Client received phone call that his PC was infected, $650 to fix

[wendyb]

Client was not able to bring up PC in safe mode with networking. I had client check task bar for errors, he said PC says "local DB user is corrupt". I can't reach customer through instant housecall, Ideas where to go from here?

[BlueCurtain]

Hey

I would see if they are able to get the computer to run a system restore to a point before it was "fixed". You could also see if you can walk them through running an SFC scan in safemode with command prompt.

If not, Windows 8 and 10 both have refresh options that might get it back up and running without deleting the customer data. It just means any programs will need to be reinstalled (not ideal, but it's better than a fresh install and losing everything).

Windows 7...might be out of luck, I can't think of anything else you could try without having access to the computer.

Fingers crossed that helps!

[wendyb]

Thank you for your response, I was able to restore to an earlier point that I had created when I helped this client before.

Wendy

[wendyb]

Also,I initially went to msconfig and enabled services that were not started. I was then able to get to his PC. All is well, thanks for reminding me to check os files with command prompt!!

[BlueCurtain]

Nice! I'm glad to hear it worked out

[guruts]

I would have charged him 500 and called it a day. That is why I do mainly business work now. People cry over charging me charging them a couple hundred bucks but the same idiots will give their CC to someone don't even know. and not think twice!