FAQ
Due to the many requests regarding service outside my service area, I have prepared this list of Frequently Asked Questions.

Q. Can you work on my MAC?
A. I service only IBM compatible PC's.

Q. What are your rates in the home?
A. normally $60 for the first hour and $35 for each additional hour.

Please see web site for the most current rates.

A. Save $25 if you drop off you machine, all I need is the main computer box. I do not need the monitor, keyboard or mouse.

Q. Will you service my area in Cary or Knightdale?
A. No. I do not bill for my travel time.

For that reason, I restrict my house calls to within 5 miles of my residence. I have a small house-call charge to cover some travel time/expenses.

Q. Virus scans take a long time. Do you charge for the wait time?
A. Yes if I am at your place.
A. No wait-time charge if the PC is in the shop.
    Note: In the shop, I remove your hard drive and put it into a second PC as the second hard drive. It is then scanned with current tools without the impact of slowed down performance caused by your virus or spyware.

Q. Do you recommend I have a Spyware removal tool? See next question too!
A. Yes, but you should be aware that there are many offerings on the web and most of them are spyware themselves, or are not good enough.

VIPRE by Sunbelt Software:
Personally, I now use software from Sunbelt Software. Consumer Report was really impressed with an older product called "Counterspy" which is now updated and more function added.  The new one is combined Antivirus Antispy and is cheaper and faster than the competitors. Sunbelt VIPRE is an acronym describing new scanner techniques providing improved performance. A home-site license is also available where you can put it on all the PC's in your home.

Q. I bought the latest spyware, but it did not help my problem.
A. Many active virus trojans or spyware that are running cannot be killed and removed by anything or anyone. The program will report that it was removed, and it tried, but it can't, and it doesn't detect that condition. That is why a technician has to be involved.

Q. Does Spyware catch all of the ad-ware and spyware?
A. No. There are really smart people creating the ad-ware and spyware. It is "Big Business" who is always trying to defeat the virus scans and spyware scanners to ensure that their infection cannot be removed. They are very good at it.

Q. How do I get the subject spyware removed?
A. It requires a technician and lots of tedious work to find it.  Most shops will not do this. It simply is not business cost effective.  They simply reformat your hard drive and reinstall the original software. Even that takes a lot of time.  You lose your data, your pictures and downloaded music. You better have those things backed up.

Q. Once you clean my machine of viruses and spyware, will it come back.
A. That depends on how you got it. Here are some ways you get it.

  •   Visiting Web pages that exploit Internet Explorer weaknesses.
  •  Web sites intended to deceive you based on searches you do.
  •  Opening suspect email attachments with Microsoft Outlook.
  • Opening things from Social Networking sites like Facebook, and myspace.
  •  WORM (a type of virus) gets in your machine from another machine on your network.  
  • Laptops on a network are the biggest exposure for bringing a "worm" into your home.

Q. Do you have recommendations to guard against Spyware and ad-ware?
A. Use non-Microsoft email and browser. (Firefox)
A. Implement a regular backup procedure.  See suggestions.