Essential toolkit?

Post #302,031 by Silverlock 1/7/09 8:13:41 AM Reply	Essential toolkit? I need some advice. I'm going to put out some flyers advertising my services for home computer assistance. This isn't something I'm all that thrilled about but I'm not working and I need the cash after draining my savings and now having to dip into my retirement funds. What would you all advise as essential to take with you on a visit to a home user in the area of virus removal/spyware cleanup? I've got a feeling those areas will be kind of popular. Any advice on good security products would be nice. I like AVG and I detest Norton. I think I've got the hardware toolkit covered but maybe there are some Compaq-like proprietary systems still out there that need odd screwdrivers, etc. General advice about this would be welcome as I haven't worked outside a corporate environment in years. I'm not even sure on what to charge. I'm thinking $50 flat rate for anything up to an hour and anything over that charge some reasonable rate. $40/hr in 15 minute increments? Here's the text of the flyer I'm putting out. Advice on that would also be a boon. Home Computer Assistance Repair Upgrades Maintenance Hardware/Software Installation Virus/Spyware Removal Expert Advice/Tutoring Security Best Practices Home Networking Fifteen years experience in corporate technical support at all levels from standalone systems to global networks. Technical users without the time to do it yourself, let me help. Non-technical users at a loss on where to turn, let me help. $xx per hour* Day/evening availability Limited travel area Prepaid remote/phone support available *rate negotiable depending on availability/quality of fresh baked cookies
Post #302,032 by boxley 1/7/09 8:32:37 AM Reply	Dont be too cheap made that mistake when I started out years ago. Find out what others charge for the same service then bill accordingly. Dunno about how others feel but I had a "If I cant fix it, no charge to the customer" Policy. Didnt cost me much but got me a solid rep fast. Havnt done desktop in a while so dont have the skinny on the best tools for that. Sorry to hear you are not working, hope this works out for you thanx, bill
Post #302,035 by folkert 1/7/09 9:29:48 AM 1/7/09 10:33:34 AM Reply	Don't be cheap. Best Buy charge $200 for Virus/Trojan/Malware scrubbing with another $100 added on if an RRR is needed, with no backing up of stuff. Backups also cost $75+ depending on time required etc... The guy down the street() charges $75/hr and YOU bring it to him. He is swamped. He always gives the people a Linux LiveCD upon completion. Tells them if they have to have Internet or get a file and something happens again, pop that CD and boot from it. First call on that CD, up to 30 minutes is free. Always leave a Linux LiveCD with the customer. I suggest you choose a Distro and get to know it. Also the usual gamut of programs, SpyBot,AVG...etc is something you will need on a CD. Edit: == Guy has a SMALL shop on the corner on a busy, but not developed intersection. Cheap rent and lotsa money coming his way. Its a good thing. Edited by folkert Jan. 7, 2009, 10:33:34 AM EST Expand All History
Post #302,036 by a6l6e6x 1/7/09 9:49:21 AM Reply	Amen to that! I knew a guy that did that kind of stuff a few years go that charged $60/hr. But, that was a while ago. So, $75-$80/hr seems very reasonable. Depending on the area you want to cover, you may also need to have a rate for travel time. Alex
Post #302,158 by Silverlock 1/10/09 9:50:24 AM Reply	Linux distro Any suggestion as to a distro with a gentle learning curve? I've got a couple extra systems around that I could throw stuff on and play with. On the other hand, perhaps I should stick with whatever distro is most popular as that will probably be what I end up seeing out in the field should I end up supporting Linux also.
Post #302,159 by folkert 1/10/09 10:12:18 AM Reply	Ubuntu or Fedora Core Personally, I'd use Debian, but that doesn;t work for most everyone.
Post #302,160 by Another Scott 1/10/09 10:15:03 AM Reply	Lots of good choices these days. A Debian-based distribution is probably the best choice, IMO. The ubuntus have lots of good points, but they don't install proprietary things like Flash by default. (It's relatively easy to do by selecting the appropriate repositories, https://help.ubuntu....RestrictedFormats .) Linux Mint is an offshoot of Ubuntu which has a lot of fans: http://www.linuxmint.com/about.php It also doesn't include proprietary drivers, though. If you don't want to have to worry about customization, then OpenSUSE and others are good choices, but they aren't Debian-based. Puppy Linux has lots of fans, too, it's very compact. But the GUI may be a little too child-like: http://www.puppylinux.org/home/overview Popularity-wise, you're probably best with ubuntu and perhaps something based on RedHat/Fedora. Good luck. Cheers, Scott.
