Site Security Issue!!

[janiejones]

Originally Posted by tynan19

Who heads the Security Department? Clammer?

Funny.

[macojoe]

Add more $$$ for repeat offenders!!

[labrax]

John,

I do this for a living working as a computer tech for a company and do some side work to pick up some extra money. People sometimes look at you like you have two heads when they bring you a messed up machine loaded with spyware and/or viruses and you tell them it could be more than $100 to clean it, or rebuild it and put back their data. I usually charge around $75 for people that are from work, or friends of my relatives. I usually end up updating their machine with security patches, service packs, etc. and other applications and doing some other tweaks to get their machines running better - sometimes it is more of a hassle in the end. If a machine is really loaded with spyware - sometimes it can be worse than cleaning up a particular virus.

If you are going to do it - you may want to set up what you will be doing for the price you agree on and make sure they know that over and above will cost extra so there are no misunderstandings when time to exchange money for service rendered.

If they took it to the Geek Squad or local CompUSA, etc. they would pay more, sometime a lot more. I think CompUSA charges $29 to install a memory module...

Pete

[MoroneSaxatilis]

I am an amateur compared with many of the guys on here, but I AM able to poke around with these things a bit. Generally if anything goes flooey with one of our machines here at home, I'm able to correct it. Occassionally friends or family might call me to resolve some little glitch they're having, and I haven't been stumped yet. I'm certainly no "Guru", but I'm also able to read and understand stuff which can go a long way.
The other day, a fishing partner of mine came over looking for PC help. Seems he needed to print out some excursion passes for a cruise vaca he's taking and his printer wasn't working (new printer on a new PC). He has a guy he uses who charges him 100 bux/visit; the guy who originally set the PC up for him.
When I got to my friend's house, I found a PC loaded with adware and spyware, and an expired copy of MS AntiSpyware. I uninstalled the MSAS, D/Led a fresh copy, manually unistalled some PUPs, and took more out and quarentined some with the MSAS.
The HP Deskjet printer wouldn't even power-up properly. One thing it would do, was when the power was turned on, the cart carriage would zing wildly back & forth all the way from one side to the other. My friend said that his "Guru's" solution to this problem was to physically grab hold of it on it's way by! I had to uninstall the hardware & software a few times, and got it all working. I don't charge because first off, this is my fishing partner, and I'm not really a tech guy.
While I was working on his machine, he told me about another friend of ours who has never used a PC and bought one for his girlfriend for Xmas. The first friend recommended the Guru to set it up for him. Guru explained that a phone jack was needed for internet access. The guy said he'd have one installed. Guru says, "Hey.. no problem, I can do that for ya." Guru goes into basement and starts cutting into wires down there, apparantly gets PC working, collects his hunnit bux, and leaves. Later on, guy notices that furnace isn't kicking on and calls heating contractor. Heating contractor says no heat because furnace wires have been cut.

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by labrax

John,

I do this for a living working as a computer tech for a company and do some side work to pick up some extra money. People sometimes look at you like you have two heads when they bring you a messed up machine loaded with spyware and/or viruses and you tell them it could be more than $100 to clean it, or rebuild it and put back their data. I usually charge around $75 for people that are from work, or friends of my relatives. I usually end up updating their machine with security patches, service packs, etc. and other applications and doing some other tweaks to get their machines running better - sometimes it is more of a hassle in the end. If a machine is really loaded with spyware - sometimes it can be worse than cleaning up a particular virus.

If you are going to do it - you may want to set up what you will be doing for the price you agree on and make sure they know that over and above will cost extra so there are no misunderstandings when time to exchange money for service rendered.

If they took it to the Geek Squad or local CompUSA, etc. they would pay more, sometime a lot more. I think CompUSA charges $29 to install a memory module...

Pete

I do this for a living too - manage 1800 nodes across 9 buildings for rediculously little money.

Part of why I'm considering going on my own. - Thanks for the info...

MoroneSaxatilis - Please understand this guy does not really seem to be a Guru, but a hack

[MoroneSaxatilis]

Originally Posted by JohnR

MoroneSaxatilis - Please understand this guy does not really seem to be a Guru, but a hack

Exactly

[labrax]

John,

Thanks for your reply. I think you can probably do well if you decide to go out on your own, but as one individual it may be tough.

I think that you can do okay setting up people's wireless networks, getting people set up with the VoIP set-ups, imaging machines, removing spyware & viruses etc., but it takes a little time to build-up the positive word of mouth and get people to take their stuff to you and not over to CompUSA or the Geek Squad. Once you build a reputation for treating people fairly and knowing what you are doing you will probably be a very busy guy.

I think the better money is setting up computers and networks for small businesses - like realtors, independent insurance agents, dentists, etc. They have the cash to spend and there is the potential there to get follow up business to keeping everything running with updates and patches. The downside is that they have a business that needs to be running - so you cannot put them off a day when they call. A bit rough if you are running the show by yourself, but potential for more money - especially if they have you on a sort to tech service retainer.

Don't undervalue what you do either. Like I mentioned in my first post - some people look at you like you are about to violate their poodle when you tell them what you charge, but think about how much a dentist charges for a cavity, a root canal or a crown - heck, I am sure many of the plug builders on this site have more skill with a drill and a file than my last dentist. People don't bat an eye when they spend $30-$35 for an oil change, or $75/hr for a mechanic. Think about how many people have told you they have had their brakes done - and the bill was north of $500? Well you are the PC mechanic - the mechanic that works on the machine that holds their business records, billing info, taxes, personal data, I-tunes music collection, email archive, etc. For a lot of people a pc crash can mean a huge headache. If you can step in and make it all right - then what is that worth to them?

Good luck,

Pete

[JohnR]

Pete - thanks! My basic premise is having a few "profit centers" to build up and get going. Yes, more dollars may be involved in small business services and that would actually be the likely focus. I'm working on a fairly soup to nuts system that would provide centralized desktop / server type services of the enterprise into the small and real small business ... I'm looking to round that out with the home PC support (where I can also apply some managed services )