Stand alone computers used in any type of business activity- Stand alone means any computer that is never connected to a network.
- Business activity means ....
- Any activity used as a means to derive payment or monies, whether for yourself or for a 3rd party, whether full time, part time, or only on occasions.
This forum was set up specifically to help home users, our volunteer helpers choose not to work on business machines.Computers used in a business environment often have policies and other modifications made to them. It is impossible for us to differentiate these from ones that have been made by an infection, so in removing what we think is an infection, we may compromise the business set up of your computer.
The scans we run often reveal information that most businesses would not want exposed in an open forum, and there are other legal constraints and ramifications involved with business machines that we are not equipped or trained to deal with.
It is the opinion of the Administrators and Staff of this forum that the only safe procedure for dealing with a major infection (one that is not removed by your on-board Anti-Virus) on a computer used for business is to reformat your hard drive and re-install your operating system.
No clean-up procedure can assure you that all possible modifications that may have been made to your machine have been removed. Only a reformat and re-install can do that. As you are responsible for your customer's data as well as your own, it is essential that your computer is fully secure.
We also believe that anyone using a computer for business purposes should have a fully functioning recovery procedure in place, and that such a procedure should include adequate technical backup provision. It is not the purpose of this forum to redress any inadequacies you might have in that regard. If your computer is important to your business you need to protect it.
On this forum the Administrators are the sole arbiters of what constitutes business use. Any topic where we believe the computer is one that is used in a business environment will be closed, irrespective of whether that business is a large company or a small one man enterprise. All decisions are final, and are not open to discussion or negotiation.