What is a set of utilities for computer assistance?

Question

Windows

Good afternoon.

Many who are connected with computers for work or hobbies have heard requests from friends and acquaintances to help with the computer more than once (clean it, the program has stopped working, something does not open, the system slows down, freezes, etc.). And, in addition to the radical “reinstall the system”, you can also identify the cause of the problem and fix it.

Hence the questions:
1. What software / utilities did you use / use in such cases?
2. What is the set "for all occasions" to diagnose, correct errors, clean up garbage ?
3. What is the checklist for dealing with a PC patient in this case?
4. What kind of software to recommend to the user in the future for prevention? I would be very grateful for the information.

PS To me (for the first time in the last six years) such requests began to arrive. I don’t mind helping, but I want to refresh the process in my memory and learn about useful software for these purposes. Therefore, we are not talking about learning a profession, it's just helping friends. To help and not harm, while having the necessary tools.

Answer 1

In an isolated system, entropy does not decrease - the law of physics.
A dirty system will not become clean - Microsoft law.
The fastest and most correct option:
0. Forget about all sorts of cleaners, tuners and other legal viruses that some people still voluntarily install for themselves.
1. Scoop everything of value to an external drive (unless a special partition is allocated for this, i.e. the hard is cut into a single piece).
2. Format the hard drive (at the same time cut it correctly so that there is a SEPARATE partition under the OS).
3. Install a clean OS.
4. Return all values ​​to their place (irrelevant, if there are separate sections for this and for the OS).
5. Remove admin rights from the user and password protect the admin - protection against 90% of viruses.
6. Set up an incremental backup of the entire user profile - protection from the remaining 10% of viruses.
7. Install an (anti) virus so that the computer starts to slow down as before.

Answer 2

I have already answered a similar question here. But since it arose anew, I will repeat my then answer.
Yes, I once used Hiren's BootCD. But for several years now I have been using the Multiboot assembly , which exists in the form of both LiveDVD and LiveUSB, and has the following features:
1. Not one, but as many as 4 different WinPE - based on WinXP, Server 2008, Win7 and Win8.1. The choice is in the grub4dos start menu. If one does not start on a given hardware, we try the second one, some will start!
2. The 2k10 package of a couple of hundred utilities for all occasions is integrated into each WinPE.
3. There are also off-system utilities and tests with access directly from grub4dos.
4. And finally, there are pure Windows distributions on board - XP, 7, 8.1. "Seven" and "Eight" - in all options (selection at the start of the installation), you can always choose the "native" for this device, if the key is hardwired into the BIOS.
More than enough for a computer "ambulance"!
UPD . Found out that there is an even more modern tool-recovery assembly of LiveUSB - this is Jinn'sLiveUSB x86 / x64 UEFI [Ru](current version 5.2). It added a tool assembly of Linux PE Parted Magic, a new version of the 2k10 package, containing more than 400 utilities instead of two hundred, and Win10 was added to Windows distributions. The required flash drive size is 16 GB or more. Unfortunately, it starts only through UEFI, it does not work on the usual MBR. I found out all this from its description, and since I haven’t tried this assembly in practice yet, I can’t guarantee the accuracy of this information.
UPD2 : Testing the Jinn'sLiveUSB assembly showed that the Windows distributions included in it are not clean, the author of the assembly polluted them with numerous additives and activators.

Answer 3

The more often you answer “requests from friends and acquaintances to help” - that you need to kill everything to install the system from scratch - the better they themselves monitor their PC and less often distract them with any garbage.
Recently, I got hold of zalman ve400, now there is no need to keep a zoo of flash drives.
If the task is worth fixing here and now = with a probability of 146% one avz is enough.
In addition, I have a firm conviction that all these tuners and system cleaners add a bunch of hemorrhoids to the registry of poor Windows along the way. CCLeaner is sufficient for regular cleanings. But I prefer that the lamers themselves do nothing. It’s easier for me to do everything myself through the team than to ask where they climbed and what they did.
I have something like this:
1 - listen about the problem = think / google
2 - start the system, see the problem
3 - boot with pure f8, see what can be done right away.
4 - tear off the power cord, remove the cat from the fans, throw out the garbage, rotten rubber bands, replace the thermal paste, check the air conditioners for swelling if any, plug in the memory, video card and all the laces. it is possible to drop a drop of oil into the fans.
5 - run avz with antivirus enabled. Update signatures. Clear everything from startup.
5.a use the rest of the avz utilities, see what is being launched from where
5.b disable unnecessary services and effects
6 - run a virus scan.
7 - clear all temporary files. along the way, rewrite% temp% to the _tmp folder in the C root
8 - update everything that is updated - antivirus, windows ...
9 - first reboot. look if you need to google.
if everything is killed, do not forget:
1 - bookmarks from all browsers
2 - mail
3 - documents (can be anywhere, do not forget the desktop)
3.a - something that is especially valuable to the client
4 - if possible, take a disk image :-) because case is different.
5. you can drain all the firewood, but I prefer to put in new ones.

