Computer Repair Hawaii Woes

We have been getting a drastic increase in the number of infected computers checked-in for repair in the last few months. I believe mostly because of some deceptive practices the bad guys are using with Social Media, like Facebook and Twitter. Now I use both, so I am not saying to stay away from them. They are having such an important and revolutionary impact on our lives and I have gotten in touch with people I haven’t heard from in decades. I can also update several people all at once about what is going on, and so on. Just stay updated about the latest threats at http://www.facebook.com/security and http://twitter.com/safety.

Anyway, the problem I want to address is about the people who try to fix their infected computer by running a System Recovery from either the built-in Recovery Partition or the System Recovery CDs. Please do not blindly run a System Recovery without heeding some of the advice I am about to discuss below.

System Recovery Options

On an HP or Compaq computer, the System Recovery has 2 basic options, a Non-Destructive (data is not deleted) or a Destructive (data is deleted) Recovery. Most all other brands of computers with Recovery Disks are of the Destructive type. On an HP or Compaq computer, the default System Recovery is Non-Destructive. You have to select Advanced to actually perform a Destructive Recovery which re-formats your drive which in-turn deletes your data and any customizations you have made since you purchased the computer. If you ever see the word “format”, that means your data is going to be wiped out. You will end up having to install your programs and peripherals again.

Caution When Using System Recovery

Destructive System Recovery:  Back-up your data first if performing a Destructive Recovery. But if you don’t, it is possible to get most of your data back if you immediately turn your computer off and take it to a shop for a data recovery. The key is not to use your computer, don’t even turn it on and try to use it because you will be reducing your chances of getting your data back.

Non-Destructive System Recovery:  This mostly applies to HP and Compaq computers. This option will keep your data intact, but there may be complications where it may be relocated and inaccessible. After the recovery is complete and you are at the account creation screen, click “Skip” and do not enter any names into the boxes. If you do, you will basically overwrite your existing user profiles, and your data may be relocated to a folder named “userdata”. This “userdata” folder may also be inaccessible until you can take ownership and change the security permissions. For Windows XP Hm, you are in trouble because it uses only Simple File Sharing by default without the advanced security features needed to change the folder security permissions. You will need at least Windows XP Pro or Media Center Edition to do this. A technician should be able to change this for you if you only have XP Hm. If you have Windows Vista or higher, your should be okay, but your data might be relocated to a folder named “users” under a newly created Windows.old folder, which should be accessible.

The obvious reason someone would want to run a Non-Destructive System Recovery is because their system is not working properly, usually because it is infected with viruses and spyware.

A Destructive System Recovery wipes out everything, even the viruses, unless you are running it from an infected built-in Recovery Partition. In this case, I hope you have a good set of System Recovery CDs. Anyway, you might be causing even more problems if you run a Non-Destructive System Recovery on an infected system. Here are a few reasons why:

• The infection could prevent the recovery from installing properly
• Reverting back to an earlier version of Windows might cause instability
• If Hard Drive has errors which were not corrected first, Windows might not install properly
• Combinations of the above issues

Take Corrective Action First

Although it may be beyond the average user to back-up their data on a broken system, or to remove infections, or to correct errors on the hard drive, these problems must be taken care of before running a Non-Destructive System Recovery, and in some cases, even a Destructive System Recovery. You could take your chances, but I’ll admit that when a System Recovery does go wrong, it can be much, much harder to fix than the original problem, and you might just be risking your data as well.

Bottom line, don’t just blindly hit F10 or F11 to invoke a System Recovery, you may cause more harm than good if you didn’t do your homework first.