100% of the systems that had Spyware on them got fixed by Spybot. No trashing of the OS. I think Spybot is much better than Ad-Aware at removing spyware.

If the system can't be fixed, we can offer to backup the data files and reinstall the OS. We will tell the customer before removing the spyware that some spyware can damage the OS, or that their OS may already be damaged beyond repair before we attempt a fix. Only way to know for sure is to attempt to remove the spyware first. I guess make a list of spyware that damages the OS when removed and only scan first and if that spyware is on the list, tell the customer that the spyware in question cannot be removed without consequences. That a reformat and reinstall may be in order, which will cost more. Then let the customer decide before attempting to remove it or reinstall the OS.

Still I would want to get away from the tech support business and focus on application building, but so many people expirence this problem and the OEMs like Dell do not want to fix it for them. So I see a niche to enter into, unless some other local business does it first. I could train a teenager $7/hr to fix and repair spyware, and back up data files and reformat the hard drive and reinstall the OS. They would carry a CDRW drive on a parallel or USB port to save the data to before the reformat. I could train him or her to check the spyware list first before removing and if spyware that has hooks into the OS are spotted to offer the customer a discount on the reformat and reinstall fee.

I got until 2005 to decide to do this, that is when I should have my degree.