HDD 100% Usage

[Tricky]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

It contains nothing but a windows compiled html help file that runs on pretty much all windows versions. The file is FixHundredPerCentError.chm. And my Windows defender doesn't have any problem with it.

I have uploaded the file to virustotal, it found nothing.

VirusTotal

[rthonpm]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

Let me make sure I'm understanding correctly. Are you saying that I needed to do a clean install of Windows 10 on the laptop that had the infections? If so, then what about the customer's data from the old drive? Can it be saved?

Anytime something slides past the onboard AV, my first instinct is to go with a clean install as you can never be entirely assured that the operating system hasn't been altered in some deep way.
You are in a classic Catch-22. If there's something malicious on the drive, you could potentially pass it on from a USB, or compromise a password through moving to a cloud service via the web.

Your best bet is to slave the drive over to a new device and pull the files you need from there.

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[BillyCarpenter]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

Anytime something slides past the onboard AV, my first instinct is to go with a clean install as you can never be entirely assured that the operating system hasn't been altered in some deep way.
You are in a classic Catch-22. If there's something malicious on the drive, you could potentially pass it on from a USB, or compromise a password through moving to a cloud service via the web.

Your best bet is to slave the drive over to a new device and pull the files you need from there.

Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk

Once again, I'd like to thank you for all that you've taught me. It is much appreciated. Thank you.


Here's an issue that you may be able to help me with. Many times the customer doesn't have their License Key for programs like Adobe and Office and would have to pay for it again if I don't do a system image restore.

Any advice?

[slimslob]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

Once again, I'd like to thank you for all that you've taught me. It is much appreciated. Thank you.


Here's an issue that you may be able to help me with. Many times the customer doesn't have their License Key for programs like Adobe and Office and would have to pay for it again if I don't do a system image restore.

Any advice?

The next time they will remember to place the card or disk holder with the License Key in a secure place like a fire safe of a safe deposit box at their bank.

[rthonpm]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

Many times the customer doesn't have their License Key for programs like Adobe and Office and would have to pay for it again if I don't do a system image restore.

Any advice?

Adobe allows you to store your permanent license keys online with an Adobe Account. Office will do the same signing in with a Microsoft account. I have a few older keys stored in my own account, even though the software is long since gone. Barring that, taking a photo or even a text file with a copy of the install media stored on a server or other media can come in very handy.

Both applications are significantly less expensive going the subscription route as opposed to permanent license, especially Adobe products since they only support their permanent license versions of Acrobat for abourt five years. It's much nicer getting new features when they're available and also always having the most current version of the software always at hand. Adobe also allows you to activate the software on two computers as long as the software isn't in use at the same time on both.

Because of the security issues both can pose I will not install an end of life version of either on any computer I support. If the customer complains, they have to complete a waiver that states that any issues caused by the software are completely on them including time and material fees for any issues resulting from their usage (infections, etc). The only way past charged support is if they can prove some kind of compensating control (offline PC, protected VLAN, etc).

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[BillyCarpenter]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

A friend told me about a program that would scan for the License Key of most programs. I think the name of the tool is EaseUs.

I tried a different License Key recovery software called ISumSoft. Because it's only the trial version it only showed the first 4 numbers of the License Key. I might purchase this program. It only cost $17.

[Gift]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

That is not a malicious link. I have used that service often. Your protection software is a little too protective.

Reminds me of the good old "keygen"-era - that funny programs even came with chiptune music


@keyfinder:

KeyFinder | Magical Jelly Bean

Helped me in the past and the basic version is free

[GeneOR95]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

Those "Fix anything" files are notorious for being used by numerous malicious programs. You must not be much of a tech if you have to use such websites to to repair computers.

I created that help file so I could share information with others. You may not be much of a person if you ASSume facts not in evidence. Ask questions and get facts before you jump to the attack.

I have attempted to attach the original HTML file to this post. You will have to delete the .txt extension and you can open it in any browser.

For anyone interested you will see that it is not malicious, dangerous or in any way harmful to your PC. PS, you can also view it on Linux and Mac IOS.

I will have to seriously re-think whether to try to further assist techs who are ungrateful and always try to assume the worst and make lame accusations. That would be a shame as I have been a user of Copytechnet for a long time and it just seems like everyone is becoming more bitter and acrimonious everyday.

PS:
My original post clearly stated "This is an extract from a help file I created" not from some fix-it site.

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

I created that help file so I could share information with others. You may not be much of a person if you ASSume facts not in evidence. Ask questions and get facts before you jump to the attack.

I have attempted to attach the original HTML file to this post. You will have to delete the .txt extension and you can open it in any browser.

For anyone interested you will see that it is not malicious, dangerous or in any way harmful to your PC. PS, you can also view it on Linux and Mac IOS.

I will have to seriously re-think whether to try to further assist techs who are ungrateful and always try to assume the worst and make lame accusations. That would be a shame as I have been a user of Copytechnet for a long time and it just seems like everyone is becoming more bitter and acrimonious everyday.

PS:
My original post clearly stated "This is an extract from a help file I created" not from some fix-it site.

Thanks for sharing.

I ran across most of those suggestions in my search for a solution to the problem and none of them made a significant impact. And it was on 2 laptops. Since then, I have come across 2 or 3 more laptops with the same problem and the only thing that solved the problem was replacing with a SSD.

But it's probably not a bad idea to disable some of the start up applications and processes. IMHO, there's a bunch of bullshit in Windows that's unnecessary. I could be wrong.

I

[slimslob]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

I created that help file so I could share information with others. You may not be much of a person if you ASSume facts not in evidence. Ask questions and get facts before you jump to the attack.

