In my highly unscientific research into the topic of repairing vs. re-installing Windows, I got great feedback from many Gnomies. As the saying goes, great minds think alike, and there was a common theme that came out of your responses.

Most commented that although both a rebuild and repair are time intensive processes, a rebuild almost always yields a better result. There may be some cases where the level of damage to Windows is fairly minor, and doing a quick spyware scan and some manual tweaks can fix things adequately. However, in the majority of cases, the level of damage makes it less feasible to try what I call the “outpatient approach” but, instead, do a full rebuild.

That being said, there were some things to watch out for, such as setting expectations with the PC’s owner, having a good process for backing up their key data, etc. A few of you who supported users in an organizational setting used imaging tools such as Ghost or True Image to speed up the process of a rebuild. Others, myself included, have a tiered approach to how to charge customers for rebuilds. This is usually tied to turn-around time, work done onsite vs. offsite, amount of data needed to be backed up and restored, etc.

Lessons to be learned from all this? That unless a user has taken a very proactive and blended approach to securing their PC, it is a virtual inevitability that their PC will need to be rebuilt at some point. What does “proactive and blended” mean? At the risk of stating the obvious, it means having antivirus software that is continually updated, a decent desktop firewall, and keeping MS patches, hotfixes and updates current. It also means raising awareness and even changing behavior. Sadly, this is where I think a lot of people fall down. How many times have we coached, cajoled, and advised end users on how to avoid having their PCs compromised? You can recommend and even install products to minimize risk. However, despite all that protective technology, all it takes is a click or two to defeat it.

Does that mean we should give up on those of us who we might think don’t “get it?” Of course not. What it means is that we need to continue to educate, advise, and innovate. This applies to our customers and end users as well as to ourselves and technology suppliers. And who says you can’t make a buck or two in the process?