline by which all other AVs base their performance on. It's literally the bottom of the barrel. But, it certainly is better than nothing.

 

[Guest]

MS Security Essentials is terrible

What is so bad about it?

I thinks it's ok for experienced computer/internet users that know what not to click on or "accept". I don't think it's good for computer illiterates.

 

[NewlyRetired]

So my 14 year old wants to be able to earn money, and one thing I know fairly well is computers. I can do all hardware and most software, so my plan is to train him and help him to get him going.

The basics would be hardware replacements, upgrades, diagnostics and well as virus scans and removal.

Here is my question - what are your go-to virus cleaning programs? I keep MS Security Essentials on all of my systems, and use Spybot Search and Destroy in Safe Mode when needed. What else should I be having him learn to be sure he is rounded out on that?

Madcow, take some time to look at the following site. This forum is full of experts who help people fix their machines for free and use some fantastic tools. I have used them to fix numerous machines in my extended familiy, ranging from simple ad pop ups to deeply ingrained viruses.

Take a look at some of the FAQ's and some of the threads to give you a feel for the tools

http://forums.whatthetech.com/index.php?showforum=27

 

[Ignoramus]

MS Security Essentials is terrible

What is so bad about it?

I thinks it's ok for experienced computer/internet users that know what not to click on or "accept". I don't think it's good for computer illiterates.

Yeah, I read somewhere that most high-tech computer users just use MSE and otherwise just aren't stupid when opening strange files, downloading weird stuff, etc. They don't use any "anti-virus" branded programs at all as they end up causing more harm than good. MSE and common sense are better than anything else available.

Gosh, that does sound terrible.

 

[Politician Spock]

Get some hardware that can run VMware ESX and let him start playing with virtualization. He'll make 100% more in his lifetime than the path your setting him on. Probably even more.

 

[Mad Cow]

Thanks for the help. As for setting him on a path, he is 14 yrs old wanting fun money. He is planning on following Dad at this point and taking over my practice someday, I believe.

 

[Parmcat]

I own a computer Biz, and I do this, in this order, to ever computer that come in:

1- Download and run CCleaner, to remove all temp files, and all dead registry items.

2- Download and run Malwarebytes

I also use MSE on most of my machines

For machines that have tricky or bad infections, or rootkit type viruses, I will also use Spybot, TDSS, or the GeekSquad total repair disk, among other programs

Parm

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Couple other great tools: BartPE and Ultimate Boot Disc

 

[jamil]

Quick story, one of my friends used to do this a few years back while we were in college. He had regulars and was making pretty good money for what he was having to do (one of the jobs was the windows dock bar was at the top of the screen and they couldn't get it back to the bottom). One of his regulars was this older (50's-60's) married white guy. He goes over there to fix his computer while the guy is drinking wine (forgot if he told me if the the old dude was married or not). After about an hour, he's done and the guy has a couple glasses of wine in him, goes up to my friend and asks him, "So, can I suck your ####?" So your son can look forward to that.

 

[captain_amazing]

Couple other great tools: BartPE and Ultimate Boot Disc

UBD is a lifesaver, for sure. Resurrected a pretty badly messed up laptop with that one. Didn't respond to any other method, but the UBCD got in there.

Great for forgotten password or users that were never setup as admins and don't know the admin password. You can reset password for any account on XP, Vista, and 7. Not sure for 8, though. used it many times.

 

[LAUNCH]

http://gegeek.com/documents/85BB69B2F05486B9332CEA18B8D6E4BE690ADA38.html

A complete collection of over 300 Portable Freeware Tech Related
programs, all accessible from one Menu Launcher Utility

 

[QuizGuy66]

Kinda was hoping OP was gonna give us tales him running around and smashing computers so his son could fix 'em.

-QG

 

[Fishboy]

Couple other great tools: BartPE and Ultimate Boot Disc

UBD is a lifesaver, for sure. Resurrected a pretty badly messed up laptop with that one. Didn't respond to any other method, but the UBCD got in there.

Great for forgotten password or users that were never setup as admins and don't know the admin password. You can reset password for any account on XP, Vista, and 7. Not sure for 8, though. used it many times.

I've got a friend who just inherited a laptop that is Windows password protected and asked me to help him out. Previous owner has actually passed away, so asking won't do us any good.

He lives a couple hours away and I won't see the laptop for a couple of weeks, so assuming it's either XP or 7

What tool on UBD am i looking for to get me in? .

 

[Rustoleum]

Couple other great tools: BartPE and Ultimate Boot Disc

UBD is a lifesaver, for sure. Resurrected a pretty badly messed up laptop with that one. Didn't respond to any other method, but the UBCD got in there.

Great for forgotten password or users that were never setup as admins and don't know the admin password. You can reset password for any account on XP, Vista, and 7. Not sure for 8, though. used it many times.

I've got a friend who just inherited a laptop that is Windows password protected and asked me to help him out. Previous owner has actually passed away, so asking won't do us any good. He lives a couple hours away and I won't see the laptop for a couple of weeks, so assuming it's either XP or 7

What tool on UBD am i looking for to get me in? .