I have attempted to attach the original HTML file to this post. You will have to delete the .txt extension and you can open it in any browser.

For anyone interested you will see that it is not malicious, dangerous or in any way harmful to your PC. PS, you can also view it on Linux and Mac IOS.

I will have to seriously re-think whether to try to further assist techs who are ungrateful and always try to assume the worst and make lame accusations. That would be a shame as I have been a user of Copytechnet for a long time and it just seems like everyone is becoming more bitter and acrimonious everyday.

PS:
My original post clearly stated "This is an extract from a help file I created" not from some fix-it site.

Under the current legal system, facts not in evidence are to be completely ignored by the jury.

[rthonpm]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

But it's probably not a bad idea to disable some of the start up applications and processes. IMHO, there's a bunch of bullshit in Windows that's unnecessary. I could be wrong.

The problem with stopping Windows startup services is that some seemingly needless services are dependencies for necessary ones. If anything, it's generally third-party apps that seem to cause issues with slowdowns, go into msconfig or Settings and disable all non-Microsoft services from startup as a test.

Also take a look at the drives you're pulling out: they are likely garbage 5400 rpm drives that clatter and constantly click when put under any strain. You're quickly getting to the point where it's just easier to replace ageing drives rather than try and figure out what's causing the issue.

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[BillyCarpenter]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

The problem with stopping Windows startup services is that some seemingly needless services are dependencies for necessary ones. If anything, it's generally third-party apps that seem to cause issues with slowdowns, go into msconfig or Settings and disable all non-Microsoft services from startup as a test.

Also take a look at the drives you're pulling out: they are likely garbage 5400 rpm drives that clatter and constantly click when put under any strain. You're quickly getting to the point where it's just easier to replace ageing drives rather than try and figure out what's causing the issue.

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Understood, sir.

[tonerhead]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

I do a little computer side work in addition to regular job. The thing I always stress to customers is do not store anything on your pc. The only thing on your pc should be the OS and programs. Things like word documents, photos, etc should never be stored on a pc. Flash drives are relatively cheap, store and backup on them. I've had too many customers heartbroken because they did not do this.

The other thing I stress is to have a second computer. One being used for personal work only like banking, Ebay, Amazon,emails, etc. The second is public like doing the deep dives for a 1934 ford manual or online gaming. If it gets infected, so what! Just re-image and go on with life. Never use it for email, bills, or anything personal. Surf for all the porn you want. For those who do not have 2, I've made a live boot linux flashdrive and said, here pay bills using this.

Come on ransomware, lock my computer, no loss to me.

Of course I am talking about personal computers, business computing is a whole different ballgame.

[rthonpm]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

I do a little computer side work in addition to regular job. The thing I always stress to customers is do not store anything on your pc. The only thing on your pc should be the OS and programs. Things like word documents, photos, etc should never be stored on a pc. Flash drives are relatively cheap, store and backup on them. I've had too many customers heartbroken because they did not do this.

The other thing I stress is to have a second computer. One being used for personal work only like banking, Ebay, Amazon,emails, etc. The second is public like doing the deep dives for a 1934 ford manual or online gaming. If it gets infected, so what! Just re-image and go on with life.

Definitely agree on the not keeping anything stored locally that isn't expendable, or stored somewhere else as well. Everyone by now knows I'm a big fan of OneDrive so it's where my important files live.

I keep a VM on my office machine specifically for my deep dive searches and any kind of abuse I want to throw at Windows. That way I can take a snapshot before any search or software install and then roll back to it if something goes sideways.

I also have the Windows Sandbox feature enabled on my work laptop, which gives you a generic Windows install to use for software testing or questionable websites. It's come in handy several times since once you close it, all of the data it had is gone and a new image is created on the next start up.

Windows Sandbox - Windows security | Microsoft Docs

The final tip: always use your computer as a standard user. Have a dedicated admin account for anything you need to install that you just use through UAC. For domain computers, make sure you stagger your admin account permissions: your desktop admin account should be separate from your server admin account, or your domain admin account. I go a further step and even set policies so that any secondary account can't open a browser or email app to limit its use to just the local machine.

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[BillyCarpenter]

Re: HDD 100% Usage

I do a little computer side work in addition to regular job. The thing I always stress to customers is do not store anything on your pc. The only thing on your pc should be the OS and programs. Things like word documents, photos, etc should never be stored on a pc. Flash drives are relatively cheap, store and backup on them. I've had too many customers heartbroken because they did not do this.

The other thing I stress is to have a second computer. One being used for personal work only like banking, Ebay, Amazon,emails, etc. The second is public like doing the deep dives for a 1934 ford manual or online gaming. If it gets infected, so what! Just re-image and go on with life. Never use it for email, bills, or anything personal. Surf for all the porn you want. For those who do not have 2, I've made a live boot linux flashdrive and said, here pay bills using this.

Come on ransomware, lock my computer, no loss to me.

Of course I am talking about personal computers, business computing is a whole different ballgame.

I'm gonna tell a little story to make my point. Sorry if this is a bit longwinded.


A while back, I discovered Folder Redirect and implemented it for one of my customers. I thought it was just the greatest thing I had ever seen. I was feeling all good about myself and that's when rthonpm comes along and tells me that Folder Redirect is outdated and introduced me to SharePoint, Teams and OneDrive.

It didn't take long for me to understand why Folder Redirect was antiquated. With SharePoint, not only are all my files backed up on the cloud, but I can access them from anywhere. And if there's a fire, I don't have to worry about losing my files because they live in the cloud.

The only thing I store locally are system images and a few other things.