Answer 4

Depends on the problems.
The Internet stopped working - maybe the router was taken out of the socket (there was such a thing).
Soft:
adwcleaner
ccleaner
dr.web cure it
program and installation - and manually delete everything that the user does not need or he does not even know what
cpu-z / aida program is for checking coolers, etc.
Any disk scans, etc.
Recommendations:
Use antivirus , watch porn on normal sites (pornohub, redtube and others with adequate advertising), install adblock.

Answer 5

Why is it usually most often recommended to reinstall the system, the efficiency of finding errors tends to 0. Yes, we know where to clean extra tails or change settings, but you won’t regret using RegCleaner, AWDCleaner or KAVBootCD? Yes, it's bullshit.
From the standards of the memory and disk test (it is possible for viruses), if the reason is not in them, then with an average for the hospital from 300-500 rubles per hour, troubleshooting will be very expensive for the customer. Therefore, reinstallation is the surest option if it is not a critical server.

Answer 6

I always had Hiren's boot cd with me. Most of the utilities from there will be enough for any occasion. Plus, on the same flash drive there were 1-2 LiveCD antiviruses (Dr.Web, Kaspersky) that need to be updated periodically, in case there is no Internet. I used Microsoft DaRT a couple of times, but I no longer remember specific cases. Maybe something else, I don't remember.
If we talk about checking the system, then the utilities from Microsoft Sysinternals are very helpful here.
All checking with hands and eyes at the level of cleaning autorun, searching for suspicious processes and files in the user profile folder, temporary folders, etc. If the system is dirty beyond recognition - reinstall with a preliminary scripted backup.

Answer 7

for such tasks, a flash drive ala tnasend jetflash with flashing is enough for me so that part of the flake becomes a cd-rom with a hierens image, the rest part is for soft ala office antivirus cleaner, a pair of dvds with Windows (7, 8, 10 only with msdn) (I don’t trust assemblies ) and a pair of disks with Linux Yubunta and Mint, thermal grease / thermal pad, silicone grease for coolers, a set of screwdrivers, a brush and a can of air. so far there have been no problems with such a set, well, it’s necessary to have an external hard drive on tb to merge user data if it’s really sad and you need to demolish the system, but in 6 years I needed it only 2 times when my friends’ screws flew from time to time.
in order of action:
1) Listen to the complaint
2) draw up an action plan and the necessary software (so that they don’t sit at the PC for a long time in the place of drinking tea)
3) clean the dust, replace the paste/thermal pads if it is necessary to lubricate the coolers
4) continue to dance according to the circumstances (if minor errors are corrected, if it is not right and it is hopeless to fill in Windows or Linux)
5) if possible/necessary, show how not to do it and how to do it
PS in this way, an economical laptop lives already with 7 on board and autocads for 4 years without reinstallations and viruses, I just come to drink coffee, smoke a cigarette and change thermal paste

Answer 8

I love Far Manager - I use it to clean temporary directories, delete browser profiles. Then "Programs and Features" to remove unnecessary software. regedit, to check the registry branches responsible for autoloading and cleaning all evil spirits from there. Snap-in mmc "Computer Management" - to view services and installed devices. Task Manager and Resource Monitor - to find out which process is eating memory or CPU.
Usually for 85% of cases this is enough.
More complex cases are usually hardware problems: memtest and something to check the disk. A Windows checker is also suitable for the disk. For such purposes, I use AdminPE - a bootable flash drive with a set of software.
And then - format C: :)

Answer 9

It is desirable to make an image of the system disk immediately after installing Windows and all the software. Then the reinstallation will take much less time.