Post #302,164 by boxley 1/10/09 11:35:14 AM Reply	spend about $40 for RHCE study guide or cheaper used religiously read every page. I have. I knew linux very well circa 1990-2000 it has changed that book got me up to snuff. For a overview of most issues it is very comprehensive. thanx, bill
Post #302,208 by static 1/11/09 5:22:13 PM Reply	Second the Ubuntu call... But you do have to set correct expectations, significantly "It's not actually Windows." Meaning that some actions need to be looked at with fresh thinking, not Microsoft thinking. For those still on '95, '98 or 'ME (or even W2k), Ubuntu is actually a good upgrade, because it's different enough in very roughly the same ways as XP or Vista is. That's one reason I took my Dad from '95 to Ubuntu. If they later encounter XP or Vista, they will have an apreciation of the "Microsoft-ness" of them and all that that entails. Wade.
Post #302,037 by Another Scott 1/7/09 9:59:55 AM Reply	Some more suggestions. I wouldn't restrict it to "Home Computer Assistance". Lots of people, especially these days, are doing home office or small business work from their home, or from a hole in the wall shop. You want to be sure you get their attention, too. I don't know if the "let me help" line is good. You want to give an impression of confidence and stability - many people have their lives tied up in these machines and are scared to have others work on them. (I don't know what would be better, though.) Emphasize your differences from Geek Squad and the like. They have a big company behind them, but you have personal service and decades of real experience. You can be a real person while they're a faceless monolith. :-) If you have Mac and Linux experience, list it. Both are becoming more popular, with lots of new users who need some hand holding. Spybot Search and Destroy, Adblock Plus are essentials for Windows, IMO. You probably also want a registry cleaner. I don't know of any free ones that aren't ad-ware or the like. PCTool's Registry Mechanic has always worked well for me - I think there's a trial version. You've got a lot of useful experience and I'm sure you'll be very busy soon! Good luck! Cheers, Scott.
Post #302,046 by Andrew Grygus 1/7/09 12:23:57 PM Reply	You need these things on a CD HijackThis - free download. ComboFix - free download - expires, download fresh every week. MalwareBytes Anti-Malware - the free download is fine. SmitFraudFix - free download - take the "Clean-up" selection in safe mode. AVG Antivirus - free is fine for cleanup - run it last after the other tools. You need to run ALL OF THESE or you don't stand a chance (I do 3 to 5 a week right now). I start with HijackThis and may run it again last. First thing I do is disable any Norton products - they'll prevent cleanup. Doing cleanup on-site isn't practical and I only do it in the shop. I just tell them if they want to pay $90/hr for 4 to 8 hours I'll do it there - much cheaper in the shop. Hourly doesn't make much sense. I charge a flat rate depending on difficulty, anywhere between $50 and $250 since I go about other stuff while scans are running. For businesses I generally sell them a licensed AVG which gets the root kit module. I see a lot of root kits protecting the infections now - ComboFix can generally disable them. You also need Keyfinder - free download - to recover license numbers for Windows, Office and some other programs. Keep in mind - if they have a brand name machine and you have to do either a repair or full Windows install you need the disks that came with the machine - a generic XP won't do because neither the license number on the label nor the one keyfinder finds will work except with that company's disks. Every time I get my hands on one of those disks I copy it and label what machine it was for so I can fix machines of that type when the disk isn't available. A couple of weeks from now new tools will be needed for new infections.
Post #302,047 by malraux 1/7/09 12:47:16 PM Reply	What do you recommend for protection? My in-laws are constantly complaining how slow their machine gets "after a while". I think they're running McAfee right now. Regards, -scott Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
Post #302,050 by Andrew Grygus 1/7/09 1:13:53 PM Reply	Well, so far my clients have been doing fine . . . . . with AVG - preferably the paid version (I'm registered as a dealer with them). The current version 8.0 has one of the top anti-spyware programs fully integrated. Many of the worst infected machines I see are running Norton so I definitely don't recommend that - it's sole purpose seems to be to slow the machine down and make clean-up difficult (it identifies most of the tools I use as dangerous viruses and tries to remove them).
Post #302,129 by Silverlock 1/9/09 12:20:14 PM Reply	thanks all I checked around for what others are charging in this area and the independent shops with a flat rate go from $75 - $150 for antivirus/spyware cleanup while the hourly rate guys range from $60 to $100 an hour. I don't think I need to undercut anybody so I'm thinking $100 flat rate for a clean-up job and $60/hr for other types of work. An extra thanks to Andrew for the list of software needed.
Post #302,162 by Andrew Grygus 1/10/09 11:03:06 AM Reply	Let me add one more very essential item. The System Rescue Linux Boot CD (I have version 1.04 and it works fine). This is needed to break the Administrator password on NT, 2000, XP and Vista. Often there isn't one, but if there is the client never knows what it is. This disk is also essential for going into the filesystem and removing files Windows can't remove (which now includes some Adobe Reader files), renaming the Windows directory to get it out of the way and other similar uses. I also find ZTree very useful at times (it's not free). ZTree development began when XTree was bought and abandoned, first on OS/2 and then on Windows.

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