Straight Talk <b__nice@hotmail.com> wrote:

<snipped for length>
>>>
>>> You should of course revert to the latest known clean state - which
>>> ultimately means flatten and rebuild.
>>
>> Well, that's a bit dire - it may not be at all necessary.
>
> Problem is, you wouldn't be able to tell whether it is or not unless
> you have a baseline.
>
>> It *might* be, but it isn't the first thing I'd try.
>
> Trial and error against malware is a common but very stupid approach.

Nonsense. It depends entirely on the severity of the infestation. I won't
spend hours and hours on a troubled workstation, but if I can pretty easily
remove a not-very-invasive piece of malware or two, I simply do so. I don't
tell a client, "Sorry; I saw a popup - it's format time!" What is a "stupid
approach" (I merely quote you; I tend not to use such derogatory language)
is any hard and fast rule applied blindly regardless of situation.