Answer 10

- Boot external screw (20g first fat32 partition for maximum compatibility with old motherboards)
- GRUB bootloader + attached boot WinPE type Sagittarius and etc. + Windows images.
-Total Commander - the best program for working with files ever. (Sharpened for yourself)
-AutoRuns - view autoload. must have.
-ProcXP - see processes
-AVZ - restores some system parameters (has not been updated for a long time)
-Victoria (+analogues) - "treatment" of bad blocks mas have (more than 70% - problems with the disk)
-WinHEX - direct work with disks (recovery data, partitions, etc.). must -have - A
set of drivers (such as DRP)
- A set of software with auto-installation of WPI whichever you like.
-AIDA64 - see all the information about the computer. must have.
-BOOTICE- work with bootloaders. must have.

Answer 11

Brain, experience, knowledge + bootable USB-mega-flash!
Internet access required.
More - nothing is needed.

Answer 12

Yes, nothing special is needed. Laptop and external drive at least 500GB. Win/Linux OS distributions and a couple of bootable flash drives.
And in a good way, the trunk with accessories should be packed. Memory, power supplies, cables and other tinsel.

Answer 13

The most important thing is a head with knowledge that accumulates with experience. For some reason, many do not use such a powerful thing as assigning file access rights, and by the way, this is a powerful tool in the fight against annoying viruses, trojans and all sorts of mail.ru defenders, amiga, etc. We simply take away the right to run the files and complete the task through the regular task manager. After that, the files can be demolished and the folders in which they were located can be assigned a ban on everything for everyone. This muck will not penetrate anymore - it will simply not be able to put its carcass in its usual places. And don't run as administrator.
Yes, before cleaning, be sure to make a copy of the partition with standard tools or an acronis, even if you need to reinstall the system, some forgotten files may be needed after some time ...
And utilities... they are by and large unnecessary, and even harmful if you don't know how they work and WHAT they do. Almost all actions can be done manually through the command line and the registry editor. The only caveat is that some actions can be trivially resource-intensive for manual work - checking all OLE object descriptors in the registry, etc. but I wouldn’t trust automatic cleaning - it’ll delete something, considering it superfluous (there was a case, the cleaner thought that the path was written in the registry that leads to an inaccessible place and deleted this entry, and there wasn’t a path to the file at all), but it would only be needed in half a year, and the system will give an error when trying to install a program that will need this garbage. Therefore, it is better not to do automatic registry cleaning, if things are really bad, it is easier to reinstall the system.

Answer 14

First of all, any live-si-di (or yusb) with Windows (for editing the registry from under the guest system) and GNU \ Lunux (for working with the file system). Further AVZ for all occasions. Sometimes you need something more specific, but 90% of cases are covered in this collection. Two 4GB flash drives (old BIOSes cannot boot from partitions anymore), one of them has a mechanical write lock (a terrible shortage now, you can use an SD with an adapter)
The official Ubuntu build on a flash drive allows you to solve any problems with the Internet, at the cost of time.

Answer 15

In fact, there is no universal way, a la the "do it well" button, and therefore there is no set for all occasions. Usually you first try to figure out what the person did in general, see what the problem is and solve it with the most appropriate tools in a particular case. Most often it is more convenient to work through TeamViewer, which immediately allows you to see and personally fix this or that thing.
The range of programs is as wide as the problems, that is, almost endless. Although, at the expense of general prevention, a normally configured CCleaner can help, as far as possible hidden from the user's eyes, so that there is no chance of harm by deleting what is not necessary, set in the "Task Scheduler" for auto-cleaning on a schedule. For accidentally deleted files, Recuva is suitable, the main thing is not to touch anything extra during recovery, and not to write to the same disk, otherwise you can lose files forever. It is better to teach the browser to run through Comodo Sandbox or Sandboxie in order to avoid quite a few problems. Naturally, antivirus, firewall, all major libraries and drivers are taken for granted.
However, if a person's hands, let's say, are completely crooked, then sometimes it will be easier for him to "freeze" the system using the same Toolwiz Time Freeze. The program runs everything in the style of virtual machines, and in this case, you can do almost anything with it, since after a reboot or shutdown everything will return to its original state, except for some selected exceptions. For obvious reasons, such a configuration is quite problematic to kill, but it is not suitable for everyone.