Personally, I would see if it has a restore partition and just restore it to factory defaults. If you can't do that without bumping up against the password issue, if it is a 7, and the authenticity sticker is on it and legible, you can download the .iso of the version of 7 you need, burn it to DVD or make a bootable USB drive and reinstall clean using the product key on the sticker to re activate Windows.

 

[Fishboy]

Couple other great tools: BartPE and Ultimate Boot Disc

UBD is a lifesaver, for sure. Resurrected a pretty badly messed up laptop with that one. Didn't respond to any other method, but the UBCD got in there.

Great for forgotten password or users that were never setup as admins and don't know the admin password. You can reset password for any account on XP, Vista, and 7. Not sure for 8, though. used it many times.

I've got a friend who just inherited a laptop that is Windows password protected and asked me to help him out. Previous owner has actually passed away, so asking won't do us any good. He lives a couple hours away and I won't see the laptop for a couple of weeks, so assuming it's either XP or 7

What tool on UBD am i looking for to get me in? .

Personally, I would see if it has a restore partition and just restore it to factory defaults. If you can't do that without bumping up against the password issue, if it is a 7, and the authenticity sticker is on it and legible, you can download the .iso of the version of 7 you need, burn it to DVD or make a bootable USB drive and reinstall clean using the product key on the sticker to re activate Windows.

Issue is there some contracts or documents on there that they need recovered. Dont know the whole backstory, but these guys are rural farmers that know zero about computers and expect me to just magically type in the password.

Would simply pulling the hard drive and dropping it in a SATA case let me view the files like a USB thumb drive? I know I've recovered the data off of my nieces laptop this way, but she didn't have any password protections.

 

[Frostillicus]

combofix

 

[Cliff Clavin]

Couple other great tools: BartPE and Ultimate Boot Disc

UBD is a lifesaver, for sure. Resurrected a pretty badly messed up laptop with that one. Didn't respond to any other method, but the UBCD got in there.

Great for forgotten password or users that were never setup as admins and don't know the admin password. You can reset password for any account on XP, Vista, and 7. Not sure for 8, though. used it many times.

I've got a friend who just inherited a laptop that is Windows password protected and asked me to help him out. Previous owner has actually passed away, so asking won't do us any good.He lives a couple hours away and I won't see the laptop for a couple of weeks, so assuming it's either XP or 7

What tool on UBD am i looking for to get me in? .

Personally, I would see if it has a restore partition and just restore it to factory defaults. If you can't do that without bumping up against the password issue, if it is a 7, and the authenticity sticker is on it and legible, you can download the .iso of the version of 7 you need, burn it to DVD or make a bootable USB drive and reinstall clean using the product key on the sticker to re activate Windows.

Issue is there some contracts or documents on there that they need recovered. Dont know the whole backstory, but these guys are rural farmers that know zero about computers and expect me to just magically type in the password.

Would simply pulling the hard drive and dropping it in a SATA case let me view the files like a USB thumb drive? I know I've recovered the data off of my nieces laptop this way, but she didn't have any password protections.

In Ultimate Boot Disc it is called 'Offline NT Password and Registry Editor'. Much easier than pulling a drive and trying to access the files.

Link 1

Link 2

 

[The Big Guy]

I would be more concerned for madcow's son and what he will discover on the corrupted computers. This will not be run of the mill pornography, this will be more of the real dark stuff.

 

[Guest]

Couple other great tools: BartPE and Ultimate Boot Disc

UBD is a lifesaver, for sure. Resurrected a pretty badly messed up laptop with that one. Didn't respond to any other method, but the UBCD got in there.

Great for forgotten password or users that were never setup as admins and don't know the admin password. You can reset password for any account on XP, Vista, and 7. Not sure for 8, though. used it many times.

I've got a friend who just inherited a laptop that is Windows password protected and asked me to help him out. Previous owner has actually passed away, so asking won't do us any good.He lives a couple hours away and I won't see the laptop for a couple of weeks, so assuming it's either XP or 7

What tool on UBD am i looking for to get me in? .

Personally, I would see if it has a restore partition and just restore it to factory defaults. If you can't do that without bumping up against the password issue, if it is a 7, and the authenticity sticker is on it and legible, you can download the .iso of the version of 7 you need, burn it to DVD or make a bootable USB drive and reinstall clean using the product key on the sticker to re activate Windows.

Issue is there some contracts or documents on there that they need recovered. Dont know the whole backstory, but these guys are rural farmers that know zero about computers and expect me to just magically type in the password.

Would simply pulling the hard drive and dropping it in a SATA case let me view the files like a USB thumb drive? I know I've recovered the data off of my nieces laptop this way, but she didn't have any password protections.

In Ultimate Boot Disc it is called 'Offline NT Password and Registry Editor'. Much easier than pulling a drive and trying to access the files.

Link 1

Link 2

Agree. I have used password reset standalone CDs. They work well.

If you do want to take the drive out, get one of these instead of an enclosure. Cheaper and quicker.

 

[T Bell]

Make sure to post the most, um, interesting pics that you recover from those hard drives.