The three most important words in computer repair [View All]

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

1. BACKUP
2. BACKUP
3. BACKUP

Before any repair or restore attempt is made on ANY computer. Failure to assure a current document and email (and proprietary program database) backup can be disastrous. A restore can delete existing profiles- so can an upgrade. (I recently did a Win98SE to Win2K upgrade, and it deleted the existing user profile. Fortunately I'd done a full backup first, and no data was lost. So I can say from experience IT DOES HAPPEN.)

An important note: If you back up a virus-infected computer, your backup may as well be infected. Always back up with a good on-access scanner active. My own technique is to pull the hard drive and put it onto another computer, copying the files to a backup directory on the second computer. This ensures a live file-by-file scan.

Another important note: If you do a System Restore on a computer you've just decontaminated, rolling back to a point before the cleanup can restore the virus to the system. My personal advice is to deactivate System Restore (explaining it to the client and getting their permission). This is an action I know many here will disagree with. Proceed at your own discretion.