December 2008 Archives

Fujitsu

Diagnostic Tools work with IDE/ATA/SCSI drives. It can perform random seek/read tests along with more detailed surface scans.

Hitachi

Drive Fitness Test tests any brand of desktop and notebook hard drive and logs error events for easy tracking. Checks for cable and temperature problems.

Maxtor

Bought by Seagate. See Seagate entry below.

Samsung

HUTIL Drive Diagnostic Utility works exclusively with Samsung hard drives and can function regardless of the state of your PC's operating system.

Seagate

SeaTools for Windows tests USB, ATA, SATA, SCSI, and 1394 drives. It works with all kinds of hard drives including Maxtor. DOS version also available.

Western Digital

Data LifeGuard Diagnostics tool can test and repair WD FireWire, USB, or EIDE drives.

Extra

By the way, if you really need a comprehensive set of hard drive management and diagnostic tools, you can download a copy of Ultimate Boot CD (available in DOS or Windows flavors).

We often hear the statement "I think I have a virus but my antivirus software is not finding it".  This leads to a couple of questions, namely, what antivirus software are you using? and what makes you think you have a virus?

First, you want to make sure you are using a reputable antivirus program.  There are several out there - Norton, Macafee, Trend Micro, Kaspersky, AVG, Avast to name a few.  Prices vary from free to $50 or more for a one year subscription.  All of these programs can detect infections.  Some do it better than others.  We find that the free offerings are not as full featured as the applications for which you pay. That is why they are free.  Companies that offer free software are usually hoping you will eventually want to pay for their full-featured versions.  Regardless which application you use, if you are getting an alert from your security software, there is a good chance you need to take the action it is recommending.

Beware.  Many of the infections we see are manufactured by malicious software.  It may come if the form of a pop up advertisement.  It may come as spam in your email.  You may see an alert that informs you that your computer has been infected and that you need to download a piece of software to fix it.  This is almost certainly a scam and the download you are instructed to start is the actual infection!  DO NOT download anything that you have not gone looking for (and even then with caution).

Second, if you think you have a virus because of some alarming message you are receiving that is not generated by your own security application, see the preceding paragraph.

How do I stop the messages?  We generally start with a couple of quick system assessments and cleanup strategies that will tell us what the next steps are going to be.  Let's start with a general rule - if you have truly been infected, your operating system should never be trusted again.  It is possible to clean up the system and make it seem as if there is no longer a threat.  But there is no way to be absolutely certain.  So, if it is apparent that the system has been compromised, a format and reinstall of the operating system is highly advised.  That said, below are the steps we use for a quick cleanup and assessment.

Check hard drive

Check memory

Clear all temp files

Disable unnecessary startup programs

Look in usual places for malicious software

If, after performing the above chores, the system is still suspect, it is time to backup the data, if necessary, format the hard drive and begin reinstallation of the operating system.